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This report details the level one encounters for our playtest. There are ten encounters in total, eight of them involving combat and at the end of them our four characters had achieved a total of 1670 exp.
This was my son’s first time running his father through an adventure and he was pretty excited about it. For the most part, I let him run things, but because I wanted the testing to be both valid and worthwhile, I did at times play the role of a rules-lawyer, making sure things were adjucated correctly and occassionally making suggestions as to monster tactics. Sometimes he listened concerning tactics, sometimes he didn’t. Overall it was fun and there were a couple of issues raised that I will deal with at the end of this report. We played a total of about three and a half hours. These were split up into two sessions over two days. In many ways this game felt a lot like the games I used to play when I was a kid and it was nice to see my kids having the same experience, away from the more story-driven adventurers that I tend to run for them.
Our Characters were as follows and in order to determine ability scores, I rolled 4d6, dropped 1 die, and placed the numbers in the order I rolled. Furthermore, before I rolled, I determined their race so that there was no guarantee of optimal numbers. After the numbers were rolled, I chose a class. This was fun and is fast becoming my method of choice for character creation. They were given minimal armor and equipment for a faster start.
Hob, CG Halfling Sorcerer 1 (Fey Bloodline):
Skills/Feats: Appraise +5, Spellcraft +5, UMD +7; Fey Bloodline, Eschew Materials, Dodge.
Spells Known: Cantrips - Daze, Detect Magic, Prestidigitation, Light; 1st – Magic Missile, Sleep.
Thug, NG Half-orc Barbarian 1:
Skills/Feats: Climb +8, Perception +6, Survival +6, Swim +8; Rage (5 pts), Weapon Focus (Great-ax).
Tuck, LG Dwarf Cleric 1 (Torag):
Skills/Feats: Appraise +6, Craft (Stonecutting) +6, Craft (Smithing) +6, Knowledge (Religion) +6; Toughness.
Domains: Earth (Acid Dart); Artificer (Artificer’s Touch) .
Slim, CG Half-elf Rogue 1:
Skills/Feats: Acrobatics +7, Appraise +7, Climb +4, Craft (woodworking) +7, Disable Device +7, Escape Artist +7, Knowledge +7, Perception +5, Sleight of Hand +10, Stealth +7, Survival +5; Skill Focus (sleight of hand), Improved Initiative.
Observations from Character Creation:
#1: The sorcerer bloodlines are a pretty nifty idea. A fey born halfling just seemed so right and immediately flavored the character.
#2: Though bard is the new favored class of halflings, the new bonus to charisma makes sorcerers a nice option for this little race.
#3: The half-elves skill focus feat means that one skill is going to have very high numbers. I chose sleight of hand on a whim but if I had to do it again, I would probably have put the focus on Acrobatics for slim.
#4: I really like the new toughness feat. A dwarf with a good constitution taking this feat is almost guaranteed to have the highest hit point total in the group. Even at 2nd level, the dwarf cleric still has more hp than the Barbarian because of the toughness feat. But I get ahead of myself.
#5: Not a lot to say about the Barbarian at this point
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For this playtest, we played through the encounters as they were basically detailed in SGoS. The monsters were not altered for the Alpha rules except to switch the grapple for CMBs when applicable. There was no difficulty on my son’s part in switching out listen, spot and hide for perception and stealth when necessary or comparing one set of skills against another. As far as running Alpha PCs against 3.5 NPCs there was no problem with compatibility. Each Encounter includes a blow by blow description for those interested in Battle Reports. Some encounters were much longer than others. Read them at your own risk.
Encounter 1: EL 2 (3 Hobgoblins CR ½)
During the first round, Tuck sped around the corner and missed a hobgoblin guard with his crossbow. Hob, hiding behind the dwarf, cast a sleep spell but all the hobgoblins made their saves. Tuck was the obvious target and the hobgoblins we could see charged the dwarf, one of them hitting him for 5 points of damage. Wanting to gain a flanking attack, Slim tried to tumble into position but provoked an AoO which missed. Once in position, the half elf thrust the unfortunate guard through with his rapier (12 points of damage with a critical and a sneak attack). This did bring Slim into the view of the Hobgoblin archer just out of sight and the archer loosed an arrow at the half elf which missed. Finally the slow but steady Thug charged at the hobgoblin still attacking Tuck and missed.
Round two began and Tuck once more missed his foe. But Hob cast daze and the hobgoblin this time failed his save and thus missed his action. Slim moved in to flank the dazed hobgoblin, missed and in turn was missed by the archer. Thug however landed a solid blow with his Great Ax and the hobgoblin guard went down. This left the archer who was on a five foot high balcony in the east part of the room.
