Tag: Legacy of the Crystal Shard

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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.

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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.

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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.

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