Play-by-Play. As this is our re-take on the previous adventure (starting over) here's what our first game looked like. He made it ALOT tougher due to our experience with the game now.
Our Party: Dragonborn Warlord - Halfling Rogue - Eladrin Wizard - Elven Ranger - Tiefling Warlock - Dwarven Cleric
Encounter 1: First Encounter was a solo for everybody. The first time we ran this adventure, we each had to kill 2 or 3 Zombie Rotters. This time though, we were faced with something a bit more deadly. Solo... we were faced with a Zombie and 3 Zombie Rotters. Remember, a group of 5 people at 1st level are suppose to deal with 500 point encounters. So, Solo, we were faced with half that (bit over 240).
Anyhows, my Wizard character, Sylph, awakens to a clawing sound on his door at the inn. Things just don't feel right, and so I stealthily put on my Leather Armour while the clawing continues. As I dress, more clawing is heard and something seems to be trying to push its way through the door. Warily, I use Mage Hand to open the door while I hide in the corner of the room, deep within the shadows (Stealth is my Eladrin Skill). The door opens and before me are 3 of my friends from earlier in the evening, and behind them, someone else who looks a bit meaner and tougher. The only problem is, each of these friends is missing a chuck of their body, as if they'd had a vital part of their organs bitten out of them. The white of their eyes tells me that they're quite dead, and have been for awhile.
I launch a Force Orb at the big guy, and with a single spell, the 3 friends drop (dead), while the bigger zombie soaks up 12 damage. He shambles forward, coming right for me place in the corner, so I launch a Magic Missile at him doing 8 points of Damage (20 of 40), and this turn he charges at me, trying to bite me as he opens his mouth far wider than a man should be able to do. I move slightly to one side, causing his attack to miss, and I bring my longsword down on his back, hard. (Natural 20 to hit) killing him instantly.
Encounter 2: (4 GraveHounds + 4 Zombies + 16 Zombie Rotters) Deciding to investigate the happenings of this, I exit my room, and warily make my way below. The ground is covered with blood, old tenants bitten to death and discarded haphazardly throughout the inn. I remain as hidden as I can, exitting the Inn into the main square. The town is quiet, and there are no guards around. So, I move from shadow to shadow wary of other shadows which seem to be moving. Emerging from a small temple on the square is a Dwarf who looks a bit peeved, and starts yelling at the top of his lungs for guards. He is joined by a Dragonborn who seems to be trying to quiet him down. I emerge from the shadows, glad for some company as I hear shambling in the shadows around us. As I approach, a Tiefling and an Elf also exit shadows nearby, congregating together in the center. It's then that we notice the red-eyes coming from a nearby alley.
Turn 1: Without hesitation, the elf loosens 2 arrows (Two Fanged Strike) into one of the beasts before I can even cast a simple Force Orb spell. (39 damage between the 2 of us on the same GraveHound). They approach, and from the shadows behind them a Halfling jumps out at the one nearest him, slamming into it with a Rapier (22 Damage from Torturous Strike). The Dwarf raises a Holy Symbol and floods the beasts with radiant light (Turn Undead) and all 3 of them stop in their tracks. The Tiefling does something funny with his eyes (Eyebite) and one of the Gravehounds falls dead. The Dragonborn slams into another (Wolf Tactics) causing 15 damage to the one the Halfling attacked.
Turn 2: The Cleric yells out for us to wait, and he casts Divine glow (we hold our actions, waiting until the spell is cast). The elf slams 2 arrows (Twin Strike) into an undamaged Hound as I Magic Missile it and the Tiefling Eyebites it killing it in the process. With a Sly Flourish, the Halfling disembowels his target with the help of another Wolf Pack Tactics from the Dragonborn. The Death Jaws misses its attack on the Halfling, barely.
Turn 3: We finish off the last of the GraveHounds but not before it bites the Dragonborn one, and in its death throes it gets the Halfling too (both take damage, both save vs the Necrotic effect).
Turn 4: We realize the fight's not over, in our focusing on the Hounds, we failed to notice the mob of Zombies coming at us from all around. From each of the 4 directions, there are 4 Rotters led by a Zombie. The Warlord Dragonborn yells for us not to let them surround us as we focus on one side of the battlefield, hoping to make an opening before these relatively slow monsters can close in. Together, the Elf and I clear the Rotters to the north while the Dragonborn breathes fire to the ones coming from east. The Tiefling and the Halfling join with the Cleric to battle the one to the east as the Elf and I turn to face the ones heading our direction from the west, making it a point to stay out of the 4-square movement range.
