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Legacy of the Crystal Shard (Next)

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An Adventure for 1st level characters by R.A Salvatore, James Wyatt, Jeffrey Ludwig

Forgotten Realms - the Sundering

The People of Icewind Dale are hardy and have long stood against the perils of he North. the events that shook the region a hundred years ago are now a distant memory. But what was defeated was not destroyed.

Now forces converge on the Ten Towns, the people of the North face their greatest trial yet. To overcome these threats , adventurers must once again rise to challenge evil.

Product History

"Legacy of the Crystal Shard" (2013), by R.A. Salvatore with Jeffrey Ludwig, James Wyatt, and Matthew Sernett, is the adventure for Season 16 of D&D Encounters. It was released for play in November 2013.

Continuing the Encounters. "Legacy of the Crystal Shard" follows the new trends of the Encounters program that began with Season 15's "Murder in Baldur's Gate". That means that it kicked off with a Launch Weekend event, which was held on November 16-17. Stores were given Launch Kits that included an extra-long version of the first week's adventure, 20 white dice with blue numbers and snowflakes, and a poster map of the area.

However, to play more, Encounters GMs had to buy the "Legacy of the Crystal Shard" as a printed adventure, which appeared on November 19. It was another extensive package including a 64-page sourcebook, a 32-page adventure book, and a Crystal Shard GM's screen, all packed in a flimsy slipcover. There was one more element to the release: a book of "Encounters and Monster Stats" that had to be downloaded from Wizards. GMs then had just one day to prepare themselves before the season of Encounters began!

Like "Murder in Baldur's Gate", "Legacy of the Crystal Shard" returned to the traditional PC levels of 1-3.

"Legacy of the Crystal Shard" was the Winter 2013-2014 Encounters season, running from November 20, 2013 to February 12, 2014. That implies a 12-week run, but two of those weeks were Christmas and New Year's, so there were only 10 weeks of actual play.

Playtesting D&D Next. Like its immediate predecessor, "Legacy of the Crystal Shard" was statless, with monster books allowing for play in D&D 3.5e, 4e, or 5e. By now, the D&D Next playtest rules were becoming increasingly available, not just as an internet download, but also in Gen Con's "Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle" (2013).

About the Encounter Format. Traditionally, the Encounters adventures carefully delineated an encounter worth of play for each Wednesday's adventure. "Murder in Baldur's Gate" switched that up a bit by providing players with more choices of what they did each week, but it still maintained the constrained weekly format. "Legacy of the Crystal Shard" totally broke away from Encounters' traditional style of play. There are no encounters; instead GMs are told to break up the adventure as they see fit over the ten weeks of play.

The style of adventure is also quite different. The traditional Encounters were heavily combat oriented, then "Murder in Baldur's Gate" moved dramatically in the opposite direction. "Legacy of the Crystal Shard" finds a middle ground. Part of this is done through its inclusion of three different power brokers who are advancing evil agendas. Depending on which villains the players oppose, they might have to fight, politic, or roleplay. The idea of players opposing three different power players come right out of "Murder in Baldur's Gate", as does the fact that one of those villains will ultimately succeed.

About the Product Tie-In(s). "Legacy of the Crystal Shard" is rife with tie-ins to products across the long history of D&D.

To start with, it's founded in The Crystal Shard (1988), R.A. Salvatore's first Drizzt novel and his introduction of the north — a locale that he arbitrary picked off of a map of the Realms. "Legacy" also has ties to many other Salvatore novels thanks to the eponymous Shard: Passage to Dawn (1996) saw its return, The Silent Blade (1998) saw its theft, Servant of the Shard saw its destruction, and The Ghost King (2009) saw its necromantic return.

By the '10s, Wizards was actively moving D&D to other media, so Salvatore's northern setting had also been featured in the Legacy of Drizzt (2011) board game.

Finally, "Legacy of the Crystal Shard" is part of Wizards' multimedia Sundering event. Like "Murder in Baldur's Gate", this new adventure is about the realignment of the gods in a new era of the Realms, with a Chosen of Auril acting as one of the adventure's antagonists. Set in 1485 DR, "Legacy of the Crystal Shard" also runs concurrently with The Adversary (2013), the third novel of the Sundering, which was released in December 2013.

Exploring the Realms. Ten-Towns and the Icewind Dale first appeared in fiction in the The Crystal Shard (1988), then in the early supplement, FR5: "The Savage Frontier" (1988). These lands have appeared in many novels since as well as numerous D&D supplements, with the most notable being The North: Guide to the Savage Frontier (1996), Salavatore's own The Accursed Tower (1999), and to a lesser extent Silver Marches (2002). The area was also the subject of an entire video game, Icewind Dale (2000).

