DCC Tournament Year Five

[fathead]

Any guesses from the Oracle Fathead for this year?

I'm gonna stick with my original prophesy - a high level (as in the 20th level range) 4E adventure. The event description sounds like that could be possible. I have to say though, if that is the case, it will be a helluva challenge.

:fathead throws away his crystal ball

So much for that prophesy.

[Jengenritz]

In all fairness, as the Player's Pack points out, we had to change the tourney significantly from what the Gen Con event listing said.
And you've got to be wrong sometimes...otherwise I'd get REAAAL "interested" in your "divination technique."

[fathead]

In all fairness, as the Player's Pack points out, we had to change the tourney significantly from what the Gen Con event listing said.
And you've got to be wrong sometimes...otherwise I'd get REAAAL "interested" in your "divination technique."

Ha. That's an easy one. I ask myself WWFD? (what would fathead do)

Or maybe I'm purposefully giving you an incorrect prophesy to throw you off the scent...

I've breached the Goodman ranks! Who is the mole?!

[DeadChannel]

I was going over the Player's Pack and saw that the Rogue doesn't have a light blade in his inventory. I'm hoping this is an oversight otherwise he can't use most of his abilities.

[N'Haaz-aua]

A shuriken is a light blade... and yes, its intentional. They are intentionally sub optimal as always.

[DeadChannel]

A shuriken is a light blade... and yes, its intentional. They are intentionally sub optimal as always.

Ah, so it is. Thanks for that.

This is my first DCC Tournament but I was guessing they gimped the characters on purpose. They're not what most players would call an optimal build.

[N'Haaz-aua]

Ah, so it is. Thanks for that.

This is my first DCC Tournament but I was guessing they gimped the characters on purpose. They're not what most players would call an optimal build.

Welcome to the tourney and good luck!

Yes, they each have their own problems. As playtesters we groan every time we get the characters. But we learn to love them (not really ).

[Stonesnake]

Actually the Rogue does have a light blade ... she has plenty of shurikens! Nothing wrong with those.

[dgersten]

This is my first DCC Tournament but I was guessing they gimped the characters on purpose. They're not what most players would call an optimal build.

@DeadChannel - as I've only played on DCC Tourney, I wish you good luck! My cryptic advice to you is this... just like the characters are "not what most players would call an optimal build", the adventure will most likely not be what those same players would call an optimal dungeon.

I am looking forward to playing in this year's tournament. My friends and I played "Palace in the Wastes" two years ago and I would bet we were absolutely last in ranking. That might have had something to do with the fact that we didn't know that player packs were available pre-Con. I am positive that our first experience will help us do better this year.

[Jengenritz]

Well, The Warbringer's Son was one for the books!

The Blood Kings defended their title, coming out on top by a narrow margin. By repeating, they pulled off a feat not seen since the Josh O'Connor Experiment/OCR Bunny Killers swept the first two tournaments, Crypt and Vault.

Shenanigans took second place. This is pretty cool since - if I remember correctly - their team included one member with a generic ticket. Shenanigans actually explored a little farther than Blood Kings...it was a close tournament, and with slightly tighter resource management they probably would have won.

The Bastard Sons of Lee Van Cleave - hands-down my favorite tourney name ever - ended up in third. Mike Maenza and Josh O'Connor-Rose were on this team, making their third appearance in the final round of the tourney. The only other people to do that are the members of Clan Yeoman.

Some other noteworthy items:

This was the largest tournament to date...we sent out 35 Round One tables.

We had two teams with the name "Fish in a Barrel," which accurately describes the mortality rate of heroes in the tournament. They were designated (Thurs) and (Fri), and "Fish in a Barrel (Fri)" was the first alternate team for the final round. This is doubly impressive since they were a team of THREE during Round Two.
And for the record, the (Thurs) and (Fri) teams were completely different people...we didn't let a team play twice.

This was a bloody, bloody year. There were those early on who doubted 4E characters could be killed...we proved them wrong in the second-deadliest Round One on record (after last year's Chronicle).
I don't think our Judges and authors can claim sole credit - if "credit" is the word to be used here - for the lethality of Warbringer. I think that the newness of 4E had a lot to do with it...I know a lot of teams went down with action points unspent, for example.

