Where things are in May
I realized, amidst my waxing on about non-existent fictional campaigns, that I hadn't been talking about how the game I'm actually in is going.
Right now I've taken over running the 4E game for my group, a solid group of six players (including my son). I'm doing a sort of urban sandbox-style campaign where the PC's are presented with multiple options for minor or major quests and choose how they wish to approach them. I also keep the encounters a little less structured--for some there is a sense of location, but others are more fluid. For example in the last session the PC's were being tailed by a group that is intended to ambush them. The PC's then find a place (using a Streetwise roll) to go where it will be difficult to be ambushed and make their stand, setting up a counter-ambush with their bow-themed ranger.
It's interesting to see how a city-based campaign plays, because I've never done one before for D&D. For one thing, the sense of resource management is different. One PC has begun using hirelings, which makes a lot of sense. At this point the PC group has quite a stash of unspent gold, and given 4E's treasure inflation they now are quite wealthy in comparison to the average peasant. Thus the PC's can throw a little coin around having people run errands, track down leads, even work as bodyguards. Also the pacing is a little interesting; with no immediate issues, the PC's can just go home, get some rest, and recover their dailies in a way that a group that is deep into a dungeon can not.
Plot-wise, the PC's uncover a series of disappearances in town all linked to a certain area. The PC's set up one of their own as "bait," and reel in quite a catch: a vampire! The vampire is connected to a mysterious society called the Icicle Club, which the PC's investigate. There they discover that not only is the club a nest of vampires but is being run by a baelnorn lich called "the Ice Lord." In the last scene of the session the PC's are ambushed by one of the vampire lords whom they had met earlier, but it appears that he was operating without the lich's knowledge. Now the PC's have to decide if they want to try to infiltrate the club again, or just launch an attack on the lich's nest.
Right now I've taken over running the 4E game for my group, a solid group of six players (including my son). I'm doing a sort of urban sandbox-style campaign where the PC's are presented with multiple options for minor or major quests and choose how they wish to approach them. I also keep the encounters a little less structured--for some there is a sense of location, but others are more fluid. For example in the last session the PC's were being tailed by a group that is intended to ambush them. The PC's then find a place (using a Streetwise roll) to go where it will be difficult to be ambushed and make their stand, setting up a counter-ambush with their bow-themed ranger.
It's interesting to see how a city-based campaign plays, because I've never done one before for D&D. For one thing, the sense of resource management is different. One PC has begun using hirelings, which makes a lot of sense. At this point the PC group has quite a stash of unspent gold, and given 4E's treasure inflation they now are quite wealthy in comparison to the average peasant. Thus the PC's can throw a little coin around having people run errands, track down leads, even work as bodyguards. Also the pacing is a little interesting; with no immediate issues, the PC's can just go home, get some rest, and recover their dailies in a way that a group that is deep into a dungeon can not.
Plot-wise, the PC's uncover a series of disappearances in town all linked to a certain area. The PC's set up one of their own as "bait," and reel in quite a catch: a vampire! The vampire is connected to a mysterious society called the Icicle Club, which the PC's investigate. There they discover that not only is the club a nest of vampires but is being run by a baelnorn lich called "the Ice Lord." In the last scene of the session the PC's are ambushed by one of the vampire lords whom they had met earlier, but it appears that he was operating without the lich's knowledge. Now the PC's have to decide if they want to try to infiltrate the club again, or just launch an attack on the lich's nest.
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