Hi, a friend and I (26 y.o and 27 y.o respectively) have been thinking about getting into some D&D soon. I am a noob to this particular game, though I have experience in other RPG, Board, Card, and MMO games so the basic and even most advanced concepts I understand without much problem. He has played a few times with friend, v3.0 . I have read through the 3.0 but was going to pick up the 4.0 PH this week to read though. I would certainly be interested in playing and/or even sitting in on a game if you don't want someone this raw involved in the session.

My schedule is relatively tight, but I can make exceptions. Sundays probably work best for now, but saturdays are certainly not out of the question. (Friday is family-night, can't and don't want to mess with that).

Let me know if there are definite times set up and if teaching the ins and outs of D&D to a newbie is something anyone is interested in. (I actually am most intrigued with DM'ing, and would love to eventually try my hand at leading a playthrough, but I imagine that is down the line!!)

Thanks.

Tom

I know on March 17th we have several people lined up to run/play D&D Encounters. I don't think we have picked a time yet, but I'll probably be there around 5:30 to set up and will run when we have enough people.

Probably 6 for me but I still haven't got the adventures from Wizards yet.

Veterans Gaming? Does Warwick finally have a Friendly Local Gaming Store again? I'm certainly interested in some D&D, would this be Living Forgotten Realms or something else (I'm good with whatever, but need to know if I should make new chars or bring my LFR ones or what)

Here is a write up about the Encounters from the wizards site:

Starting March 17, a new in-store weekly play program begins with D&D Encounters. Over the course of the next few weeks, I'll be sharing with you some design insights into the play experience, and provide organizers, DMs, and players with some tips and tricks to make their D&D Encounters play experience awesome.

For now though, I wanted to give you a little more information on the basics of the program. Here's the scoop on our newest D&D play experience!

Weekly in-store D&D play on Wednesdays.

D&D Encounters runs each week in your local Wizards Play Network store. This is the first D&D program that Wizards has designed specifically for weekly play. And since it’s on Wednesday nights, it stays away from busy weekends and coincides nicely with comic book day.

An ongoing mini-campaign.

D&D Encounters is set up with an ongoing narrative element, played as a mini-campaign lasting a few months. Each mini-campaign is also known as a season of play; after one season finishes, the next one begins the very next week, without interruption. The season is divided up into 3 chapters; each chapter is composed of a few sessions of play.

One encounter per week.

Fitting D&D Encounters into a busy schedule is made much easier with its one encounter per week sessions. You can get the encounter done within 1-2 hours, making it easy to finish at a reasonable hour and keeping the DM’s prep time minimal each week.

Earn Renown Points for accomplishments.

At the conclusion of each session, you earn Renown Points for different types of accomplishments made in game – defeating encounters, hitting milestones, doing something spectacular during a game session, etc. As you accumulate those points, you’ll earn rewards cards that can be used in-game for your current and future D&D Encounters characters. Some rewards are easy to get, and can be obtained after only a few sessions of play; others might take a while to qualify for. The first reward is the Delver reward, and it’s given to you on the session you’ve earned it. The other two rewards (Explorer and Adventurer) are awarded at the end of the season based on those that qualify for them by earning a certain higher total of points.

DMs get rewards too!

In addition to the player rewards in the D&D Encounters kit, there are also special rewards for the DMs, consisting of valuable game aides and other cool specially-made, not-available-for-sale items. Each new season will bring a different DM reward in the kit.

Each season takes you to new D&D worlds.

Every D&D Encounters season is a self-contained mini-campaign, giving you an ongoing story in a different D&D setting each time. Short enough to keep you from making a long-term campaign commitment but long enough to give you a sense of growth and accomplishment, the length of each season will last approximately 3-4 months. The seasonal nature of D&D Encounters also means you’ll be able to sample new game content and different worlds a few times every year. The first season of D&D Encounters is set in the Forgotten Realms, where you’ll be uncovering the secrets of Halaster’s Lost Apprentice in one of the most infamous dungeons of all, Undermountain! And in season two, journey to the blasted lands of Athas as you play in a mini-campaign preview of the Dark Sun campaign setting!

Wow. I was already kind of excited to get back into gaming, but that description got me really revved up. Bring on the first season!