Monkey Project D&D Roleplaying

Dungeons and Dragons Day 2009 Game Day 1

Introduction

The Players

Combat

Overall

Players Responses

Starkitten

Chuck

Natters

Q & A with the 'Absolute begineers

DM's Response

A little background

The Material

And finally...

Introduction (by MDK)

On 22nd March 2009 Wizards held their second 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons Game Day this one timed to coincide with the release of their Players Handbook 2. As last year a module and figures was supplied so that DMs could run an adventure this one at Paragon level.

To mix things up a little this year I invited two "Absolute Beginners" along for the day (I had originally intended it to be three beginners but one of them could not make the journey). I gave the players an hours chat before the game about the system and how combat was worked out so that they would have some ideas of how things progressed. Then I instructed the more experienced players to help out if the beginners were struggling and set to the adventure.

I reduced the number of combats in the adventure (taking out the combat in the barn) as I felt that the game would be sluggish as the players would be unfamiliar with the system and the new characters they had to play. I also was aware that one of my new test players would be slightly distracted by the Six Nations final matches that were being shown that day :).

Below is how the day went...

Players

MDK (DM)
Starkitten (player)
Bowie (Male Absolute Beginner)
Kensit (Female Absolute Beginner)
Natters (player)
Chuck (player)

The supplied module was a linear hack and slash set in a deserted village where a dark force/evil deed had been committed. The setup was atmospheric enough with dark and stormyness of night, deserted rooms and houses slick with blood, there was even a drowned kitten for added value. The basic premise was for the players to enter and discover rampaging dark creatures from beyond, a scared child and missing people to quickly investigate and then charge to the rescue. It was a solid introduction piece aimed at ease of play and quick uptake and for newer players would present no issues. To my mind their was some slight dissonance between the module and the character group intended to be in it, but nothing that would send events too awry.

Combat

As previously mentioned I had removed one of the combat scenarios from the module so that I could play a slightly faster variant of the adventure - which would be beneficial to the group I was adventuring with. i didn't think that the exclusion of one of the combats would cause too much issue, though it might reduce the fear of running out of health/healing surges/daily powers, but one takes the rough with the smooth when making these decisions.

The combat itself seemed mostly balanced. I think the final two combats were less of a challenge than they could have been. I am aware that I missed out one, but barring the trapped floor that my group seemed to do well against the last encounter was quite easy. The Warforged was able to get across the map in two rounds (this includes being dazed by a trap) and then tied up the Major demon with his polearm. Meanwhile the Paladin had little issue with the bearded devil who was only effective at melee so had to come in to the combat, and that left three experienced characters to deal with the minion creatures. I personally would have placed stronger demons in the final encounter and perhaps set it outside so that they could manipulate the players more and not get themselves trapped in locations.

Overall

As always Wizards presented a tidy adventure supported by good materials. The module was concise and well laid out, the models were pretty, helping the characters visualise the combat to a higher degree, the large flat map very pretty and detailed.

If I were to have any complaint is would be that the story, and this is not to its detriment, was too linear. I cannot imagine that it is easy to construct a tale that has to fit such a wide variety of players, groups, languages and ages, and so I think this did an admirable job. If anything I believe I should have spent an hour in tweaking the story to fit the mindset of the people I knew would be playing it as they, for the most part, prefer puzzles and character interaction over the combat heavy story.

Players Reactions to the Session

Starkitten (Tiefling Invoker)

I really enjoyed playing the invoker and thought it was an interesting concept with a well-balanced mix of damage-dealing and condition-inflicting skills. It was rather amusing managing to get the enemy slowed, dazed and immobilised at the same time and I found a few interesting combinations I would have liked to have more chance to experiment with. It worked well within the party, and together we seemed to be a very efficient team in battle. In this module, however, the encounters did not seem to present much of a challenge and since we did have such high level characters it would have been nice to really push them to their limits and see how well they would have done once all the encounter and daily powers had been spent.

The module also seriously lacked non-combat encounters. There was an interesting mix of characters but no real opportunity to interact with each other or with NPCs besides the one person in town so it seemed a shame there wasn’t much chance to explore the roles beyond what they could do in combat.

