Legacy of the Crystal Shard: Sundering Adventure 2

[Grayson01]

Has anyone ever played this adventure?

I remeber reading somewhere it was supposed to be a DnD next adventure.

Question is, how was it and was it 5e?

[Madfellow]

I remember hearing about a sequel, but I don't remember it coming out. Maybe it was for 4th Edition only? I'm not sure. Sorry I can't be more help.

[Geoff]

Has anyone ever played this adventure? Yes.


I remeber reading somewhere it was supposed to be a DnD next adventure. 3.5, 4e or Next. I played it under the DDN playtest rules in place at the start of the adventure.


Question is, how was it and was it 5e? Not one of the better Encounters modules. The 5e of the moment was still swinging around testing various extremes. Legacy Search for the Diamond Staff was for 6th level characters, and the wizard seemed to dominate a bit at that level, in that version of the playtest. The only remotely challenging encounter was one with a wizard on the enemy side, as well. The DM went off the rails with the final encounter but still failed to challenge us. Keep in mind that all through the playtest, the monsters tended to be sub-par.

If you get Legacy, be sure to update the monsters.


Edit: oops, the above is a review of the Diamond Staff adventure, not the Crystal Shard adventure, my bad.


Has anyone ever played this adventure? Yes.


I remeber reading somewhere it was supposed to be a DnD next adventure. Yes. The DM I played it under converted it to 4e, however.


Question is, how was it and was it 5e? It was not done with 5e, but with the final D&D Next playtest packet. Unlike earlier modules (like Crystal /Staff/, above), it was not released with stats for 3.5 or 4e. Like Murder in Balder's Gate, Legacy is designed and presented in a very non-directive, 'sandbox' way, but with some time limits and a sequence of events. It's hard to squeeze in more than about a third of the adventure presented, and easy to get whip-sawed between interwoven storylines. Probably makes it fun for repeated play, but I just found it confusing and frustrating, as if it was impossible to actually accomplish anything.

Since my DM didn't run it under the playtest rules, I can't comment on that aspect. But, do keep in mind that all through the playtest, the monsters tended to be sub-par.

If you do get Legacy, be sure to update the monsters.

[Zweisteine]

I played the adventure (well, most of one play-through). It was run as part of Encounters, as the second of three adventures that supported the playtest.

So, it isn't quite 5e, because it was during the playtest, but it is most likely compatible.
The adventure was fun, but it felt like it lacked depth, possibly because was modeled for its intended medium, a weekly adventure group with changing players. I hear that it actually has various possible sub-adventures, but you're not likely to see them all on one play-through, unless you ignore anything it says about adventure scheduling (probably a good idea).

However, if you want to run an adventure in proper 5e, I recommend one of the two adventures published after the rules were finalized. Hoard of the Dragon Queen is interesting, but it can be very difficult for inexperienced players. The other adventure, Lost Mine of Phandelver, is found in the starter set, and is easier, from what I've seen and heard, though I've only played through the first area so far.

5e as a whole is nice. It's like 3.5e, but without all the math, and without the overwhelming number of rules. I still like 3.5 more, but at the moment, I prefer 5e because of that simplicity. It's much more new-player-friendly. A bi part of that is in character creation. The simplified creation methods means it isn't nearly as likely to scare players away or take hours to make a character....

TL;DR
The adventure isn't properly 5e, but is compatible, and probably balanced.
5e is great: like 3.5e, but simpler.

I would say more, but I'm pressed for time. I hope this helped!


EDIT:

Not one of the better Encounters modules. The 5e of the moment was still swinging around testing various extremes. Legacy was for 6th level characters, and the wizard seemed to dominate a bit at that level, in that version of the playtest. The only remotely challenging encounter was one with a wizard on the enemy side, as well. The DM went off the rails with the final encounter but still failed to challenge us. Keep in mind that all through the playtest, the monsters tended to be sub-par.

If you get Legacy, be sure to update the monsters.
Good advice about the monsters, though you'll need the Monster Manual for a lot of them.

Also, Legacy is not meant for level 6 characters, it's meant to go from 1 to 3 or 4.
And I agree that the final battle was too easy. My party completely disabled the boss with a single spell, leaving her no tricks at all.

[Grayson01]

Thank you all