Needed: D&D game for new players

[GoblinGilmartin]

I'm looking for a D&D 3.5 game that I can use to introduce some people who have never played before to D&D, and that can be done in about two hours. Any suggestions from the super smart peoples in the playground?

[Chilingsworth]

obtain a copy of "Dungeon Mastering for Dummies" (You'll want the 3.5 eddition, obviously.) There's a sample adventure in that book that revistis the classic "orc with a pie" concept. Also, it gives a wealth of info for new groups.

[Maethirion]

A Dark and Stormy Knight is also quite a nice, simple, and best of all short dungeon crawl to get them into the swing of things

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20050329a

[Mikka]

Why not simply come up with something on your own?

[Lord Il Palazzo]

I can vouch for this one. I just ran it last week to kick off a new campaign (it also happened to be my first night as a DM so simplicity for both the players and the DM was much appreciated).

It even gives a good reason for a party to get together without them meeting in a tavern or something equally clichéd; they're all taking shelter from a violent storm.

Edit: It may take a bit more than 2 hours, especially for a group that's brand new. My group had one new guy and three who've played before but not much and it took them a little over 3 hours (granted, a good bit of that was spent trying to figure out what one or two of the magic items they found did.)

[BlueInc]

Here's the whole list (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20030530b&page=1) of free adventures for your perusal. I'm personally a fan of "Something's Cooking (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article1.asp?x=dnd/oa/oa20010413a,3)."

[Herabec]

Send 'em through the Tomb of Horrors. I promise it won't last anywhere near two hours. :smallbiggrin: ...Unless they're all masochists.

[GoblinGilmartin]

Thanks all! I'm going to look down the archive list for a good one, and i'll consider the recomendations.

and two things:
1. I only have a week, and anything i made would be too overpowered.

2. Tomb of horrors? I plan on keeping these players for a long time, starting them off in a horror setting would not be the best idea, two of them are girls who have never played (or even so much as read a rulebook) so i want them as involved as possible.

[Ozreth]

This is what I started with and love it to this day. Still bust it out for new players now and again.

http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Basic-Game/dp/0786934093

Don't mistake it for the 2006 re-release which is, IMO, far inferior.

[Godskook]

For new players, I *HIGHLY* suggest pre-made characters, of around 3rd to 4th level. That's high enough to be fun and interesting, sturdy enough not to die to a greatsword crit, and low enough that the ability list won't be overwhelming.

Instead of designing 4 pre-mades and giving 1 to each PC, leaving the last player little to no choice about his character, make 2 to 4 pre-mades per role, and before handing out options, make each player decide his 'role' on the team. This helps establish the importance of teamwork over individualism while still allowing choice, and since D&D is supposed to be a team game, start them young. Alternatively, you can pre-make groups of parties, and let the group decide which party they want to play, but that'll more likely leave someone feeling like they had to 'take one for the team'.

A good team-comp for battle scenarios is:
Rogue
BSF
Arcane
Divine

[GoblinGilmartin]

Good call, but i don't have it and i'm working on a budget of nothing.

Edit: actually, I used Redblade 3.5 to make two variations on EVERY BASE CLASS. Two different builds for each, I think i made them 3rd level, so maximum customization is still possible

[Laura Eternata]

Here's the whole list (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20030530b&page=1) of free adventures for your perusal."

I second this. There's actually some pretty good stuff in here. I particularly liked The Burning Plague (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20000801a).

But stay away from A Dark and Stormy Knight; it's short, dull, and mind numbingly stupid, in my group's humble opinion.

[Hanuman]

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article1.asp?x=dnd/oa/oa20010413a,3
What's cooking? Silly, fun, easy to plothook.

[Lord Il Palazzo]

I second this. There's actually some pretty good stuff in here. I particularly liked The Burning Plague (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20000801a).

