A Byrde’s Eye Look at Epic Level 4e D&D

Written by e  
October 15, 2009
6 Comments

On Sunday, we drove to Virginia to the home of Mike from SlyFlourish to play a game of epic level 4th edition D&D with DaveTheGame and Bartoneus (Critical-Hits), Mrs. SlyFlourish, and Matt (Loremaster.org).

As you know from my previous post, I rolled up a level 27 shaman named BigByrde, the halfling with a mission to save the children.

In our group, we had:

• Shaman
• Warden
• Seeker
• Assassin
• Sorcerer

Go us for totally ignoring the PHB1 classes!  But hey, we figured we’d try out some of the new classes and see how things went.  That’s the beauty of the one-shot game.  Seriously, find an excuse to play a one shot just so you can test drive new classes.

Answering My Own Questions

Will it be hard to keep track of everything my character can do?

Short answer – yes.

Long answer – as a Leader, there were a lot of things I could do that added bonuses not only for myself, but for other members of the party.  Some of these affected those next to me (for example, I bought an armor set), some affected those next to my battle standard (which I only used in one out of the three encounters, and not to any great effect), and others affected those next to my spirit companion.  To top it off, I had one that affected me, but only for the first round of combat before I was attacked.  What’s my AC?  F- if I know!!  Hahaha!

I think it would be much easier if I had “grown up” with BigByrde rather than trying to run her at 27th level.  It’s easier to remember things when you’re only adding them a bit at a time.

Will combat be longer?

Again, yes and no.  We did a fairly straightforward delve and it took us about two hours (give or take) per encounter.   I think a lot of lost time came from us trying to figure out exactly what powers to use and exactly what they did – again, something that wouldn’t have happened if we had “grown up” with the characters.

While combats were long, I still had a ton of fun and felt that each member of the party had something valuable to contribute.  You’ll have to check out the posts at SlyFlourish, Critical-Hits, and Loremaster to see what they thought.  All of them are more experienced gamers than me.

Since most of the epic destiny powers involve the trigger text “when you die“… how many of us will die at least once?

We had our share of bloody messes, Bartoneus’ character rolled (and failed) a death saving throw, and BigByrde was unconscious at the end of the last fight, but nobody died.  (I was kinda hoping BigByrde got to use her “when you die” power, because Exalted Angels get to explode in a kaBOOOOOM of radiant energy and then reappear after the encounter in a pillar of light – too cool.)

The Fun Part

We had a blast playing… here are some of the Twitterings that happened throughout the game:

• geeksdreamgirl: We’re going to ride a ship called the Assrunner. No wait, ASHrunner. Oops. #dnd
• geeksdreamgirl: http://twitpic.com/l4ze2 – City of Brass. We are here. #dnd
• geeksdreamgirl: http://twitpic.com/l51ng – It’s not a dollhouse!!! #dnd
• geeksdreamgirl: Something is wrong with the barmaids here. They are very rude to BigByrde. #dnd
• geeksdreamgirl: “Do you have a way to prevent ppl from teleporting?” “I don’t know. I’m so skillful I might not remember.” (Fun having a new lvl27.) #dnd
• DaveTheGame: Epic: @bartoneus just rolled a 50 to hit. #dnd
• bartoneus: Being able to hide in the party’s shadows & teleport between them in a tavern is simply badass! #dnd
• matt_james_FR: Dropped a ‘Hail of Arrows’ into a massive crowed. Very cool high-level ranger encounter power in #dnd
• geeksdreamgirl:Oooh. The barmaids are eeeeevil kitty fighters. Rakshasa chicks. Snuffy to the rescue!#dnd
• DaveTheGame: Already bloodied- Lich blasted me, then did a burst 10, which critted me. Now bloodied on turn 1. #dnd
• matt_james_FR: #DND #4e liches do not make good parents because of their aura.
• matt_james_FR: #DND Tip: #4e does not require that you roll a die to figure out where an invisible creature is. THANKS THE GODS!
• geeksdreamgirl: In an attempt to turn a lich, BigByrde nearly killed @bartoneus‘ assassin. Stupid inconvenient undead PC. #dnd
• DaveTheGame: We managed to beat the monsters, including crushing a rampaging Iron Golem… barely. Considered firing off more daily powers. #dnd
• matt_james_FR: @SlyFlourush is owning @geeksdreamgirl, @davethegame, @bartoneus, and myself in our epic #dnd one-shot.
• geeksdreamgirl: http://twitpic.com/l5ux1 – Of course, BigByrde is last in initiative. Sigh. #dnd
• geeksdreamgirl: @bartoneus: “I’m not streetwise. I’m sneaky and killy.” #dnd
• geeksdreamgirl: http://twitpic.com/l5x8m – Iron storm! Skill challenge on the Assrunner, I mean, Ashrunner! #dnd
• geeksdreamgirl: http://twitpic.com/l5y56 – Primordial wurm attacking the Ashrunner! #dnd
• DaveTheGame: The Seeker is using a cannon. Little bit stronger than his bow. #dnd
• geeksdreamgirl: We made it to the Isle of Glass. We’re going into a cave to kill some dude that nobody has been able to kill before.#dnd
• geeksdreamgirl: http://twitpic.com/l63m3 – So jealous of @slyflourish‘s Dwarven Forge #dnd
• DaveTheGame: I’m staying far, far away from the giant beholder… #dnd http://twitpic.com/l6b0e
• geeksdreamgirl: Ohoh. BigByrde got hit with a petrifying ray. Turning to stone feathers. #dnd
• geeksdreamgirl: Failed my save. Good thing BigByrde can die once. #dnd
• geeksdreamgirl: Me to @bartoneus: “No, he’s not going to touch himself with the Mage Hand.” #dnd
• geeksdreamgirl: http://twitpic.com/l6njf – Ohhhhhhh crap. #dnd
• DaveTheGame: “What’s our plan? Balor, Balor, Graz’zt, or Graz’zt, Balor, Balor, or Balor, Graz’zt, Balor?” “Yes, those are the 3 options.” #dnd
• DaveTheGame: My friends… It’s time to feed the Balor. #dnd http://twitpic.com/l6pix
• DaveTheGame: My sorcerer just bloodied two Balors with two bursts and a bouncing at-will chaos bolt. Really want to crit this combat. #dnd
• geeksdreamgirl: We bloodied a Balor in less than 2 rounds. #dnd
• geeksdreamgirl: Phew. @davethegame was dominated for one round but luckily didn’t hurt us. #dnd
• DaveTheGame: “When a Warden comes along, you must whip it!” #dnd
• DaveTheGame: A dominated Wild Mage blasts allies and enemies alike. A non-dominated Wild Mage… Pretty much the same thing. #dnd
• geeksdreamgirl: Oh crap. @davethegame critted @bartoneus for 96 damage while dominated. #dnd
• geeksdreamgirl: We beat Graz’zt! Then Asmodeus offered us our heart’s desire, in exchange for the heart of darkness. No way, Jose! #dnd

All In All…

I had a great time.  Mike of SlyFlourish is a great DM and it’s always fun playing D&D with other blogger types.  I may even consider taking the Exalted Angel epic destiny for my cleric Mielka when she’s old enough.  Because really, what’s funnier than a pudgy valley girl dwarf with wings?