Shortcomings of the module aside, the PHB2 character classes we tried all seemed to work well together and on the whole it was another successful D&D day. In fact, I was so intrigued by the invoker I’ve redone her as a 1st level character for our next campaign so I can explore all the things I wanted to.

Chuck (Warforged Barbarian)

D&D Day 2: Rugby’s Revenge

First a little bit about myself. I’ve been roleplaying for a scary 15 years now and have been playing 4th Edition since last years D&D day – even still have the pencil and die. Past experiences include 2nd Edition AD&D using Skills and Powers system, Alternity and Rifts.

My original role for this game was to be as a helper for three total beginners but as one of them was unable to attend I took up the role of Squeaks – Warforged Barbarian. This was a dual first for me, playing the new Barbarian class (a melee focused striker class with Rage powers) as well as the Warforged race (a Construct race available from the Dragon magazine).

Once I got to grips with the new powers and the concept of entering a rage (by using a daily power and which gives bonuses to other skills) I happily got to charging round the battlefield (due to extra bonuses on charges) and wreaking havoc with a large polearm. The adventure was a nice introduction and the first encounter was a nice gentle introduction, to the multitude of powers that a Paragon level character has, without been trivial. The second encounter was a good encounter with a good range of features, melee and ranged enemies, traps, non-combatants and multiple ways to deal with some enemies. This allowed the group to utilise there most devastating powers without feeling like it was out of control.

Of our group of five we had three experienced roleplayers (one of whom hadn’t played 4th Ed. at Paragon level before) and two total beginners. Of the beginners it was quite an in the deep end experience with a vast array of powers available at paragon level – however that said both (including the one distracted by the 6Nations rugby) seemed to pick up the combat system easily and were able to select suitable actions and powers with ease along with a little help for clarification of effects etc. by the more experienced players. The experienced player who hadn’t played paragon level got to grips with the extra powers quickly enough and the two that had played paragon before quickly worked out the combinations of powers available for their new classes to devastating effect. I particularly enjoyed the paragon feature of the barbarian allowing you to charge an enemy after reducing a separate enemy to 0hp. I also enjoyed seeing a few more magical items in use to get use to the way they function.

All in all – a nice little adventure - perhaps lacking a bit in substance - but certainly a good taster of the paragon experience in my opinion. Look forward to next years Epic Day.

Natters (Drow Avenger)

I enjoyed the game. I liked the new styling of the characters and thought there was more variance with it being Paragon level. However, I would have liked to have seen more of the new races, not sure why there needed to be a teifling and a dragonborn there when they could just of easily had a deva or a goliath (for example). Also I would have liked to have seen something other than the Palaldin, although I realise that they were one of the healers it would have been nice to see more of the new classes, though not sure how that would have affected party balance.

As for the game itself it seemed a little "samey" , they should really just commission you (MDK ["blush" MDK's comment]) to write the next one. The bit in the town was okay and I realise the second encounter was chopped. I also thought the last encounter could have done with less traps and more creatures, possibly some smaller demons who could have swarmed the immobilised characters, this would have necessitated more party co-op as when we were hit with the traps, there was no need to help the immobilised player when you could pick the rest off at range, especially when the devil was being tied up by the Paladin.

All in all though better than the last one and of course they have to appeal to a mixed age audience, they should probably just release 2 different ones next time, oh wait we already said that lol

Questions and Answer Session with the Absolute Beginners
Bowie (Dragonborn Paladin), Kensit (Gnome Bard), Words (MDK)

Introduction to the 'newbies' :)

To begin with let me give a few details about Bowie and Kensit our Absolute Beginners for this Dungeons and Dragons Game Day Session:

BOWIE:
Bowie is a male of 30+ years who lives in the south-east of England, as a daily grind he manages a magazine studio. He is degree-educated and likes to play Guitar Hero in his spare time away from dancing, raising a child and renovating / decorating his house. Bowie has -never- roleplayed before.

