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Thread: D&D Encounters

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    Default D&D Encounters

    Well, it's been going for a while as we're coming up to a new season it's probably about time this had it's own thread. Where we can report on our games and characters and comment on the story, and try and get people to get in to the hobby.

    Hint: it's on every Wednesday night, and due to my time travelling abilities I'll be posting a day earlier.

    So, I've been playing since close to the start of the Neverwinter one. I ran part of Crystal Caves and all of Elder Elemental Eye. But for this one, I'm taking a break and playing.

    For all the bad points (mainly not progressing above level 4), Encounters has quite a few points in its favour in attracting people to the hobby. New players can just walk in off the street, with or without a character (but can we please have some new pre-gens!) and play that night. It also encourages people to try DMing, as everything is more or less written for you. You also get to keep the adventure and maps when the season is over.

    I do see Encounters more of a social thing than anything else, and that's not a bad thing. It doesn't have the same feel of a campaign you are making, but it's not a bad start for one.

    Any thoughts? Who will be playing/DMing? I'm going to be a Drow ranger with a spiked chain.
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    Default Re: D&D Encounters

    Well, color me group-jealous.

    I'm finally getting around to reading Season 2 (Fury of the Wastewalker) before I transpose everything into MapTool for another random Skype series in the distant future. It'll be my first time working in the Dark Sun setting, and, well... I don't think I'll be able to do the setting justice. Everything just sounds so hilarious that I just can't really see it being a gritty rough-and-tumble setting.
    "Okay, so I'm going to quick draw and dual wield these one-pound caltrops as improvised weapons..."
    ---
    "Oh, hey, look! Blue Eyes Black Lotus!" "Wait what, do you sacrifice a mana to the... Does it like, summon a... What would that card even do!?" "Oh, it's got a four-energy attack. Completely unviable in actual play, so don't worry about it."

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    Default Re: D&D Encounters

    I'm going to ATTEMPT to attend Encounters this season... my local shop (conveniently 20 miles closer than the one that does encounters right now) is supposedly going to start doing it soon. I'll have to follow up again on Friday when I retrieve my orders to see how that's coming along.

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    Default Re: D&D Encounters

    This season is all about the drow.

    Last night it was a typical first session, we had two newbies and a loose cannon player so we sucked. No one would save me until I failed two death saves.
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    Default Re: D&D Encounters

    Quote Originally Posted by Katana_Geldar View Post
    This season is all about the drow.

    Last night it was a typical first session, we had two newbies and a loose cannon player so we sucked. No one would save me until I failed two death saves.
    Sounds like you have a group that values Fun (or at least the Dwarf Fortress version of it.)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Katana_Geldar View Post
    For all the bad points (mainly not progressing above level 4)
    I might be remembering wrong, but I think there was a chance to reach 4th level in one season if you hit all the marks. I don't think it was Neverwinter (even if you played the introductory adventure session). For some reason, I think it was the Feywild that gave you a chance to play the last session with 4th level characters if you picked up all of the points. Still, I agree that replaying those levels can get a bit tedious.

    Since the next three seasons are all Underdark themed, my DMs are all discussing the possibility of advancing straight through each season, assuming (as is likely) each new season resets to 1st level. Adjusting the next season would be easy. Adjusting the one after that could be a little bit more difficult, but most of these guys have been around since at least the March of the Phantom Brigade. It won't be much trouble, as long as the DMs agree to do this across all tables. (We had one guy agree to run a higher level table before, which was very frustrating when all but one player had to drop out and we couldn't just siphon players from other tables to him.)

    Quote Originally Posted by Katana_Geldar View Post
    (but can we please have some new pre-gens!)
    One of my DMs enjoys puttering around on Character Builder to design things that feature the new material, especially the themes, but those sheets aren't really as new-player friendly as they could be. He's pretty skilled, so I'll see if he can't design a card-stock version closer to the style of the Encounters' pregens.

    It's worked out surprisingly well here. I joined when there was only one table of four players for Dark Sun, and we wound up struggling through the next three sessions with only three. We hit seven players within a month, then three tables for a week before settling to two. A Season of Serpents ran with two, though if I'd known the second DM was commuting halfway across Alberta (north-south) each week, I'd have tried to find someone else earlier. A very good free-former took over from her with March of the Phantom Brigade and consistently ran an oversized table. That effort probably did more for us than anything else, as two of his players have been DMing ever since, and we've averaged four to five tables a season.

