LFR - Silent Streets and Vanished Souls

7/25/09 - The Game Keep
Module BALD1-4: Silent Streets and Vanished Souls (High Difficulty)

Characters (from my group):
Krusk (Rick) - Level 1 Half-Orc Rogue (Brutal)
Rhogar (Bryan) - Level 1 Dragonborn Fighter (Great Weapon)
Voranna (Matt 1) - Level 2 Eladrin Ranger (Archer)
Also in the group:
Mindartis - Eladrin Warlord
Denier - 2-Weapon Melee Ranger
Eradrinor - Swordmage

This was a very busy day for us. We were in the LFR game from 12-4, and we still played a Tantris session later (blog post to come).

This was my favorite LFR game I've played so far. We only had two combat encounters, and several skill challenges. Nothing about the module itself was specifically better than the others we've played, but I really enjoyed this group of players. We had my favorite LFR DM (Barry, who also DM'ed us through 4/11/09's "These Hallowed Halls"), some brutal fighting, and lots of joking around.

The Warlord character really stood out. He knew how to do his job perfectly, used excellent combat tactics, and constantly gave advice to other players on their turns. If he hadn't been playing a Warlord, I might have thought he was just one of those annoying players who wants to control the whole party. And maybe he is, but if so, the Warlord class suits him perfectly. We were very glad to have him in the party.

The first battle started out great. Krusk, who doesn't even generally act as a melee character, used his opening round to rush the most important enemy, and critted. With sneak attack damage. The rest of the fight didn't go as well, and most of us were hurting by the end (everyone but me, really). But Rick's lucky roll definitely made the battle easier than it could have been, so we were all thankful for that. The final enemy surrendered rather than face our group.

The second battle was also pretty difficult. There was one very large boss surrounded by smaller enemies, but they weren't minions. (I won't say what they were here, as it would be a spoiler for those who haven't played this module.) We all concentrated on the large enemy first, who took a while to take down. Once he was gone, the rest of the pack swarmed us, and tore some of us to shreds.

This was the first LFR game I've played where a character died (the 2-weapon Ranger). Because I shoot from a distance, I went the entire session without being targeted by any enemies. I think that's the second time I've gotten through an LFR game without losing any hit points.

Rewards:
Rhogar - 560 xp, 100 gp, Battlecrazed Greatsword +1
Krusk - 560 xp, 100 gp, Subtle Shortsword +1
Voranna - 560 xp, 175 gp.