Ken McCutchen was this year's Iron DM...he ran eight hours of tables for three days in a row.
I would have acknowledged him during the awards presentation, but I got all distracted by the two guys who had a "forceful disagreement" in front of our booth just prior to the presentation and forgot all about it.
Was mighty happy to see Chris Anderson and Harley Stroh with me on-point for that, though. Good TimesTM.

To wrap up I'd like to publically thank:

- The authors, who wrote a great module in two weeks...their SECOND tourney module for 2008!
- The Judges. We get a lot of comments every year on the quality of our Judges, and it's well-deserved. They know the game backwards-forwards, even if it just came out a few months ago.
- The teams who played. Without you, we'd all look pretty stupid standing around empty tables. Thanks for coming back for Year Five, and stick around...we're already working on Year Six!

About Year Six, I'm prepared to make only one statement so far:

Paragon Tier

[dcampbez]

This was my first Gencon, first tournament event, and I have to say, I had a blast. I'd met one of the other members of my team from the boards, and we found the other two at the table just in time for the event. Had Erica; this was this first 4E for any of us, and the first time in any tournament for any of us, and we STILL advanced to round 2.

Of course, we were short the other two player and got disqualified, but we met up with another team short two and were allowed to play Round 2 as an "unoffical" game... thanks Chris and the staff for making that happen, the whole thing was a blast (even with the TPK, damn secret rooms). Definatly gonna play this again next year.

One question: Is this tournament going to be published, and how long will it take? Dying (hah ha) to read the rest of it and run my local group through it...

Dave Campbell
The Crawling Dungeoneers ©

[welland_warrior]

I'd just like to echo Dave's sentiments. It was my first exposure to 4E, GenCon, and the DCC Tournament. Nonetheless, Dave and I had a great time. It was a total buzzkill when the other two guys bailed on us, especially when we had made the cut to round two. Oh well, that's the way the skull bounces I suppose. I look forward to playing again.

Crawling Dungeoneers (c)

[Istor]

Is the tournament module released for purchase every year? I didn't have time to play, or even watch but I'd like to run my players through it for kicks.

[N'Haaz-aua]

Is the tournament module released for purchase every year? I didn't have time to play, or even watch but I'd like to run my players through it for kicks.

Yes. The past 4 years are on sale now at 50% off also. It's Crypt of the Devil Lich (13), Vault of the Dragon Kings (30), Palace in the Wastes (49), and Chronicle of the Fiend (53).

[dcampbez]

Yeah, I spent a third of my my con budget on the 50% of sale... got all the ones I needed to fill in my collection holes. Good stuff.

[Mouse]

Hi

Just like to make a reply to Dave and the Crawling Dungeoneers. I'm glad you had fun and enjoyed the tournament. I was pleased and suprised when you advanced (you were probably pretty near the cut).

At the end of the round I thought you had done pretty medium-ish. Your lack of 4e knowledge hurt and I beat you guys up pretty bad. But when I totalled the points I was quite suprised to see that you had done done quite well. You had a bizzare affinity to do all the things that got you extra points, it was quite impressive and made all the difference (when the actual tournament is posted and you have the scoring, you will see).

Sorry about the lack of players in round 2. That happens to a lot of teams when mixed groups are involved (it actually happened to "Blood of Kings" back in 2006).

Glad you had fun, hope to see you next year.

Erica

[dcampbez]

Hi

You had a bizzare affinity to do all the things that got you extra points, it was quite impressive and made all the difference (when the actual tournament is posted and you have the scoring, you will see).
Erica

I think we were more surprised than you were as we kept failing to die... And that final Crit on the Manticore... great stuff. We were definatly lucky on the rolls, and the stumbling into "the right stuff at the right time"

Erica did a great job with the four of us; almost like herding cats to keep us on track, and we all had a tons of fun in the end. I remember the one guy had dragged the other to MAKE him try 4th ed, and he was almost completely converted in the end, that was great stuff.

