Keep on the Shadowfell Session 4
D&D 4e Live Playthrough Recap
Most Thursdays, I play through a D&D encounter on my Live Stream solo using input from the chat. I am currently playing through the D&D 4e module, Keep on the Shadowfell. I am going to try and post recaps of each session here going forward. This one is a little raw, but I will refine it. Let me know if there is anything you would like to see in these recaps.
You can find the full replay of the stream over on my YouTube channel.
If you want the adventure for yourself, you can get it, for FREE, from DriveThruRPG.
Click the Round headings to jump to that point in the stream replay.
Round 1
After dealing with the kobold ambush last week, the party set out once more from Winterhaven with the intention of dealing with the kobolds that have been causing problems for the town. As the encounter begins, the party is at full health with access to all their powers.
If you want the character sheets, they can be downloaded from my website.
The party approached from the west and were able to observe the kobolds from behind the trees without being discovered. While the minions rolled the highest initiative, I determined that they were not terribly aware and took no actions on their turn.
The kobold dragonshield was standing inside the scared circle and the tactics indicated that it would try to stay in that location to take advantage of its powers. Since the party had cover behind the trees, the dragonshields also took no actions.
Lyra, rogue, made the ill-advised decision to taken on the minions. While not a bad strategy, it was not terribly wise as it put her in a position that made her vulnerable to the minions in the next round.
The kobold slinger had multiple special shots that it could use with its sling. It elected to use one of its glue pots and target Lyra. The hit was successful which dealt 7 damage and she was also immobilized. Not a great situation for the rogue.
The kobold skirmisher is far from the fray in the top right of the map. The tactics indicated that it would try to move into a flanking position with a minion if possible. He moved his full speed to get as close as possible. Had I thought more about it, I would have had the skirmisher do a double move, but it did not occur to me at the time.
Keldrek, paladin, opted to use Divine Challenge to mark the kobold dragonshield and then move to take on the dragonshield head-on. He used his Holy Strike, but missed on the attack roll.
Elara, wizard, decided to use magic missile against one of the minions. Since magic missile auto-hits, minion #9 was taken out of the encounter.
Haldor, fighter, charged at the kobold dragonshield using Reaping Strike, which would deal damage even on a miss. Fortunately, he hit (barely) and dealt 11 damage on the dragonshield. In hindsight, the charge only allowed a basic attack (not a power), but the damage was the same regardless so it is all good.
Tharian, cleric, moved a little closer so he could use his Sacred Flame on the dragonshield and allow Lyra to make a saving throw. His attack was successful and Lyra was also successful on her save, which ended her immobilization and put her back in the fight.
Round 2
This is where things got a little crazy. This encounter featured 10 kobold minions. 2 of them were defeated in the first round, but that still left 8 to deal with. Lyra had put herself out in the open and she became the natural target of their attacks.
By the time all the minions were done, Lyra had taken 16 damage and found herself nearly surrounded by kobolds while Haldor took 8 points of damage as well.
The dragonshield jabbed at Keldrek with his shortsword and doled out 4 damage and marked Keldrek until the end of his next turn.
Lyra shifted into a position to flank the dragonshield. She then used her Sly Flourish power to nearly finish off the dragonshield. Since she was down to just 2 Hit Points, she used her Action Point and Second Wind to spend a healing surge. This put her back up to 8 HP.
The kobold slinger tried to attack Lyra again with its final glue pot, but failed.
The kobold skirmisher moved into a position to flank Lyra. Fortunately, the kobold missed with its spear attack and Lyra was spared from taking any damage despite being nearly surrounded.
Keldrek used Valiant Strike to finish off the kobold dragonshield.
Elara used Magic Missile to kill a minion and then spent her action point to use it again on another minion.
Haldor has Cleave and with two minion all up in his grill, he was well-positioned to do something glorious. And he did not disappoint. He cleaved straight through minion #1 and took out minion #2 as well.
Lyra was ecstatic to see Tharian taking his turn. He used Healing Word to restore 7 Hit Points. Since this was only a minor action, he used Lance of Faith to deal 4 damage to the skirmisher and grant Keldrek a +2 bonus on his next attack.
Round 3
This is where I made a bit of a mistake. When I was cleaning up the board, I removed one of the minions that had been defeated. Unfortunately, that minion was the one that was marking the initiative order for the minions in the tracker. As a result, the minions dropped off the tracker.
The minions should have been the next to go, but I did not catch that they had dropped off the board and skipped them for the rest of the encounter.
Lyra shifted and used Deft Strike to move out of the fray. This allowed her to make a ranged attack against the kobold skirmisher and deal 6 damage. More so than the damage to the skirmisher, this turn moved her into a safer position with Keldrek and Haldor providing a shield for her.
The kobold slinger slung its stink pot at Keldrek dealing 4 damage and Keldrek takes a -2 penalty on his next attack. But since Keldrek had a +2 bonus from Tharian’s Lance of Faith, he is now back to his normal attack.
The kobold skirmisher moved and attacked Keldrek with its spear, but failed.
Keldrek’s confidence was surging at this point so he decided to dole out Paladin’s Judgement. He held his longsword in the air, let out a mighty roar….and proceeded to catch nothing but air. Despite the miss, Lyra was able to still spend a Healing Surge and get almost back to full health.
Undeterred by his previous failure, Keldrek used his Action Point to use Valiant Strike. This grants a bonus for each ally adjacent to him. With Lyra and Haldor standing at his side, he was successful in his attack, but only dealt minor damage.
Elara called upon Magic Missile again to remove another minion from the battlefield.
Haldor moved between the skirmisher and a minion. He then used Cleave (and some nice dice rolls) to defeat both the skirmisher and the minion.
Tharian noticed that none of his allies were in need of healing so he used Lance of Faith to take out a minion and granted Keldrek a +2 bonus on his next attack.
Round 4
Once again, I failed to notice that the minions were not in the initiative order. But this point there was only one left.
Lyra moved to try and deal with the final minion, but missed with her Sly Flourish attack.
The kobold slinger, as per the tactics, started yelling to the kobolds inside the lair to be ready for an attack. He then missed with his sling attack and started retreating into the lair.
The only enemy remaining at this point was the one minion.
Keldrek moved into a flanking position with Lyra against the final minion. He had to give up an opportunity attack to get there, but the attack failed. He then used Valiant Strike to hit and destroy the minion.
NOTE: During the stream, I accidentally moved Tharian’s token instead of Keldrek’s
This week we will be playing through encounter A3: Kobold Lair (inside). I will run through it solo using any input that those in the chat wish to provide. I hope you can join us. Please share with anyone else you think might be interested.
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Great recap & good idea. I remembered that the cleric in my campaign uses Lance of Faith & the attack bonus given to ally is only to the target of the Lance. Same with Righteous Brand and those must also be melee attacks to get the bonus.