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I would have written this sooner, but I have been playing HoN on Facebook...

The party had little to no problem with the Nalfeshnee, which is a level 23 controller. I am pretty well convinced that if I pick a monster with a low enough AC (or theoretically if one picked a monster with low enough defenses for the parties "to hit" attributes) the party can handle a threat level eight levels above their own. The qualifier, of course, is that one needs to examine the monsters stats and avoid choosing one with high defenses against the party's "to hit" attributes...

Don't get me wrong, it was still a fight, but it was nothing comparing to C'tallun Astral Hunter (a level 20 elite skirmisher). This was a bloodbath, the party rolled weakly and the the PCs had to cheat to win. How do I know this?

Well the party did it. Threw 2 encounters at them tonight, both a solid eight threat levels above the party. They took them both down, yes it was a fight, but it wasn't as close to a TPK as I would have expected.

For clarity sake, I am running the Henchman. I know, there is serious objection over this sort of thing, so let me clarify as to why I think it is okay in this instance.

Firstly, the party is currently small enough as it is, and I am only throwing single monsters, or single elites at them. With this being the case, I have more than enough time as a DM to run a PC behind the screen. I am not bogged down by running things in this way so it seems to make sense not to over-burden the players with yet another PC to run. Secondly, I am running the PC impartially, I am not running them

I am discouraged. I showed up tonight to run a session of Encounters and had a a zero turnout. First time that's ever happened to me.

It left me wondering why is there such a backlash against 4e? I know I have been critical of 4e at times. But, the spirit was that of improvement; or at least that's how it was intended.

The crowd at the shop I run encounters at is pretty much anti-4e. But to be fair, the shop has had difficulties running Encounters in the past. Most of the earlier campaigns didn't even make it this far.

I wonder am I wasting my time and energy with 4e? I hate when I get like this, but the reality of the situation is that I still play D&D and I enjoy it.

I picked up a copy of MME today. Lots of cool items there, and I realized something.

I don't really have as good a

I love it when problems lead to new insights. Recently, I've had problems with numbers in the home campaign. Seems due to circumstances it has been two PCs for a little while now. This has proved challenging in some ways, but has also provided me with some insights as well. The upside has been that two PCs is a fair amount easier to manage than five, and this means combat has been way easier. Unfortunately, the loss is the interaction that occurs between multiple PCs in a campaign. This is not the end of the world, it almost gives me insight into the transition from the early game into the current incarnation. Let me explain.

With less role-playing and character interaction at the table, I have been able to focus heavily on the combat mechanics of the game. It's almost as if

I recently had to drop out of a friends campaign. I just couldn't hack it.

Now, without tearing my friend completely apart I will relate my story.

Several things struck me as wrong or at least difficult with his DMing style.

1) A lack of understanding of the rules saying that the DMG and PHB are supposed to be "just guides"

True. But there are limits. Not bothering to learn the rules properly is no excuse if you are going to try your hand at DMing. The fact of the matter is he hasn't properly read the rules, and it shows.

2) An over-reliance on the "DM as God".

Taken too far, this just defeats the purpose of the game. Hard to believe but the DM is not the "most important seat" in the house. The DM IS A REFEREE, there to arbitrate the game properly (see above about learning the rules

I played a session of 3.0 with some people the other day who were very well versed in that edition and something dawned on me.

After awhile, as a DM it gets hard to surprise the party or catch them off guard. Wrecan sparked this with a comment to the last blog post. Chests aren't terribly exciting. True! However, it gives the rogue a job to do...

That being said, after awhile a group of adventurers are going to do things in a pretty standard fashion. They no longer kick down doors (as hilarious as it is to do), they LISTEN at doors. The gamers playing the game have understood and compensated for the element or mechanic of surprise in the game. And, hopefully for them, without too many TPKs, they now realize that listening at the door gives them a tactical advantage.

I like 4e for what

I just read The Jesters blog on Traps, once again good read. It got me to thinking, there are some things that I've wanted to write about for some time now. One of those things is the parcel system of 4e, and the problems I see with it. Not that the parcelling system is bad, but I rather prefer the AD&D method of "treasure placement".

Treasure back in the day, was often parcelled out in terms of art items, gems, and things that were worth the equavalent of x amount of gp. ( I know the DMG for 4e has similar entries for "art objects" I know, I know.)

Treasure was also often contained in chests, or strongboxes. Makes sense, when one thinks about it. Valuables are often kept in containers that are easily hidden.

This brings me to my next point, the chests were often trapped. This was one

Well, Neverwinter Game Day was canceled at my local Premier shop.

No biggie! Not angry, just disappointed. The thing that gets me though in this, is that the Campaign Setting failed to ship yesterday and today and is still MIA.

This is poor business, as had people actually signed up and showed up at the store for Game Day they would have been really disappointed. As it stands, only I am disappointed. Having decided to purchase the book for Game Day/Encounters I will now have to rethink whether or not its worth buying. Hopefully, this is not what is in store for me with Encounters; as I have read the adventure and quite like it. (I liked Gates of Neverdeath too, for what it's worth.)

They may be mainly skill challenges and encounters, but I figured the name of the event was "encounters"

Just picked up a copy of the ADVANCED DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS Manual of the Planes. Love it, love it, love it.

I was quickly skimming the first little bit, when I came across something about time that ties in with one of my earlier posts on time and keeping track of time in the campaign.

The relevant passage in the MoTP refers to "True Time" vs. "Subjective Time".

True Time is the equation of 1=1, that is one round of combat equals one round of combat on both the planes in question. It applies to melee.

Subjective time is the equation of 1=x or one round equals a variable amount of time on the different planes of existence. This applies to effects, such as the duration of the effects of a potion.

This means that rounds in game play are still rounds and combat still runs as per the core