Adventurer's League Season 3 part 5 (Mid Level Track Part 1)

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 first two adventures for the mid level track, DDEX 3-3 The Occupation of Szith Morcane and DDEX 3-7 Herald of the Moon.  Let’s dive in, and take a closer look at the next part of Season 3.

DDEX 3-3 The Occupation of Szith Morcane

All right Game Fans, Season 3 of Adventurer’s League (The Rage of Demons Story Arc) continues with DDEX 3-3, The Occupation of Szith Morcane. All sorts of trouble has befallen the underdark, and the drow outpost of Szith Morcane has come under fire from the giants of Maerimydra.  It’s leaders may have vital information that the factions of the surface world need, and brave adventurers have been called to act.  

Like most of the tier 2 adventures, DDEX 3-3 is designed for 5th thru 10th level characters, with an average party size of 5 suggested.  For Adventurer’s League play, the level range is a hard ceiling, and characters below 5th level or higher than 10th 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.  If you’re running this adventure, pick whichever hook you think will attract your party’s attention and get the fun started from there.  

Part 1:  Unwelcome Visitors

The Adventure begins with the characters travelling towards Elventree for a variety of reasons, and along the route they bump into a recurring NPC for the season.  She’s found herself in some trouble, and could use the assistance of some adventurers to help her out.  The trouble turns out to be the symptoms of a larger problem, and the various factions of the Sword Coast have convened a meeting at Elventree to send some of their best people to investigate the problem.  The characters will have to convince a few of the assembled representatives that they are capable of this task.  Once they’ve done so, the adventure proceeds to part 2.  

Part 2:  Into The Darkness

The second part of this adventure is an excursion into the Underdark.  What starts as a fairly easy trip down turns into a panic fueled fight for survival.  The characters will have to think quickly to gather enough resources to continue their mission, and hopefully figure out a way to get back to the surface after their mission concludes.  There are a host of interesting encounters in this area, and not all of them need to be combat encounters.  The Underdark is a dangerous place, and some allies are going to be essential for surviving the darkness.  

Part 3:  Into the Fire

This part of the adventure is a functional dungeon crawl.  There are two key encounter areas, and getting between them is a tricky encounter for the characters.  The second area features a variety of extremely lethal foes, and a lower level party of characters may struggle getting through them without losing a few people.  Remember, Faction Charity no longer allows for a free raise dead at this level, so plan ahead and be smart.  If the characters can recover the person they were sent to find, they can find their way back to the surface and complete this adventure.  

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 4,500 and 6,000 experience points.  If you’re playing with a fresh 5th level character, this should put you at somewhere between 11,000 and 12,500 experience points. Your character is still level five, but you’re closing in on Level 6 pretty hard.  If this isn’t your first Tier 2 adventure, then you could have any number of experience points.  

·         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 10 downtime days for playing through this adventure.  Make sure you add this to your total from previous adventures.  

·         Renown:  Every Character earns a point of renown.    

So now that you’ve completed The Occupation of Szith Morcane, check your character, level up if you need to, pick up additional gear and get ready for the next adventure.

DDEX 3-7 Herald of the Moon

Season 3 of the Adventurer’s League continues the Rage of Demons story arc and carries on with  Herald of the Moon.  A piece of elvish history thought lost to the world has re-emerged, and the call goes out to brave and trustworthy adventurers to help see it brought home safely.

DDEX 3-7 is designed for 5th thru 10th level characters, with an average party size of 5 suggested.  For Adventurer’s League play, the level range is a hard ceiling, and characters below 5th level or higher than 10th are not playable in this adventure.  This adventure is built to run in 3 parts, and should take about 4 hours start to finish.  Remember to bring your D & D Survival Kit with you when you show up to game.

Part 1: Ghosts of the Past

There are a lot of different ways for the characters to get into this adventure, but the first part of the adventure is fairly straightforward.  The characters are at Elventree and have been requested for by one of the season’s recurring NPCs.  The characters are given a singular piece of ancient elven magic, which is tied to a deadline.  They are asked to search the ancient elven forest of Cormanthor and follow the magic to its end.  

Part 2:  Cormanthor

The characters need to work their way through the old elven forest realm of Cormanthor to retrieve the “item.”  This section of the adventure moves the players from area to area within the forest in a combination of narrative time and encounter regions.  The forest is a dark and scary place, and the madness that’s bleeding into the world has affected it as well.  There are secret missions from various factions that work their way throughout this area, and not every encounter is a combat one.  Use your brains, pay attention, and you should be able to navigate your way through this area.  

Part 3: Eventide Abbey

This is a dungeon crawl with a twist.  The ruins of an elven temple have been partially reclaimed by the wild world around it, and the Temple itself has become the home of powerful forces.  Characters entering this area awaken ancient defenses and sleeping guardians.  The characters have the chance to bring about a peaceful resolution, but it won’t be easy. No one said the life of an adventurer was an easy one, though.

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 4,500 and 6,000 experience points.  If you’re playing this after DDEX 3-3, you’ll have between 14,500 and 18,500 experience points.  If you’re playing with a fresh 5th level character, this should put you at somewhere between 11,000 and 12,500 experience points.  Either way, you’ve got a 4th level character and could are cruising towards level 5.  If this is your first adventure, you’re still going to be 5th level, but you’re closing in on level 6 pretty hard.  If this is your second adventure in this tier, you’re character is 6th level.  If you’re playing a character with more adventures under your belt, I trust you’ll adjust your experience point total correctly.   

·         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 10 downtime days for completing this adventure.  Make sure you adjust your downtime days correctly.

·         Renown:  Each character is going to get one point of renown. Harper and Emerald Enclave Faction members have the opportunity to complete special assignments during this adventure, but they have to be at least rank 2 to qualify.  

So now that you’ve completed Herald of the Moon, 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 in the mid level track.  For those playing along at home, that’s The Malady of Elventree (DDEX 3-8) and The Waydown (DDEX 3-9).  Game on, Game Fans.