Tag: 4e

Categories
D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Legacy of the Crystal Shard – Launch Weekend

legacy-of-the-crystal-shard-launch-weekend-coverThis week we began D&D Encounters season 16. The Legacy of the Crystal Shard is the second of five adventures that ties in to The Sundering, an ongoing tale that will reshape the Forgotten Realms and whose conclusion will coincide with the official launch of D&D Next (or whatever Wizards will be calling it by this time next year).

Much like Murder in Baldur’s Gate, this season’s adventure began with a launch weekend adventure. And much like last season’s introduction the launch weekend was really just an expanded and more detailed version of the events printed in the actual adventure. Knowing this, we decided not to run launch weekend on the weekend, but instead used it as our opening night adventure during week 0.

It seems a bit silly to me that Wizards scheduled the launch weekend adventure to run before the character creation session for the second season in a row. Fortunately we finished season 15 a week early and held a character creations session last week.

Continue reading “D&D Encounters: Legacy of the Crystal Shard – Launch Weekend”
Actual Play Podcast at Harry T North (Season 16 Launch Weekend) Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Categories
Friday Favourites

Friday Favourite: Your Coin is No Good Here

On Friday we comb through our extensive archives to find an older article that we feel deserves another look. From August 28, 2009, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: Your Coin is No Good Here.

“That’ll be two gold for the drinks and the meal,” says the waitress as she clears your plates and refills your mugs.

“Here you go, darling” says Braddoc the Fighter as he slides a few coins across the table. “This should take care of the bill along with a few extra for you.”

“Um, thanks,” she says as she eyes the coins awkwardly.

“What’s the problem?” ask Braddoc.

“You have to pay in real money. I can’t take these strange coins.”

Many aspects of D&D are simplified in order to make the game run smoothly. Currency squarely falls into this category. Currency in D&D is typically the same regardless of where you are in the campaign world and what you’re trying to buy. What 1 gp buys in your home town is generally what 1 gp buys in the next town. But if you’re looking to add a little bit of flavour to your next campaign why not treat money in D&D a little bit more like it’s handled in real life?

Continue reading “Friday Favourite: Your Coin is No Good Here”
Categories
D&D Encounters D&D Next

D&D Encounters: Murder in Baldur’s Gate – Report Card

murder-in-baldurs-gate-coverWe’ve reached the end of another season of D&D Encounters. Murder in Baldur’s Gate was a season unlike any we’d had thus far. It was a new kind of adventure and it introduced some significant changes to the way the D&D public play program works. Many long-time participants of D&D Encounters were upset that they now had to buy the adventure, but the quality of the product Wizards produced was substantive and quickly won over many of the naysayers.

There were plenty of good things about this season, but there were certainly areas for improvement. Today we’ll look at the season as a whole and go over the good and the bad. We welcome your feedback and want to know if you agree or disagree with our assessment. We also want to hear about anything we missed that you feel was important.

Continue reading “D&D Encounters: Murder in Baldur’s Gate – Report Card”
Categories
D&D Encounters D&D Next Dark Sun

Older D&D Encounters Modules Now Available!

dnd-encounters-logoOne of the most common criticisms of the D&D Encounters program is that the materials were not available for purchase, even after the seasons were over. Obviously that’s changed with season 15, but what about all the other adventures that came before it? Well, some of them are now available for sale online.

We’ve collected all the relevant links and product descriptions and provided them below in one easy to find and convenient location. Although every season isn’t available yet, it looks like Wizards will be making them available online in one format or another. We’ve also provided links to the Game Day and Launch Weekend materials related to the seasons that followed them.

We’ll continue to update this page as additional seasons of D&D Encounters become available at DnDClassics.com or in Dungeon magazine. If we’ve missed any seasons that are available now, please let us know in the comments below or by email.

Continue reading “Older D&D Encounters Modules Now Available!”
Categories
D&D Encounters D&D Next

D&D Encounters: Legacy of the Crystal Shard – Preview

legacy-of-the-crystal-shard-coverLegacy of the Crystal Shard is different than any other D&D Encounters adventure we’ve seen so far – and I mean that in a good way. Although it does bear some similarities to previous season and holds true to some of the conventions you’ve come to expect from the D&D Encounters program, it takes a huge leap into new territory as we’ll describe below. My initial impression is that this will either be the very best or very worst season of D&D Encounters; there will be no middle ground.

The adventure itself is part of The Sundering, the ongoing series of stories happening throughout the Forgotten Realms. It’s the second of fives D&D Encounters adventures that tie in to The Sundering, the first being last season’s Murder in Baldur’s Gate. This adventure builds on the events of R.A. Salvatore’s original Icewind Dale trilogy. Although it’s not necessary for the DM or any of the players to have read these books, if they have it will give them with additional insight this season (so read them if you haven’t because they’re fantastic!).

Legacy of the Crystal Shard is presented as edition-neutral and can be run using 3.5e, 4e, or D&D Next mechanics.

Continue reading “D&D Encounters: Legacy of the Crystal Shard – Preview”
Categories
Friday Favourites

Friday Favourite: What Do PCs Do For Fun?