    A lot of people have wandered away from the program over the last two years, some because they weren't satisified with what it provided. (Some of them could have been accomodated if they'd just said something.) A number wandered away to start their own campaigns, which counts as a success for the program. Others find the program itself better suits their gaming needs, since it's consistently run and doesn't require a lot of preparation beyond character building or (for the DMs) reviewing the adventure.

    Socially, it's been great, especially in terms of helping new campaigns get started or having a recruiting pool for other events in the area. It's helped a few people get set up somewhere new, or to reestablish ties. I'm not saying it's all sunshine and lollipops, but it's generally been good.

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    Default Re: D&D Encounters

    Unfortunately, my shop didn't get the materials from WotC yet. Hopefully next week (crosses fingers).
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    Default Re: D&D Encounters

    So, yeah, still banging my head against the copy of the Fury of the Wastewalker (Season 2) book. There's three points that just need polish before I can get serious about mapping this out, and I just don't know what to run with on them. I'd like to see if any other GMs or players might have a few suggestions on how to solve these.

    Spoiler
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    BBEG Motivation. As far as I've read, the motivation the Wastewalker has for trying to kill the PCs throughout the campaign is that one of the PCs is a no-good gul-durned arcane magic user. My understanding is that pretty much everyone else in the campaign setting would have this same attitude towards arcane magic users... So, um... What kind of possible motivation can he have if the party contains no arcane power source characters?

    Halflings fall, everyone dies until EONT. Chapter two ends with the PCs getting a handful of magic items from some pseudodeity elemental thingies. Halflings then appear and imprison the PCs without a fight or skill check. Okay, I get it, in Dark Sun our Halfings have sand in their shoes and are supposed to be able to slit your throat, but come on.

    "Okay, you're my best friend! But I won't give you your stuff back." Chapter three begins with the PCs attempting a skill challenge to leave the Halfling prison. They can attempt to negotiate their release (which should be an issue in and of itself), attempt to jailbreak themselves out, or split the party and have some go one way and the other go another. The book's pretty clear that the PCs then go to the next encounter, which is built around them getting their stuff back from the Halflings, regardless of which challenge they took. So, assuming the PCs go the diplomatic route, we can have a situation where the Halfling King gives his unwavering trust to the PCs... But doesn't actually give their stuff back to them.

    Narratively, I think I can just avoid those last two by removing the one encounter the players have with the Halflings. They don't serve any purpose in the story, they're not foreshadowed, and they're not used again later. It'd mess with the ongoing Survival Days mechanic, because one of the things you can do is use that encounter to get more Survival Days.
    "Okay, so I'm going to quick draw and dual wield these one-pound caltrops as improvised weapons..."
    ---
    "Oh, hey, look! Blue Eyes Black Lotus!" "Wait what, do you sacrifice a mana to the... Does it like, summon a... What would that card even do!?" "Oh, it's got a four-energy attack. Completely unviable in actual play, so don't worry about it."

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    Default Re: D&D Encounters

    Quote Originally Posted by OracleofWuffing View Post
    So, yeah, still banging my head against the copy of the Fury of the Wastewalker (Season 2) book. There's three points that just need polish before I can get serious about mapping this out, and I just don't know what to run with on them. I'd like to see if any other GMs or players might have a few suggestions on how to solve these.
    I only ran the last chapter of that adventure and gave my copy to someone else because I didn't get the first two chapters to go with it. Here's what I recall.

    Quote Originally Posted by OracleofWuffing View Post
    Spoiler
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    BBEG Motivation. As far as I've read, the motivation the Wastewalker has for trying to kill the PCs throughout the campaign is that one of the PCs is a no-good gul-durned arcane magic user. My understanding is that pretty much everyone else in the campaign setting would have this same attitude towards arcane magic users... So, um... What kind of possible motivation can he have if the party contains no arcane power source characters?
    Spoiler
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    At that time, everyone in the group was expected to play a pregenerated character, picking from a thri-kreen battlemind, an elf ranger, a brawling fighter (can't remember race), a human ardent, a human sorcerer, and a tiefling psion. Most groups go with a second striker before a second defender, but a party of four might prefer the ranger to the (very fragile) sorcerer.

