D&Daughter 5E

So the next time we sat down to play she'd laid out the dungeon tiles again in the same order as before, but I seperated the next tile and added my diary to represent a rickety bridge. She looked at it dubiously along with me saying it was a 15 dex check to get across safely. Well she made it and I didn't!

I have this thing I've added to play but it hasn't really kicked in yet where if you pass a check you record that. Latter you can spend them to attempt to use a target wheel to have a chance at XP, or you can fight animated marionettes (I think I've mentioned them in a previous blog post) to get XP. This is because while combate encounters are fairly discrete and work by themselves, the D&D designers still haven't done that with ability checks. Anyway, we haven't done these things yet, but she records her passing a check dutifully when I inform her.

It's a ten foot drop as I called it so my wizardess takes 1D6 from falling off the bridge, then has to scrabble up the other side to rejoin the fighter.

And were at the next room, which has skeletons chained to the wall in its tile art. She thought we'd have to fight them all in a previous session and me knowing that there being eight of them that's way over what we can handle, I'd suggested they are just chained to the wall skeletons that don't move. Indeed this time I suggested that the dias in the middle of the room was a map. It kind of looks like a map on the tile art (as it has many undulations), though it isn't. And it'd be a skill roll to try and decypher where a hidden stash of treasure is. And it'd be non violent annnnnd she's dubious. No, actually she's 'No it's not!'. And 'It's a portal!' and 'And a skeleton comes out!' (or it may have been 'Sooo what sort of monsters could come out?' she asked, looking around at the figures. I think it was which is what prompted my scaling concern below)

Righteo then! So, I'm guessing that we can take on two skeletons for an average combat. So I put them out and she wants to be at the back so she can shoot her cool long bow which she was attracted to from the begining in some of the starter set art ("I'm like that one *pointing at (a drow, IIRC) archer* but a girl!"). Okay, wizard tank! I decide I atleast have mage armour on, anyway.

I think they get a massive initiative roll and go first. One misses and then the other one murderises me, partly because of the prior damage I'd taken from traps. I crumple to the ground at zero HP. And here, yes, I propose that perhaps one skeleton is the amount we can handle? She does not resist me taking one away.

Afterwards I find it technically is the right XP amount. But the thing is I think a party synergises - and so a party of two is not half as strong as a party of four - it's actually weaker than that. So really two skeletons is too much. Or so I think. I'm not blaming the devs for that - the game is for four players, really and so really were 'doin' it wrong'. ;)

I think a bit of a whiff fight occurs between the skele and the fighter. And it's tense. Whiff is fine when it's like two seconds between each roll and one hit could crumple the hated skele (and one crit or even a good roll could drop the fighter. And at this point I'd forgotten/didn't really know about the fighters second wind healing). And then she lays it low with her long sword (as it had obviously advanced on her and made bow use disadvantagious)

And of course whiffs are even more tense when you're making freakin' stablisation rolls while it's happening! Actually I notice now that if you make three passes (straight 50% chance to pass) then you stabalise yourself, which is nifty, I think! Previously in the play test you were just trying to get your head above water by passing (only a nat 20 would get you out of dying).

So she goes to stabalise me (do either of us own a healers kit? We aught to! They auto stabalise!), just needing 10 or higher on a wisdom check (oh yeah, she's at -1 on that...hurr hurr...fortunately made it anyway!)

So, lets go back so we can rest, hey?

"We can't go back"

What?

"We can't go back"

But can't we just go back through the tunnels and that other portal?

"No, it's gone"

What!?

"And I needed you for this next room.", she says, pointing at the wizardly accoutrements in the next dungeon tile, despondantly.

So what am I gunna do!?

I find I have gotten only a little way through my notes and it's taken quite some typing to get it out, so I will pause at this juncture though play did not. Till next time 'Question is a fail!'! ;)