1. Dana. Thanks again to Dana for watching over the kids while we tore up her home, her husband and laid waste to her septic system.
2. Puppy. I think my pc, a druid that turns into a puppy, is a stroke of genius! He's always there and pops out when needed.
3. Epic battles. With the complexity of 4E combat, drawing maps, inititiative, strategic planning sessions, tons of power choses and second winds it seems like 4E lends itself well to epic battles. The most enjoyable combats being those that pit the heroes against overwhelming odds and see them succeed with planning, courage and luck by a razors edge. I felt like Steve's encounter fit that bill well as did our final encounter against the Skull Lord Bane. In the last battle General, Nat and Wade went down and two others were bloodied! Perfect!
4. The taste of stout. Yum!
5. Don's cooking. Yum!
6. Guest DM's. Steve did a knock up job and I really enjoyed playing my dude. Next year, though, I will be asking a striker to DM the evening combat so I can get get drunk and kill stuff!
7. Role playing. I thought the encounters with Pooter, on the boat, with Ol' Pa and with Tiamat were a lot of fun. Ya'll did great and I look forward to finding more ways to encorporate role palying and non-combat problem solving in next year.
8. Effects. The effects system (dazed, stunned, blinded, imobilized, deafened, etc.) is starting to grow on me. I like how you don't have to explain what every monster, trap, power, critical hit (or failure) does. You just throw out the damage and the effect and a little flavor text and everbody gets it.
9. Bad guys with magic items. Very fun having magic items for my baddies. "Oh, you would have hit him, except for his +2 dwarven layered plate!" "Did I forget he was imobilized? No, I forgot to tell you he has boots of free movement!" It makes victory that much sweeter and the items that much cooler when you see them used against you.
So there's my partial list. Please add on or expand on my thoughts!