Okay so as a fun little Halloween game I decided to run my group through the Carrion Hill Module with only Characters from the playtest.
It will be run in at least two sessions as we got started rather late for the night.
We have 5 players all with level 5 characters
Characters a built using the "Heroic Array" stats (17,16,15,14,12,10) with the option to take two traits (none taken)
1. Grimhat Kineticist (Aether) 5
2. Edgar Spiritualist (Jealousy Phantasm) 5
3. Pamela Medium (Liar, Bear, Cricket, Owl, Big Sky) 5
4. Nix Ratfolk Occultist 5
5. Drix Ratfolk Psychic (Pain) 5
There was some initial confusion over a couple of points during character creation that were mostly resolved by re-reading the character sheets
1. A question was raised about the Composite Specialization ability of the kineticist even though it never came into play. It's basically assuming that at some juncture the kinetisist must take Expanded Element. It was pointed out that it would be a no brainer to take that particular power but Then again choice is king and there will always be someone who complains that a choice was basically locked in for them if they want to make use of the higher level class ability.
2. The spiritualist had the hardest time. The section dealing with the phantasm manifestation and when and how it can manifest in what way are rather convoluted worded and my player had a hard time working though it (and I was more than a bit confused myself) I'm still not truly sure I have the right of it and I need to read through the section again.
3. Basic feats were chosen, one question was asked by the Kineticist if he could take weapon focus for his blast, as it was similar to a ray. I didn't see the reference in the document anywhere but I allowed it since rays and bombs could be chosen it seemed to make sense. He also took precise shot and point blank shot.
After character creation The initial portion of the night went smoothly with a great deal of role playing. The fluff of these classes make for some great RP moments such as the ratfolk constantly asking the medium exactly which one of the spirits she was channeling at a given time (given that she was channeling the liar, the answer changed each time and the liar was never mentioned).
Other than the mostly social beginning of the module the party didn't manage to make much progress due to a late start. The only real challenge came in the form of two barricaded doors which the occultist managed to strong arm open after rolling back to back natural 20s on a strength check after boosting her physical abilities with her belt implement.
Due to the game starting later than expected and character creation taking a while longer than normal we only managed to get to the first real combat of the book at the end of the night. It was a bit anticlimactic though, it was a push over fight, (3 Dark Creepers (maxed hit points) vs a complete Heroic 5 person level 5 party).
The first Creeper didn't stand a chance as the kineticst tossed a 3d6+3+3 telekinetic blast at it and rolled near max damage. The ratfolk tag teamed another with Hideous Laughter and a lot of stabbing, while the third was brought down by a trance induced bear possessed medium after a couple of blows. The initial impression is that The Kinetisct has the potential for being a nuker of the highest order but one attack is hardly a representative sample.
This is where the session ended for the night it was agreed to pick up at this point tomorrow to continue the story. I'll add a second session report after that.
Awesome report so far! I'm eagerly looking forward to the next session. It sounds like you have a really fun group and they're all having a great time.
Second Session Report (This will take more than the assumed two sessions as the social and roleplay encounters keep getting rather extended, in my mind this a good thing as it speaks to the interesting flavor of the classes and characters).
The party descended into the depths of the Sunless Grove, after finding and exploring the small encampment left by the local cultist, and collecting the myriad of notes that they left lying about, the Occultist used her Object reading ability on one of the bedrolls that were left in the room. She didn't learn terribly much other than it had been there for a decent amount of time, But she did manage to get a glimpse of the owner of be bed roll and because she was an artist as well, make a sketch to give to the mayor.
After this they ventured into the depths of the cave to be met with the site of a ghoul happily dining on one of the former cultist and doing a little light reading.
They managed to open negotiations with said creature but it quickly broke down when he requested they provide him with meals in exchange for the tome he was reading. The occultist immediately rejected the deal and went on the offensive.
The battle progressed quickly, with the occultist not managing to hit the beast but got hit by it instead becoming paralyzed.
The kinetisit once again proved to be the great equalizer as his kinetic blast dealt on average 20+ damage.
This irritated the ghoul and it was about to make for the kineticist when the spiritualist sent her jealousy spirit to flank and managed to get a slam attack imposing the Jealous Combatant penalty on the ghoul.
The physic was playing clean up and simply sent a swarm of magic missiles at the creature.
The second round of combat went much the same with the kinetisict stepping back and blasting the creature again (20+ damage).
The Occultist was still paralyzed, but thanks the the distraction provided by the jealous phantom no one was struck by the creature.
The physic imposed his painful reminder ability on the ghoul ,which did nothing due to the damage being non lethal, but the crossbow bolt that followed immediately after but the creature down for good.
Overall the fight was pretty even, the roles were pretty clearly defined with the occultist being the only person in medium armor advancing to take the hits, the kinetisct functioning as the main offensive hitter, and the spiritualist, psychic and medium filling in the damage and support roles.
After the fight, the party examined the bodies and their equipment, mainly through the occultist's object reading ability.
At this point I am beginning to think that this ability is one of the best in the game as it makes it very easy to cut through the mystery of things provided the occultist has the time to take to read enough objects.
The information she got was enough to pinpoint who the cultists were, though to keep things interesting a few fortitude and will saves were made in order when she examined the gear and got visions of the summoning ritual, and when she examined the tome.
Retreating back to the Mayor's manor and committing the rest of the day to studying the notes. The clock progrssed to the next day after some more social RP time. Again the fluff of these classes makes for some great opportunities, mostly by terrifying the house servants with telekinetic movements and spiritual manifestation, not intentionally mind you but to go and fetch things the characters were too lazy to get up and do themselves.
The next day the mayor sent the adventurers out to deal with the remaining cultists, starting with the middenstone baron. After arriving at the middenstone factory, it took the combined efforts of the psychic and occultist to open the door.
They were then confronted with the eight zombie workers that the foreman kept as cheap labor. The ensuing fight was again resolved fairly quickly with the kineticist taking one out per blast, The occultist played the roll of the tank keeping the zombie's from attacking her comrades, and making a respectable showing with her sword.
The Psychic picked a few off with magic missile while the spiritualsit sent his phantasm around delivering touch spells. The medium had the toughest time of it as a bit of poor positioning left her open to attack and while she was using the bear as her primary spirit her weapon of choice was a mace, against zombies not a good choice. She suffered about 3/4 of he hit points in damage before the others were able to come to her rescue.
Due to unforseen time constraints this is where the session ended for the night. They currently stand outside the cultist door ready to break it down.
After the encounter I asked if anyone had any concerns with the classes or abilities again. The group consensus was that these classes were a lot of fun to play and had very interesting mechanics.
That being said, the spiritualist still had concernes over the complexity of the use of the phantom and how exactly to declare what type of manifestaion it had.
The Medium player really enjoyed her character, but thought that, when i mentioned how many different spirits there would be to choose from in the end that their may be some analysis paralysis going on when all of the spirits are added in.
The kineticist was probably the most happy with his class, and other than a few misread lines in the play test document and a desire to have the expanded element and combination mechanics explained a bit clearer had no issues.
The occultist had no issues and felt the class was blanaced. As GM I have a slight concern about how easy the object reading makes getting info but that is the most of it.
The phsyic also had no real issues but expressed the fact that he would have liked more dicipliens to choose from.
Unfortunately this will be the last session of this game for a couple of weeks as two of my players are going on an anniversary trip. I will contiune to update this session log when we get back to it in about two weeks or so.