After 12 weeks the adventure came to a thrilling conclusion. The PCs finally came face-to-face with Xeres. But he wasn’t alone. The ensuing battle was a worthy conclusion to season one of D&D Encounters, Halaster’s Lost Apprentice.
D&D Encounters is a 12-part adventure from Wizards of the Coast and it’s played out one encounter each week over 12 weeks.
Tonight we play the final session of D&D Encounters season one. We’ll finally get the payoff of our 12-week commitment. But rather than look back on the previous 11 weeks, we’re looking forward to the next 15. Without any delay or interruption, beginning next Wednesday, June 9, we jump right into the second season of D&D Encounters. You can wait until next week to find out all about it you can read on as we share a high level overview of the next season of D&D Encounters.
D&D Encounters: Dark Sun begins on June 9. Wizards of the Coast has provided six pre-generated characters – all of them highlighting unique aspects to the upcoming Dark Sun setting for 4e D&D. Today we’ve provided copies of all six characters for your review. They’ll be available from Wizards next week, but we’re giving you a first look.
Now available: The pre-generated characters for D&D Encounters Season 3: Keep on the Borderlands.
As I sat down to play the penultimate session of D&D Encounters season one, I wasn’t sure what to expect. After 10 weeks, what could this adventure possibly have in store for us that we hadn’t already seen before? The answer – nothing.
Although I had a lot of fun playing this week’s game, it didn’t “wow” me. I don’t know if this was because I’m getting bored with the adventure, tired of my character or just burned out in general. But despite a relatively straight forward encounter I realized that the amount of effort you put in to D&D is directly related to the amount of enjoyment you get out if it. And in week 11 we certainly made the effort.
D&D Encounters is a 12-part adventure from Wizards of the Coast and it’s played out one encounter each week over 12 weeks.
We’ve got more information about D&D Encounters Season 2: Dark Sun. But before we get into that, let’s see how things went for our heroes in the week 10 session of D&D Encounters.
D&D Encounters is a 12-part adventure from Wizards of the Coast and it’s played out one encounter each week over 12 weeks.
If not for two PCs who made miraculous death saves we were looking at another TPK. Even with those great rolls at exactly the right time, the two other members of the party were killed this week. I’m quickly learning that the final chapter (encounters 9-12) of the adventure, Halaster’s Lost Apprentice, is a lot more difficult that the first two chapters. And I have some thoughts on just why that’s the case.
Before starting D&D Encounter week 9, I had a tough decision to make. Last week we had a total party kill (TPK). I had to decide if I wanted to resurrect my Gith Monk and keep playing him for the remaining four weeks or if I should play a totally different character? I weighed the pros and cons very carefully all week.
You know what I’m really enjoying about D&D Encounters? Regardless of how long you’ve played D&D you get to experience a new aspect of D&D every week. This week I experienced my very first TPK. And so did everyone else at my FLGS.
After last week’s encounter, I was less than 100 XP from leveling. I was so close I could taste it. All week I kept thinking that after this encounter I’ve finally be level 2. It took eight long weeks, but after tonight I’d reap the rewards of sticking with my original character. And then I died.
D&D Encounters Season 2 is going to be set in Dark Sun. The adventure, Fury of the Wastewalker, runs for 15 weeks from June 9 through September 15. Players must use one of the pregenerated level 1 characters provided. Here’s the description of the adventure.
On a trade road to the city-state of Tyr, a caravan is assaulted by a deadly obsidian shardstorm, forcing the survivors to band together and navigate the wastes to safety. But the force of nature that destroyed the caravan is under the malevolent control of the being known as the Wastewalker, who will stop at nothing to see the end of those that escaped his initial wrath. Can the heroes reach the Ringing Mountains before it’s too late? This season of D&D Encounters uses pregenerated 1st-level characters specifically designed for the adventure play experience!
We’ll be sure to keep you informed as more information on D&D Encounters Season 2 becomes available.
Visit the Dungeon’s Master D&D Encounters Archive for all of our ongoing weekly coverage as well as other great D&D Encounters articles and resources.
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“This is the best example of a level 2 solo monster I’ve ever seen.” High praise from our very experienced DM. During D&D Encounters week 7 the players discovered just how powerful and dangerous solo monsters really are.
D&D Encounters is a 12-part adventure from Wizards of the Coast and it’s played out one encounter each week over 12 weeks.
When you’re only playing one encounter a week you want every encounter to be interesting, fun and take more than a few rounds to complete. If the encounter isn’t balanced you either finish so quickly that the players feel cheated or the monster is just so powerful that the some (or all) of the PCs die trying to defeat it. When we realized that we were up against a solo monster this week I hoped we’d find some happy middle ground and I was not disappointed.
I owe the players at my game table an apology. Because of my unpredictable dice, our encounter was over after only two rounds. Less than half-an-hour into week 6, we were done. Sorry guys. Whenever dice have an impact on the outcome of events, there’s always the outside chance that they’ll do the unexpected.
Since I began playing and writing about my participation in D&D Encounters, I’ve tried to keep things as spoiler free as possible. This week I need to be specific, otherwise I won’t have very much to write about.
D&D Encounters is a 12-part adventure from Wizards of the Coast and it’s played out one encounter each week over 12 weeks.