Turn 5: 1 of the Zombies is killed as the elf and I finish off 4 more Rotters, letting the rest of the team focus on the zombie that approached them from the north. A Critical strike by the Tiefling kills it though, before it can do anything.
Turn 6: The last of the Rotters is killed, we have battlefield control and mobility, and heavily damage one of the zombies.
Turn 7: both zombies die this turn, one due to another critical hit.
Encounter 3: (12 Zombies) We introduce each other, and begin moving through town to find out what's going on and search for other survivors. Our DM, annoyed at how easily the Rotters died (previously we focused first on the tougher creatures, the zombies, so that the Rotters had plenty of time to get into combat, gain combat advantage, etc. This time we'd relied on mobility, and removed the minions early on so that the zombies had no support, and thus, no threat.) had us pushed back into the square. A Thick fog was rolling into town, and on its heals, from all sides came more Zombies... these were strangers to us though, and had a tough look about them that suggested they weren't new to the zombie experience, and were tough.
Turn 1: These attacked in 2 groups of 6 from opposite directions, trying to spread out enough that they'd gain battlefield advantage. We hold our actions so they can get a bit closer, within charge range. A Turn undead let us mobilize to one corner, and focus on 2 zombies that are immobilized. The Elf gets a sweet Crit against the furthest zombie which was not immobilized allowing us to work more easily on the 2 that are immobilized. The warriors dual-team the zombie next to it, getting 38 points of damage to it, just enough that the Warlock can kill it with an Eyebite. Meanwhile I target the other with a Magic Missile, doing 9 damage. The only one within 4 squares is immobilized and wounded, and we own one corner of the battlefield.
Turn 2: The zombies on the farthest side of the battlefield get closer as we maneuver for charges. The 3 Ranged experts (Wizard, Ranger, and Warlock) succesfully kill the immobilized one. This lets the 2 melee experts (Warlord and Rogue) run past it and with some good rolls, they take out the 3rd zombie in a single round.
Turn 3: No delayed actions, the Warlord and Rogue focus again on the closest one, and with the help of an Eyebite spell, kill another as my Magic Missile crits the one past it. They get charged this turn, the WarLord takes 2, the Rogue by one, and the Warlord takes 6 damage. The Cleric is trying to catch up and hates that his longest range power is 5 squares.
Turn 4: Working as a team, the Warlord and Rogue cause the demise of another zombie as our ranged attacks take out yet another. The fight is pretty much over at this point, and the one remaining doesn't hit.
Turn 5: Game Over for the Zombies... We've taken some wounds, but nothing a single Healing Surge won't fix.
Encounter 4: 2 Chillborn zombies + 2 Chillborn Zombies on Turn 3. (These scare us, that Aura says we have to try to take them out from Range at our level...)
Turn 1: Weary from the battle, we're 2nd guessing our decision to investigate and thinking that holing up somewhere secure til morning might be a better idea. We're doubting there are survivors in this town and we can't find them in the dark. As we start looking for a place to hold up, we find the cause of the Fog rolling in... 2 zombies step out of the fog, lurching our direction. These things, while slow, seem kinda fast (they beat most of us on initiative), and not as random as the previous encounters. I Force Orb first, stacked with the Elf who does another Two Fanged Strike, and the Warlock who shows his first non-at-will power since we met him, slamming a Chillborn with a WitchFire. Combined it's 56 points of damage. The approach, but don't get close enough. We stay out of their next range, but the Cleric gets close enough that if they approach him, he'll be able to Turn Undead and then use a movement action to leave.
Turn 2: They don't approach the Cleric, aiming instead for the Rogue who was trying to sneak behind them for Combat Advantage. Still, not close enough to do any harm. The Elf takes out 1 with a Twin Strike. We begin whittling away at the other, doing minimal damage to it when.... The Cleric notices 2 Chillborns coming out of a nearby alley in a position to flank us. He instead moves to allow them access to his Turn Undead.
Turn 3: More Whittling at the remaining/injured Chillborn, but no kill. The 2 newly joined Chillborn get halted in their tracks by the Cleric who gets, not 1, but 2 Crits on his Turn Undead! 2 20's. 14 Damage each, and pushed 6 squares.
Turn 4: We finish off the 1 Chillborn from range.