On Friday we comb through our extensive archives to find an older article that we feel deserves another look. From December 16, 2009, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: What Do PCs Do For Fun?

Adventuring is hard work. You’re always putting your life on the line for fame and fortune. But what do you do when you’ve got some down time? How do PCs relax and unwind? We’ve given it some thought and present a few options for your consideration.

Continue reading “Friday Favourite: What Do PCs Do For Fun?”
Categories
D&D Encounters D&D Next

D&D Encounters: Murder in Baldur’s Gate (Week 12)

murder-in-baldurs-gate-coverThe party’s candidate for Duke, Carl the Half-elf Paladin, was invited to speak before the Parliament of Peers during last week’s session. While there he discovered evidence that someone was planning to blow up High Hall and all Members of Parliament with it. At the same time Ravengard had ordered mass executions of hundreds of criminal, many of whom did not deserve a death sentence if any punishment at all.

The PCs had to make hard choices about where to intervene, deciding in the end to split their efforts. Although the some PCs managed to save the Members of Parliament, High Hall was destroyed. The rest of the party successfully freed 300 “criminals” sentenced to death thereby stopping the pubic executions.

We had a packed house at Harry T North in Toronto. We had a table of seven and two tables of six. At my table were the following familiar faces: Carl the Half-Elf Paladin, Dwarf Fighter, Human Monk, Elf Mage, Human Cleric and Warforged Fighter.

Continue reading “D&D Encounters: Murder in Baldur’s Gate (Week 12)”
Actual Play Podcast at Harry T North (Season 15 Week 12) Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Categories
Friday Favourites

Friday Favourite: 5 Ways to Make Mindless Undead More Interesting

On Friday we comb through our extensive archives to find an older article that we feel deserves another look. From October 23, 2012, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: 5 Ways to Make Mindless Undead More Interesting.

A lot of DMs have a love/hate relationship with undead; I know I do. Whenever I need a monster to round out an encounter I know that some kind of undead will always fill the gap. With so many different kinds of undead to choose from they can easily become the go-to monsters. However, as the party gets tougher I find that I’m less likely to use undead staples like skeletons and zombies. Sure I can adjust their scores to make them level-appropriate for tougher parties but these undead are really one-trick ponies. By the time the party reaches upper heroic tier they know the trick and they’re no longer impressed.

This is why I try to limit how often I use undead creatures in my campaign. Some of the most common undead, at least the ones you’re most likely to encounter in great numbers (skeletons and zombies) tend to be mindless. They rely on their overwhelming numbers rather than any advanced tactics. After all, how can a creature with no brain, or a rotten decaying brain, think at all? This lack of reason makes them boring and predictable.

But undead have their place in D&D and we shouldn’t just cast any of them aside, regardless of the PCs’ level. So in order to make mindless undead more interesting I’ve come up with 5 tips that the players won’t see coming and the PCs will never forget.

Continue reading “Friday Favourite: 5 Ways to Make Mindless Undead More Interesting”
Categories
D&D Encounters D&D Next

D&D Encounters: Murder in Baldur’s Gate (Week 11)

murder-in-baldurs-gate-coverDuring last week’s session Ravengard declared marshal law in Baldur’s Gate and the PCs learned that the Guild was smuggling weapons from Wyrm’s Rock and arming people in Outer City for “something big” that was going to happen in the next 24 hours. As the PCs were finishing their confrontation with their Guild contact they heard an explosion emanate from somewhere in Lower City.

We had a very full house at Harry Tarantula North in Toronto this week. I ran a table of six while the other two DMs each ran tables of seven. My table had the same six players I’ve had for the past few sessions. The party consisted of a Human Monk, Elf Mage, Human Cleric, Dwarf Fighter, Warforged Fighter, and Half-elf Paladin (Carl the would-be candidate for Duke).

Continue reading “D&D Encounters: Murder in Baldur’s Gate (Week 11)”
Actual Play Podcast at Harry T North (Season 15 Week 11) Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Categories
D&D Encounters D&D Next

D&D Encounters: Legacy of the Crystal Shard (Launch Weekend) – Preview

legacy-of-the-crystal-shard-launch-weekend-coverIn just a few short weeks we’ll begin season 16 of D&D Encounters. The adventure is called Legacy of the Crystal Shard and it’s part of The Sundering, the ongoing story line that’s running through everything Wizard of the Coast is publishing this year.

As a teaser for the new D&D Encounters season Wizards is once again doing a launch weekend event to kick things off. This is how last season’s Murder in Baldur’s Gate began and it worked quite well. The launch weekend for Legacy of the Crystal Shard is November 16-17.

Although I don’t yet have a copy of the full Legacy of the Crystal Shard adventure (available in stores everywhere on November 19) the launch weekend kit makes it pretty clear that what happens on launch weekend is an expanded version of the first D&D Encounters session. This is exactly how the launch weekend worked last season too.

Continue reading “D&D Encounters: Legacy of the Crystal Shard (Launch Weekend) – Preview”