Tuck reloaded his crossbow and Hob shot a Magic Missile at the Archer, hitting for 5. The archer looked paniced and ready to flee. Slim, following the advice of his comrades moved to block the escape route of the Archer. The Hobgoblin Archer, his route blocked remained where he was and fired an arrow at Slim, striking him. Thug charged the balcony and attacked the high target, missing.
Tuck, beginning round four, fired his crossbow though he had little chance of hitting with Thug in the way. He missed but Hob, taking a step forward once more used his Daze spell and the Archer failed his save. Slim, seeing his chance, charged up the short ladder at the archer but he missed his attack. Thug, having a rare brainstorm, decided to try something different and grabbed the hobgoblins feet. He succeeded in this and after some discussion it was decided by the rules that he could not pull the hobgoblin off the ledge until the next round and another successful grapple.
Tuck took the time to switch weapons and Hob once more successfully dazed the archer. Slim once more missed and Thug failed his second grapple attempt and could not pull the archer down.
Tuck, instead of using his hammer, joined Thug in trying to pull the hobgoblin off the ledge, but he too failed. And the this time the Hobgoblin resisted another Daze attack. Slim continued to stab futiley but as luck would have it the archer fared no better in attacking him. Thug tried to swat him with his big ax, missed and Tuck missed with his hammer. Finally Hob, growing weary of all of this, fired off his third first level spell of the day and brought down the archer with a well placed magic missile. Throats were slit and the bodies were looted. After this Tuck used a channeling energy to help with his and Slim’s wounds.
NEW RULES USED: CMB, unlimited Cantrips (Daze in particular), Channel Positive Energy.
QUESTIONS THAT AROSE: Using a GRAPPLE attempt to grab the hobgoblins archers legs seemed like a good idea and the rules worked but we weren’t sure if it shouldn’t have immediately pulled the hobgoblin down. It might have been better to view the attack as a TRIP attempt instead of a GRAPPLE. Or maybe a combination of the two – TRIP followed by GRAPPLE.
Encounter 2: EL 1 (3 Goblins CR 1/3)
Hob tried to begin the encounter by using daze once more but to no effect. Thug was more successful in charging at the goblin in the east corner and hopping up on a crate, he brought his mighty ax down upon the goblins head. The goblins on the other side of the room decided to both throw javelins at Tuck and both of them hit for a combined damage of 4.
Round 1 proper began with Slim shooting at one of the goblins and looking it up in Alpha, we decided his cover was 3 because the barrels and crates were only half the height of the PCs (+6/2). Slim missed, his arrow striking the barrels instead. Hob tried dazing again, again unsuccessfully and Thug charged across the room and felled another of the goblins. The third and final goblin, seeing which way the wind was blowing jumped out of his cover and ran east. We followed… right into encounter 3.
NEW RULES USED: Cover, unlimited Cantrips (daze again)
COMMENT: The unlimited use of Daze is useful but I can see it being a bit repetitious as a fallback option.
Encounter 3: EL 2+ (2 Goblin Troopers CR 1; 1 Goblin CR 1/3)
Round 1 began with Hob, from just out of the room, casting sleep into the room. To the fleeing goblin’s horror, his two companions (the more valiant fighters) fell asleep. Immediately the frightened monster tried shaking one of them awake. As the goblin tried to awake and stand up, Tuck hit him with a well placed acid dart that failed to do much damage (-1). Thug raged and charged the now injured goblin, missing.
Slim, now entering the room to begin round 2, went straight for the sleeping goblin trooper and tried a coup-de-gras. He did 10 damage which was enough to wake the small monster up. Hob, no almost in the room, tried and failed to daze the goblin fighting Thug. The Goblin Trooper next to Slim stood up, avioding the AoO and in turn missed the half elf. As the other Goblin Trooper tried to stand, Thug, still raging, finished him off with an AoO and then for good measure chopped down the other goblin next to him. Tuck meanwhile joined Slim in trying to kill the remaining Goblin.
Slim and Tuck were both ineffective in harming the last Goblin but Hob, now in the room, dazed him a good one. Thug ceased his raging, and though he was now exhausted, he moved into a flanking position and finished off the third goblin. Score: Goblins 0 – Thug 3.
NEW RULES USED: More dazing, rage points (Thug used 3 of his 5).
Encounter 4: EL 3 (Ankheg CR 3)
This was a big fight and so Tuck began it by casting bless. Thug, fresh once more, whacked it for 15 points of damage with his ax. Slim in turn added to his string of failed attacks. The Ankheg was about to attack but before he did so, Hob had a trick up his sleeve. Daze wouldn’t work on the Ankheg but maybe Laughing Touch would. Hob calling on his Fey heritage touched the large monster and it began laughing. Hob took a five foot step back
Laughing Ankhegs seem weird.
