[DnD] 4e Foray

This past Monday, my face-to-face group sat down after a three week hiatus to finally kick off our D&D 4th Edition game.  Since I concluded my OD&D for the group (which I’ve posted some AP on here and here), one of the players stepped behind the screen for this D&D 4th Edition romp.  He borrowed my Keep on the Shadowfell module (of which I’d only skimmed the initial fight, whew) to get his feet wet, since he hadn’t DMed in over a decade.

On to the AP:

• We immediately jumped into map combat and struggled with all the combat rules.  I thought power cards would be easier, but they were actually just potentially easier but difficult to use at the outset for newbies.  It felt like the powers forced players to choose to do the same actions over and over because they were the most powerful things to do, and anythign creative would effectively put a player “in the hole”.  But it was just a feeling, probably due to the newness of the game.

• During the very long combat rounds, I decided to make paper cartoons for the three players who didn’t have minis for their PCs and were using dice as markers.  One player not only had her own mini, it was one she’d painted earlier that week (and it was cool).  I drew Order of the Stick style representations of the rest of the PCs and put them on the board.  I also put word balloons and witticisms in them that made me chuckle.

This is my PC. Dig his orb and funky conical hat

This my wife's PC, an elf warlord named Miri

This is Richard's cool evil tiefling rogue. He used his crossbow a bunch.

• I played my eladrin Aranalastean as if he were Thurston Howell III (the rich guy on Gilligan’s Island) if he were played my Tim Curry.  So, he was tromping through the woods in fine silks and robes and by the end of the fight, he was the only one unscathed.  (Note to self: I need to write up him later and post him).  The halfling warlock, Leisl, complained loudly about how Aranalastean was the only one who wasn’t bloodied.

• After the fight, we made it to the village and spent time role-playing with NPCs, finding out plots and fleshing out our party dynamic.  This was fun, but it didn’t progress us too far into the story.

• Not sure if it was a misread on the module or not, but the DM kept talking about how none of the villagers ever went to the Keep because they were scared of it.  But as we walked around the town, we found a fighter’s guild.  I had my PC go in and look for a hireling, but the DM told me nobody was there… perplexing.

• We ended the night in the village, settling down for some rest in the inn.  My eladrin had his own room while the rest of the party shared a second room.

Next week, we head into the keep