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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Lost Crown of Neverwinter (Week 6)

This was without a doubt the worst week I’ve ever had at D&D Encounters. The problem had absolutely nothing to do with the players and everything to do with the encounter. I suspect that I’m not alone with my criticism of this week’s encounter. Let me explain what happened and why I felt that things went so very, very wrong.

I run D&D Encounters at two FLGS in my area. The game played on Wednesday night is the one I usually write about. However, when I can’t make the Wednesday night game I recount the session I played on Monday night with my other group. This week’s field report will follow the Monday night crew. For anyone following this season’s podcasts, don’t worry we still recorded the adventure. However, you won’t recognize any of the voices but mine.

On Monday night we usually have enough people to run two tables; however our second DM was unable to play this week which meant I ended up running one massive table. We started with seven players. Not great but definitely manageable. Within 10 minutes two more players showed up so we ended up running a table of nine. But believe it or not the overflowing game table had nothing to do with the overall problems we faced this week.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Lost Crown of Neverwinter (Week 5)

After wrapping up the battle with the bandits at the Wall last week the PCs had a brief interaction with a Half-Elf NPC named Seldra who directed them to the House of a Thousand Faces in the Blacklake district if they wanted to find out more about the Lost Heir. We picked things up this week with the heroes walking the few miles from the Wall to the Winged Wyvern bridge where they intended to cross over into the Blacklake District.

We had enough players to run two full tables of six at my FLGS. Some of our regulars showed up, but not all of them. There were six new faces this week which is always nice. With school beginning I suspect that attendance will be sporadic for a few weeks while everyone settles back into a normal routine. My table consisted of an Eladrin Warlock, Dragonborn Warden, Deva Necromancer, Kalashtar Psion, Drow Ranger (Belgos the pre-gen) and Eladrin Cleric (Valenae the pre-gen).

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Lost Crown of Neverwinter (Week 4)

After getting their butts kicked by a bunch of drunken teenagers last week, the heroes accepted General Sabine’s invitation to meet with Lord Nevermember at the Hall of Justice. The wounded adventurers healed up during the ferry ride across the river before arriving at the Hall. Once there they were escorted to a room where lavish food and beverages were laid out, awaiting their arrival. Inside the room was someone the party had never met before.

The heroes introduced themselves to this stranger; the party consisting of a Kalashtar Psion, Human Cleric, Human Fighter and Eladrin Avenger. The stranger introduced himself as a Deva Wizard (Necromancer) and said he’d been summoned to meet with Lord Nevermember, just like the PCs. The five PCs exchanged niceties and explained who they were and what they they’d been up to over the past couple of weeks.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Lost Crown of Neverwinter (Week 3)

It’s been 10 days since the heroes defeated the spellplauge-infected White Dragon along side the Lost Heir of Neverwinter. Since then the PCs have each pursued their own sources of information and tried to learn more about this mysterious stranger. Tonight they agreed to meet at the Beached Leviathan, a local tavern, to share what they’d learned and to possibly find out more about the rapidly shifting politics in Neverwinter.

During the first week of this season I ran my table through encounters 1 and 2 back-to-back. Rather than take week 2 off and let the other players catch up the guys at my table decided that they wanted to push forward another week and stay ahead of the crowd. However, as game time approached two players who did the double session didn’t show. The remaining three guys had to decide if they wanted to proceed short handed, play the week 2 encounter again or head home. They all decided to push on.

Fortunately a player who missed week 1 decided that he’d rather start at the beginning of a new chapter than join the other group in fighting the Dragon. So the party rounded out with four PCs and we pushed on and played the week 3 encounter last week. The party composition ended up being the Human Fighter, Human Cleric (War Priest) and Eladrin Avenger from the previous two weeks. The new party member decided to play the Valenae, the pre-generated Eladrin Cleric.

Support for the Lost Heir grew considerably over the past week. There were more and more attacks by plague-changed creatures within the Protector’s Enclave, a supposedly safe area, and each time the Lost Heir arrived on the scene to defeat the creatures. The Sons of Alagondar, a group of rebels who oppose Nevermember, have thrown their support behind the Lost Heir. Residents and shop owners are being forced to choose sides. Those who remain loyal to the Nevermember, the Lord Protector, have become the victims of ridicule, harassment and vandalism.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Lost Crown of Neverwinter (Week 2)

Last week’s encounter not only set the stage for what is going to be a fantastic season of D&D Encounters, but it ended with a great cliff-hanger. The PCs managed to defeat the drakes and plague-changed maniacs with some assistance from a mysterious stranger wearing the Lost Crown of Neverwinter and called the king by onlookers. Before the heroes could ask questions of the so-called king, a large White Dragon wreathed in blue fire (and clearly infected by the Spellplague) landed in the market square in the Protector’s Enclave.

Knowing that this encounter would likely be completed quickly, we actually ran it back-to-back with last week’s encounter, so our party remained unchanged from week 1. At my table was a Human Fighter, Human Cleric (War Priest), Eladrin Avenger, Dwarf Slayer (Fargrim) and Drow Ranger (Belgos). Three of the players were D&D Encounters regulars with plenty of gaming experience where as the other two players were new to both D&D Encounters and 4e D&D and used pre-generated characters.

The Lost Heir (the man wearing the Crown of Neverwinter) stepped forward and locked eyes with the Dragon, memorizing it as a snake charmer would a mighty asp. The heroes quickly caught their breath following the last fight (short rest) and then prepared to battle the mighty wyrm.

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D&D Encounters

D&D Encounters: Lost Crown of Neverwinter (Week 1)

For D&D Encounters season 6 the PCs are once again in the Forgotten Realms. The adventure takes place in the city of Neverwinter. Although the Neverwinter Campaign Setting hardcover isn’t required to play this season it certainly doesn’t hurt to have a copy at your gaming table. All characters began the adventure at level 1 and had the option of using the new Neverwinter Character Themes presented during D&D Game Day as well as within the Neverwinter Campaign Setting.

We had enough players at our FLGS to run two tables of five. At my table was a Human Fighter, Human Cleric (War Priest), Eladrin Avenger, Dwarf Slayer (Fargrim) and Drow Ranger (Belgos). Three of the players are veterans of many previous seasons of D&D Encounters. The two players using the pre-generated characters were new to Encounters and relatively new to 4e D&D, although they both had extensive experience playing previous editions.

Before play began I read the players the adventure background and the Neverwinter background to make sure they understood the setting and the political and social atmosphere of Neverwinter.

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D&D Encounters Player Resources

D&D Encounters: Lost Crown of Neverwinter – Preview

Next week we begin season 6 of D&D Encounters: Lost Crown of Neverwinter. The adventure showcases a lot of the new materials from the new Neverwinter Campaign Setting available at your FLGS this month. So whether you’re a D&D Encounters die hard who can’t wait to find out what’s in store next season or a new player trying to decide if it’s worth the effort to come out Wednesday night, we expect that you’ll find this advanced preview of D&D Encounters: Lost Crown of Neverwinter helpful and exciting.