    The Wastewalker also had an active dislike of elves, as he found them prone to making use of defiler magic. (Funny how the eladrin would later take the same sort of hostile view toward arcane magic as well.) Since the party was almost guaranteed to have a striker, they usually got you with either the elf or the sorcerer. That doesn't help at all if you're allowed to build your own characters.

    What could help is to start the group out accompanying an arcane caster. I missed the first session, but I understand that the party had been travelling with a caravan up until the Wastewalker slaughtered everyone else. I got the impression that he took a dim view of anyone that associated, even unknowingly, with such a person, especially if they weren't "real" (reptilian) people as he would see them.

    Is that any help?


    Quote Originally Posted by OracleofWuffing View Post
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    Halflings fall, everyone dies until EONT. Chapter two ends with the PCs getting a handful of magic items from some pseudodeity elemental thingies. Halflings then appear and imprison the PCs without a fight or skill check. Okay, I get it, in Dark Sun our Halfings have sand in their shoes and are supposed to be able to slit your throat, but come on.
    It is a staple of adventure fantasy. I know it was a railroad moment, but your team should be well aware of their chances. That said...

    Spoiler
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    The scenario was designed with adventure a week in mind. If you're running it at home, you'll certainly want to tailor it. You could tailor Chapter Three's first combat encounter to be the first encounter with the halflings when they were attempting to take prisoners.

    Of you could give your players the option to either negotiate or fight their way past an overwhelming force, maybe fifty to seventy strong. The former seems more likely to succeed, but you can incorporate a skill challenge into the latter as well. If they're successful, they skip past the chapter's first session, a little worse for wear and without having time for an extended rest. If they're unsuccessful, the halflings take them alive and the group picks things up next time, without gear, after an extended rest.


    Quote Originally Posted by OracleofWuffing View Post
    [spoiler]"Okay, you're my best friend! But I won't give you your stuff back." Chapter three begins with the PCs attempting a skill challenge to leave the Halfling prison. They can attempt to negotiate their release (which should be an issue in and of itself), attempt to jailbreak themselves out, or split the party and have some go one way and the other go another. The book's pretty clear that the PCs then go to the next encounter, which is built around them getting their stuff back from the Halflings, regardless of which challenge they took. So, assuming the PCs go the diplomatic route, we can have a situation where the Halfling King gives his unwavering trust to the PCs... But doesn't actually give their stuff back to them.[spoiler]
    You're overselling the skill.

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    It literally isn't a Get out of Jail Free card. The best your party should hope for with Diplomacy in this encounter is that they put their captors so at ease with them that security becomes less guarded around them than it should be. If you feel that's more suitable to a Bluff check, go for that instead, but I think the difference is significant enough to use them separately here.


    Having said that, I agree with your conclusion below, adding just one note.

    Quote Originally Posted by OracleofWuffing View Post
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    Narratively, I think I can just avoid those last two by removing the one encounter the players have with the Halflings. They don't serve any purpose in the story, they're not foreshadowed, and they're not used again later.
    Spoiler
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    They were probably included because if there isn't at least one encounter with the halflings, it just wouldn't feel like Dark Sun for some people.


    Incidentally, this is one concern I have with this season and the next two of Encounters, which all take place in the Underdark.

    Spoiler
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    There is so much more to the Underdark than drow, most of which does not translate well to 1st-3rd level (or even 4th-6th level) play. Some of us would like to see such creatures as aboleth, illithids, and the kuo-toa featured, but not in the watered down versions you'd need to run against a low heroic tier party.


    Considering what I've seen of this season, I'm not sure this season of Encounters is set up with new players in mind. Sessions to date have not been forgiving to uncoordinated and inexperienced groups. With no new Tome of Playable Content intended for the next two seasons and all of them under one theme, I hope they're finally ready to let people try out a few new levels for once, especially since 4E will be winding down soon after this is done.
    Last edited by Shatteredtower; 2012-06-04 at 11:38 AM. Reason: Fixed all the tags.

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    Default Re: D&D Encounters

    I know, it'll be sad if they stop Encounters. makes me wonder what will happen to our group if they do.

