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Post by Gilvan Blight on Jun 11, 2012 9:37:46 GMT -5
Well I finally got to run D&D Next last night. Filled out the survey this morning. I was glad to see the survey was a lot better written than the ones we have been seeing in the Legend and Lore articles. It actually felt like my answers mattered the questions didn't seem leading at all.
I will be writing up a session report later this morning but didn't want to include it here as it will may contain spoilers for anyone who hasn't played through the Caves of Chaos.
We had three players and used the two Clerics and the Wizard pregens. We played for just about three hours. The one thing that hit us all the most was the amount we got done in those three hours. We did some set up, some really quick rules explanation, a crime scene investigation, exploring of the initial cave area, an ambush from the woods, some cave exploration, a hasty retreat, prisoner interrogation, prisoner escape attempts, exploration of another cave, diplomatic negotiation, an extended rest, an epic battle, more exploration and taking out some pesky guards. We left the session with the group about to go back to continue those diplomatic negotiations.
In 4e terms that would have been 11 encounters. I've never run a 4e session that fit in 11 encounters. I'm not even sure I've run a 3.X game that fit in 11 encounters and if I did there is no way it was a 3 hour session.
Our biggest complaint was with the hidden math on the Character sheets and in the rules. One of the first things to happen was for the Dwarven Cleric to pick up a range weapon off a fallen foe. We could not figure out how to work out her attack bonuses. It appears there is probably some type of proficiency bonus worked into the character sheets but that is not explained anywhere. We also debated whether this same cleric could use her Shield Defense power multiple times in a combat round. Two of the players also wished there was a master skill list.
Besides these fairly minor issues we all seemed to like the new rules. The spellcaster At-Wills meant that everyone had something to do each round, which is nice. Combats were difficult enough with the big boss fight I put in feeling epic enough. I liked the advantage and disadvantage rules though I think I need to use them more often. That or add in more situational modifiers that reward the players for being descriptive.
Overall we were all very impressed by what we've seen and all thought it was an improvement over the current iteration of D&D.
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Post by Gilvan Blight on Jun 11, 2012 9:38:11 GMT -5
!!!SPOILERS!!!
#DnDNext Playtest Session report #Spoilers
Okay I realize that Caves of Chaos has been around for years and has probably been played by more gamers than any other module ever written. Even so there's a chance that some of you out there may not be familiar with it and don't want to know what to expect. So anything below the fold may contain spoilers.
I ran the game last night for a group of three players. We used the Elf Wizard, Human Cleric and Dwarf Cleric Pre-Gens.
I wanted to test the ease of rules explanation during play so didn't really tell the players anything before we started. The only rule I actually explained was Roll a D20 add modifiers try to beat target staple. The rest I planned to explain during play as needed.
To start things off I gave the players some background and each of them got a rumor about the Caves. These I took from the original B2. The set up I used was that monster raids have been increasing and just yesterday a caravan was attacked. The caravan held the new lord of The Keep and his lady who were travelling incognito. It wasn't known if the attackers knew who they were getting or if it was just bad luck.
The players wanted to check out the crime scene, so I went back to the original B2 again and used the wilderness map within. I set up the attack right where the road bends north towards the cave and decided the attack was an ambush from the hill. I ran this as an improvised skill challenge which went really well. Two of the players found the lack of a distinct skill list off putting. They wanted to be able to look at a sheet to see what skills their characters could use. This to me is a failing of 3.5 and 4e that my players have learned. When confronted with a problem, instead of thinking about it in character, look at your character sheet and find which number is the best one to use. I noted this and how I found the lack of a skill list liberating. The rest of the session's checks went smoother after that which I was glad to see.
So our CSI like investigation gave the players the following info: it was an ambush, it was well organized, the attackers had military grade equipment and precision. After some really amazing rolls (are the DCs too low)? I tossed in a plot hook of some of the equipment coming in from the north. This played out really well as players were bringing their themes right into play. I'm a knight so I know about heraldry, do I recognize anything? Awesome.
The group followed tracks (again a check that got a DC result of impossible, at level 1. Are they too low)? back to the Caves and noticed they left off to the southern cliff face but they lost track of them in this high traffic area. I presented the group with a hand drawn map of the area (only showing the caves you could see from the ground) and let them explore.
While exploring for a bit I decided to use the Kobold Ambush encounter even thought he group wasn't heading that direction. I figured a scouting force was out and about and saw some humanoids mucking about. This was a nice quick fight. There was some awesome with the Wizard using mage hand to set a spear vs. charge. It was the quickest fight I've run in D&D since 2nd edition. Everyone picked up the rules quickly.
