Kingbeast's Lair

We’ve all had them?those nights where nothing you do goes right?well last night I had one of those. Before I get to my plea for help let me explain a bit. I’ve been role-playing for 30 years. During that time I have taken part in many games but for the most part I GM. In fact I probably GM 99% of the time if not more. After every session I go over the details in my mind thinking of how I could have done things better. I’ll then adjust for future session that I run. My players seem to enjoy my games so I must be doing something right. For some reason that skill does not come easy for me on the player side of the screen.

Now?back to last night?

Last night I met with 5 friends to play 4e. This was the first try of 4e for 4 of us?really only 3 of the players and the GM had read any of the PHB. The first thing we did was to divvy out characters. As we had only a short time to play we used all pregens. I took a half-elf cleric of Bahamut. That was probably a mistake as on hindsight I know I like fighters or mages. The session started with a fight that went good for the PC but I had trouble figuring out some of the details so a couple of my moves did basically nothing. For example, I figured I would move up next to a kobold and blast him with a daily power?well that give him an opportunity attack?ok?I’ll shoot first the move?oops?now I can’t give the injured fighter HP as he is too far away?fine?I’ll just do it anyway. My PC was extremely ineffectual. After the fight we went to a city to gather information so that we could continue the adventure. Me and the dragonborn paladin were trying to find out about a death cult that was supposed to be near the town. For some reason every time I went to talk with an NPC I froze up. I’m not sure if it was because of the character I was running or what?!? After the session I could not decide if it was worth staying up late on a work night to game. GASP! That is not like me at all.

So now my plea?

Help me out here players. Does anyone have any advice for getting out of ruts during or after sessions? The advice can be specific to this session (i.e. ?I might have done X?) or long term ideas. I want to improve my playing skills?I can self evaluate as a GM but it is hard for me as a player.

GAME ON!

–== What I Like ==–

The hooks and cave content descriptions are the best part of the product. They are pretty imaginative and can be adapted to fit most campaign worlds very easy. For my post apocalyptic fantasy game that I am running it fits almost perfectly.

The maps are very artistic and have a sort of rustic flair. Speaking of the maps…

–== What I D0 NOT Like ==–

By far the biggest issue with the product are the maps. There are really two big issues.

The main complex map is presented at the end of the module. It is split on 4 pages in an uneven fashion, there is no scale, it is not clear, and rooms are not marked at all. It is literally a process of examining the individual room maps and text to try and figure out where they belong on the main complex map. Since the map is not clear it is not easy to find where stuff is located. In fact this map is so unclear that I am contemplating having to remake it for my game.

The room sized maps look neat but there is no scale or delineation of the various objects at all. “How big is this cave?” “Where is the slit that has the basilisk?”

My only other complaints are not as serious. I would have like to see more detail on the chief and shaman. More information on their preferred method of attack and their personalities would have be good. I also wanted to see a bit more content. Maybe a few more unique rooms??? There are not that many unique areas to the caves. My final gripe is that in several places the English is not great. I know this is from a Polish company but I am buying an English product so I expect clear verbiage.

–== Summary ==–

Fine if you need some added content for your game. The price point of $8 is right on the money. 😉 You can get a copy at DriveThruRPG using this link.

I give it 6 out of 10 paws.

I uploaded the game log from session #8 and posted the characters. The game log is the final scene from Yorkshire Horrors. Characters are provided in MetaCreator and PDF formats. The PDF versions are really spiffy. 🙂 Head over to the TIAM pages for all of this great stuff. See the left sidebar for the link.