Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 hitogoroshi May 26, 2008 23:02:40	4e is almost here, and I've been working on lore for my campaign (not mechanics, but how to get those mechanics when I get the books in my hands.) I'm a bit surprised with how much depth I've been managing to come up with - must be a maniac phase or something. ANYWAY, my big issue is encounters. Not to doubt that I can, after a bit of calibration, balance an encounter. But I've heard all about KotS having FUN encounters, and I'd like to see how they work before I make my own. Here's my situation. My friend likes DMing and is a very good party leader sort. I'm going to DM my campaign, and he'll be leader (Cleric). BUT, we're going to have an "auxiliary party" as well, with him DMing and I playing a Warlord. The plan is to run characters that aren't everyones first choice in a published adventure. People learn how the system works and how to better make the archetypes they REALLY want, I learn how to make better encounters, and we have an option to tag out whenever we buy an adventure or he writes one so my campaign can get a few breaks. Great situation, really. My question is this - should KotS be our first choice? We would run it after we have the Core books. Is it worth it without the previewness? Are there other options out there? We wouldn't mind starting at a level other then first - remember, this is the "Warmup" party.
#2 snarky_monkey May 26, 2008 23:27:49	Well, KotS will be the only official adventure out till July, so it's a safe start. Doing it when you have the full books will help as well, since some flavor aspects seem to have been left out, such as available equipment and such. There will be a Free RPG day adventure released as well, but for what I believe is something like 90 days, it won't be available except at those stores involved with the Free RPG event. If your looking for something else, there are plenty of player made preview games, but most of these are based on the rumor and speculation of what 4e may have. There is also the D&D EXP adventure out there too I believe, at least one of them or a version anyhow. Still, for a first shot I would keep to Keep on the Shadowfell for a good getting your feet wet kind of situation. EDIT : Oh, plus with the DDI, we don't know what kind of adventures may be released sooner in their Dungeon Magazine section.
#3 oldpep May 27, 2008 17:25:50	If I were going to wait to start until I got the core books, I wouldn't spend the dough in KotS. It's a decent adventure, but the only real selling point is that it's 4E before the core books. I think using any adventure from any source should be very easy to adapt to 4E. Just put suitable 4E monsters and magic items in the place of the ones in the original adventure.
#4 stormonu May 28, 2008 17:03:21	I'd rather just plunk down money for some DDM minis than purchase KotS (I'm borrowing the copy I'm running from one of my players). More complete rules, fights are about the same and you can improvise the RP just as well without the hack job the module presents (Just flip the mini cards to the "RP" stat side when out of combat :P ).
#5 hitogoroshi May 28, 2008 21:16:17	I think perhaps I should rephrase my question... I've heard a lot of praise for KotS. Is that praise just for 4e, or is KotS a good adventure in it's own right?
#6 nsomniak May 28, 2008 22:05:44	I'll say that KotS is fun, and my group is enjoying it. It may just be because DnD is totally new to all of us, except one guy who played a bit in 3.0/5 days. It's a fun adventure and is definitely splashing our minds with DnD concepts, and every encounter adds a new dynamic, and I can see several guys planning their adventures and other things down the road with the ideas that KotS brings. So good for n00bs...just not sure if it's good for all you seasoned veterans.
#7 stormonu May 29, 2008 2:49:00	I think perhaps I should rephrase my question... I've heard a lot of praise for KotS. Is that praise just for 4e, or is KotS a good adventure in it's own right? My personal opinion, 4E is great, KotS is meh. Honestly, I think my 7-year-old son has come up with better adventure designs than KotS. Justin Alexander has a very thorough review of it in another thread that pretty much mirrors my thoughts on this module. Link Here
#8 smerg May 29, 2008 7:32:12	It is a solid adventure. I personally have done some changes to the adventure and plan to do a few more. Then again, there are few adventures that I would run 100% the way that I found them anyways. Winterhaven, the town in the adventure, is nice in that it provides some variety of characters to interact with and some sketches of a regular schedule. The encounters are mostly good and the maps are nice. A couple of encounters, I think, were just to show case a few different monsters. Most adventures might have a little less variety or variety in less of a grab bag fashion. Then again, the variety is nice. Players will lkely not notice things as much as they will be having too much fun running into trouble. I would suggest having dungeon tiles (or a substitute) for handling some of the adventures (not all encounters have maps but all the initial encounters and the important final battles are covered).
#9 hitogoroshi May 29, 2008 17:51:12	A couple of encounters, I think, were just to show case a few different monsters. Most adventures might have a little less variety or variety in less of a grab bag fashion. Thank you for that statement. A "grab bag" is exactly what I'm looking for. So while that could be a major con for most people it's a boon to learn 4e encounter design. So, yeah, glad to hear that.