KENSIT: Kensit is female in her 30s (sorry I mean she is 21, always will be why the heck did you ask), who lives in the south-east of England in St Albans. Kensit is also degree educated and currently lectures MA Nursing Studies. In her spare time she also counsels and is eternally trying to move from the staid living in St Albans and on to her Canal Boat. Kensit roleplayed once, a single game in an alternate Earth scenario.

Post-game response

Almost immediately after the game had finished and people had settled down I asked a couple of introductory questions. Firstly I wanted to know their immediate thoughts. Bowie commented on the number of people who played at the session: "I thought that the group size presented itself as a disadvantage to the unfamiliar player," there was some issue with the, "flow of the events" as, "people were doing different things" which is confusing. Kensit thought that although the group size seemed large at first things, "got easier as we went along", Kensit was able to quickly immerse herself into the way the game flowed. Bowie also felt that there was: "a lot that I didn't seem to be interacting with so I didn't feel that I was required,". This response could be a natural reaction to his unfamiliarity with roleplaying and the system he was thrust into, he seemed to have a lack of a frame of reference. But it was also true that in the combat it felt as if he was simply required to attack when necessary and didn't get the group combat and player interaction. Again this is to be expected from a player who has never encountered this experience but it is something to consider when exposing new people to the system. It would be useful to get them centre stage perhaps, in the thick of events with the rest of the party used to show them how interaction is worked in group combat.

Discussion on the following morning:

The following morning Starkitten chaired a discussion with the two players to find out a little more about their thoughts on how the game went. Kensit thought that "the character of the Bard was great," and Bowie commented, "the description of the Paladin gave a good feel to their nature". In regards to the combat they were a little sterner, Kensit noted that, "Lots of fighting" which made her experience that, "there was little chance to play the characters." Bowie added to this as he felt, "I just had to turn up and fight," and this meant that there was, "not much character interaction."

When we discussed the module itself and how it performed in encouraging them to play Bowie stated, "off the shelf and felt like it," the linear narrative felt too guided and regulated and Kensit concurred adding, "[this] wouldn't encourage if it was [my] only experience," what made things worse for her was the dislocation of story as there was, "no sense of how your character got there". In this regards the story had no background for the characters as a group so they had no sense of why they were together, a brief history of the party for them may have aided them enormously and taken away this feeling.

When we talked about the final combat Kensit said, "it felt obvious that we were going to win," which removes some of the element of danger and thrill from the story. Bowie discussed the fact that there was, "too much option [powers, traits, feats]" so that his experience was that he, "didn't have to choose carefully," and this added to his feeling that there was, "no [real] sense of danger." Bowie continued on the combat system feeling that it was, "a labourious process," though this could have been exacerbated by his inexperience in roleplaying, but it was matched by Kensit who stated that, "it [combat] took a long time because people had lots of different things to do." They did discuss at length the merits and disadvantages of having too big a pot of items in what they both began to call the "Magic Handbag". On a final note to the combat Kensit was also displeased that it was, "obvious who the goodies and baddies were," there was no indecision on any matter, though with such a short introductory piece it was seen that it would be difficult to add that, but if there was more danger and a greater sense of mystery this might help.

We then asked if they would play the same character, with the same skill set but in a different adventure and there was a resounding "yes," from both Bowie and Kensit. When asked if they would play the same character with less skills in the same adventure Kensit said, "yes," but Bowie said "no".

Finally we asked them to discuss the experience as a whole. Bowie stated that, "It was too much of a linear process. The fighting was fine but becomes dull when that's all your doing [the adventure was combat encounter heavy] and when you are very good at it [too big a magic handbag for the challenge]. the first encounter felt better [town square] as there was more movement possible and an interesting environment [this] helped me to learn quickly [combat/skills] and then I applied it in the second [combat] which became too easy." Kensit had a simple request, "a puzzle encounter would have been good," the trial to recover information from the girl was too easy for such a high level bard, she simply made all the 'scary' characters stay outside and talked to the child virtually eye to eye using bardic abilities to soothe her.