Greg and I will be back next year, with two recruits that we can count on.... I only hope we have a DM so on the ball again, thanks!

[Bifster]

I loved it! We got obliterated in round one and I still loved it.

To be honest, I got in with generics with a buddy of mine who doesn't play D&D much, so my hopes of advancing were ridiculously low. We got paired up with two other guys who seemed nice but who we didn't know from Adam. Hey... thanks to all the folks at the tournament desk for all the incredible help, BTW. Our team met about 10 minutes before the round. We had only enough time to pick characters, discuss basic strategy... like, let's take it slow but not drag our feet, etc.

<<< You've been warned... there be spoilers galore below this line >>>

And a surprising thing happened... we started doing really well. It only took us maybe 2 hours to get through the first two rooms and with not too much damage. In room one I did use up
the best spell for my wizard... the flaming sphere, but it seemed like it was worth it since we got up the hill fairly quickly and illuminated + eliminated those damn crossbow goons. 2nd room we spotted the barrel trap early. Only one guy got caught in the barrels and he made his save. Then a lucky critical hit took down the enemy spell caster pretty quickly. At the end of room 2, we were practically at max hit points with plenty of healing left. We interviewed one of the slaves for good info AND found a very promising map on the wall. Surely we were kicking ass. Surely this was championship-quality dungeoneering. Had we just been lucky? No way. We were drunk in the confidence that we were superior gamers. Gamers who were finally going to be recognized for our brilliance.

A weird emotion came over me. I was actually confident we could advance in the tournament. Dreams of grandeur filled my heart. In my mind I could see myself accepting a trophy in front of throngs of envious on-lookers. "He was such an underdog," I heard them muttering under their breath, so jealous that they could barely speak.

And then we hit the third room.

Or should I say, the third room hit us.

We knew this room reeked of traps the moment we saw it. But the guard running away for reinforcements really rattled us. And the ledge above just felt wrong... we were convinced we would be quickly surrounded or pelted with ranged fire (which was exactly the case.) Call it an amateur mistake, but our team dynamic broke down and we argued too long on how to investigate the ledge vs. how to stop the fleeing guard from bringing down certain doom upon our heads. Precious time was slipping by and no one on the team had a good solution. In a rash decision, the rogue announced that he was attempting to scale the wall to investigate the ledge, hoping to eliminate it as a concern before we proceeded.

Did I mention checking for traps? No, I didn't and no, we didn't. We were so rattled and so busy arguing about the best approach that the rogue FORGOT... completely FORGOT... to check for traps in the most obviously trapped room in the history of dungeons scribbled on graph paper. And I don't blame him. We all forgot. It was the team's responsibility and we mentioned it but didn't follow through. We lost our heads. Kinda literally.

So, rather than climbing the wall as he intended, the rogue was instead captured in the sharp teeth of an iron bear trap, jerked violently into the air, stabbed repeatedly and then dropped to his complete and utter end. In two quick rounds, as the rest of us stood helplessly below with our mouths hanging open... the rogue went from full hit points to dead. And not just unconscious. He was totally, un-healable, roll-up-another-character dead. To the game designers I say bravo to you on creating a brilliant and elegantly deadly trap. For the record, I respect your skills and hate you all.

Our "brilliant" dungeon crawl quickly went spiraling down from there. With no rogue, we hit more traps. Did we hit them all? I don't know... it was hard to tell. The spray of blood each round obscured my vision. We were totally out matched by the three bad guys. But what can you do? We faced the ultimate meta-gaming decision. Should we quit early and hope to advance based on points? Sorry, but not our style. Boldly, proudly and maybe stupidly, we charged on.

Predictably, but still painfully, the paladin and the warlord died in the ensuing combat. However, surprising me as much as anyone else, my wizard was somehow able to survive with just a few hit points. There is probably a moral victory in the fact that at least one of us got to see the 4th room. But any joy was overshadowed by the taste of bile in my throat. Please remind me... why did I get my hopes up?

