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Kaskos
2010-08-19, 02:57 PM
Hi All Playgrounders,

I am a fairly experienced player (not as experienced as some of my friends who play, but not a complete amateur)
Lately they are wanting me to run for them, i dont mind the idea of running, but at least for my first run id like a pre-made campaign / adventure.

Can any advise a good one (i dont want it too easy) for a beginning DM to run? They dont over optimise generally but they play well and are good rp'ers when they need to be.

So, i look forward to your locations and such for premade campaigns if you can help me :smallsmile:

Yorrin
2010-08-19, 03:05 PM
3.5 or 4e?

Keld Denar
2010-08-19, 03:07 PM
Also, what level did you have in mind? For ultra low levels, I hear Dark and Stormy Knight (DLable from www.wizards.com) is pretty good, as is Scourge of the Howeling Hoard. For midish level, Red Hand of Doom and Expedition to Castle Ravenloft have pretty good reviews. For higheresque levels, Expedition to the Demonweb Pits is pretty freakin amazing.

(all of those are 3.5 mods)

Yorrin
2010-08-19, 03:10 PM
Keld, you forgot Tomb of Horrors in that mid-level list:smalltongue:

Kaskos
2010-08-19, 03:16 PM
3.5 or 4e?



Sorrry, it would be v3.5 and i think 1 onwards would be a good level to start with. Make them make a character and then run em through it.

Are they all worth reading through first or are they pretty simple to pick up and go?

Yorrin
2010-08-19, 03:21 PM
S
Are they all worth reading through first or are they pretty simple to pick up and go?

Most of the time you'll want to read through it once or twice just to familiarize yourself with the map and the key events. Some, like ToH I mentioned, are a bit more complex and so they can take a while to get in your head.

I'm a fan of the Ghostwalk campaign. It has prewritten modules for level 1, levels 4-7, level 9, and level 12. Gives you enough room to intersperse some custom material at the beginning, build on it at level 8, and then bring that material to resolution at levels 10-11. It's one of those long ones, obviously, but pretty well written.

hamishspence
2010-08-19, 03:23 PM
City of the Spider Queen is 3.0- but probably shouldn't need all that much updating to make it 3.5.

Kaskos
2010-08-19, 03:34 PM
Most of the time you'll want to read through it once or twice just to familiarize yourself with the map and the key events. Some, like ToH I mentioned, are a bit more complex and so they can take a while to get in your head.

I'm a fan of the Ghostwalk campaign. It has prewritten modules for level 1, levels 4-7, level 9, and level 12. Gives you enough room to intersperse some custom material at the beginning, build on it at level 8, and then bring that material to resolution at levels 10-11. It's one of those long ones, obviously, but pretty well written.

Is this one you are speaking about dl'able or buyable from anywhere specific?

Kaskos
2010-08-19, 03:35 PM
Also, what level did you have in mind? For ultra low levels, I hear Dark and Stormy Knight (DLable from www.wizards.com) is pretty good, as is Scourge of the Howeling Hoard. For midish level, Red Hand of Doom and Expedition to Castle Ravenloft have pretty good reviews. For higheresque levels, Expedition to the Demonweb Pits is pretty freakin amazing.

(all of those are 3.5 mods)

Might have a look into some of these too - something fun for them and not too much of a headache for me would be good lol

Ponce
2010-08-19, 03:35 PM
The Sunken Citadel is a pretty popular low level module.

Yorrin
2010-08-19, 03:36 PM
Is this one you are speaking about dl'able or buyable from anywhere specific?

Depends how much of a lawful alignment you have. The answer I'm supposed to give is no. The internet is a wild and wacky place, however.

hamishspence
2010-08-19, 03:37 PM
Its still available from sites like Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ghostwalk-Dungeons-Dragons-Campaign-Option/dp/0786928344/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282250159&sr=8-3

Keld Denar
2010-08-19, 03:39 PM
Anything is buyable if you don't mind paying shipping...

