If you’ve ever created your own Dungeons & Dragons campaign from scratch, you know it’s a lot of work. Not only do you have to write the story and create compelling NPCs, but you also have to create exciting encounters with monsters for the players to face and (hopefully) overcome.
While Steamforged Games can’t help you with that first part, they’re definitely onboard with monsters for the rest. Their ongoing series of releases, Epic Encounters, give you everything you need to challenge and delight a D&D party.
What Is Epic Encounters?
Epic Encounters is a series of box sets that provides all the components necessary to run a cinematic encounter in Dungeons & Dragons 5e. Each set includes one or more detailed plastic miniatures, an adventure book, and a game mat. The detailed encounters can be run as one-shots, or incorporated into a campaign.
The encounter isn’t just for one level range, either: There are three tiers of play, each with their own level of difficulty and challenge. The first tier is for a party of levels 1-4, the second tier is 5-10, and the highest tier is for levels 10 and higher.
The sets range in price between $34.99 and $59.99, and can be found at the Steamforged Games Website.
Steamforged Games sent me a few of their more recent sets to take a look at.
Epic Encounters: Cave of the Manticore
This set only contains one miniature, but it’s quite a big one! Miniatures from another set, Camp of the Bandit Twins, can be used as reinforcements during the encounter. But if you don’t have that set, no need to worry: a sheet of tokens is included that has all of the NPCs you will need for this particular combat.
The huge Manticore miniature comes in two pieces, with the stinger tail as a separate piece that easily and securely plugs in to the body.
The included game mat is double-sided, with both a day and a night side, depending on when the encounter takes place. A 1″ grid covers the map, as one would expect with D&D.
The 35-page adventure book is broken up into several useful sections for the Dungeon Master. Each of the Epic Encounter books are organized somewhat similarly. Here are the “chapters” of the book:
- Lore
- Hooks
- Lair
- Combat Dashboard
- Locations
- Approach
- Manticore Attack Types
- Lair Abilities
- Cinematic Moments
- Treasure
- Stats. Each of the three tiers of Manticore gets its own stats, as befitting the differences in difficulty ratings between the levels.
And here are a few pages from that book:
Epic Encounters: Cave of the Manticore retails for $54.99, and is available from the Steamforged Games webstore or from Amazon.
Epic Encounters: Palace of the Drow Queen
While Cave of the Manticore is designed as a big boss battle, Epic Encounters: Palace of the Drow Queen is much more of a multi-stage encounter. This is reflected in the components.
For one, there are 16 miniatures inside of the box, all organized inside a plastic tray.
The game mat in Palace of the Drow Queen is also double-sided, but there are two entirely different maps on each side. The initial stages of the encounter take place on a dock:
Once the docks have been completely explored and all the enemies there defeated, the players will move to the palace, where they will face several more encounters.
Despite the more narrative change in focus, the Palace of the Drow Queen book, at 39 pages, has much the same format as that of Cave of the Manticore.
Epic Encounters: Palace of the Drow Queen retails for $54.99, and is available from the Steamforged Games webstore or from Amazon.
Epic Encounters: Lair of the Drider
Finally, we have Epic Encounters: Lair of the Drider. This set can also be paired with Palace of the Drow Queen, or if you buy it individually, you can use the included tokens as stand-ins for the Drow minis.
Here is a look at the very nice sculpt for the Drider:
The set also contains a double-sided map, and in this case both sides are different layouts, and you choose which one you’d like to use for the encounter.
Like Cave of the Manticore, Epic Encounters: Lair of the Drider is structured like a boss battle. Between 2-8 Drow Warriors will join in the battle as reinforcements, but the bulk of the encounter is a direct confrontation with the Drider.
Epic Encounters: Lair of the Drider retails for $49.99, and is available from the Steamforged Games webstore or from Amazon.
Why You Should Use Epic Encounters
The Epic Encounters sets never fail to impress. Not only are there beautifully sculpted miniatures in the boxes, but the encounters are well thought out, with each one playing out differently. I really like that, in the cases of the boss battle sets like Lair of the Drider and Cave of the Manticore, Steamforged Games provides tokens for the additional enemies needed for the encounter. That way you don’t have to purchase an entirely separate set to run the encounter. Instead, everything you need for the encounter, you’ll find in the one box.
The adventure books are the real key to the Epic Encounters sets. They provide tons of information for a Dungeon Master, giving lore, advice, and detailed information on how each enemy works, and tips on how to use them effectively. And if you’re a more experienced Dungeon Master that already has plenty of miniatures, you can purchase just the adventure books in PDF form on the Steamforged website.
If I had one quibble, it’s actually with the Manticore and Drider miniatures. No, not the sculpts; they look fantastic. The problem is that both of these monsters are supposed to be large size, which in D&D means that they should be on a 2″ base. However, in the case of these two minis, they’re on a 100mm base, which is closer to 4″. But if you don’t mind the size discrepancy, it allows for a truly menacing foe, and also makes for an easier paint job on the miniature.
Size issues aside, the Epic Encounters sets are a real boon to Dungeon Masters. They’re amazingly accessible for both inexperienced and veteran Dungeon Masters, and work well as one-offs or can be easily dropped into an existing campaign. Palace of the Drow Queen is the most like a standalone adventure, but there’s plenty of fun to be had in all three of the box sets. Your choices for which sets to pick up largely depends on what kind of a campaign you’re running with your players.
For more information or to purchase a set, visit the Epic Encounters page at Steamforged Games.
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Disclosure: GeekDad received copies of these sets for review purposes. As an Amazon affiliate, I may earn a small commission on qualified purchases.