But stay away from A Dark and Stormy Knight; it's short, dull, and mind numbingly stupid, in my group's humble opinion.Out of curiosity, what did your group dislike so much about A Dark and Stormy Knight? I found it to be a solid, simple adventure. If Mastergilgamesh[b]'s looking for something short and simple to introduce new players, I'd actually advise against using The Burning Plague, as it's got some pretty nasty bits (a trap at the very start of the dungeon that can easily deafen the party if they fail to disable it, a lot of combat against large numbers of enemies (which thus has the risk of being a bit slow moving for beginners) and heavy use of a Con lowering disease.)

I have nothing against the Burning Plague (I actually think that it's the better adventure overall) but I really thing you're being too hard on A Dark and Stormy Knight and that it would fit [b]Mastergilgamesh's purposes better.

[LaughingRogue]

I second tomb of horrors.

[Hiro Protagonest]

2. Tomb of horrors? I plan on keeping these players for a long time, starting them off in a horror setting would not be the best idea, two of them are girls who have never played (or even so much as read a rulebook) so i want them as involved as possible.

Tomb of Horrors isn't a horror adventure, it's a deathtrap (with lots of traps) made by Gygax himself. It even has a trope page (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TombOfHorrors). In all honesty, I recommend you steer clear.

And is there a reason you specifically mentioned the two new players were girls? :smalltongue:

[GoblinGilmartin]

1. Quit talking about the tomb of horrors, its for 9th level parties...

and i mentioned that to of them were girls, cuz one of them...i'm not sure if this game is really her thing, so i want to be able to appeal to her, you know, like she might not know what she is getting into...I think she might just be joining the club to have something to add to her college apps or something...the other girl, yeah, you're right...i really didnt need to mention her, she's cool...
still...touchy much:smallamused:?

[deuxhero]

Came to suggest Tomb of Horrors, glad everyone beat me to the punch.

Uh... how about a classic like Temple of Elemental Evil or Keep on the Borderlands? If WotC didn't do an offical update for one of them there is most likely a free fan made update out there.

[Hanuman]

1. Quit talking about the tomb of horrors, its for 9th level parties...

and i mentioned that to of them were girls, cuz one of them...i'm not sure if this game is really her thing, so i want to be able to appeal to her, you know, like she might not know what she is getting into...I think she might just be joining the club to have something to add to her college apps or something...the other girl, yeah, you're right...i really didnt need to mention her, she's cool...
still...touchy much:smallamused:?
You can play tomb of horrors with 1st level parties...
Just have 10 lives each and take it with a grain of salt.

If you try to play it srs you are going to stop playing within 5 mins when you have to say "rocks fall, you die".

[AMFV]

Tomb of Horrors is probably a bad idea. It's puzzle laden and not very new player friendly, resulting in much frustration. I liked burning plague as it was my first adventure although in retrospect it wasn't as good as I remembered. I've recently been doing the Freeport Trilogy, and those are pretty outstanding as far as premades go. You could always do the orc with the pie puzzle. I think somewhere there is a pretty awesome module based on that or you could use it as a springboard to start a campaign and introduce them to killing things for their stuff.

[ericgrau]

Ditto there should be pre-made characters with options to choose from, though there are various ways to handle the specifics. It takes more than 2 hours to make a character. Avoid prepared casters unless you provide a good general purpose spell list, and don't bring up swapping spells until future sessions if possible. Barbarians, sorcerers and maybe low level paladins are good bets; make extras of those. Skills are likewise problematic; multiple builds with dips for a few skills rather than any single skill-monkey might be easier to handle, as the build's focus will be something else. I probably wouldn't build any pure ranger/rogue/bard/monk but I might dip 1 or 2. Sure he can't shout "sneak attack!" as he slowly figures out how to even use it, but he won't die a rapid horrible death either.

I'd find opinions on good modules in general. Most normal modules should work as well as usual (though most suck in general). For starting level 2-4 my notes say "Out of Body, Out of Mind by AEG", but I have no personal experience with it. For level 5 Red Hand of Doom is obscenely popular.