Encounters really is a great way to introduce new players to D&D. I had known this in theory, but this week learned it in practice. We brought my 18 year old cousin to the game with us. She had never played before, but with the premade characters she was able to determine what kind of character she wanted to play.

The single challenge format keeps the game from going too long, and even though we’re 11 sessions in, third level means character sheets are easy to understand.

She enjoyed herself enough that she wanted dice, so we bought her some.

Three encounters in to second level on Athas. We followed an ankheg hole below the desert and have found ourselves in a dungeon of sorts. Up until this point it had all been rough hewn, possibly created by giant worms, but full of the dead who came back to life.

Tonight, though, we fought through a crystal spider web and entered an obvious dungeon, created by intelligent beings for a specific purpose. What that purpose was, we do not know. What we do know is that the crystalline creatures that were guarding the place are now shards beneath our feet.

It’s like Seattle has turned in to Athas. Well, maybe not, Seattle is 95 today, and asphalt is definitely a blight, but we’re supposed cool down soon. Athas, on the other hand is a desert world, where it goes from 120 to below 0 as night falls. And blight is caused by the misuse of arcane magic.

Currently I’m holed up in my room with a fan trying to keep cool, keeping the monster dogs at bay and trying to rest, while our D&D Encounters characters have been trapped in an Ankheg hole, taking an extended rest and leveling up.