Pre-made Adventures staring at lv 1

[Deca4531]

So i just started a game with a bunch of new people, some kinda new to 3.5. i decided to run the game since i was the most experienced, which i am ok with. normally when i run a game i make a story myself but this time i think i might try one of the Pre-mades.

Dose anyone know of a really fun and involved one that starts off at lv 1? or would it be better for me to make up the adventure myself?

[ArcanistSupreme]

Sunless Citadel is bandied about a lot, and I enjoyed what I played of it, although my group didn't make it all the way through. We were playing with critical fumble rules and my halberd-wielding friend rolled something like "hit nearest ally, triple damage." And yet my group still thinks fondly of critical fumbles, even though we've stopped using them.

[Mcdt2]

Personally I am a fan of The Drow War, by Mongoose, which I'm actually currently running for my group, and almost finished. Be warned though, this one is very long. It's technically a trilogy, and you can easily end the story after the first book, but even that is going from levels 1-10. If you follow through with all three books, as I did, you'll see your party rise from level 1 all the way up to level 30 as epic characters. It's an interesting experience, and I certainly have learned a lot about DM'ing and my players in the roughly year and a half we've been running it.

That being said, if you are fine with handling the legwork of converting PF back to 3.5, or even switching the group over to pathfinder entirely, The Skull and Shackles adventure path seems interesting. It starts with the players being pressganged onto a pirate ship called the Wormwood, and they slowly try to rise up the ranks from swab to a true pirate captain (by force and trickery of course, not political maneuvering.) I've yet to actually play it, but I'm getting a group together soon, which hopefully goes together far better than my last attempts to play it (PbP on this forums, it died quickly.)

[Deca4531]

Hmm, the Drow War sounds really interesting, but would it be appropriate for people just learning or relearning the game?

[Big Fau]

The Barrow of the Forgotten King starts off at 1st, and ends with the Fortress of the Yuan-Ti somewhere around 12th or higher.

The Forgotten Forge (the mini-adventure in the ECS) also starts at 1st level, and has 3 sequel modules that take the party into the mid-levels as well.

[Hecuba]

And yet my group still thinks fondly of critical fumbles, even though we've stopped using them.

I'm firmly of the opinion that every stable, long-term gaming table should experiment with them at least once. That way, you can at least be wistful about it later when a natural 1 shows up.

[Plerumque]

We Be Goblins is fun, also from Pathfinder. But if you want to know the adventure really well, you should probably make it up yourself.

[Deca4531]

well i would of course ready through the whole thing so i knew the ins and outs. i have never done a pre-made before though so can anyone give me some advice about them?

[Plerumque]

Of course, but in my experience things like NPC motivations are much clearer when you make them up yourselves, plus you can tailor the encounters to your players.

[Ignominia]

The Forgotten Forge (the mini-adventure in the ECS) also starts at 1st level, and has 3 sequel modules that take the party into the mid-levels as well.

I just finished running the series that begins with The Forgotten Forge. Our group had a lot of fun with it. The 3rd book in the series ( Whisper of the Vampires Blade) was, oddly, not really connected to the story line started in the Forgotten Forge and ending in Grasp of the Emerald Claw. However, it did seem to be the group favorite.

As far as advice for running pre-printed modules; Read it, cover to cover. Then Read it again. Then, the evening before you play read the section you are going to cover that evening and make notes for each encounter/trap/npc etc. There is nothing worse that coming to the table unprepared.

Having read ahead you will know what is "necessary" and what is "expendable" don't be afraid to go off script and add or delete, just make sure you don't accidentally delete the MacGuffin or the an NPC that is important down the line.

Don't be afraid to ADD as well as delete too... If you feel your party is a bit overwhelmed, give them a homebrewed "side quest" to give them a bit of extra gold/gear/xp to get them to a point where you feel they are a bit more capable of handling the situation.

Just always remember the main goal is to have fun, and tailor the adventure with that goal in mind.

[Deca4531]

Thank you all, i got some really good suggestions and it should make our first game very interesting and hopeful quite fun.

[Fooliscious]

Expedition to Undermountain I really enjoyed, and there is a lot of room to add stuff in. Comes with maps too. It runs 1-10, I hooked it into City of the Spider Queen, which takes you from 10-18ish. Last half of that module is murderous on your pcs though.

[killem2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Worms


:smallbiggrin:

[Stegyre]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Worms


:smallbiggrin:
Currently at the beginning of this one in a GitP PbP game. I think we're all having a good time, notwithstanding the bug bites, acid burns, wind gusts, etc.

(And we're almost to 2nd level!)

[killem2]

I would love to start it again with all level 1 people. and only 4 people.