See part 1 here.The interesting thing about a D&D session that consisted entirely of one fight is that I can relate it through the classic phases of a D&D combat encounter. What’s that you say? Over the last 10 years, ever since I started playing 3e, I noticed that all fun combat encounters shared similar phases such as:
• Exploration: What is the DM going to send at us this time?
• Contact: I have a 23 does that hit? No? It Grabs me? What the hell?!?.
• Panic/Despair: Oh 5#1t! We’re all going to die!
• Turning point: Yay, they’re fraking bloodied!
• Mop-up: Victory! This fight is ours, we just need to kill them now!
Of course, this is not the only formula of a well designed encounter and it does not cover PC defeat. However, I’ve seen it many times so let’s relate the encounter in those terms.
Exploration
The encounter began with all PCs starting on the floor level. The Philosopher Grell (A Controller) and 3 Horrid Grells (Soldiers) started on the other side of the map, flying 2 squares (10’) over the highest platform.
As I mentioned before, all Grells were already bloodied and I assumed that they had all used their Action points. It worked out beautifully; I never felt that the fight went into grind.
Most of the party rapidly moved to the nearest structure and climbed the numerous ladders to the second level. I explained that the Reservoirs were massive and made of cast iron. Fangs had had time to study while ‘away’ last game. I explained that weak spots could be targeted (at a level adequate DC) and the reservoirs could be punctured to spill out their content. Thus, Corwin (Halfling Sorcerer) sent an Acid Orb that destroyed a weak weld point… the resulting gush of Toxic Goop (too far to hit anyone) started filling the whole floor.
Yan: These little cans can fill the whole area?
Chatty (thinking rapidly): The cans represent the bottom part of the reservoir which are much larger above that point! So each ‘can’ will flood the whole map by 1 square.
Math: That means that we can’t pop them all now, there’ll only be the 3rd floor available by then!
Chatty (Smiling evilly): that’s the idea.
As the dungeon filled up, I told the players that the goop ‘attacked’ everyone in it at the top of each round. Almost everyone climbed on the second level… except Yan’s Barbarian (Nanoc)… he chose to charge another reservoir instead.
Instant Contact to Despair/Frustration
The PCs moved to the second floor and the Grells moved toward the middle of the map splitting in four. The group divided in 3 sub team without really discussing it, a rare occurrence with my players.: Corwin and Rocco (Stef’s Halfling rogue) climbed to the 3rd level of the structure, Nanoc splashing in the goop, charged a second reservoir (and missed) while Fangs, Usul (Invoker) and Dworkin (Shaman) advanced toward the Grells from the second level. Then the proverbial piece of terminally digested food hit the no less proverbial aeration apparatus. From the first damaged Vat,came a bio-mechanical construct built like a Serpent. It shot a beam of focused radiant light right into the face of Usul, blinding him and started repairing the reservoir. The Grell Philosopher sent out a psychic call and 6 Headsquid Zombies rose from all over the map and attacked (and new ones kept coming back when they were killed). The Philosopher then sent a Psychic Storm, hitting Fangs, Dworking and blind Usul, hurting them and dazing them.
Nanoc for his part experienced the effect of the Toxic Goop, a combination of Acid and psychic energies that hurt him and dazed him. A Grell reached him and grabbed him, putting him in dire straits. The remaining 2 Grells moved in on Rocco and Corwin, pincer style.
By round 3 all players were excited and worried. The Goop’s dazing effect made the fight quite harder and with 12 monsters (4 Grells, 2 Arctide Welders and 6 Headsquid Zombies) on the board the situation looked grim. We had reached the ‘Oh Crap’ stage for sure.
However, it became clear to me that one player was NOT having fun. Mike seemed downright pissed off, having his character dazed and blinded while failing save after save. On top of it all, he had missed a few important early fight attacks, compounding his frustration.
Now having an angry player at the table is always a touchy thing. At any moment the player can have an emotional outburst that may scrap the whole evening or, at the very least, dampen a good part of the evening. While I knew enough not to take it personally (it’s just a game and sometimes your dice (or the DM’s) roll against you, I didn’t want to add to his frustration on purpose. I also decided against broaching the subject with him at that time. I’ve yet seen someone have a rational discussion when angry and he was in what I call ‘smoldering’ mode. I was however confident that the game would turn his mood around eventually. In fact, often the best solution to anger is to let it pass.
So I refrained from having the Grells attack him while he was disadvantaged and let the game do it’s thing.
Turns out I was right.
Turning Point and Mop Up.
The fight’s turning point occurred when the party managed to control each Grell. It started with dazed and grabbed Nanoc…
Chatty: As the Grell approached to grab you, you noticed that it retracted its tentacles, making sure none touched the Goop you’re wading in.
Yan: Oh! It fears the liquid? Then I freaking hit the Vat so that the stuff sprays us both!
Nanoc did hit, and a huge blast of Goop sprayed out. The Grell was washed away by it and never resurfaced (aberrant creatures got stunned by the liquid, it was my ‘alternative win condition’ to help speed up the fight).
Yan: Hell yeah!
The Warden, having a reach of 2 in his Oak form used his new feat (that I had suggested, woe is me) slowed the Philosopher when I tried to move away toward the Shaman and Invoker. It never left the grips of the Warden and Shaman’s Spirit companions.
