I'm running two campaigns (thus group #). This group consists of players with 8+ years of experience who've played 3rd and 3.5. We played twice this week, the first time using the Alpha 2 rules and just used Alpha 3 today. The campaign takes place in the Forgotten Realms, near the outskirts of the Green Fields and I'm running the Sunless Citadel adventure. I very rarely use published adventures, and when I do I often have taken the liberty of changing things. The first session consisted of four PCs and one NPC.
The Mage
Gnome Sorcerer (Infernal Bloodline) 1
HP 15 AC 14
Str 8
Dex 17
Con 20
Int 13
Wis 15
Cha 20
Ranged Attack +4 (1d6 lt. crossbow)
CMB 0
Feats Toughness
Saves Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +5
Skills Appraise +6, Fly +6, Spellcraft +8, Use Magic Device +8
Notable Possessions wand of cure light wounds
The Sneak
Halfling Rogue 1
HP 11 AC 19
Str 10
Dex 18
Con 14
Int 18
Wis 14
Cha 14
Melee Attack +0 (1d6 small rapier)
Ranged Attack +4 (1d3 hand crossbow)
CMB 0
Feats Careful Targeting
Saves Fort +3, Ref +7, Will +3
Skills Acrobatics +10, Appraise +8, Bluff +6, Climb +6, Diplomacy +6, Disable Device +8, Disguise +6, Escape Artist +8, Linguistics +8, Perception +6, Sleight of Hand +8, Stealth +8
Notable Possessions 3 potions of cure light wounds
The Bruiser
Human Fighter 1
HP 14 AC 17
Str 20
Dex 14
Con 17
Int 16
Wis 15
Cha 12
Melee Attack +7 (2d6+7 medium greatsword)
CMB 6
Feats Cleave, Improved Initiative*, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (greatsword)
Saves Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +2
Skills Acrobatics +6, Climb +9, Intimidate +5, Perception +0*, Survival +6, Swim +9
Notable Possessions none
* The player took a -4 on all Perception checks in order to gain an additional feat.
The Priest (NPC)
Half-Drow Cleric 1 (Travel, Trickery)
HP 9 AC 17
Str 13
Dex 15
Con 12
Int 13
Wis 19
Cha 16
Melee Attack +1 (1d6+1 medium short sword)
CMB 1
Feats Shape Energy (ray)*, Skill Focus (perception)
Saves Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +6
Skills Knowledge (religion) +5, Perception +10, Spellcraft +5
Notable Possessions none
* I've adapted an old house rule feat and allows the cleric to alter the shape into either a ray or cone. Also, being half-drow, the Priest has darkvision as opposed to low-light vision.
The party included another rogue similar to the Sneak, but has since changed to a ranger, the only real notable difference is that the player took the Throw Anything feat. Some of the house rules we use include the following:
Roll 4d6s twelve times, keeping the best six for stats
Using all books available, but most of the players are excited about the Pathfinder feats
Max HP for the first 3 levels
Diagonal movement counts as 5' unless it is adjacent to an enemy or obstruction.
Initiative is rolled at the beginning of every round.
Encounter in the Fields
Challenge Rating 2/3
The Bruiser and the Mage were keeping watch. It had been raining for most of the day and there was no wood to build a fire. The Mage had failed a Perception (sight) check but succeeded a Perception (hearing) check. The Mage immediately cast light alerting him to the two twig blights. During the surprise round the PCs used their actions to rouse their allies and the twig blights closed in on the camp. The battle was short, with the Bruiser make short work of one with the Priest and the other rogue (not the Sneak) finished off the other, but not before the Priest was poisoned.
On the Ledge
Challenge Rating 1
The party made it to the rift by nightfall the next day and decided to rest before pressing on. The party was at full health with all spells. The other rogue climbed the 30' down to the ledge below, followed by the Mage. The Mage cast light and both rolled a Perception (sight) check. They succeeded their checks detected the three dire rats. The Mage and the other rogue held off the dire rats while the Bruiser attempted to climb down the rope to help. He rolled a 1 on his Climb check and fell, the Priest followed closely behind (having also rolled a 1). Albeit a fast way to get down, they both took substantial damage. Normally I have characters roll a Concentration check in order to use a spell-like ability under duress but since its not its skill that can be used untrained I ruled that such abilities couldn't. As such, the Priest wasn't able to save himself from the fall with dimensional hop. The Bruiser and the Priest were able to take the heat off of the Mage while the other rogue was being backed up from the Sneak who was sniping from above (using Careful Targeting). The party was a little worse for wear, but the Priest was able to patch both himself and the Bruiser to the point that the party could continue on.
Inside the Secret Door
Challenge Rating 1
The party had avoided all but one of the traps, which did only slight damage to the Bruiser. The Priest passed within ten feet of the secret door and rolled a successful Perception check. Pointing it out to the Sneak he preceded to check the door for traps. Detecting nothing out of the ordinary, the Mage cast detect magic and sensed the faint presence of magic on the other side. The Sneak entered the room followed by the Mage. The trio of skeletons rose against them but not before the Sneak had won initiative and dealt a sneak attack (the player was excited to finally be effective against undead). The pair of PCs, who were joined the next round by the other rogue, managed to hold them off with acid splash, rapier, and thrown rocks (dealing next to no damage) until the Bruiser was able to come in and reduce the skeletons to dust.
Overall Reactions
All and all, everyone saw something they liked about the new changes. The Bruiser typically plays fighters and looks forward to the options available due to combat feats. The player that played the Sneak almost plays rogues exclusively, I was almost afraid of losing him as a player as he became so frustrated with being ineffective against monsters that they were typically confronted with at higher levels (namely undead and golems). The Mage usually plays a frontline combatant but seems to genuinely enjoy playing a caster, especially with the increased durability afforded by his class hit die and Toughness.
It took us all a while to figure out the rules and make characters. The whole notion behind trained skills and trained class skills is still kind of confusing for us but we managed to put in some good solid hours of play until we stopped for the night. I will post the next session soon but would like to get some feedback (especially from the designers) as to what type of information would be helpful.