A Little Friendly Competition

There are two of us in our group who sit behind the screen.  I am usually the one running the world and trying to maim the players in innovative ways, but sometimes, including the next few sessions, Justin takes the helm.  Our schedules have been wonky lately, and we haven't been able to get together on our once-normal night, Monday, due in part to Real Life and me being put back on full time (yay!).  So, in order to scratch our itch, Justin and I decided to run a little advanced board game type scenario with D&D 4e.

We both have Insider accounts, and I made a proposal, from which rules followed.  Here is the premise, followed by the rules.

Premise:

We each take turns running through a 3 combat encounter dungeon delve of the other's design.  The one with the most living characters at the end wins!

Rules:

1. Each party will consist of four pcs, each at level 6.  They must be made using the Wizards Character Builder, and excludes the use of races from the Monster Manual.  They may be outfitted with, in addition to mundane gear, one magic item of each 5th, 6th, and 7th level as well as 1,000gp for additional purchases.
2. The race, class, and build of each character must be disclosed, but details are optional.
3. Each dungeon will consist of three combat encounters of increasing difficulty.  The first will be worth 1,000xp, followed by 1,200xp, and 1,400xp, give or take 75xp on each side, with a total xp budget of 3,750xp to spend between the three.
4. Battle maps for each encounter may not take more than 16x16 in size.
5. The creatures chosen must be of an appropriate level for the party.
6. The theme and cohesive qualities of building a dungeon and populating it with monsters may be taken into account.
7. There will be no more than 3 terrain features per map to trip up the players.
8. Each player will get the opportunity to play through each encounter, and will alternate running the game and the players.  Who goes first will be decided by a d20 roll.  Winner chooses.
9. There will be no loot awarded over the course of the dungeon.
10. The party starts the delve at full power, and no extended rests are allowed.  Short rests are allowed between encounters.
11. Monsters used for the encounters may not be custom; they will be from the Wizards Compendium.
12. Encounters and the delve as a whole will be written using the Masterplan program.
    

I believe that is a good start.  The goal of this exercise is not only to use these tools that we have, but to learn how to run games more efficiently, how to write a more effective set of encounters, and to familiarize ourselves with the other character classes that we may not be using on a normal basis.

Keep tuned to this page for more information as it comes to pass.