It got kinda boring here, we move, we range attack, the Warlord and Rogue disappearing to the kitchen to look at some new computer game.... Took the 4 of us about 6 more rounds to kill the last to. Never ever getting in melee with either thanks to that Speed 4 they had going on.
Encounter 5: 1 SkullLord + 1 Shadowhunter Bat
Turn 1: Finding a place that seemed mostly secure, the old Temple that the Cleric had defeated his Zombies from in the beginning of the game, we hole up, and begin boarding up windows in an effort to secure the building. Despite the front door having been barricaded, it bursts open as a creature of pure death silhouettes the doorframe. It is a fully armoured skeleton with 3 heads. 1 has a flame ball in its mouth, another a blizzard/ice ball in its mouth, and the last a ball of black energy in its mouth. DM tells us that he expected cowarding peasants and was completely unprepared for an assault. We have Surprise. (no complaints heard :P)
Having faced a Skull Lord before, we hold our actions for the Cleric to cast his Divine Glow (very needed against this sort). The Warlord goes next and uses his Bastion of Defense, which he Crits on for 33 points of Damage and we all get +8 Temp HPs. Elven Ranger uses Split the Tree which hits both the Bat and SkullLord for 20 damage on the SkullLord (Hunter's Quarry bonus) and only 12 on the Bat. I use Shocking Sphere and miss, but the sphere is directly between the bat and Skull Lord. Our Warlock also misses with his Witchfire. The Rogue maneuvers in a position that he and the Warlord have Flanking positions and uses Sneak Attack with Easy Target which hits for enough damage to destroy a skull.
Turn 2: Skull Lord goes first, but first my Shocking Sphere does 8 damage to it. He attacks our WarLord, needing only a 4+ to hit (vs us all needing around 15+ to hit), and easily bounces a flaming battleaxe off the Warlord's skull. 9 damage to the Warlord Dragonborn. The ShadowHunter Bat goes next, after taking 6 damage from the Shocking sphere, and does a fly-by against the Cleric, however it misses its attack entirely by rolling a 1. Realizing the threat of the bat, our Ranger does a Twin Fanged Strike against it for 24 damage, and I stack that with Magic Missile for another 12 damage. Our Warlock continues to miss with an eyebite attack. Our Rogue maintaining Combat Advantage, hits for 16 points of damage against the SkullLord using Torturous Strike, as the WarLord misses with his attack.
Turn 3: Skull Lord takes another 8 points of damage from the Flaming Sphere before doing another 12 damage to the WarLord, causing him to be Bloodied (8 HPs left). The rest of us attack, the Elf using her re-roll ability to hit after rolling a 1, the Rogue using Sly Flourish and hitting (yet again, good rolls), the rest of us miss, but it takes half-damage from the Turn Undead (Radiant Damage). Enough to take out another skull, and damage the 3rd.
Turn 4: Our Warlord falls, our Rogue misses, our Ranger, Warlock and I miss, our Cleric hits with a Lance of Faith (Radiant Damage) and the Skull Lord has 24 hps left.
Turn 5: Our Rogue is Crit, taking 16 points of damage. I teleport in to give the Rogue Combat Advantage, and he gains a +2 to his roll from the Lance of Faith last turn, he hits yet again with a roll of 14. He rolls 14 Damage on his Sly Flourish, and my attack misses. The Elf hits with a twin strike, and the Skull Lord falls in defeat. Our Cleric uses Healing Word on the Warlord, helping him revive, and Healing Surge later, he's practically at full hps again.
End Session And poof, suddenly we're all 2nd level. We finish boarding up the place and wait til morning, taking turns on lookout. 8 hours later we emerge and begin searching the town for survivors. We come across alot more than expected (expected to find none), many women and children having taken refuge in hidden cellars, but the number is far too small to remain in the town on their own. We spend the day repairing the Temple, and moving everyone there temporarily. Everyone does their part of bringing provisions to the building, and boarding it up more tightly. We don't know if there will be a repeat of the night before, so we need to be prepared. There are no canals or anything around the town, as our first instinct is to 'draw the bridge' sorta deal. There aren't even walls. So we do the next best thing, we start building walls around our Temple with sharp pointed sticks. Once that is accomplished, we secure a watch tower out of the bell tower, allowing only enough room to look through some wooden planks. This is where the game ends, us barricading against a future incursion. More next week after we complete our 2nd adventure.
Tags: 4th 4e Dungeons Dragons Dnd Module
