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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tormyr" data-source="post: 6389987" data-attributes="member: 6776887">This was the first of the "new format" of D&D encounters adventures.  In the Encounters format you are expected to just go along with the story as presented.You cannot stop Bhaal.  This is the first adventure in the Sundering, Ao is rewriting the tablets of fate, and gods that were thought dead are not.  With the murder of the duke (or his attacker), only one Bhaalspawn is left, and it ushers in the return of Bhaal.  At that point, Bhaal reaches out and corrupts the 3 major NPCs so that they eventually murder a lot of people.  The end result is that Bhaal is credited for the murder, and he gets his portfolio back.  If the players go deeper, there is plenty to point out the problems with each of the 3 major NPCs (especially the smokepowder plot).  The party can turn to Coran as someone who can help them uncover the various plots and ultimately try to foil the plots.  Ultimately, someone will score highest on the Bhaal Murder Meter, and become the Slayer in the finale.A couple of suggestions.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Use the creatures from the Monster Manual and the encounter building guidelines from the Basic DMG.  This will mean that you have to make up a couple of creatures (notably the Slayer which should be a CR1 creature, the 4 major NPCs as CR 3, and a few others like the slayer template for the finale which should add 1 to the CR)  This will be more work, but the combat sections should be more balanced.  In general, each chapter will be 1 day with a long rest at night, so the party should have plenty of high yield abilities.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If the players realize they are being played by everyone, use Coran to help them identify plots and try to stop them.  They will not be able to stop all of them, and this is important.  The whole point is that someone succeeds at being Bhaal's chosen.  If the PCs are helping someone, that person will most likely succeed and become the Chosen.  If the players realize that they are being played and actually kill the big 3, then whichever PC has been the most murderous or who has the biggest kill count becomes the chosen.</li> </ul>This is more a political thriller instead of a dungeon crawl.  A lot of public play DMs were not ready for the open ended nature of this adventure and the preparation it required.  The political thriller also might not be everyone's cup of tea.  If your players want a more standard adventure and you have access to it, Legacy of the crystal shard has a similar open ended feel with multiple plot lines but is a bit more straightforward.If you have any other specific questions, let me know.</blockquote>

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