Casual Encounters – Fighter seeks Mage for NSA Adventure

[wpcol_1half id=”” class=”” style=””]

Our merry band marched in, made sure our names were on the right list (you have to sign up beforehand) and were then ushered into a brightly lit and sweltering back room. Once we got settled and chose characters, the GM gave us a bit of prologue for what came before. Something about mad wizards and entering a shadow realm – it was pretty hot in that room so the intricacies of plot escape me. We were hanging out in a town square (in a town that had just been transported to the shadow realm) with a bunch of guards and scared townsfolk. I was playing a Paladin – a type of holy warrior – so I hopped up on some crates and soothed the townsfolk with my holy warrior charisma. We then took control of the contingent of guards and set forth on patrol. It wasn’t long, however, before we happened upon the town’s armory being assailed by a horde of skeletons, and thus began the true strength of Encounters.

To me, Encounters is an attempt – conscious or not – to take D&D back to its roots as a miniatures game. What followed after we met up with those skeletons (and then their bosses – a pair of flame-headed mega-skeletons) was a highly strategic street battle that had us running through alleyways, using cover and the terrain to our advantage. There was one point where I kicked open the back door of the armory so I could dash to the front windows and take potshots at the skeleton bosses. I had a lot of fun, almost despite myself.

Encounters is a great game for those role-players who can’t carve out the time to get a group together to

[/wpcol_1half] [wpcol_1half_end id=”” class=”” style=””]

play. Let’s face it, in the adult world there isn’t a lot of time to gather around a table with your friends to make up stories for a few hours. Encounters provides a framework for those who have lapsed and want to get back into role-playing; it can be just as extensive and involving as an at-home campaign – depending on the capabilities of the GM and the players, of course.

The game would also be great for those who have never played an RPG but have always wanted to try. It’s extremely user-friendly, and the GM is there to guide you along and tell you what to do next if you’re stuck. My only issue was that our GM, whom I’ll call Tomar-Re for no good reason at all, handled the game as if it were a computer RPG. Sometimes things would just happen, and there wasn’t a lot of internal consistency. Enemies would just appear on the board and traps would trigger out of the blue. It wasn’t bad, per se – just confusing. It did help me realize that Encounters, just like its pure tabletop counterpart, is wholly created from the imagination of the players and the GM, and there’s nothing more fun than just making up crazy things on the spot to keep players on their toes.

I would absolutely recommend Encounters to anyone – experienced and inexperienced players alike. The game’s a low time commitment, almost negligible money commitment and it’s packed to the gills with all the fantasy role-playing you can handle.

Now, pardon me, I’ve got some flaming skeletons to destroy.

[/wpcol_1half_end]