I am so confused by what we are doing next season of D&D Encounters.
Historically, D&D Encounters is designed to get people into the shops--but it appears that the Module for next season will only be sold online as a PDF via Dungeons & Dragons Classics; which I think is good news for the people who cannot get out to shops and/or have been dying to play home game version of the Encounters adventures. But I am not sure what it means to the shops.
Here is the blurb for the adventure.
Scourge of the Sword Coast
Sundering Adventure III
Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle (available on www.dndclassics.com) chronicled the efforts of the Red Wizards to unlock the power of elemental nodes located in an abandoned temple dedicated to the Princes of Elemental Evil. A gate to the Nine Hells lay open for some time, spewing devils and smoke. The heroes who closed the gate could not know it then, but amid the chaos of battle, another threat emerged.
Find out more in Scourge of the Sword Coast.
I am not really sure how this is related to Ghosts of Dragonspeare Castle. Ghosts of Dragonspeare Castle is a $17 adventure by Chris Perkens which includes the D&D Next rules, I think. But I do not think it is part of the Sundering series.
Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle is a D&D Next preview and mini-campaign comprised of four thrilling adventures, designed to advance characters from 1st level to 10th level. The book also contains everything a Dungeon Master needs to run the adventures, including D&D Next game rules developed during the massive public playtest, monster statistics, spell descriptions, magic item descriptions, and background information on the coastal town of Daggerford, where the campaign is based.
Against the backdrop of the Sundering, brave adventurers must protect the town of Daggerford against an insidious foreign threat while forging alliances, exploring dungeons, and battling monsters. The action moves from the Lizard Marsh to the orc-infested hills, finally culminating in a deadly altercation amid the crumbling ruins of the legendary Dragonspear Castle.
Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle includes pre-generated D&D Next characters, as well as rules for advancing these characters up to level 10. The book also includes the winning character sheet from our recent contest.
It would be nice if WotC would put out another Podcast explainging to use what the future of D&D Encounters looks like.