Corwin used one of his sorcerer feat/power combos and managed to stop one Grell’s progress by slowing it on each hit and creating a storm zone that kept pushed it away. It stayed in that ‘eddy’ until slain by the Sorcerer.
Rocco on the other hand did it old school style. When he noticed that the remaining Grell was flying right next to the highest point of the 3D structure, he promptly climbed up to the top…and jumped on the Grell! After 2 rounds of sneak attacks, the Grell and rogue plummeted down into the goop. Rocco then rapidly swam onto the nearest platform.
Stef had quite the satisfied smirk on his face. Go you!
The remaining monsters were eventually dispatched.
Epilogue
During the fight, I informed Mike that his character could detect the presence of a strong divine power source in each welder, so much so that he was able to find the still hidden ones and destroy them before they got activated. He recovered relics from each welder, each link to a different god: A pendant of Lolth’s, a chip of Kord’s Axe, A Feather of Erathis’ wings and a key of Sehaine. That last one was the missing key part.
Quest completed!
As the last reservoir was gutted and the whole area completely flooded, I described how everything started bubbling and described the huge Squamous (and Rugose) amorphous creature that rose from the Goop. As the players fled back into the city, I explained that it was giving chase and that the next game would cover that chase and its effect on the city.
Chatty: So picture this. As you leave the Vats, you hear rioting coming from the inner-city, the Vats behind you are overflowing with Toxic Goop and you’ve got a mad Godzilla chasing you, destroying everything in its path.
Yan: That’s freaking cool!
I love this game!
Lessons Learned:
- 3D terrain and gridless gaming works better than expected in 4e. With a good measuring tape and goodwill all around, it’s really easy to adjudicate.
- The Goop should not have dazed PCs. With the Grells already doing this, the Goop could have done something else like a penalty to defense or some ongoing acid/psychic damage.
- A 3 hour fight can work, provided that there is plenty for players to do.
Bonus:
Here’s a few other cool pictures of the game.
Look at this status flags!
Rocco is fighting a headsquid Zombie and a Head Squid while the Grell is stuck in a Storm
The Whole Setup, at the start of the fight.
How did Rocco get combat advantage on the Grell he was “riding”? Did you houserule it or was it through powers that grant CA?
Either way, I heartily applaud the result. There is something truly awesome about “death from above” leaps. They should be encouraged wherever possible in my opinion.
I really like the idea of having flying creatures reachable through the terrain. I’m in the process of planning a battle to open up my next game with. An assassination attempt within the building and a completely seperate invasion of the building complex happening outside and below. should be interesting to see how it goes.
I’ve gleaned that some of the most memeorable parts of the setpiece encounters is the interesting Home rules (ala the goop) and effects of the environment. So i’ll also be working on incorperating some of that.
Thanks Chatty.
Fun game session report!
Sorry if I missed you mentioning it in the text but what’s that terrain you’re using?
.-= Norman Harman´s last blog ..Megadungeon.net =-.
@Colmarr: Rocco has this power that lets him enter a larger opponent’s square and maintain CA for the rest of the encounter or something. It just happens that the monster was 20′ above the Goop line. Otherwise I would have likely allowed the stunt because, as you put it, it was just too cool.
@WhitDnD: You are right, set-pieces are all about terrain and events that occur during the encounter. The trick is to reach a balance between cool stuff and not overcomplicate things. You need to feel comfortable running the whole thing from start to finish, including all the crazy stuff your players will come up with.
@Norman: Thanks. I used the tiles and buildings from Games Workshop Necromunda game, a Warhammer 40k-inspired board game of Urban Skirmishes. It’s been out of print for some time I believe.
Freakin’ excellent CDM. I love the use of the 3d battlemat. And I agree – session-long encounters rock. It’s like focussing on a single scene for an entire episode – it works, so long as you prepare for it and keep the momentum going.
“Encounter” means so much more in 4e, I find.
.-= greywulf´s last blog ..When renders go wrong =-.
It’s always fun using the environment to pull out stunts…
In my case I was so glad to beat the grell without having made a single attack directly on him… hehe!
In Roco(Steph)’s case he had a grin going from one ear to the other while stuck on the Grell . When he finally did the kill we had him make an acrobatic check to see if his dive was good. He rolled splendidly! We all mime raising boards as if we where judge and call him the Alexandre Despatie of our world… 😉
Fun session.
Thanks Chatty, I’ll let you know how it all goes.
@Greywulf: Like anything, the dosage is the thing. I’m sure my players can appreciate a one fight night once in a while… but the next sessions should be more quick scenes and lot’s of story…
In fact, I’m toying with making the next session be totally mapless just to test 4e’s (and my players’) resilience to the concept.
@Yan: That was an awesome scene and he really enjoyed it. I love stuff like that, I feel that most everyone got a little bit of what they were looking for. Again, no one was close to dying but it still was one hell of a setup.
I was going to make a smart aleck comment asking why no one brought a heavy stubber with them but I see the Necromunda angle has already been covered.
.-= Zzarchov´s last blog ..No kingdom for old men – Retiring PC’s =-.
The Heavy Stubber in that game is called Corwin… 🙂