At least the 4th room was over quickly. It only took one step into the cavern to get myself pinned to the wall of the cave with a ballista spike, looking like a bug in a science fair project. At least I got to see the Manticore. Such pretty spikes, even when sticking out of my abdomen. And I think I saw some sort of hobgoblin mage... I think... things got blurry as my life force slowly dribbled out and my eyes closed.

TPK, baby.

So, in summary... I LOVED IT. What an experience. In less that four hours I experienced a year’s worth of intense emotions… exhilaration, pride, victory… consternation, trepidation, fear… agony, frustration, and eventually defeat. Not a bad ride for just the cost of a couple of generic tickets.

When can we expect to see the official tournament results posted on the forums? I'd really like to see how we did compared to others. We'll probably never know, but I would LOVE to see what our score would have been had we chose to withdraw and avoid the inevitable player kills.

Hey, how can I become a play tester? I think I would like that a lot.

Bifster

[Jengenritz]

Bifster, I love your tourney write-ups! I'm glad you get that the whole point of the tourney is to have fun while getting TPK'ed.

thanks to all the folks at the tournament desk for all the incredible help

Goodman Games pays me well in pie to man that desk, but appreciation is always appreciated.

Hey, how can I become a play tester? I think I would like that a lot.

Are you talking about playtesting for the tournament exclusively or playtesting for other modules?
If you playtest for the tournament, you and your group won't be allowed to participate in it (clearly).

If you're interested in either, send me a PM through the board with your contact info and gaming experience, and we'll talk.

[fathead]

This tournament recaps has been long in coming, so I apoligize for being late to the game. Actually, I'm surprised that there hasn't been more tournament chatter this year.

Anyway, we had a blast, as usual. In fact, the tournament actually encouraged our group to give 4E a try (and now we're starting a 4E campaign, so I guess it worked).

I'll have to make this recap into several parts. Here is Part I:


We played in the last possible 1st round slot on Friday, and arrived early to go over and pick the characters (yes...we were woefully behind this year). We waffled a bit as to who we should be choosing (that might have had something to do with the new gaming system as well), but we ultimately chose the ranger, rogue, wizard, and warlord. we play the same sort of characters in almost every tournament, so we obviously favor a certain mix. Once our assigned table cleared out, we set up early and went through a brief 20 minute combat (I just threw a few kobolds and fire beetles at them). We had only played a 1 hour combat in 4E prior to the con, and I wanted everyone to be comfortable with it. Our GM showed up, and we plowed into the adventure.

We arrived at the Bandit King's cozy and well-lit vineyard. Rather than tromping straight down the shadowy central path, we stood at the edge and did some looking around. We found several zombies, half-submerged in the ground, hidden within sections of vine (we think they were there to scare the birds off of the bandit kings grape vines...he's crafty, that bandit king).

The characters that we'd chosen all had strong stealth modifiers...so we opted to sneak along the outside of the vineyard, while the wizard used prestigitation to snuff out the fires along the way. This caused some muffled exchanges at the other end of the vineyard. At this point, we second-guessed ourselves and opted for the pleasant stroll down the center instead. After getting pelted with crossbow bolts, we retreated again at the opposite end of the vineyard.

We spread out and stayed in the shadows with cover from the vine rows and used range attacks to take out the zombies. The other foes ventured out into the vineyard to find us. After a few rounds of combat, we prevailed, and were able to get the last goon to surrender. We questioned him extensively and asked him to draw us a map (which he kindly did).

The adventure went pretty quickly from there. We knew that there was someone waiting to run back and sound the alarm, so we skipped past the room with the zombies and slave workers (actually, we snuck past it...didn't want the slaves to alert anyone either).

In the pinata trap room (which was brilliant, by the way), there really wasn't much to tell. We dispatched one guard, then climbed to the ledge to kill the others in their sleep. This is where it gets strange though...we heard another guard in the distance (whistling)...right around the corner, somewhere. It was at this point that we had another lapse of reason, and decided to return to free to slaves from the zombies before continuing. After returning from our foray, the "whistler" was gone (to sound the alarm, of course). Yeah...oops...

Alright...Part II will be later this week!