"Legacy of the Crystal Shard" focuses mainly on the north as revealed through R.A. Salvatore's novels. The Campaign Guide book describes Icewind Dale, Ten-Towns, nearby peoples, and nearby locales, as well as two factions of note: the followers of the Frostmaiden and the Arcane Brotherhood.

Future History. Dungeon #220 (November 2013) features an adventure called "King of the Wolves", which is set in the area of Icewind Dale, and could be used as a sequel to "Legacy of the Crystal Shard" as it's for characters levels 4-6.

About the Creators. R.A. Salvatore is best-known for his 40(!) books set in the Forgotten Realms, beginning with The Icewind Dale trilogy (1988-1990). His contributions to the RPG itself are much fewer, making this book special. His previous major contributions had been FR9: "The Bloodstone Lands" (1989) and "The Accursed Tower" (1999). Salvatore has said that he likes writing adventures because he's "a DM by nature".

About the Product Historian

The history of this product was researched and written by Shannon Appelcline, the editor-in-chief of RPGnet and the author of Designers & Dragons - a history of the roleplaying industry told one company at a time. Please feel free to mail corrections, comments, and additions to shannon.appelcline@gmail.com.

We (Wizards) recognize that some of the legacy content available on this website does not reflect the values of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise today. Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. This content is presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is a strength, and we strive to make our D&D products as welcoming and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end.

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Reviews (3)
Discussions (20)
Customer avatar
Bruce A February 20, 2024 12:25 am UTC
PURCHASER
Did anyone figure out how to get the tactical maps that are referred to in the adventure books?
Customer avatar
Isabella F June 19, 2023 7:12 am UTC
PURCHASER
I just learned I was supposed to get something beside the Launch packet with this? I bought it a while ago and just thought I got a bad deal so I didn't follow up. Is there any way to know what I was supposed to get with a print copy?
Customer avatar
River A December 16, 2022 2:26 am UTC
PURCHASER
Where are the maps described as included for this adventure?
Customer avatar
Anna G June 30, 2022 1:27 pm UTC
What do you actually get when buying this? I see there is a lot of confusion among the purchasers.
Customer avatar
Alon F December 26, 2021 7:16 pm UTC
PURCHASER
so, what i'm supposed to do with that 16 pages booklet ?
its not even the adventure !
its just a launch guide ... for 20$ !
so so disappointing
Reply
Customer avatar
Andrew B December 26, 2021 10:17 pm UTC
What on Earth are you talking about?
Reply
Customer avatar
Ben R January 06, 2022 9:37 am UTC
Sounds like he just got the 15 page booklet for the Launch Weekend event when this adventure was first released for the Encounters program, and not the full package. Which is a problem they had in the past, then they took the POD down, and fixed it. Seems like it's back maybe?
Customer avatar
Kevin L September 22, 2021 7:48 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Took the risk and bought it on PoD in preparation for my Rime of the Frostmaiden campaign. The problem seems to be resolved. You get the adventure module first, then the setting book, then the section on encounters and statblocks. The last section is printed three time: once with 3.5 stats, once with 4e stats and the last with D&D Next stats. Even though I would have prefered for the setting book to be presented first and the adventure second, I can't wait to loot and plunder both sections for extra content in my campaign!
Customer avatar
Hákon P May 28, 2021 1:19 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Just bought the pdf version, and seems to include everything (so it seems previous issues have been fixed) except that the launch guide refers to a "tactical map" that seems to be missing - and seems impossible to find online. Still, the material looks very promising and I am looking forward to running it (though I need to convert to 5e).
Reply
Customer avatar
Ben R January 06, 2022 9:46 am UTC
It should be at the back of the adventure guide section, I would think. Need a copy still?
Customer avatar
George C March 19, 2021 8:50 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I purchased the PDF while the PoD was not available. I’d like to get the PoD now as well. How can I get a discount for the cost I already paid for the PDF ($14.99) from the softcover PoD item without paying the whole price again?
Reply
Customer avatar
Ben R January 06, 2022 9:38 am UTC
So, there's an option to buy just the PDF, just the POD, and then both. If you just bought the PDF, the price for the POD on its own has nothing to do with that.
Customer avatar
Justin A February 20, 2021 7:14 pm UTC
PURCHASER
So, I am looking into buy the POD version of this (as well as Murder in Baldur's gate). Has the POD issues that have been discussed in previous discussions been fixed?
Customer avatar
Bernardo B January 02, 2021 7:59 pm UTC
PURCHASER
It seems that the PDF if protected by password for editing. Is it expected?
Reply
Customer avatar
Mildred L February 01, 2021 1:18 pm UTC
All ”watermarked PDF” products on this site are locked in this way.
Customer avatar
Benjamin A December 11, 2020 6:07 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Looks like they sent the updated proof to the printer, so POD should be good to go now!
Reply
Customer avatar
Benjamin A December 24, 2020 4:34 am UTC
PURCHASER
WELL, the POD looks great...except that the section for "Encounters and Monster Statistics: D&D 3rd Edition (v.3.5)" contains the 4th Edition stats and encounters, not 3rd Edition. In fact, that entire section is an exact duplicate of the "Encounters and Monster Statistics: D&D 4th Edition" section, except the 1st page. Stats and encounter info for D&D Next are the right ones. Kinda frustrating, but at least one can still obtain the 3.5 stats from WOTC's website. *sigh*
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Customer avatar
Mark P December 31, 2020 12:10 am UTC
PURCHASER
And it‘ s back off print. Need to go through as just got my print copy and see whether the problems are too much.
Customer avatar
Aaron S September 25, 2020 9:44 am UTC
PURCHASER
I ordered the POD version of this title expecting to get the 64 page Campaign Guide and Adventure as printed products but it turns out I just received the 32 page adventure. Confused and disappointed! Please make this clear on the product description.
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Customer avatar
William G September 25, 2020 2:02 pm UTC
PURCHASER
This seems like something DTRPG customer support would be more than happy to help you with. I recommend you contact them then report back here!
Reply
Customer avatar
William G September 25, 2020 8:13 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Looks like they removed the PoD option.
Reply
Customer avatar
Zachary L September 27, 2020 3:02 am UTC
PURCHASER
I also experienced exactly this.
Reply
Customer avatar
Zachary L September 27, 2020 3:23 am UTC
PURCHASER
Nevermind, I actually received the launch guide... A 16 page 1st level only part of the adventure. Wow lol.
Reply
Customer avatar
Sol F September 29, 2020 12:00 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Same, that's annoying but oh well...
Reply
Customer avatar
Benjamin A September 29, 2020 2:42 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I ordered the POD too, haven't received it yet but I imagine it'll be the same situation. This is the second time it's happened to me; I ordered the POD of "Murder in Baldur's Gate" when it was available and when it arrived it was only the launch guide and maps. This is a problem! I'm not going to order any more PODs until they get their act together and fix this problem. Should NOT be happening... why is there such a lack of QC involved in this process? Very frustrated.
Reply
Customer avatar
Raymond A September 30, 2020 2:40 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I've had this problem as well. I'm going to reach out to customer service.
Reply
Customer avatar
William G October 01, 2020 8:39 pm UTC
PURCHASER
welp I got just the 16 page event book. Time to contact customer support.
Reply
Customer avatar
William G October 01, 2020 9:16 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Refunded.