    We may still keep Wednesday game night, but yeah...
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    Quote Originally Posted by Katana_Geldar View Post
    I know, it'll be sad if they stop Encounters.
    I'm not sure Encounters will end even if it changes editions. WotC has a good thing going here. If Next supports faster game play as intended, it may even open more possibilities for that program. People didn't mind that every season showcased a new book, but they didn't much care for how quickly the last one was tossed aside.

    (Considering its poor reception in forum discussions here and elsewhere, there are a surprising number of people out there that have yet to get their fill from Heroes of Shadow.)

    I'll still miss the support for 4E. It's been a better, more flexible system than many people realize.
    optimization n : a source of missed opportunity

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    Well, it's tonight. I missed last week as I was sick and so was my fiance.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shatteredtower View Post
    Is that any help?
    Yes, thanks. I mean, basically, I'm the kind of guy who would just throw it all out the window and have bad things happen because the bad guy has SAND IN HIS SHOES, and it's really nice to have- really- any input on the matter. I get that this is written with the concept of playing the pregens more in mind than other seasons, but I just don't think that folks from this corner of the internet will find a game where they can't build their own characters to be that interesting. Maybe I'll just go with an "Each character must be at least one of the following: Elf, Eladrin, Half-Elf, Arcane Power Source," thing, I think that would leave a lot of options open while still keeping some of the intended story implications around. Or would that too easily violate some of the setting's fluff?

    I do want to clarify a bit on the skill with some text, though.
    Spoiler
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    One or more adventurers use social skills to negotiate their release by visiting with the village elders.
    Primary Skills: Diplomacy, Insight.
    [... DCs ...]
    Secondary Skills: Bluff.
    [... DCs, other options ...]

    Gathering Gear
    Regardless of the outcome of the skill challenge, the adventurers get away and meet up outside the village. They must now retrieve their gear. If they failed at the skill challenge, the halflings have been alerted.
    That's really what it says, the adventurers get away. And, to be completely honest, looking at it again, yes, it is a combat that I want to replace entirely. I mean, if you're going to throw a battle at the party where they lose all their stuff and have to regain it, yes, low levels are where you want to do it, but this is already a good way in to the campaign and they've acquired a few Dark Sun friendly magical items by now. Well, I guess I wanted to get in to making my own encounters sometime.
    "Okay, so I'm going to quick draw and dual wield these one-pound caltrops as improvised weapons..."
    ---
    "Oh, hey, look! Blue Eyes Black Lotus!" "Wait what, do you sacrifice a mana to the... Does it like, summon a... What would that card even do!?" "Oh, it's got a four-energy attack. Completely unviable in actual play, so don't worry about it."

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    Default Re: D&D Encounters

    Did anyone push the lady down the stairs? That was awesome, and I managed to have a Moment of Greatness when I killed her with 19 damage.

    I just love being a ranger with a spiked chain.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Katana_Geldar View Post
    Did anyone push the lady down the stairs? That was awesome, and I managed to have a Moment of Greatness when I killed her with 19 damage.
    It didn't go that well at my table, though some of that may have been due to the fact that my DM never showed. I had to run the table with no preparation (I wanted to avoid spoilers) and nobody else was playing a leader. (I'm sure they only tolerate my poor Paul Bearer impression because the svirfneblin death priest is their only source of healing.) The rogue got off to a great start for the second week in a row, bloodying the lady in question with his first shot, and then the slayer got to charge, hit with Power Strike...

    ...and roll minimum damage. No one hit her again before his next turn came around (the rogue got distracted by skeletons), he switched to a damage-boosting stance, and hit... again for the minimum damage. The rogue had to finish her off in round three, but a single hit point from any source would have done it. By that time, however, her efforts had done a fair amount of damage to both the slayer and the defender, and it got worse. The only target I hit for ongoing poison damage was the dwarf, and he rolled a 4 on that save every time. (At least it meant I could hit him a second time with that attack and not feel guilty about poisoning him again.)

    It was ultimately the skeletons that were their undoing. The controller had awful luck on his attack rolls and never managed to kill more than two at a time, even with his daily. I eventually had a few of them wasting shots on folks that were already out for the count, but the sheer weight of numbers left everyone standing with fewer than 5 hp. The slayer fell to three failed death saves, the knight passed three, then failed two, then finally got the 20 needed to get back up...just as the fight came to a close.

    Still, that beat the experience at the next table over, where none of the melee strikers would approach the lady and half the group was too busy looking to strike from shadows to ever strike at all.

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