Round two and Tuck hits with his hammer for 3. Thug hit it for another 7. Slim… missed. Hob took another five foot step away from the creature and pulled out his sling. The Ankheg, laughing no longer, bit Thug for 7 points of damage. The Ankheg’s CMB was calculated to be +9 and it rolled to grapple Thug but failed.
Tuck hit the Ankheg again for 2, but Thug and Slim both missed. Before the Ankheg could again bite Thug, a small sling stone cracked it in the head and it collapsed.
NEW RULES USED: Laughing Touch, CMB.
COMMENTS: Though Thug did more damage with his Great Ax, this fight really belonged to Hob. It doesn’t really seem right that an Ankheg would be susceptible to a laughing touch, but the rules say it will affect any Creature, which would include Vermin, Constructs, undead and giant Digging Insects. Laughing Iron Golems or Skeletons would seem even stranger than Laughing Ankhegs. Perhaps the fey nature will affect these things or perhaps the rule should be narrowed to living creatures.
Encounter 5: EL 1 (3 Dire Rats CR 1/3)
The next round was a dud for everyone. Thug and Slim missed their rats. Hob tried to charge in and touch one of the rats but it scampered out of his reach. The two rats both missed and Tuck retrieved his hammer.
Thug began the next round by chopping one of the dire rats in half. Slim moved around to flank his rat but still missed Hob and the Rat missed each other and then Tuck, with a flank attack smashed the Rat dead.
NEW RULES USED: Attempts to use Laughing Touch all failed.
Encounter 6: EL 2+ (2 Goblin Troopers CR 1; 3 Goblin Scouts CR 1/3)
Round 1 began with slim charging one of the goblins and striking it for 8. Hob moved to the top of the stairs and attempted to Daze one of the goblins but failed. The uninjured goblin made a wide run around the room to flank Slim but despite their flanking him, both goblins missed the half-elf. Thug was in Tucks way to attack so he delayed his action and Thug hit a goblin for 7 and then moved out of his way. Tuck moved in to attack but with another fumble he again dropped his hammer and it bounced down the stairs away from him.
Round 2 began with Slim moving out from between the two goblins but he missed his target when he attacked. Hob again failed a daze attempt and about this time he and Tuck became aware of goblins moving across the bridge towards the stairs they were on. The two goblins again moved to attack Slim and one of them hit him for 7. Tuck fired an acid dart at the approaching goblins, grazing one. Thug, still focused on the two goblins in the room missed.
The new goblins charged at Tuck and Hob, one of them throwing a javelin, the others brandishing swords. All of them missed. Slim tried to tumble into a flanking position with one of the goblins across from Thug, provoked a futile AoO and then criticaled the goblin with a well placed blow to the monster’s heart (-13). Hob tried to laughing touch the goblin next to him, missed and backed up to the top of the steps. Meanwhile the remaining Goblin Trooper decided to try to Bullrush Thug off the edge of the room into the Chamber with the Maug. He failed but Thug also failed to connect any blows despite having two chances to hit. Tuck meanwhile moved to the top of the stairs and hit the goblin he had grazed earlier with another acid dart (-3). His hammer was out of reach, under the feet of the Goblins.
The two Goblins pressing the attack on Hob and Tuck both landed minor blows whilst their comrade picked up his javelin. Slim flanked the goblin trying to rush Thug off the ledge but missed. Hob, drawing out his staff, failed to hit the goblin attacking him and moved into the room. Thug, avoiding the Bullrush once more, struck a decisive blow and killed the remaining Goblin Trooper. Tuck still moving back, once more fired an acid dart from his fingers, this time dropping the goblin he had hit now with three of them.
Hob’s goblin continued to miss the halfling but the new goblin charging up struck Tuck for 5. Slim, leaping in stabbed the creature with his rapier for 4. Hob and Thug both failed to strike the other goblin but Tuck moved out of melee and cast guidance on Slim.
The two goblins both missed their targets and Slim under the effects of the Guidance landed a light but crucial blow to his goblin, felling it. Hob failed to daze the remaining goblin but Thug promptly hit it over the head for 17 points of damage and the fight was over.
NEW RULES USED: Acid Darts, CMB (Bull Rush), Unlimited Cantrips (Daze and Guidance), Failed Laughing Touch
COMMENTS: 1- Tuck has a horrible aim but the fact that Acid Dart is a Touch Attack greatly helps with that problem. 2 – The game really needs some uniform Fumble rules. Either that or I’m going to have to break down and buy the Critical Fumble Deck.
