Adventurer's League Season 3 part 2 (Lower Level Track Pt 2)

All right Game Fans, we’re continuing with our look at the 3rd season of the Adventurer’s League for Dungeons and Dragons, 5th edition.  Like last season, we’re not going to take these adventures in numeric order, but we’ve split them up into two different tracks based off of their suggested character level.  Today we’re looking at the next two adventures for the lower level track, DDEX 3-5 Bane of the Tradeways and DDEX 3-6 No Foolish Matter.  Let’s dive in, and take a closer look at the next part of Season 3.

DDEX 3-5 Bane of the Tradeways

All right Game Fans, Season 3 of Adventurer’s League (The Rage of Demons Story Arc) rumbles on with DDEX 3-5, Aptly titled Bane of the Tradeways. Trade is imperiled along the tradeways connecting Hillsfar with its neighbors.  Something sinister is afoot, how are adventurers going to handle the situation?

Like most of the early adventures, DDEX 3-5 is designed for 1st thru 4th  level characters, with an average party size of 5 suggested.  For Adventurer’s League play, the level range is a hard ceiling, and characters of 5th level or higher are not playable in this adventure.  This specific adventure is to run in three parts, and should take around 4 hours to complete from start to finish.  Remember to bring your D & D Survival Kit with you when you show up to game.

Part 1:  The Decision

Adventurers are traveling in the vicinity of Hillsfar and end up a major trading post outside the city proper.  While travelling the characters come across a situation that will require a decisive choice to be made, and which ever direction the characters choose, it will affect the outcome of the adventure in a dramatic fashion.  If this is your first or second adventure playing Dungeons and Dragons, take your time.  You’ve got a lot of things to take in and the decisions you make are going to affect the adventure’s outcome (as it should be).

Part 2:  The Chase

The second part of this adventure follows up on the choice made by the characters in part 1.  Depending on which path they chose to follow will shape how this section of the adventure plays out.  There are some new mechanics specifically for this section, so if you’re running this, make sure you understand all of the moving parts of the chase mechanics.  If you’re participating, you’ve got some things to keep track of, so pay attention to the explanations you get from the DM.  

Part 3:  The Roadside Shrine

The mounts are the driving force of this encounter, and their exhaustion is the thing that puts the adventurers into this section.  Depending on the outcome of the Chase, there are a variety of possible outcomes, but combat is a strong possibility and the successful completion of faction assignments depends on how the adventurers handle this combat.  The outcome of this adventure can begin to affect the attitudes of the city of Hillsfar, and the characters can earn some story benefits.  

Aftermath:

So as a character in the adventurer’s league, you have three primary rewards you’re aiming for, and the occasional extra bit of stuff.  Let’s go over your Downtime Days, your Experience Points, Your Gold Pieces, and your renown.    If you’re not playing in an Adventurer’s League group, you don’t need to track these on your log sheet, but keep an eye on your numbers.

·         Experience Points:  Completing this adventure will net your character between 450 and 600 experience points.  If you’re playing this after DDEX 3-2, you’ll have between 1,725 and 2,400 experience points.  Either way, you’ve got a 3rd level character and could be halfway to level 4.    If this is your first adventure with a new character, this will get you to level 2.

·         Gold Pieces:  This one’s a little trickier, because GP is calculated based off of the number of players at a table.  There’s enough treasure available that you should certainly be able to pick up some extra supplies or replace ones that you expended during the adventure.  Keep an eye out for any handy magical items that may show up.

·         Downtime Days:  This one’s easy.  Everyone gets 5 downtime days for playing through each mini adventure.  If you play through each of these, you should end up with 40 Downtime Days.  

·         Renown:  Every Character earns a point of renown, and there are additional faction assignments that can net you an additional point of renown.    

    Story:  Depending on how  

So now that you’ve completed Harried in Hillsfar, check your character, level up if you need to, pick up additional gear and get ready for the next adventure.

DDEX 3-6 No Foolish Matter

Season 3 of the Adventurer’s League continues the Rage of Demons story arc and picks up with No Foolish Matter.  Disease and illness are spreading around the HIllsfar area.  The only thing connecting these towns with the outbreak is a travelling carnival...What sinister mischief is afoot, and how can this pestilence be ended?

DDEX 3-6 is designed for 1st thru 4th  level characters, with an average party size of 5 suggested.  For Adventurer’s League play, the level range is a hard ceiling, and characters of 5th level or higher are not playable in this adventure.  This adventure is built to run in 3 parts, and should take about 2 hours start to finish.  Remember to bring your D & D Survival Kit with you when you show up to game.

Part 1: Welcome to Hillpicket

There are a couple of adventure hooks that send the characters to Hillpicket, a tiny village near Hillsfar, and this is more of a social encounter than anything else.  The characters will have opportunities to interact with the townsfolk, tell some stories, and refurbish supplies if they need to.  There are a lot of rumors circulating around town, and there is word that a travelling carnival is passing through the area soon.  One of the townsfolk is offering a job for a group of interested adventuring types.  If this is your first or second experience playing Dungeons and Dragons, take your time and explore the interactions with the townsfolk.  

Part 2:  Doctor Jubal’s Carnival of Curiosities

The Carnival’s arrival in town kicks off the second part of the adventure.  It’s a carnival with just about all of the things you’d expect a carnival to have.  There are some rides, some games and a host of other interesting things to bump into.   This is an opportunity to mingle and interact with the townsfolk and the carnival workers, but there’s a hint of malice to the carnival. Exploring the carnival leads to some bizarre discoveries and an ugly fight.  Once the characters have gotten past the fight, they’re going to have to pursue the source of the trouble, in the maze.

Part 3: When the Looking Glass Looks Back

A Mirror Maze sounds like the best place ever to get into a fight with some sort of spooky creature that’s trying to kill you, right?  This encounter area has a lot of potential issues, so you’re going to have to put your thinking caps on to solve this maze.  At the center of the maze is the source of the trouble, but it’s a devil of a fight.  If the characters can defeat the monster waiting for them, they can put an end to the troubles facing the communities.  

Aftermath:

So as a character in the adventurer’s league, you have three primary rewards you’re aiming for, and the occasional extra bit of stuff.  Let’s go over your Downtime Days, your Experience Points, Your Gold Pieces, and your renown.    If you’re not playing in an Adventurer’s League group, you don’t need to track these on your log sheet, but keep an eye on your numbers.

·         Experience Points:  Completing this adventure will net your character between 450 and 600 experience points.  If you’re playing this after DDEX 3-5, you’ll have between 2,175 and 3,000 experience points.  Either way, you’ve got a 3rd level character and could be level 4.  

·         Gold Pieces:  This one’s a little trickier, because GP is calculated based off of the number of players at a table.  There’s enough treasure available that you should certainly be able to pick up some extra supplies or replace ones that you expended during the adventure.  Keep an eye out for any handy magical items that may show up.

·         Downtime Days:  This one’s easy.  Everyone gets 5 downtime days for completing this adventure.  If you play through this, you should end up with 45 Downtime Days.  

·         Renown:  Each character is going to get one point of renown.

So now that you’ve completed No Foolish Matter, check your character, level up if you need to, pick up additional gear and get ready for the next adventure.

And those are the next two adventures in Season 3.  We’ll be back next week to take a gander at the next two adventures on the lower level track.  For those playing along at home, that’s Quelling the Horde (DDEX 3-10) and Hillsfar Reclaimed (DDEX 3-12).  Game on, Game Fans.