Dungeons & Dragons Through the Versions - Part 14

Well, we finally took the plunge into that version of D&D that made me jump off the treadmill screaming..... 4th edition!

I was reticent to even buy these books. I opted for only the hard copies of the core rules (PHB, DMG, MM) and then went to the digital sources for adventures (H1: Keep on the Shadowfell). My first read-through left me thoroughly confused. Everyone has powers? Spells are powers? Magic Missile can be cast AT WILL?!?!? There are no druids? What the hell is a warlord? Dragonborn?!? What have I gotten myself into???

In the spirit of showing the players what they are missing (or not missing as the case may be) we sat down to generate characters. The first question that came out of their mouths, "What do you mean we won't need dice to generate characters??" Yep, that's right, using the character ability score array from the book, the players set about placing their ability scores. The order of the scores changed to reflect their use as "defenses." They chose their races (thankfully no dragonborn) and proceeded to select their classes. I ended up with the following:

• Elianna, female eladrin wizard
• Lukus Ironwill, male human warlord
• Katar Silvercloud, male elf ranger

The only strangeness came with trying to explain the abilities of these races. Some of the abilities were listed as if they were powers, and the players were confused as to when and how they could be used with their other powers. They were very happy with their hit points totals since they were universally above 20 for first level. I told them that it was all relative and that the monsters were boosted as well.

It took HOURS to go over the choices they had, explaining how it all worked, and getting through option choices based on other choices they made. In the end, the warlord became a Tactician, the wizard a War Wizard, and the ranger a Two-Blade style ranger. The first session ended with only a bare framework of a character. I assigned "homework" for the players to read up on their character choices so that they understood them, and make a list of questions to ask the DM for the next session. Notably, no one rolled a single die the whole night!

The following week we tackled feats, skills, finalizing powers and choices, then buying equipment. They pointed out the lack of lantern oil and sacks in the rulebook. I did some investigation and found these items in later errata and sourcebooks online. I then had to explain how implements worked for the wizard and then go over all the errata for the powers they had selected. The second week left me feeling rather insecure about trying to run this since the amount of options open to the party was immense! I told them to read up on these new choices.

The week after that we sat down for our first actual playing session. The players had made their own combat power cards for their relevant abilities, listing all the info from the books. I was so proud! They also proved to have read the combat chapter, so I was not gonna tackle this alone.

We spent about 1-1/2 hours going over the details and fine points before beginning the first encounter. In the module, the first encounter is a kobold ambush along the road to Winterhaven. The ranger has a passive Perception of 19 so the kobolds never really had much of a chance to surprise anyone (especially since the module breaks the chance of surprise by having the minions scamper among the rocks). I had spent about 4 hours before the session drawing the maps of the first few encounter areas and the town of Winterhaven on Game Table. The players were duly impressed with the scene before them, and somewhat disheartened by the number of opponents they faced. Things got even worse when I rolled initiative for the kobolds and they beat everyone else. The minions moved in first (as described in the tactics) and engaged the group. The ranger, thinking himself smugly competent, used his Dire Wolverine Strike and managed to miss all 3 kobold minions surrounding him! Regrettably, the kobolds did NOT miss him! The slinger was abusing the wizard from the get go, and she returned the complement with a few magic missiles. The warlord tried very hard to get into the battle but kept thinking that all his powers only allowed OTHERS to do stuff, and that he couldn't use them and still attack (spent about 20 minutes trying to explain that was not the case with ALL of the powers). When the kobold dragonshields finally emerged from hiding, the party let out a collective groan, especially when I hit with them every single roll and the party missed on almost every single roll. The sligers managed to hit the ranger with his fire pot, then glued the wizard in place with a glue pot. This kept her from later using her Scorching Burst for fear of catching herself or her allies in the burst as well.

The party ended up using all their action points, encounter powers, daily powers, and racial powers and still the kobolds dropped them all. After a long night of explaining rules and how the system worked, it all came down to the fact that my dice were hot and no one else could hit the high AC of the dragonshields. We ended early for Daylight Savings, but the mood in the party was grim. We had spent 2 sessions making these god-awful complicated characters and they were felled in their first encounter by a group of 8 kobolds. Oh how the bards would laugh at them!

Things we learned:

1. Monsters are no joke in this edition. Even the lowly kobold has a plethora of abilities to use tactically on the play map.
2. When a party is outnumbered more than 2:1, retreat should be foremost in your mind, especially if they win the initiative.
3. Trying to escape from Shifty opponents is very difficult.
4. Wizards who marvel at being able to cast Magic Missile every round should instead be using area-of-effect powers like Scorching Burst to remove minions from the battle early.
5. Even though minions have but 1 hp, they still hit like a full hp tank when the DM's dice are hot!
6. High Reflex defense is essential against spellcasters.
7. Warlords are great in a large party - they are a poor tanking substitute in a small party.
8. The recommended party size is 5 players, we had only 3, so NPCs or encounter adjustments are probably required.

The session was still exciting to play. The players marveled at all their strange abilities and saw how utterly ridiculous it would be at higher levels to keep track of all they could do. Luckily we had no magic items in the group so I have yet to explain how daily abilities work with those. We got to see everything from Shifting in combat, to use of healing surges, and the death and dying rules. We dealt with Ongoing damage and saving throws as well.

The general consensus was to reboot and try again. I opted to say that some scouts from Winterhaven heard the battle and drove off the wounded kobolds remaining, rescuing the party with First Aid (Heal) checks before they died. This way I progress them to Winterhaven where they will awaken in the care of Sister Linora. From here they can interact with the townsfolk and learn more about the fate of Douven Stahl (leading them to the dragon's  graveyard and the second kobold ambush). No XP was gained by the characters since they failed in their first encounter. This may hurt them down the road.