As it stands I don’t like the new system, I don’t like the character builds and character progression I see in the PHB and in game play is more like a miniatures game then a RPG. I just duos not “feel” like D&D.=/

This Friday we are running the Keep on the Shadowfell module with our own characters instead of the premade characters. The GM is making some changes to the story to have a bit more rollplaying. I am still giving it chance and tring to keep an open mind.

I’m especially impressed that you looked us up here, since I think Christine only mentioned the website in passing. Good to see you around!

- Ah, Chip. Our Ranger (Chester) fell into a pit in the first room of the Keep, and was swarmed over by rats. When he got out, he was still shaking them out of his armour. He asked if he could keep one, and on a whim I told him sure, there’s one still stuck in your breastplate, chewing on your nipple. Thus we got the party pet, Chip the Nipple Rat. He spent the rest of the game hanging from Chester’s nipple.

- Elanor, the male Dragonborn. Everyone had a laugh over this. But more to the point, I referred to Esteban as Elanor for the rest of the day. Laughs were had by all.

- The pineapple. There was a big pile of boxes in the corner of a room. The party decides to look through them all for treasure (there was none).
“What’s in the boxes?”
“Boxes.”
“And in those?”
“More Boxes.”
(from Amanda): “And a Pineapple!”
(The pineapple was then dubbed Jim, and became the second party mascot. The third was Splug.)

Fun times, guys.

Game was fun, I got a free mini out of the TPK and we just laughed ourselves to death on that game.

I can’t believe you haven’t brought up Chip the [possibly magical] Nipple Rat… (I’ll let you do the explaining).

Fun gaming with you.

- 3e thinking. The players, used to 3e still, spent some encounter powers on the first wave (mostly minions), so when the second, stronger wave arrived, they were pretty weakened. In addition, at least two dailies were spent from the previous battle (which was the first of the day).
- Good tactics on the evil side, worse tactics on the good side. The enemies had some rogue-types and flanked, while the party split a bit too much. This part isn’t the party’s fault, as the goal of the enemies was to get them to split.
- Misjudgement from the warlord. He chose to save his Inspiring Word for one round too many, and was dropped during that round.
- Assuming that some were minions when they were not.
- Poor rolls contributed, of course.

And finally, despite no enemy being over level 3, there were 17 enemies, including 10 minions and a level 3 elite. This was a level 6 encounter. It was doable with good tactics, but there was a distinct chance of TPK going into it. With the above factors, it was basically guaranteed.

But it was fun!

EDIT: The remade party went in fresh to finish the job. They encountered only the remaining monsters. This time they removed the caster fast, but even with only 6 creatures remaining (2 soldiers, 2 skirmishers, the caster, and the level 3 elite brute), it was a tough battle.

On the Paladin, I have to say his flavour is still great, though his mechanics are not all that exciting. And the “I lay hands on myself” jokes abounded.

I agree with you on the Paladin. Very disappointing when I’ve used him. On the other hand, I love playing Fighters now (especially if I get to pick the powers.) They may even be my favorite 4e class.