Category: D&D Encounters

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D&D Encounters: Council of Spiders (Week 2)

As the party proceeded through the old mine shaft rocks fell from the ceiling behind them sealing the passage. Svirfneblin rushed our of side passages ready to attack the party – it was an ambush! “The Goblin’s warning was true!” shouted one of the Deep Gnomes. “They’ll give us no mercy, so show none to them!”

This week we jump right into the action. No talking, not role-playing, just straight-up fighting. And it was going to be a tough fight. We had nine players and two DMs this week at my FLGS. I ran the table of four. These are the same PCs from last season and I’m modifying the adventure to make it suitable for level 4-6. The PCs are all Drow and those in attendance were playing the Rogue (#2), Druid, Cleric (Priestess) and Wizard (Bladesinger). All of these PCs have the Bregan D’aerthe Spy theme.

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D&D Encounters: Council of Spiders (Week 1)

This week marked the beginning of season 10 of the D&D Encounters program. This is the second of three Drow-themed adventures. This adventure is set in and around the Drow city of Menzoberranzan. Players are strongly encouraged to platy Drow PCs this season. They can play a handful of other races, but anyone playing non-Drow is assumed to be a Drow slave. At my FLGS everyone played Drow to make things easier.

One of the biggest complaints from the D&D Encounters regulars is that every season they have to create new characters and start from level 1 again. To address this we decided to run this season as level 4-6 and let the players kept the same characters they used last season. As all the PCs were Drow and all had the Bregan D’aerthe Spy theme this worked out nicely. The other DM at my FLGS realized that we might still get new players so he decided to run things business as usual from level 1. As most of the PCs at his table last season were not playing Drow PCs, this made a lot of sense.

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D&D Encounters: Web of the Spider Queen – Report Card

Another season of D&D Encounters is over, and as are wanton to do we’re going to judge the season that was. We’ll look at what worked, what didn’t and what might have been done differently. If you DMed or played in any of this season’s encounters we want to know what you think too. Be sure to provide your comments below, whether you agree or disagree with our assessment.

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D&D Encounters: Web of the Spider Queen (Week 13)

After rescuing Khara Sulwood from the Drow Slave pits the heroes managed to find their way back to the catacombs beneath Shadowdale, both halves of the Pendant of Ashaba in their possession. As they passed through the cellar and began climbing the stairs to the Tower of Ashaba, Valan Jaelre blocked their path. Flanked by two massive Driders, Valan demanded the PCs return the Pendent and surrender. Needless to say they were having none of that.

This was the final week for season 9 of D&D Encounters. We finished with eight players and two DMs so we managed to run two tables for the finale. The party at my table was made up of four regulars who were all with the party from the very beginning (none of these players missed a single session). Accompanied by Khara Sulwood, the party that faced the final encounter consisted of the following PCs:

  • Drow Rogue #1
  • Drow Rogue #2
  • Drow Druid
  • Drow Cleric

Before the PCs or Valan and his cronies could act, the Druid received a magical sending from Elminster. “Where have you been? Is the pendant reclaimed and its magic still intact? Shadowdale’s wards must be restored, and we are running out of time!” The Druid responded mentally that the party had the pendent but it was broken and that they had problems of their own right now.

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In Anticipation of GenCon: 8 Things I Learned at D&D Encounters

With only three days to go it’s safe to say that I’m super stoked about GenCon. For many, GenCon will be their first time playing D&D in a public-play event. And for many DMs this will be theri first time running an event outside the comfort of their own basement or living room.  No matter how experienced a DM you think you are, I’ve got news for you, DMing a public-play game for total strangers is very different from running your home game.

With that in mind I’d like to share some tips that I’ve picked up playing D&D Encounters every week at my FLGS. Running one encounter a week at my FLGS may not be exactly the same as running a full adventure at a Con, but I’ll bet that you find yourself facing many of the problems, issues and challenges I’ve faced on a weekly basis. When these things happen (and they will) just keep these eight tips in mind and you’ll be fine. Many of these tips will be especially relevant if you happen to have younger or brand new players at your table. Good luck!

