The group is about to wrap up Keep on the Shadowfell. As numerous folks around the web have commented, it is, of course, rather heavy on the combat side of things (though not really that much more than a lot of published adventures). From a mechanics perspective, even though we’ve (or at least I’ve) had at least one or two “oops” moments each session, it has given us some good experience. I think (hope) it has also given me a better feel for how to use 4e for a more story-oriented game.
I’ve decided, for a number of reasons, to use Paizo’s Pathfinder setting for the next game using the 4e rules. The setting of Golarion and Paizo’s various adventures receive pretty high reviews in general so I’m curious to see how they’ll translate over to the 4e rules (and vice versa). I’m not planning, at the moment, to use either of the recent Adventure Paths (maybe later); instead, I’ll be using a couple of the Pathfinder modules as the base, add a few things from here and there, shake, pour over ice, and see if the end result is something tasty.
With the players’ cooperation, I think it will be.
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…
Hooray for a Tim adventure!!
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”.
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.