Comments on: Next up…Pathfinder (sort of)

By: daHeadRat

daHeadRat — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:08:43 +0000

Keep on the Shadowfell Spoilers (sort of) below
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I have a definite problem with the last encounter of the adventure. Not only did it go against some of the oft-lauded claims of no instant kills in 4e (it essentially had one), it also seemed way out of the capacity of a 3rd level party to handle. When the big bad guy can only be hit be the party’s best attacks maybe 1 out of 4 times, has as many Hit Points as the whole party combined, can easily regenerate, has very little difficulty damaging the party, AND has some pretty good allies, well, then something seems a bit rotten. I’m wondering if it was intended to be a “killer” encounter by the designer(s). Or maybe our group just isn’t that “good” with this kind of encounter.

That last encounter taught me that it isn’t just the Encounter Level that matters…it is also the level of the creatures involved.

I also learned that I will (most likely) not be using the “double Hit Points” rule for Elite creatures. I’d much rather make them “elite” by adding something that makes the creature or combat more “interesting” than, essentially, just making it last longer. I disliked the overly long combats of 3.5 and have enjoyed the comparatively quicker pace of the 4e combats we’ve had…I’m convinced that elites will hinder such pacing.

By: Hoorat

Hoorat — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:55:46 +0000

I’m going to agree about being happy to move on to something else. I did enjoy Splug, breaking up the monotony of combat. Also, the last encounter was quite overwhelming. I’m definitely ready for a “Tim adventure”.

By: Hoorat

Hoorat — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:41:56 +0000

Hooray for a Tim adventure!!

By: daHeadRat

daHeadRat — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 01:50:24 +0000

The group is still wrapping up Keep on the Shadowfell…actually still waiting to wrap up KotS. Faye, unfortunately, dropped enough rain to leak through our roof and cause a hole in our kitchen ceiling. The damage and the week plus wait to fix it has put the game on hold for the last couple of weeks. Tomorrow should, I hope, be the last session for Keep.

I’ll be happy to move on. I more or less agree with what Carl Cravens’ had to say about the adventure (especially about the combat to story ratio). I’m definitely looking forward to getting back into something a bit more my style (whatever that may be but it isn’t really fight after fight after fight).

I’m going to try for something a bit more along the lines of a pulp fantasy theme with this game…it seems to fit the Pathfinder setting and 4e’s cinematic proclaimed emphasis. I’m not really sure how this will play out but there might even be some evil gorilla assassins early on (although not on a bucking zeppelin). I suppose I better go and start reading Spirit of the Century for ideas and inspiration…