Level 1 dungeon please help!!

[Mutantbaker]

Ok everyone, I'm trying my hand at being a dm for the first time.

My overall theme for my campaign is a war between the races underground and those above. Lots of drow involved. The problem I'm having is that I want to run a quick level one dungeon to pull the team together and give them a rep as heroes in the city to be called to a task by the rulers. This is what I have so far. A tower of clerics located in the heart of the city is taken over by vampires (I will be rolling out some basic lvl 1 vampers to be the punching bags). My plan is after a fight with a bigger undead baddie they will run into a high level priestess of lloth who was secretly pulling the string of the undead creatures. She will leave through a portal (leaving a relic to start questions about the grand story).

This is what I need help with. Does anyone have any suggestions for low level critters I can throw in with vamps? Any suggestions for a big baddie to be the boss? I was thinking an elite vamp. There will be a party of 6 level 1 PC's if I do one big vamp any thoughts on a level I can make it that they can handle but won't be a pushover? I have a few people in my group I can ask, but they'll be PCs and I don't want to give them details and ruin the fun for them :).

[Dessembrae]

Honestly I have a hard time seeing a party of level 1 PCs dealing with even one normal vampire.

Vampires are serious business. Negative levels are absolutely lethal at low levels. A swarm of bats or rats can be pretty tough to deal with with no area-of-effect damage to speak of. A level 1 fighter or barbarian is almost never going to save against Dominate, and he's likely to be one of the most dangerous of the PCs at that level.


I'd suggest homebrewing your own, weaker Vampire template for this adventure. Drop Dominate, drop the alternate forms and Children of the Night. Drop the energy drain on the slam attack. Drop the fast healing, and either drop or lower the damage reduction.

[Zanos]

Are you using a homebrew vampire template? A first level party would have some considerable trouble with even a first level vampire.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Assuming you mean D&D 3.x, even the weakest vampires (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/vampire.htm#vampireSpawn) are way too powerful for 1st level characters. Your PCs will probably all be killed in the first encounter, just a single hit from one inflicts a negative level (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#energyDrainAndNegativeLevels) which will automatically kill a 1st level character no matter how many it points they have.

If your players are also new to the game, then you absolutely need to rethink their place in this story, or completely change the antagonists to something more appropriate. If your players are experienced enough to play higher level characters, then start them out higher than 1st level (around 5th should work for vampires plus other baddies), but in this case you're probably not going to be able to play the opponents to their full potential and it may be a bit too easy for them.

[haplessvictim]

As others have said, a vampire is vastly out of the reach of any party of 1st level adventurers. How about a ghoul (CR 1) with delusions of being a vampire? You could add a level or two of wizard to up the challenge rating and add flavor, if you wanted. An advantage of this plan (or one like it) would be that the characters, if properly primed, might come into the fight expecting a vampire and thus be taken by surprise at how little effect a stake through the heart has..

[Mutantbaker]

Thank you guys. I do have a dumbed down version of vamps that I was using, but they would still r tough and ill take them out. I like a ghoul. That will work out. I'm not so concerned about what they are I want this to just be a way to pull everyone together. I do have plans for vamps later and was hoping to draw ten out early but ill just leave that for then.
My original plan was starting at level 5 but our last 4 campaigns were that way and the team wanted to start at level 1. Ill revamp or devamp as I should say. Thank you all. Clearly I have a lot more to research before it all gets going. (There are a few more weeks so I'm still in planning phase).

Thanks

[Oko and Qailee]

If you really want to do a vampire, here's something low levels can handle.

Take a level 1 commoner (or warrior)

Add 1-3 levels of the savage progression template

https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20030824a

Edit: If you add 3 levels (or more), I probably would not allow the vampire to use Dominate (not a fun way to begin a campaign), the only problem with this method is the Vampires HP is so low.

[Mr. Mason]

With a continuation of the vampire idea, and with an added moral twinge, mayhaps this specific vampiric horde have something akin to leprosy. In order to save the rest of the vampiric legion, these vampires have been exiled to form their own colony. Anything would do, especially if the PCs can catch it! I can see an entire mini-quest associated with healing the _______ disease.