ZER0's 4.0 campaign write-up

Well, we haven't played yet, but I decided to throw up what they would be fighting and the basic outlines of my campaign (homebrew for now, might change once the FR sourcebook comes out). So...

First, the story of why they're going on this quest (very small, but it should be a good start, as none of them are experienced with 4.0, and I'm going to have to be pausing to teach occasionally).

In my world, we have wizardry guilds where you practically have to obtain a license to practice magic, otherwise you're considered rogue and "dangerous", and it's very difficult to obtain magical goods without going through a wizard's guild. We have thieves' guilds which are run pretty standardly, almost like mob families. Warriors are generally trained either by private instructor or by the city for work as a guard.

We currently have (all lvl1):
Human Fighter focusing on Greatsword, unaligned. Background still shady, and he doesn't want to indulge anyone.
Human Wizard focusing on cold and necrotic spells, evil. Trained by the necromantic wizard guild, background with fighter as good friends from a younger age.
Halfling Rogue, very dextrous, wielding a shortsword and hand crossbow. Unaligned, and a very standoffish demeanor.
Half-Elf Fey Pact Warlock, Unaligned. Hired by the party, and hasn't really worked on his background yet.

So, for their first game, I figured I'd have the wizard's guild send him on an errand to recover some necromancer artifacts from the bandits that took them. The bandits are a gang of goblins and hobgoblins who play no further part in the story. I figured I'd run them through a really basic encounter and show them a few of the things that can happen in a D&D game, and let each character get a part in it.

It starts with:
Pit Trap in front of the cave
2 Goblin Skullcleavers
Exp:400
Figured goblins wouldn't really trap caves, but they might trap the entrance, and only have a certain patch be walkable. And anybody can make a hole in the ground and put some brush over it.

after dispatching the guards and security system, they're going to march on in to the first chamber in the cave with:
3 Goblin Cutters (1HP minions)
1 Goblin Blackblade
1 Goblin Warrior
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
Exp:400
A few cruddy minions, a rogue, fighter and archer seemed like an interesting encounter, so I threw this room together.

Next:
3 Gray Wolves
1 Goblin Minion
Exp:400
This was supposed to come off as the minion feeding the pet/guard wolves.

Next:
2 Goblin Cutters
1 Goblin Underboss
Exp:400
Epic fight against the goblin leader, who's really under command of the next room.

Which is:
3 Hobgoblin Grunts
1 Hobgoblin Archer
1 Hobgoblin Soldier
Exp: 414
I may add another monster to make this room a little tougher, as it's essentially the big boss room.

And, in a secret room with Goblin Warnings etched all over the door:
2 Zombies
4 Zombie Rotters
Exp:402
Thought it would be cool to see the new zombies in action, and this doesn't make it *that* unbelievable, at least as far as a zombie hanging out with some goblins playing cards or something.

So, I know it's basic, but that's what they're up against (probably tomorrow). I just thought it would be good to get this up here, and then my write-up can be considerably shorter and quicker to do.

If anybody has any suggestions, go ahead and let me know.

NOTE: they won't all be this dull, heh.

sounds good Zero. I dont think it is dull. Loved facing gobos in level one. More than those damn Kobolds with poison darts.

Wow, this has been pretty ridiculous. I finally got a group together, set a date, and everybody showed up. But! My fighter got heatstroke before we could actually sit down to play (on the way to pick up the pizza). Thanks a bunch Sacramento. So yet another week has gone by and hopefully I'll have a write-up on the way soon.

oh man that sucks man, hope he is ok!

New developments!

I had to switch up the party, because our wizard got kicked out of the house for being lame, and we got new party members. Currently, it looks like this:

Human Fighter, Good, fights with a greatsword. He worked as a mercenary until approached by the party. Typical kick-in-the-door-and-kill-the-biggest-thing-on-the-other-side type of fighter.
Elf Rogue, Unaligned, fights with a short sword and incredibly acrobatic. Her parents were killed, leaving her orphaned and stealing to survive until taken in by a circus.
Eladrin Wizard, Unaligned, Wand focus. He specializes in Fire and Cold spells with a lack of a background currently.
NPC Human Cleric, Good. Hired for healing, 'nuff said.

I'm hoping to get more people in the group, as I'm running them through the module Keep on the Shadowfell as of tomorrow (considering all doesn't keep going horribly wrong). They're really liking the new system thus far though with the practice encounters I ran them through to get them used to 4e. Thus far I'm playing favorites toward the rogue because she's the one inspiring roleplaying in everyone and doing outrageous things in battle, but I'll see once the actual game starts. I'll keep everyone posted though.

awesome! keep us posted

Wow rnning a cleric as a npc, could get very taxing.

Well, that's usually my go-to with old editions. It's easy to let players dole out his healing spells and just have him around for turning and blessing beyond that. Compared to knowing when to look for the traps I put in a dungeon or when to expend that fireball when I know what monsters are behind the next door, it's a lot better as far as letting the players go through what I made for them.

However, a 4.0 Cleric runs a bit differently. He only gets a daily cure light wounds at 2nd or 3rd level, and he's mostly built for damaging foes with the occasional trick to heal allies as he does such. I think I may just give absolute player control to someone who believes they can run two PCs. Still in debate over even running a cleric with how the new game works. He's a lot less necessary than in previous editions (at least from the looks of things and the few practice encounters I've ran).

Ya the Cleric will be a forgotten PC

Wowzers, I think I may end up having to quit D&D altogether. I have yet to play the game I've been planning for months. More PCs moved, and I got evicted, so I have to move all my stuff out and find a relative to crash with until I can find a new place I can afford. Apparently our slumlord here decided he didn't like paying rent, so he just pocketed it.

Anywho, I'll leave the thread up, but it will probably be a while before I can really play my game.

Sorry to hear man. Best of luck