The end of the fight got us to our first rules complication. The Dwarf Cleric noted a distinct lack of a ranged weapon so grabbed a spear. We could not figure out her attack bonus. The numbers on the character sheets weren't adding up. In addition the weapon damage in the module was different from the damage listed in the Rules book. We talked about this and noted other odd things like the other cleric having a Quaterstaff with no proficiency and the fact that staff was a finess weapon yet it appeared that STR was used instead of DEX for the to hit modifiers. Eventually we just said forget it and lets just assume the math is right in some way. I made a ruling that the spear had a +2 proficiency bonus and we moved on.
From here the group decided to try the goblin caves. We talked about using a mapper and then decided against it and I just roughed up areas on a Paizo flip mat. They explored and found some Goblins "Bree-YARK!!" Another damn quick fight for the number of compatants. It started with three goblins attacking while one fled. That one got another 6 to join the fight. The noise of this alerted a third group. This group sent three guys while others stayed back and tried to bribe the Ogre. The party was doing fairly well but taking a few hits. The wizard got hit quite a bit which to me was good to see. They should be glass cannons after all. Really bad dice rolls meant things were not going well for the group. The big guns came out, all spells got used up and still the party decided that fleeing was the best option. They grabbed a sleeping goblin and ran as quick as they could, just in time to see the Ogre round a bend. It was nice and dramatic.
The group rested up (10 minute rest) and then questioned the goblin about the clues they had found. They then convinced him to lead them to the proper cave. He tried to trick them by leading them to the Ogre cave but some good insight rolls and the unkempt smelly nature of that cave convinced them they were being tricked. Eventually the Gob lead them to the Hobgoblin caves.
Getting past the door the party attempted to sneak around. I pulled out the disadvantage rules here due to the party having some heavy armour. They failed badly. Guards came around the corner and I was ready to call for initiative, then the party started talking! I was in shock. I totally didn't expect that from these players. I guess my descriptions of the hobgobs military precision and equipment must have scared them. They came up with a great story about how the goblins had sent them here and that they were there to bargain for prisoners. Brilliant, and I ran with it.
They were escorted to the Hobgoblin Warlord and we played out an extensive roleplaying scene where the party eventually agreed to pay for the release of the prisoners. Sadly one of them had already been sold to some Cultists elsewhere in the Caves, but the group wanted to free whoever was left. They made a deal with the Warlord. They found our the Ogre is a merc. and that he's been doing rather well working with the Goblin Tribes. Kill him and bring the Hobgob the Ogres recent pay. This should be more than enough for the remaining prisoners. They party took it.
They then left the caves for some much needed rest. In the morning they returned and stage an assault on the Ogre Cave. The dead bear trick worked great and the Ogre ended up surprising the party. This was a pretty epic fight that felt just dangerous enough. I decided to use a grid for this one which actually played out well. We didn't worry about exact square count but having the map out made it easier to see who the Dwarf Cleric could defend. Speaking of that - that ability was huge. Still wondering if she should be able to use it multiple times in a round. Even with the Dwarf Shield blocking left and right the Wizard went down and we got to try the dying rules. Odd. 4e was three strikes you are out, now it's three saves and you live. Odd. Healing from 0 even when negative felt really odd. It never bothered me in 4e but that's the game with Wizards with 8 healing surges. For some reason it felt odd and out of place here.
Eventually the party beat the Ogre, found out how much of his treasure was fake and started to plan their next action. I was going to call it a night but then someone decided to search for secret doors because they remembered seeing the ogre in the Goblin caves (smart move players!). So I had the group surprise the goblin guard post.
This was another good fight. We had the grid out so kept using it though everything was still very rough. I spent some time drawing in furniture which was a good thing. By actually drawing it people used it. People grabbed spears out of a barrel, chairs were knocked over and at one point the Cleric Radiant Lanced a table leg taking out a goblin. This is the one thing I like about Miniatures and scenery - players use the stuff that's there.
At this point I asked the players plans. They were going to head back to the Hobgoblin cave and make the trade. Ogre blood money for captives. It was getting late so I called it a night.
Overall we had a great time. Everyone was amazed how much we fit into one session. We only played for about 3 hours and look at all that text up there. I haven't gotten so much done in a D&D game in years. After the session we sat around for another hour talking about the game. We again tried to fathom the math on the character sheets and gave up. We talked about minis vs theater of the mind and pretty much decided we liked a mix. Run it open and non-tactical but still have something out on the table to look at.
I guess the best indicator on how well it went was everyone asking when we could play again. This wasn't planned at all as this was meant to be a single session thing to try out the playtest material. I had no plans on starting a short campaign. I guess that's what I've now got on my hands now and I'm not complaining one bit.
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