D&D 4E

[james_davis_nicoll]

We did not do a stellar job of protecting our cleric last night. Happily he did not die.

Quinn did do a good job of rallying the panicked fleeing mob. Actually, too good; the whole thing could have ended tragically since the townsfolk armed with hoes, rakes and other gardening tools probably wouldn't have lasted long against the ogre or the hobgoblins. As I recall, characters like the townsfolks have one hit point each.

Comments

[roseembolism.livejournal.com]

Yeah, villagers and the like are the classic cinematic "One hit and they die" types. Still, if you go for a classic D&D mode, the thing to do is send the townsfolk in first to soften things up, and then attack. Afterwards, you get to loot both the monsters AND the villagers.

Old-school D&D was amazingly amoral at times.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Quinn is neutral, not evil so sending the townsfolk in to get minced isn't on. Also the cute woman he's been hitting wouldn't be impressed and she already seemed a bit distance when Quinn Unspeakable Named one of the hobgoblins.

[roseembolism.livejournal.com]

What evil? paladins used to do this sort of thing, so it can't be evil, right?

And if he's been hittig the woman, it's no wonder she's a bit distant. he needs to stop hitting her and TALK to her. Geez, modern relationships.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Hitting _on_. Bah.

[joenotcharles.livejournal.com]

But there are so many rules for hitting, and so few for hitting on!

[roseembolism.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I'm harldy one to talk. But I just couldn't resist that one, since it's just too much like something that might happen in a D&D game.

[connactic.livejournal.com]

I don't know any DMs that would allow an old-school (1st-3rd) Paladin send townspeople into certain death w/o yanking the Paladin's powers.

(unless, of course, the nasty was a rust monster).

[roseembolism.livejournal.com]

Well, actually neither did I, because most GM's I knew would make sure that a character's paladinship could be measured in minutes. For some reason being a paladin was seen as a challenge to put the characters in situations where they'd lose their paladinship whatever they did.

[wdstarr.livejournal.com]

> when Quinn Unspeakable Named one of the hobgoblins.

From the outside of modern gaming, that sound like he said "You, goblin! Now and forever, thou shall be known to all as $SOMETHING_UNSPEAKABLE!"

[Goblin shrieks in mortified embarrassment and flees.]

[johnreiher.livejournal.com]

I don't know. The group I used to old school AD&D for would say, "OK, you folks get behind the barricades and get ready to through stones or whatever you got, if, and I mean if..." {SFX: Cracks knuckles} "this bunch of goobers get past us." [Tosses golden hair before putting on his Helm of Might] "And they won't." [Grins]

[graeme-lindsell.livejournal.com]

Given that a good summary of many D&D scenarios could be "Murderous Hobos Commit Ethnic Cleansing for Fun and Profit" I think "amooral" may be a bit weak.

[bwross.livejournal.com]

Mook/minions are more fun when they're enemies. Our 6th level fighter recently jumped down into four of them and spent his level 5 daily because he thought it was a real fight. Had he used Cleave first, or any of us with higher initiative had actually landed a hit, this wouldn't have happened... still it really did fit his brash character.

In the next encounter, he almost attacked a surrendering archer before I made sure he understood what he was doing by asking what alignment he was. As the only lawful character in the party [*], I really couldn't tolerate that sort of thing and would have probably knocked him unconscious (instead of using my last heal on him).

[*] I've already figured out that the Paladin definitely isn't... he seems to think that Bluff should be on his skill short list instead of Diplomacy and was pushing for negotiating a team up with a dragon we knew was performing sacrifices of sentients to accomplish pretty much the same goal as we were. I've become more wary of him than our Rogue.