D&D Encounters: March of the Phantom Brigade

[GameDoc]

If you're going to participate in officially sanctioned play of any kind, you have to defer to the errata anyway.

To me it's preferable to fork over $20 for Heroes of the Fallen Lands to create and manage my character at the game table with a single tome rather than having to use the PHB1, XXX Power, and the errata for both books (not that there is anything wrong with that, just not my preference).

 

[occam]

Turning from discussion of Essentials, it's worth noting that the adventure departs from the standard delve format we've been used to: overview of the adventure first, followed by (consistently in previous DDE adventures) 2-page spreads for each encounter. In March of the Phantom Brigade, the encounters are presented within the flow of the adventure narrative, so you don't have to flip back and forth between encounter descriptions and narrative text. In addition, many of the encounters are presented on single pages, and at least one starts mid-page. Personally, I like seeing a bit more flexibility in the adventure format.

 

[Unwise]

I'm sorry if this gets asked very regularly, but is it possible for the public to get a hold of these encounters? Are they made available for Insiders after the events?

 

[Kelvor Ravenstar]

Plus, the module for the upcoming season presents the material for all 13 weeks in a single volume, rather than sending out smaller packages for each chapter. This is better for the DM so they can read the whole thing and can choose to hide or tease plot points for their players earlier in the season.

I haven't read mine yet, but I'm really happy this season has both ties to a classic module (Ghost Tower of Inverness) and the upcoming plot from novels and hopefully game materials (The Abyssal Plague).

 

[Mithreinmaethor]

I'm sorry if this gets asked very regularly, but is it possible for the public to get a hold of these encounters? Are they made available for Insiders after the events?

You can volunteer to run Encounters and get the modules that way or you can purchase them off of Ebay. WOTC has stated they wont release them to the public.

 

[onibaku06]

When I first hear about Essentials, I was upset. I was thinking "4.5 already". Thankfully its the same as 4th ed, just new build options.

In regards to the new season, you don't have to go buy the essentials to play. The places hosting Encounters will give everything that is needed through out the entire season. If you want a specific feat or something that isn't covered in essentials, like the Quick Draw feat, you can speak to the DM before the game. As far as I know, retraining is an option for later down the road.

Gotta keep in mind that D&D is a game of bending the rules to make it fun.

 

[Shroomy]

Turning from discussion of Essentials, it's worth noting that the adventure departs from the standard delve format we've been used to: overview of the adventure first, followed by (consistently in previous DDE adventures) 2-page spreads for each encounter. In March of the Phantom Brigade, the encounters are presented within the flow of the adventure narrative, so you don't have to flip back and forth between encounter descriptions and narrative text. In addition, many of the encounters are presented on single pages, and at least one starts mid-page. Personally, I like seeing a bit more flexibility in the adventure format.

I'm most interested in this development. How does it effect readability and playability in your opinion?

 

[Mithreinmaethor]

I'm most interested in this development. How does it effect readability and playability in your opinion?

From the description proffered above it sounds like they are finally presenting the modules in the format that LG of old and LFR current presents them.

This is a good thing.

 

[Nullzone]

The readability is much better; it runs more like a book than a DMG. You start on page 1 (not actually page 1 since there's some instructional bits for the DM, but you know what I mean) and run the first encounter, and then rather than having to page back to the front of the book to read the box text between sessions, the text is provided for you on the very next page after the encounter.

So yes, much like an LFR module, but even those suffer from excessive paging sometimes (long form skill challenges that are interrupted for combat encounters, ugh), so I do not use the comparison as readily.

 

[Abstruse]

I've flirted with playing in Encounters just to meet some people who play in the area, but of the three gaming stores in town running Encounters, only one I can get to on the bus and it's 90 minutes each way. There's only one thing that's going to make up my mind.

I want to make my own character and I want that character to be a Human Mage. However, I want the 3rd At-Will rather than the racial ability. The third At-Will is not in Essentials that I can find. Can I take the third At-Will or no?