After a five-week break in our normal gaming schedule my Friday night group got a chance to return to our regular D&D campaign, Dark Legacy.  I was pretty excited, not just because it had been a while since we played, but also because our last session ended with the heroes having just entered the mysterious ruins of Cha’ruk-Krel, an ancient hobgoblin fortress floating above the dreaded Whispering Pit.  To set the stage our heroes had entered the ruins just behind a group of goblinoids in service to the Dragon’s Eye.  The goblinoids were on the trail of the legendary Tears of Lolth and the heroes were attempting to stop them.  As the session began the party found themselves in a race against time and facing unknown adversaries in a mysterious locale.

Over the course of the next few hours my friends and I had one of the most exciting and memorable gaming sessions in recent memory.  I also learned a couple of important lessons about 4^th edition and its impact on the game.

The party currently consists of four martial characters; a eladrin warlord named Dayereth Evenstar (you may have heard of his mom), the dwarven fighter Sergeant Verick Ungoro, Arnz Findoran (a rogue inn-keeper), and Rolen Darkmoor, an elven ranger with a past (at least he thinks he has a past).  As you may have noticed two of the party members are strikers along with a defender and their leader. 

Anyway the first combat encounter of the night pitted the heroes against a green dragon named Wither in the ruins of the fortress’s courtyard.  Despite the dragon’s breath weapon recharging every turn but one, the heroes did an excellent job of making the solo creature’s defeat look easy.  Of course it didn’t hurt that in the surprise round I couldn’t roll higher that a 4 to hit with the dragon’s poison breath or his fear attack.  This is where I learned the first important lesson of the evening:

Lesson 1: Solo Creatures Hate Strikers

PC’s that deal a ton of damage to single targets are definitely to be feared by solo creatures lacking expendable meat shields.  Although somewhat depressed about the dragon’s lackluster performance I did manage to whittle down the heroes’ already depleted resources (in our last session the PC’s had already had a couple of encounters since their last extended rest). 

As the party entered the underground levels of the ruined fortress they were discussing amongst themselves where the stood resource-wise.  No one in the group had a remaining daily power, the fighter had 5 surges left, 3 for the ranger, 1 for the rogue, and our group’s leader was completely out of surges.  Not only that, he was a mere 1 hit point above bloodied.  Noting this I made a last minute modification to the adventure by including an area where the PC’s could rest before the next encounter.  However the players decided that time was against them and they needed to push on.  This is where I learned the next important lesson of the session:

Lesson 2: When Low on Resources, Even Minions are Deadly

The next encounter of the evening was designed to be a “speed-bump” for the characters.  A bunch of first and second level minions (the party is all fourth level) consisting of various undead, harassing the heroes while they opened an unusual door.  Figuring the party would wade through the creatures I had originally intended for the undead to “re-spawn” occasionally.  However I could never anticipate the weakened state the party would start the encounter in nor did I factor in the fact that this party has no controller.  What would ensue was one of the best encounters I’ve been a part of in ages.

Each and every action the party took had us all on the edge of our seats.  When the bloodied warlord (without healing surges) leapt to almost certain doom into the midst of five skeletal archers to keep them from shooting at his allies, we all thought we were witnessing the end of Dayereth.  But after two rounds of combat when ten attacks from the skeletons netted a mere four points of damage on the warlord we all new that fate was smiling on Dayereth Evenstar.  All of us watched in awe as Arnz Findoran shifted, ducked, tumbled, jumped, and swung from a rope bridge while surrounded by flesh-eating zombies intent on killing him.  I shook my head in amazement when the heavily armored dwarven fighter jumped from platform to platform over a hoard of undead, not once, but three times successfully.

By the encounter’s end resources had never been lower, but intensity had never been higher.  One character, the fighter, had the party’s three remaining healing surges.  Two of the characters were bloodied without the ability to heal up.  All action points, daily powers, and magic item daily’s were expended.  While the party finally retreated to a safe spot in order to rest I thought about the final lesson I learned that evening:

Lesson 3: Fortune Favors the Bold

Although certainly not an original axiom it’s none the less true.  I’m not sure why, (maybe desperation, maybe bravery, maybe the fact that new character generation is so easy) but as the situation became more desperate the characters (and their players) became more bold.  Each of the heroes put their own lives at risk for the others and all of them attempted amazing acts of daring in order to save their collective hides, and fate rewarded them.  I say fate because as a DM I choose to make all of my dice rolls in the open.  My players know that “fudging” never comes to their aid and that they will ultimately pay the price, or reap the rewards, for all of their actions. 

For me it was a great night.  One of those perfect evenings when good friends, thrillin’ heroics, edge-of-your-seat action, and camaraderie come together to remind me of why I love RPG’s in the first place.