The adventure begins
Once your players understand their characters’ motiva-
tions for traveling to Winterhaven, the adventure can
begin. The characters start by traveling west along the
old King’s Road toward Winterhaven. Before they reach
the town, however. they are ambushed. Read through the
material on the following pages, and then refer to page 6
for the opening encounter.
What You Need to Play
This book includes the encounters the PCs face as they
explore and adventure in the Winterhaven region. It also
provides a campaign map of the region and a keyed map
of Winterhaven, a village the player characters can use as
their base of operations.
Both you and your players should read through the
Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition Quick-Start Rules.
The Quick-Start Rules also include several ready-to-
play characters. Let each of your players select one of
these characters to use in this adventure. Each character
also features information on how that character improves
when it gains a level. These characters will advance from
1st level through most of 3rd level by the end of this
adventure.
Before play, make certain you understand the rules.
Also read through at least the first few encounters
described in this book before starting. This review enables
you to become familiar with the material and the style of
presentation.
Using Tactical
Encounters
Each encounter includes several common elements, as
described below.
Encounter Level
Each tactical encounter assumes a group of five player
characters. An encounter of average difficulty is one where
the encounter level is equal to the level of the party. For
example, the first encounter (On the Road: Kobold Brig-
ands on page 6) is a Level 1 encounter, which matches the
starting level of the PCs. Encounters that are 1 or 2 levels
lower than the party are easy encounters, while encoun-
ters that are 2 or more levels higher than the party are
hard encounters.
For overcoming an encounter, a group earns the XP
value listed beside the encounter level. This amount should
be divided by the number of group members, and an equal
amount should be awarded to each character.
Setup
This section of a tactical encounter provides the basic
parameters of the encounter.
First, it provides context or background information for
the encounter. Next, it provides a key to the monsters in
the encounter so you can locate them on the tactical map.
For example, the setup text for the first encounter indicates
that the kobold dragonshield is represented on the map by
a D. The map of each encounter area indicates where the
monsters are located when the encounter begins. The setup
section also describes what monsters are doing and how
they react when the PCs arrive.
Read Aloud Text
Read aloud text provides information about what the
characters can see and are aware of. You do not have to
read it word for word; feel free to paraphrase and use your
own words when describing this information. Use read
aloud text wisely; they are written for the most common
approach to a particular situation and what your player
characters do might require you to alter the information in
any number of ways.
Monster Statistics
Encounters include stat blocks for each monster type
present in the encounter. If more than one monster of a
particular kind is present, the stat block indicates how
many creatures can be found.
Tactics
This entry describes special actions the monsters take to
defeat the adventurers. Sometimes this means the mon-
sters take advantage of special features of the area or make
use of special powers or equipment.
Map
Each encounter includes a map keyed with the initial loca-
tions of each monster. The map also indicates the location
of any special features of the area. (Some encounters refer
to poster maps included in the for-sale print version of this
adventure.) When you run an encounter, you will need to
re-create a version of the encounter map using D&D Dun-
geon Tiles or a wet-erase battle map, for example.
Features of the Area
This section describes special features noted on the map.
If the location has items or areas of interest with which the
characters can interact, those features are described here.
Look here to see if a door is out of the ordinary, if an altar
has a secret compartment, or if the area includes treasure.