At the end of your first session: Have the adventurers take a short rest if they want, but remind them to track their daily abilities. Healing surges used, daily powers expended, and other daily resources do not refresh in-between each session; only A D&D Encounters™ adventure for four to six at the end of each chapter. Make sure your players track 1st-level characters this information on their D&D Encounters Play Tracker. Turn in your session tracking sheet to the organizer. Welcome to an exciting official D&D play program called Make sure you've recorded all the DCl/RPGA numbers D&D Encounters. This adventure is a mini-campaign on it, along with your names and the play date. "season" designed to be played in one-encounter sessions Report Renown Point totals earned for each player to the once per week at your local Wizards Play Network location. organizer. The organizer will fill out the Renown Point Each Wednesday, players will earn both in-game rewards Tracker for the location, and will determine if any play• for their characters (such as treasure) and accumulate ers have earned a D&D Encounters Card. Renown Points towards special program-exclusive D&D Give out rewards to the players. This includes treasure and Encounters Cards that can be used in this and future sea• possibly D&D Encounters Cards (the organizer will tell you sons ofD&D Encounters. if any players have earned this reward). Make sure the play• ers write down their rewards on their D&D Encounters PREPARING FOR PLAY Play Tracker. In order to DM this adventure, everything you need should Collect your reward! You should receive a special reward for be provided in the D&D Encounters play kit - this adven• providing your time as a DM to make the event happen. ture, the poster maps of all the encounter areas (inside the Your organizer will have more details on your reward. adventure), and a sheet of tokens to use for monsters, adven• turers, and battlefield effects. Preparing the adventure for At the end of the final session of this chapter: play is easy, simply follow the steps below. The adventurers take an extended rest, regaining all of their healing surges, hit points, and daily powers. In Before you DM your first session: addition, their action point totals reset to 1. Read over the Introduction, Adventure Synopsis, Adventure The adventurers level up to 2nd level.They apply the Summary, and Resting sections. changes listed on their character card to their character Read Session 1:Escape the Storm under the Chapter in preparation for the beginning of Chapter 2. 1: An Obsidian Rain section, and read Encounter 1-1: Salvage in the Storm. (Alternatively, if you are starting CRED1TS at some other point in the adventure, read the appropriate sections and what's come before.) Nicholas K. Tulach William O'Connor Design Cover Illustration At the table of your first session: Ensure each player has a character to play. Players use one of Andy Collins Warren Mahy, Michael Phillippi, the characters provided in the play kit. At the end of Chap• Development Ef'ic Belisle, Matias Tapia ter 1,all players' characters reach 2nd level.At the end of Interior Illustrations Chapter 2, all players' characters reach 3rd level. M. Alexander Jurkat Liz Schuh, Jesse Decker, Ensure each player has a D&D Encounters Play Tracker. Editing laura Tommervik, Shelly This sheet can be found in the play kit, and allows the Chris Tulach Mazzanoble, Kierin Chase players to track their character's treasure, experience, and Organized Play Content Developer D&D Brand Team Renown Points earned for each play session. Get a session tracking sheet from the organizer. Record all the Matthew Stevens Joe Yochum players' DCI!RPGA numbers on it, along with your DClI Art Director Organized Play Project Manager RPGA number. Ifyou or any ofthe players don't have a DCI! RPGA number, ask the organizer for a membership card. Cole Meier Donna Woodcock Graphic Designer Production Manager During the session: Remember, each session is one encounter in length. Just DM DUNGEONS& DRAGONS.DARKSUN.Wizards of the Coast, Wizards Play Network, D&D the encounter assigned for that week's session. A typical Encounters, Player's Handbook, Dunaeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual, and all other play time for one encounter is about 90 minutes - 2 hours. Wizards ofthe Coast product names and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards Remember to make decisions and adjudications that of the Coast LLC in the U.S.A. and other countries. All Wizards characters and the distinctive enhance the fun of the game when possible. As the DM, likenesses thereof are property of Wizards of the Coast LLC.This material is protected you can make some adjustments to the adventure (see the under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written sidebar) to facilitate the fun of the players .. permission of Wizards ofthe Coast LLC.Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, or events included herein is purely coincidental. Printed in the U.S.A. ©201 0 Wizards of the Coast LLC. B8679. _...,..-:- .•••.•.~ Unlike some seasons ofD&D Encounters, this special AWARD1NG MAG1C 1TEMS DARKSUN preview season doesn't award experience When the characters find a permanent magic item, most points in the standard method. Instead, characters level of the time, the group will decide who gets to keep what. up at the end of each chapter. However, if the players can't agree who gets what, use XP Awards: The XP awards listed throughout this the following system to award magic items in the prior• adventure are for reference only, as characters level up ity listed. automatically at the end of each chapter. 1. Characters without permanent magic items. Milestones: For every 2 encounters a character 2. Character with the lowest-level permanent magic completes without taking an extended rest (offered at item. the end of a chapter), the character reaches a milestone, If there's more than one character that doesn't have a gaining an action point and possibly gaining use of magic item, or two characters tie for the lowest-level another magic item daily power. magic item, have those players decide who gets it. Ifthey still can't decide, have each roll a d20; high roll gets the item. A player that wants to "opt out" of a pick can do so. THE EVER-CHANG1NG GROUP You can also do the same with the potions of healing and Since you can never tell who's going to show up to a D&D the ritual book if the players can't decide who gets them Encounters session from week to week, you might wind (but don't count these items as permanent magic items). up with a different group of players. Some players might Anyone character may not have more than 3 perma• be starting in "mid-stream," some may have missed a ses• nent magic items at the conclusion of this season. sion or two, and others may have played all the sessions with a different DM. That's OK. Catch up new players RENOWN POINTS with a brief summary of what's come before, and make One of the great rewards for playing in a D&D sure that returning players have marked off resources Encounters season is the accumulation of they spent (healing surges, daily powers, etc.) since their last extended rest. Renown Points (RPs), which are given out for accomplishments made by players during Majority Rules: If some element of the adventure plot (and sometimes in-between) sessions. These hinges on the adventurers making a decision in a previ• Renown Points are tracked at the Wizards ous session, and the group is different during the current Play Network location, and reaching certain session, Simply find out how the decision went down from thresholds garners the player a tangible the players. Go with the majority, and if it's an even split, reward - a D&D Encounters Card! side with the most positive result. These cards can be used by players during the current D&D Encounters seaSQn, subse• TREASURE quent seasons, or possibly both. Each card has As the characters progress through the mini-campaign, all the information on how it works printed they will have the opportunity to gain treasure in the right on the card itself. form of gold pieces, valuables, and magic items. At the As the DM, it's your task to award Renown end of each session, determine if the players earned any Points at the end of a session of play,just like treasure. Use the following rules to divide up treasure you would award experience and treasure. Unlike amongst the characters. experience and treasure though, you'll need to Gold and Valuables: Jfthe adventurers earn it, each report the Renown Point totals earned for each player to character gets a share as noted on the table below. All the organizer at the conclusion of the session when you valuables like gems and jewelry are converted to gold turn in your session tracking sheet. The organizer will pieces (gp). Note that the amounts have already been then tell you if any players have qualified for a card. divided up per character, do not modify the amounts The Renown accomplishments, their frequency (how based on the size of the group playing. often they can be awarded during the current season), Magic Items: During the adventure, there are a and the point values of each are listed below.