But for the PoD watchers out there, they are pulling together a new master PDF for the future to alleviate the issues raised from this PoD run. However right now they have no hard timeline. So if you see the PoD return in the future it may well be fixed.
Reply
Customer avatar
Isabella F October 06, 2020 5:42 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I just had the same problem.
Reply
Customer avatar
Christopher C October 07, 2020 4:14 am UTC
PURCHASER
Hey thanks for the heads up I ordered this and was confused and disappointed. I have gotten many awesome POD from them and was really let down with a 16 page booklet that wasn’t the complete adventure or the same as the PDF
Reply
Customer avatar
Christopher C October 07, 2020 3:54 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Hey just an update spoke with customer service and they are working on a fix. But will take a while to fix the file issue and get the book printed properly. Just and FYI
Reply
Customer avatar
Matt B October 10, 2020 12:14 am UTC
PURCHASER
I got a 16 page mini book instead of the 96 pg book advertised above.
Customer avatar
Antonio W September 15, 2020 10:24 pm UTC
There we go POD!!!!
Customer avatar
Andrés L July 14, 2020 11:50 pm UTC
We need this as a POD for rime of the frostmaiden!
Customer avatar
Steve H April 27, 2020 10:03 pm UTC
Does this continue past the first two in encounters?
I bought the Fantasy Ground Module, but need a PDF or paper version to prep from.
Customer avatar
Michael O May 16, 2019 12:14 am UTC
I just have to say, I really appreciate these historical writeups on every D&D product. They're really insightful and really helpful to see where a product lay in the grand scheme of things and it's legacy.
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