Smells a bit down here

This is the first adventure for a campaign i started DM-ing on the weekend, its set in Caer Calidyrr (a location i took from a map of Faerûn and plan on updating once i get the new Forgotten Realms book), a small town that has been having some trouble with its sewers and so the mayor puts out the call for some heroes, namely us.
First and foremost I'll give you the Legend:

1. A Half rotten Wooden Portcullis: Break DC of 16
2. Corpse: contains 37 gold and an amulet of protection
3. Corpse: contains 101 gold
4. Makeshift Wall: Break DC of 16 and a Perception of 23 to locate hidden door
5. Table: 52 Metal Cards (+1 Shurikens) and a burning torch
6. Green areas are bunks for the goblins, chest contains 186 gold and a magic quiver
7. Barricade: break DC of 10 (has to be broken)
8. Blockage cannot be broken but has room to squeeze around
9. Darkened areas are webbing: Difficult terrain (I forgot about this)
10. Ledge behind some very thick webs (so that the DJS cannot be seen)
11. Cocoons: contain 541 gold in a bag of holding (purse sized so no one has to worry about gold weight), amulet of protection and a "Bonerod" (+1 Rod)

• GR = Giant Rat: page 219 (of the Monster Manual)
  
• DR = Dire Rat: page 219
  
• RS = Rat Swarm: page 219
  
• GB = Goblin Blackblade: page 136
  
• GC = Goblin Cutter: page 137
  
• GW = Goblin Warrior: page 137
  
• WR = Wererat: page 180
  
• DJS = Deathjump Spider: page 246
  
• BS = Blade Spider: page 246

- If 4 is broken down (as opposed to using the door) the blackblades hide and hopefully get combat advantage against the party
- After breaking down 7 the Blade spider can be heard through the wall following them down the corridor (this scared the rogue and ranger)
- At 8 i made the party put away its light source to squeeze through the gap to add a bit of drama
- The party receives some quest exp and +1 chainmail upon returning to the mayor of the town, they can perform a diplomacy check to try and get more gold if they wish but no hints of this are given (its a greed thing)

I made this adventure for the sole purpose of giving the party some level 1 magic equipment and to get them to level 2 pretty quickly it didn't all go to plan though...

I planned the first encounter assuming Amaril would be a wizard and could finish off the giant rats pretty quickly but he chose to become a warlock and so it took a bit longer (also the rat swarms had their damage resistance) and the rogue almost died, twice.
During the deathjump spider encounter the rogue cheated (he opened his monster manual to find the AC of the spiders) so i added a third, weaker, spider into the fray and nearly killed everyone and had to weaken the blade spider because everyone was running out of healing surges.

Even though I made a few mistakes and was a bit generous with my item giving, everyone said it was ok, so i think i'll do more.

- BALAZAR

And the Big One...

I've introduced the "incorporation" so i believe i should give a brief rundown of Fourth Edition.
the basic premise, well the biggest difference i could see, is that it runs a lot smoother than 3.5, especially when it comes to leveling up and picking abilities and powers.

Of course it has it's negative points as well, many of people's favourite classes are gone now, the bard, monk and druid are gone (we'll miss you) and also the sorcerer and barbarian (meh). These have been replaced with the Warlord (a more combat oriented bard as far as i can tell) and the Warlock (a wizard that focuses on single targets rather than widespread damage).

The removal of the Gnomes as player races seems to have brought nothing but joy to my companions, but i like the little bastards, they look pretty good in the monster manual now. The three new races are pretty cool though, the Dragonborn, Tieflings and Eladrin are very suave.

All in all i think a big improvement has been made to dungeons and dragons and i hope more people get into it.

- BALAZAR

Introductions

Welcome to KillnGold Incorporated! this Blag is dedicated to the adventures of a select few as they discover the ups and downs of the fourth edition of Dungeons and Dragons. some of us are playing for the first time while most of us have been playin since 3.5..... We haven't been playing for that long but we like to think we're as qualified as the next socially awkward delinquent.

The current incarnation of KillnGold Inc. includes but is not limited to:

• Balazar - A reckless Human Paladin that has a fierce attraction to bastard swords
  
• Amaril - A wily Eladrin Wizard who is coincidentally always around when fire "happens"
• Torinn - A stoic Dragonborn Cleric who not only restores health but takes a bit himself
• Taiba - A reliable Elven Ranger that whimpers at the sound of the floor clicking
• Lelldorin - A stealthy Halfling Rogue who is strangely not around when we're looking for a culprit
• Allanna - A Diplomatic Half-Elven Warlord who talks EVERYONE down
  

-BALAZAR