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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: War of Everlasting Darkness (Week 3)

Last week’s session ended when the heroes escaped the confines of the Kingdom of Many-Arrows and headed towards Mithral Hall to inform the Dwarves that rogue Orc war-bands had defied King Obould Many-Arrows and joined forces with the treacherous Drow to bring chaos to the surface world. As the Darkening continues to spread across the realms, the heroes find themselves deep inside hostile Orc territory as they seek safe harbour in the Dwarven kingdom.

We had a good turnout this week with two DMs and 10 players. We continue to shuffle the groups so this week I had a Drow Assassin, Revenant (Pixie) Vampire, Shade Ranger (Hunter), Revenant [Gith] Bard, and Human Swordmage.

Scene 1 – Arrival at Mithral Hall

When the heroes arrived at Mithral Hall they realized that it was under siege from the Orcs. Orcs had the entrances to Mithral Hall and the entrances to many large cave mouths guarded. On the mountainside near the PCs, Orcs had set up tents and cook fires. About 500 feet away guards surround an enormous wooden horn atop a plateau. When the horn was blown, the attacking Orcs troops adjust their positions around the entrances to Mithral Hall.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: War of Everlasting Darkness (Week 2)

Last week the adventure began when the PCs arrived in the logging community of Quaervarr on the edge of the Glimmerwood. The recent appearance of a wandering phantom had the locals worried and the PCs were encouraged to investigate. The heroes discovered the ruins of Methergrist, a long-abandoned Temple to Helm that lay in ruins. The PCs battled an Imp in the dungeon beneath the rubble eventually defeating it and banishing the wandering ghost. Their victory coincided with the emergence of The Darkening, dark filaments that shot up from a hole in the earth to spin a web of blackness across the sky blocking the starlight at night and masking the sun during the day.

Over the past few seasons at my FLGS the players have divided into two parties and then stuck to those parties throughout the entire season. This season we’re trying something a little bit different. Each week we’re randomly assigning players to one of the two tables. This lets the players and DMs meet and play with new people every week. Since each week is a complete mini-adventure and the PCs get to level up and take an extended rest between sessions this approach shouldn’t have a detrimental impact on anyone.

This week we had eight players again; the same number as last week. Two of our regulars were absent but two other familiar faces joined us again. My table included a Human Fighter (Slayer), Revenant (Pixie) Vampire, Shade Ranger (Hunter), and Shade Warlock (Binder).

The biggest negative criticism that I got from players after last week’s session was the lack of meaningful combat. They liked the quick, map-less battle and the fight against the Imp, but they didn’t feel that either battle really challenged the party or posed any real danger. Looking at what this week had to offer I didn’t see anything that addressed this concern so I decided to make a big change (keep reading).

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: War of Everlasting Darkness (Week 1)

This week we began season 11 of D&D Encounters. This is the third and final part of the Rise of the Underdark campaign arc. It also marks a significant change in the D&D Encounters program as it allows the PCs to level up after every week bringing them from level 1 to level 8. It’s still a 4e adventure but it does incorporate some aspects that are being play-tested in D&D Next. I for one am anticipating great things this season.

We had eight players and two DMs for this first session but we think that the weather and Halloween kept some players. We’ll see if more people show up next week. At my table I had a Half-Orc Barbarian, Drow Assassin, Pixie Vampire and Revenant (Githzerai) Bard. I know that Gith are technically not allowed but the player explained his concept and back-story which I thought was pretty cool so I’m going to allow it. After two seasons of enforcing character class and race restrictions I’ve decided to open the floodgates again.

One of the big changes this season is that each week’s session is a mini-adventure rather than just one encounter. This allows for more dynamic story-telling and gives the players more choices (and less railroading). I like to think of each encounter within a session as a scene since most of them don’t really meet the criteria for a 4e encounter. That being said each adventure has multiple scenes, but your group may not get to all of them depending on what choices they made along the way (as we saw this week).

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Month in Review

Month in Review: October 2012

Two articles we wrote in October made a big splash with our readers: one about treasure maps and one about a player who did something very unexpected. Thanks in large part to Twitter and Reddit these two articles generated a lot of traffic and a lot of discussion. Although these were our most read articles last month they weren’t the only things we talked about in October. Undead also featured prominently at Dungeon’s Master as we posted three new articles on the subject.

If you missed any of the great articles we ran in October than this is your chance to get caught up and join in the discussion. Below we provide links to everything we ran last month.

We’d like to thank everyone who visited our site in October. We’d also like to thank everyone who took the time to leave us a comment. Your feedback is the best gauge we’ve got to determining if we’re on the right track and if our articles are helping you and your D&D games.

If there’s something you’d like to see on Dungeon’s Master or there’s a topic you like us to cover, let us know in the comments or contact us by email or Twitter.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Council of Spiders – Report Card

I don’t think it’s fair to say that this was the worst season of D&D Encounters, but it’s the one I’m most happy to leave behind. There’s not any one reason that I can point to and say that’s what I didn’t like; rather it was a bunch of little things that all came together at once.

