D&D game day [Archive] - Wizards Community

D&D game day [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Nom
11-13-07, 06:38 PM I thought I'd post a positive report on my experiences of the D&D game day.

Venue: Sydney Games Centre (http://www.sydneygamescentre.com/), Sydney, Australia

We had a row of four tables near the back of the "shop". It was a little squeezy, but not too bad, and far enough away from the MtG players that we didn't get noise spillover. There were four groups: 2x 5 adults, 1x 3 adults, and 1x 3 kids, plus DMs. Myself and a mate joined a group with another guy and girl and the DM and one of his friends.

The adventure was fun, although slightly predictable if you'd read the stat cards beforehand (paladin => krenshar, scorching ray => cold critter, dwarves and favoured enemy goblins => well, you can guess). Nothing heavy, just a light dungeon crawl with 5 (possibly 6) combat encounters and one environmental encounter. Terrain was varied enough to give interesting options; at least two combat encounters deliberately mixed in terrain effects.

DM was good and flexible. He enjoyed getting into it, though I was occasionally slightly irked when he did cool flavour narrations for my actions (do them for the NPCs, and encourage us to do our own!). Didn't railroad, and was quite creative and flexible in adapting the rules.

Highlight of the adventure was the drow fighter "boss" guesturing "bring it on" when we entered the final room. My dwarf won init, charged (with 2 points Power Attack), critted, avoided the darkness miss chance, and dealt about 35 points of damage to the cocky elf in the opening blow. Not quite sure where all the pieces ended up. That's what Moradin thinks of drow invading his fortress!

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It did highlight some issues with the 3.5 ruleset, though:

(1) You need to be familiar with the rules to get the most out of your PC. I was the only player at the table who really understood how to combine mobility and attacks to maximum effect.

My mate isn't bad, but it's one thing to play a spring-attacking human fighter (his PC in my campaign) and another to play a dual-axe wielding halfing. The girl playing the human skirmisher never really exploited her Spring Attack mobility (she DMs a group, but it's basically a D&D sticker on rules-lite gameplay). And the two least confident players (the guy and girl pair) ended up with the two spellcasters.

While leads me to:
(2) If it's hard to play a physical PC well, it's even harder to do a spellcaster.

Clerics require finesse to know when to buff, when to spell-attack, and when to physical attack; while the player was joining in, he was on the quiet side, and a little out of his depth with all his options. Similarly, the girl playing the sorcerer wasn't confident with the range of options open to her, nor the tactical positioning to use her spells well.

But thanks to WotC (for the game) and SGC (for hosting): I expected a light D&D game with some new faces, and I wasn't disappointed.

Addendum: I realise there are financial issues, but I'd love to see more tactical maps bundled with modules. It's so much prettier than drawing them out yourself as you go.
Narf_the_Mouse
11-13-07, 06:43 PM Sounds like they were mostly new players, which means role-playing might be getting some new gamers, which is cool.

(You know, the forums really need a RP forum...And not just because I'm currently game-play-less (GMing two))
Board_Rider
11-13-07, 08:35 PM I too enjoyed gameday as a DM. Most players were experienced but it was a good time.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Nom 11-13-07, 06:38 PM	I thought I'd post a positive report on my experiences of the D&D game day. Venue: Sydney Games Centre (http://www.sydneygamescentre.com/), Sydney, Australia We had a row of four tables near the back of the "shop". It was a little squeezy, but not too bad, and far enough away from the MtG players that we didn't get noise spillover. There were four groups: 2x 5 adults, 1x 3 adults, and 1x 3 kids, plus DMs. Myself and a mate joined a group with another guy and girl and the DM and one of his friends. The adventure was fun, although slightly predictable if you'd read the stat cards beforehand (paladin => krenshar, scorching ray => cold critter, dwarves and favoured enemy goblins => well, you can guess). Nothing heavy, just a light dungeon crawl with 5 (possibly 6) combat encounters and one environmental encounter. Terrain was varied enough to give interesting options; at least two combat encounters deliberately mixed in terrain effects. DM was good and flexible. He enjoyed getting into it, though I was occasionally slightly irked when he did cool flavour narrations for my actions (do them for the NPCs, and encourage us to do our own!). Didn't railroad, and was quite creative and flexible in adapting the rules. Highlight of the adventure was the drow fighter "boss" guesturing "bring it on" when we entered the final room. My dwarf won init, charged (with 2 points Power Attack), critted, avoided the darkness miss chance, and dealt about 35 points of damage to the cocky elf in the opening blow. Not quite sure where all the pieces ended up. That's what Moradin thinks of drow invading his fortress! Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It did highlight some issues with the 3.5 ruleset, though: (1) You need to be familiar with the rules to get the most out of your PC. I was the only player at the table who really understood how to combine mobility and attacks to maximum effect. My mate isn't bad, but it's one thing to play a spring-attacking human fighter (his PC in my campaign) and another to play a dual-axe wielding halfing. The girl playing the human skirmisher never really exploited her Spring Attack mobility (she DMs a group, but it's basically a D&D sticker on rules-lite gameplay). And the two least confident players (the guy and girl pair) ended up with the two spellcasters. While leads me to: (2) If it's hard to play a physical PC well, it's even harder to do a spellcaster. Clerics require finesse to know when to buff, when to spell-attack, and when to physical attack; while the player was joining in, he was on the quiet side, and a little out of his depth with all his options. Similarly, the girl playing the sorcerer wasn't confident with the range of options open to her, nor the tactical positioning to use her spells well. But thanks to WotC (for the game) and SGC (for hosting): I expected a light D&D game with some new faces, and I wasn't disappointed. Addendum: I realise there are financial issues, but I'd love to see more tactical maps bundled with modules. It's so much prettier than drawing them out yourself as you go.
Narf_the_Mouse 11-13-07, 06:43 PM	Sounds like they were mostly new players, which means role-playing might be getting some new gamers, which is cool. (You know, the forums really need a RP forum...And not just because I'm currently game-play-less (GMing two))
Board_Rider 11-13-07, 08:35 PM	I too enjoyed gameday as a DM. Most players were experienced but it was a good time.