Encounter 7: EL 3 (1 Maug CR 3)
COMMENTS: This was the end of our first adventuring day and it went pretty well, six full fights at an average EL of 2.
Encounter 8: EL 3+ (1 Howler CR 3; 3 Goblin Scroungers CR 1/3)
The Howler repaid our efforts by dropping Thug with a single bite. Fortunately, it did not follow through with it’s quills and finish him (The DM misunderstood the quill attack despite my enquiry as to ‘whether the Howler was going to attack Thug further). Hob hit it with another powerful magic missile (5) and though Slim missed with his arrow, Tuck hit it with an acid dart for 6. Thug meanwhile rolled a 05 on the percentage dice and stabilized.
The Howler rushed at the party and howled but was constrained by the lines on the floor from closing with the ranged attackers. Hob then finished it off with a third magic missile, once more rolling a solid 5 damage.
Above the Howler’s room, on a balcony we saw three goblins struggling to put on their armor. Tuck rushed forward and used a converted spell to cure some of Thug’s damage, Thug stood up and Hob used his fourth spell to cast sleep on the goblins. All three fell asleep. Slim strolled up the stairs and soon all three goblins were dead. The room was then looted.
NEW RULES USED: Acid Dart.
COMMENTS: Thug should have died in this encounter but did not only due to DM error. Nevertheless my son the DM was quite impressed at how fast we managed to finish off this potentially difficult encounter. Again, Tuck with a –1 ranged attack would miss a barn but could hit upon occasion when he only needed to make a touch attack.
Encounter 9: EL 1 (2 Hobgoblins CR ½)
Thug charged down the stairs at the hobgoblins and though Thug was raging, charging and had a height bonus (+12 total bonus IIRC), he still missed. Slim firing an arrow likewise missed. Tuck however, with a –1 ranged attack, hit one with an acid dart (2 damage). Such are the vagaries of the dice. The hobgoblins wisely focused on the raging barbarian but they must have been put off by his fierce countenance because they both missed. Maybe it was the fact he was wearing armor looted from their buddies. Hob, acting last, dazed one of the Hobgoblins.
Slim dropped his bow and drew his rapier, moving down the steps. Thug, in his second round of rage, cleft one of the Hobgoblins open. Tuck, moving behind Slim, cast guidance and Hob dazed the second Hobgoblin.
Slim, though buoyed by the Guidance spell, still managed to miss. Thug, still raging, moved to flank the dazed hobgoblin but he too missed. Tuck cast guidance once more and the Hobgoblin this time resisted the Daze attempt.
Slim once more missed but Thug, with his last remaining round of Rage, killed the Hobgoblin and the fight was over.
NEW RULES USED: Raging, Unlimited Cantrips and Orisons (Daze and Guidance)
Encounter 10: EL 1 (Scythe Trap CR 1)
COMMENTS: Our second adventuring day was shorter than the 1st. This was partly because we burned through spells faster and partly because we wanted to level up.
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For those interested here are the advanced characters. The play testing should continue later this week after homework and such is finished.
Hob, CG Halfling Sorcerer 2 (Fey Bloodline):
Skills/Feats: Appraise +6, Spellcraft +6, UMD +8; Fey Bloodline, Eschew Materials, Dodge.
Spells Known: Cantrips - Daze, Detect Magic, Prestidigitation, Light, Dancing Lights; 1st – Magic Missile, Sleep.
Thug, NG Half-orc Barbarian 2:
Skills/Feats: Climb +9, Perception +7, Survival +7, Swim +9; Rage (8 pts), Weapon Focus (Great-ax), Uncanny Dodge, Animal Fury (1d6+6).
Tuck, LG Dwarf Cleric 2 (Torag):
Skills/Feats: Appraise +7, Craft (Stonecutting) +7, Craft (Smithing) +7, Knowledge (Religion) +7; Toughness.
Domains: Earth (Acid Dart, magic stone 1/day); Artificer (Artificer’s Touch, Animate Rope 1/day) .
Slim, CG Half-elf Rogue 2:
Skills/Feats: Acrobatics +8, Appraise +8, Climb +5, Craft (woodworking) +8, Disable Device +8, Escape Artist +8, Knowledge +8, Perception +6, Sleight of Hand +11, Stealth +8, Survival +6; Skill Focus (sleight of hand), Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse, Evasion.
Comments on advancing:
1) Magic Stone as a regular spell has always struck me as being a potential waste. It assumes the use of a sling and it so often seems that my characters that end up with it don’t need it.
2) In an odd coincidence, 3 out of 4 characters all received exactly 10 hps for second level. As noted, high constitution and toughness combine to keep the Dwarf in the HP lead. He has a guaranteed 7 hp every level and will most often have 10 or 11 each level.