As I’ve done after most seasons of D&D Encounters, I’m going to share my thoughts on what I did and didn’t like about the season that was. This is not an exhaustive list, but it does cover the things that topped the list on both sides of the scales (in my opinion). After reading my take I encourage you to share your thoughts in the comments below.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Council of Spiders (Week 8.)

The end is near; at least the end of this season of D&D Encounters. This week marked the finale of the Council of Spiders. The party was looking for Valan Jaelre, the instigator of the recent unrest in Menzoberranzan and possibly one of the leaders of the Council of Spiders. Valan’s defeat (and death) could quash many fires, especially if he revealed who else he was working with. The PCs were in the right place at the right time, but the task ahead was going to be difficult.

Last week the PCs ventured through the slums of Menzoberranzan to find Valan’s hideout. They had an unexpected encounter with a Priestess of House Melarn who was apparently one of Valan’s partners. The PCs defeated the rogue Priestess and her entourage before heading down a staircase and into Valan’s lair.

Unfortunately we had a very poor turnout for our grand finale. The level 3 table had a DM and three players, and my level 6 table had a DM and three players. Yet another example of why everyone in the FLGS should play the same level characters and not let some group play up. Rather than combine for a table of six or seven, we had to run two tables of three. My group had a Drow Rogue/Blackguard (f), Drow Druid (m), and Drow Wizard Bladesinger (f) all of whom were affiliated with Bregan D’aerthe.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: War of Everlasting Darkness – Preview

On October 24 D&D Encounters begins its eleventh season. This promises to be very different than any previous season of the program. For starters it’s the first time PCs will advance beyond level 3. It will also bend some of the existing 4e mechanics and borrow elements from the D&D Next play testing underway right now. I’ve read over the materials and I have to say that I’m really excited. This is still 4e D&D and still D&D Encounters, but there is so much more happening this season.

This is the third and final installment of the Drow-themed Rise of the Underdark story-arc. By the end of the adventure the PCs will either crush the Drow uprising or be enslaved by the dark elves. It’s up to you to fight The War of Everlasting Darkness and defend the surface world.

Below I’ll provide a detailed preview of what you can expect this season. This will remain spoiler-free and will just give you the foundation of what you need to know to play. Hopefully it will entice more players to come out and try D&D Encounters or get veterans of the program to return and try this new format.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Council of Spiders (Week 7)

After last week’s role-playing heavy session the party eventually convince Ash’ala Melarn, Hoshtar Xorlarrin, and Ro’kolor of Bregan D’aerthe to continue working together. They decided to stop the Council of Spiders, or at least see that those currently calling the shots be removed from power and replaced by a male with more traditional values. They also agreed to continue supporting the Way of Lolth and as decreed they would do whatever was necessary to assist with the creation of Lolth’s Demon Weave.

About a week has passed since the PCs rescued Hoshtar and discussed how to proceed in order to avoid a civil war. The house leaders summoned the PCs one more time for another joint mission between the three factions.

They learned that the assassin who captured Hoshtar was an agent of Jaezred Chaulssin, an order of assassins committed to overthrowing the tyranny of Lolth. The mastermind behind this crisis is a Drow named Valan Jaelre (a name the player should recognize from last season of D&D Encounters). Spies have located Valan’s hideout and the PCs are instructed to find Valan and put an end to his interference. They are also instructed to try and find out who Valan is working for in Menzoberranzan.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Council of Spiders (Week 6)

With Menzoberranzan potentially looking at a civil war, the PCs found themselves in a unique position to possibly influence key members of House Melarn, House Xorlarrin and Brigand D’aerthe before they decide how to react to the coming conflict.

Over the past two sessions the PCs infiltrated the Council of Spiders’ hideout in order to rescue Hoshtar Xorlarrin who had been kidnapped. The PCs killed everyone they faced, rescued Hoshtar and successfully planted false evidence to implicate House Melarn’s involvement with the Council of Spiders – a detail they made sure to point out to Hoshtar before they left.

Accompanied by the still badly wounded Hoshtar, the party headed to their predetermined meeting place to deliver Hoshtar and share what they learned over the previous two sessions with Ash’ala Melarn and Ro’kolor of Brigand D’aerthe.

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D&D Encounters

Lair Assault Map Gallery

Last week we published the D&D Encounters Map Gallery which had pictures of every map from every season of D&D Encounters to date. Today we share the maps from Lair Assault.

Each Lair Assault is a specially designed dungeon delve that pits a party of five PCs against nearly impossibly odds. They adventures are designed to be challenging and there is a realistic expectation from the designers that many parties will suffer a TPK their first time through. In some cases the PCs only have a limited number of rounds to complete their objective, which of course adds another level of difficulty and complexity.

The maps for these adventures are often secret at the outset, but players are encouraged to replay the adventure using the knowledge they gained from their first time through. The maps are often simple and deadly; exactly what most DMs are looking for.

Some of the Lair Assault kits have included mini versions of the maps for the DM’s reference. Scans of these maps are posted below. When such maps were not provided I’ve resorted to photos of the poster map. I’ll continue to update this gallery as more Lair Assault adventures are released. I won’t post the current season’s map unless the PCs would normally have access to it at the adventure’s outset.