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D&D Encounters: Council of Spiders – Preview

On August 22 the players become the villains. That’s right, this season the PCs get a chance to become members of Drow society along with all the plotting and scheming that accompanies it. The PCs don’t necessarily have to play evil characters but they will want to watch their backs as everyone could be out to get them, even the other PCs.

Season 10 of D&D Encoutners: Council of Spiders continues the world-shaping Rise of the Underdark story arc and is closely tied to the latest product offering from Wizards of the Coast, Menzoberranzan: City of Intrigue. Below is a high-level overview of what you can expect during the coming season of D&D Encounters. It relatively spoiler-free.

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D&D Encounters: Web of the Spider Queen (Week 12)

Following a brutal encounter in the Drow Torture Theatre last week the heroes took a short rest and then moved onward in search of the Slave Pits. After some exploration the passage seemed to open into a larger cavern. The shouting from a Drow guard and the screams from victimized slaves left no doubt that the PCs had found the Salve Pits.

While hiding in the passageway the heroes spotted a Drow leading a Svirfneblin slave back to the pens. Before them stood a large creature made entirely of webs. It seemed to have some recognition of the Drow guard as it stepped aside to allow the slave to pass. The guard left the slave in the creatures charge and retreated the way he came, oblivious to the PCs’ presence.

Huge Spiders scuttled along the floor and walls, threatening the Svirfneblin. Suddenly a Human woman stepped out to confront the Spider, shouting at them and kicking them. It was Khara Sulwood.

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D&D Encounters: Council of Spiders – Pre-Generated Characters

Wizards of the Coast provided new pre-generated characters with the materials for the upcoming season D&D Encounters: Council of Spiders. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw them. After five seasons without any new pre-gens we get six Drow characters to choose from for D&D Encounters season 10.

As I actually read through the new adventure I realized that playing any race other than Drow would present players with considerable challenges this season. With that in mind it only made sense that Wizards would give us Drow pre-gens. After all, D&D Encoutners is still an introductory program so they needed to give us more than Belgos if new players wanted to play Drow PCs.

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D&D Encounters: Web of the Spider Queen (Week 11)

Last week’s session ended after the PCs successfully navigated the maze of caverns inside the gates of Zadzifeirryn and found the Torture Theater. After a short rest the PCs moved quietly in the directions of the screams and cheers.

The passage ahead opened into a huge chamber, its lower level a cavernous pit heaped with corpses. Erie red light filled the area cast from glowing fonts full of blood. Two Drow Torturers stood on a platform above the PCs, the walls of the chamber around them lined with stone steps filled with Drow spectators.

A Torturer swung a heavy blade beheading a human captive; the crowd roared with delight. The Drow kicked the lifeless body into the pit and pointed towards a group of chained human captives, “Time for a new victim!”

The two Rogues in the party tried to sneak up to the edge where two Humans were chained. Rogue #2 made an amazing Stealth check, Rogue #1 rolled a 1. One of the Torturers spotted the party and challenged their presence, “Who are you and what are you doing with those bodies?” she demanded. The four Drow PCs, still dressed in House Jaelre uniforms, tried to Bluff their way out of the escalating mess.

“We wanted to have the best seats in the house,” said the Druid. “We didn’t want to pay to get in,” said one of the Rogues. The Torturer paused briefly to consider the plausibility of this explanation but quickly realized that something was amiss. She placed her hand in the adjacent blood font and began chanting as she started a summoning ritual.

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D&D Encounters: Web of the Spider Queen (Week 10)

Last week the heroes managed to get through the gates of Zadzifeirryn. They ended last week’s session when they found a safe place to hide and took an extended rest. This week they awoke refreshed and leveled up.

This week’s encounter is another unusual one for D&D Encounters. It’s possible that this week could end up as just role-playing and skill checks, which is how it played out at my table. In order to keep my group interested I had to make a few changes on the fly but all in all things worked out ok. The encounter still took about 90 minutes (without any combat) and it certainly allowed for some interesting character development and NPC interactions.

The numbers at our FLGS continue dwindling as we were down to only seven this week, two DMs and five players. The other DM decided to take the week off and my table ran business as usual with our regular five.

  • Drow Druid
  • Drow Cleric
  • Drow Rogue #1
  • Drow Rogue #2
  • Drow Wizard (Bladesinger)
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