D&DXP News: D&D Encounters

Today at D&D Experience 2010 Wizards of the Coast announced their new program titled D&D Encounters, a natural evolution of the Delve Night concept. D&D Encounters is aimed at encouraging players to mingle and interact more with other gamers in their area and will allow players to participate in contests to win cool prizes and D&D swag.

This new program is set up for your local game store to host a short play session each week, usually 1 or 2 encounters in length, from February through the rest of Spring. They will also be giving out Renown points for accomplishing tasks in these sessions that can be traded in for in-game rewards along with the above mentioned contests for players and stores to win prizes “that will make stores an even more exciting place to play D&D. I have no idea what that could mean, but my money is on fog and light machines!

Here is the official information:

D&D Encounters:

• D&D Encounters sign-ups open February 8
• Each D&D Encounters play kit (arriving in stores March 10) comes with all the materials needed to support 12 players and 2 DMs – adventures, maps, tokens, rewards for players and DMs, and a promo poster which doubles as a play tracker
• Each Wednesday, players participate in a one-encounter D&D play session lasting about 1-2 hours
• The first season of D&D Encounters features the iconic dungeon of Undermountain in the Forgotten Realms and runs March 17 through June 2

The first D&D Encounters mini-campaign takes place in the Forgotten
Realms exploring new areas of Undermountain, with their own
characters, one they create at the store, or a pre-generated character
provided with the kit. It’s a good chance for players to experiment
with a new character…or try DMing for the first time, since there’s a
full kit of materials provided, it’s easier to get into running a
game.

In each battle, players will earn Renown Points redeemable for in-game
rewards; as players progress through the campaign, they will earn
Renown Points for completing encounters, finishing quests and engaging
in other adventuring activities. Before and during the game, we’ll be
encouraging discussion via the Web, (Twitter and the Wizards community
site) to share experiences with other players from around the world
and even get clues/bonuses for use in-game.

And to support participating stores, Wizards will be hosting contests
and promotions to offer prizes that will make stores an even more
exciting place to play D&D. Information on D&D Encounters and related
promotions (as they come up) will live at www.dungeonsanddragons.com/dndencounters.