The most important part of this for us as players was that these 'Absolute Beginners' not only mastered enough of the rules and combat to play the system well but also wanted more challenge. The only failure, and I don't see it as one but it was to them, was that the module was too linear and didn't have enough background for the party, the inclusion of a puzzle would have greatly helped along with a couple of paragraphs detailing the party and giving some idea as to their dynamic.

From the Breach: A Game Master's Report
Part Two: Absolute Beginners, Sestet Nations and Cat-shaped DM

A little background story first...

Sestet Nation

Roleplayers gather, we're all winners
Game in motion feel it flowing,
Play the game with Absolute Beginners
Rugby, rugby still ongoing,
Combat starts, some feel elation
Human slaves, in a Sestet nation.*

I have been roleplaying now since somewhere in the early Jurassic, actually it is somewhere over twenty years but less than twenty-five, for the majority of that time I have been the Game Master or Dungeon Master or as I like to refer to myself, god.** I am degree educated (well I have a BA (hons) in Literature) and currently I am the managing director of a software development house, secretary of an organisation and co-leader of a local tech group. In my spare time I mess around a lot on computers, enjoy photography and of course run several games for a band of local players in the Lancaster region.

For the game day this year I decided to introduce two novice players, well the real term should be absolute beginners as only one of them had ever done any roleplaying before and that was only in one game several years ago that I ran so that they could have a feel of what roleplaying really was. The original plan was to have three novices and two professionals with a third professional coaching the novices if they got into difficulties. Unfortunately one of my newbies was pulled at the last minute due to family commitments and so I let the back-up professional play a character.

Another factor in the mix was the fact that the 6 Nations Championship was playing at the same time and two of the players, Bowie and Chuck were very interested in the games that were going on. Chuck, being a seasoned gamer tried to keep as much of his focus on the roleplaying as possible, a fact that was hampered by Bowie occasionally leaving the table to check the results that were on-screen in a different room. This did not seem to hamper the experience overly as it was an easy module and game to follow but it did cause slight issue in the combat as the inexperienced player didn't fully grasp that the combat is often a group vs. creature experience and a tight note not only of your own actions and abilities is required but also a note of other people. Still they managed to keep with the pace of the game.

*[My apologies for the above go out to Bill Bailey who's Insect Nation went through my mind when I was thinking about the game being played at the same time as the six nations rugby. It was then that I was pretentious and used the fact that six in poetical terms could be a Sestet which is a six line poem and so the Sestet Nation was rather crudely conceived.]

** The reason I refer to myself as god is not to be blasphemous or insulting, it is more that I aspire to construct an entire universe for my players to game in and in that regard I am acting as a supreme architect to what they are doing and so can be referred to as god in that system.

The Material...

picture of cat dm-ing
Darwin the cat decided to pitch his hand at DM-ing a game

The new Players Handbook seems to be a great edition to the game, already brimming with fine source books. I know there has been lots of discussion on the way that almost every element has changed and this means that you need to buy all the material again to see what does what, but as a crusty old roleplayer of many years I think it just is refreshing as I was starting to be able to read the old system imprinted on my eyelids when I slept.

As for the module I felt it was fun. As always Wizards came up with an adventure, some characters, the cast of creatures and a wonderful double sided map. There was plenty said by my group as to how this could be improved upon and I hope that there feedback helps. As for me, I have a few pointers as to what I may do with next years epic to spice it up a little, perhaps play it twice, one solid walkthrough and one not so much. In fact the thought occurred to drop this little town into an adventure I am currently running to give them a little Deja Vu and to up the eerie and creature count to give my players a real challenge they may not find so easy :).

And finally...

This year's Dungeons and Dragons day was, like last year, quite a hoot and fun to play. I think that including some inexperienced players really added to the effect and I am hoping to see both of them around a table again sometime for another crack at the system which I may document on my website. It was refreshing to play with someone who was not only completely new to the system but also completely new to roleplaying, and their insistence that they would play it again is very encouraging. As always I want to thank all my players for putting up with my DM-ing on a consistent basis, and give a heartfelt thanks to Wizards for another fun day with great materials, thanks guys, here's no next year's possible Epic[?] adventure.

Monkey Project D&D Roleplaying

Dungeons and Dragons Day 2009 Game Day 1