Expedition to Demonweb Pits (http://cgi.ebay.com/Expedition-Demonweb-Pits-D-D-HC-NM-3-5-ED-/200468345535?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0)

Red Hand of Doom (http://cgi.ebay.com/Red-Hand-Doom-Dungeons-Dragons-d20-3-5-Fant-/160454509684?pt=US_Nonfiction_Book)

Expedition to Castle Ravenloft (http://cgi.ebay.com/Dungeons-and-Dragons-3-5-Expedition-Castle-Ravenloft-/320578484928?pt=US_Nonfiction_Book)

hamishspence
2010-08-19, 03:42 PM
Amazon sells Expedition to the Demonweb Pits pretty cheaply- though the other two are pricey when new.

potatocubed
2010-08-19, 03:46 PM
You can do a lot worse than the 3.0 classic The Sunless Citadel if you want to ease yourself into low-level 3.x GMing.

Kaskos
2010-08-19, 03:47 PM
Amazon sells Expedition to the Demonweb Pits pretty cheaply- though the other two are pricey when new.

or ebay it seems is possible

Ar the ones mentioned all suitable for low level gaming?

Tyndmyr
2010-08-19, 03:48 PM
Got my copy of Ghostwalk from ebay. Good material, if you enjoy the topic.

hamishspence
2010-08-19, 03:49 PM
City of the Spider Queen is more mid to high level- and I think the Expedition ones also qualify as mid-level.

potatocubed
2010-08-19, 03:50 PM
Demonweb Pits starts at level 9.

It's pretty damn fabulous, however.

Kaskos
2010-08-19, 03:51 PM
Demonweb Pits starts at level 9.

It's pretty damn fabulous, however.

I want it to be easy to ease myself into - like level 1 onwards ideally

hamishspence
2010-08-19, 03:54 PM
There aren't many of those. A few adventures begin at level , but they end not to be campaigns.

For long campaigns, beginning at level 1, Paizo is probably a good source- with Age of Worms, Savage Tide, and another one that is now compiled in book form.

EDIT: Shackled City.

Kaskos
2010-08-19, 03:57 PM
There aren't many of those. A few adventures begin at level , but they end not to be campaigns.

For long campaigns, beginning at level 1, Paizo is probably a good source- with Age of Worms, Savage Tide, and another one that is now compiled in book form.

I dont mind them progressing levels of course but starting low is the best plan. Last thing i want to do is let a couple of considerably more experienced players loose with a truckful of gold and let them go with with thir books

potatocubed
2010-08-19, 03:57 PM
The book one is The Shackled City.

Shackled City, Age of Worms and Savage Tide are all quality adventures, but the characters have to be pretty well-built or they'll just die all over the place.

EDIT: There are also the Paizo adventure paths. Rise of the Runelords, Curse of the Crimson Throne, Second Darkness and... the deserty one are all written for 3.5. The others are written for Pathfinder, but there's some excellent material in all of them. (And some less than excellent material, but that's what you get with pre-made stuff.)

RebelRogue
2010-08-19, 04:08 PM
Demonweb Pits starts at level 9.

It's pretty damn fabulous, however.
The overall adventure arc is good. However, a lot of the encounters and stat blocks are just way off. One thing is, that the characters are poorly build (a lot of characters have dodge and those drow fighters builds make little to no sense - this does artificially make some battles a little too easy IMO), but a lot of them have wrongly calculated stats, and some of the builds misinterpret rules. I'm not saying that makes it a bad adventure, just that if you or your players happen to be sticklers for these things, you should be prepared to doublecheck a lot.

Aidan305
2010-08-19, 04:09 PM
In all honesty, I recommend against using pre-made campaigns. A short adventure to start a campaign off with is fine, but once you're done with that it's difficult to move on with a pre-made campaign without have to start changing large amounts to suit your characters.

You're probably better off (after the first adventure) writing your own stuff so that it's more suited to both your characters and your players. It'll overall be more fun for all involved and in my experience less stressful for you.

Kaskos
2010-08-19, 06:07 PM
In all honesty, I recommend against using pre-made campaigns. A short adventure to start a campaign off with is fine, but once you're done with that it's difficult to move on with a pre-made campaign without have to start changing large amounts to suit your characters.

You're probably better off (after the first adventure) writing your own stuff so that it's more suited to both your characters and your players. It'll overall be more fun for all involved and in my experience less stressful for you.


Thanks for that guys - appreciate it alot