Hi all new to the forums

[Gwiz]

Hey all I'm new to the forums and also a new DM which recently ran through the starter kit (phandelver) with four friends and we had a blast doing it!

I used to play dnd 3.5 back when I went to public school and after having played this campaign as a DM (now 31 years old) my love for d&d have truly been reignited! I honestly feel like playing all the time now and I'm having a blast learning the 5th edition rule and looking at stuff in the monster manual, dm guide etc.

The thing is one of the people in my group have come down with illness and won't be able to play for a long time while he recovers from his current state and our plan was to start hoard of the dragon queen. My only problem is that I now only have 3 players, so I decided that they should all start at lvl 2 for the campaign to balance things out abit more. But the thing is I don't feel very good just "giving" them one level for free, so I though I would create a small story/task they needed to complete which takes them from level 1 to 2, this could also be the story hook I'm using for the party to meet up. After they complete it my plan is to merge the beginning of hotdq so they naturally move on to that story.

So the problem is this, what campaign/story do you think I should make up for the prelude I'm creating? Also I've never created anything before as a DM since I only ran phandelver so far, do you have any tips for a new DM creating a small homebrew task which only goes from lvl 1 to 2? Could you give me any advice on how to get started with it or which challenges you think I should create? My only real criteria for it, would be that in the end of this homebrew prelude, they find some clue which sends them towards the hotdq campaign or a "natural excuse" to move towards Greenest.

I love this game!

[Ninja_Prawn]

Welcome to the community!

Well, this is an interesting little challenge. Write a super short adventure that a) introduces the PCs and b) leads them to Greenest. Also c) gives you something to do while sicknote gets better.

My first thought would be: write it for the characters. That is to say, do a session zero where the players build their characters, then design the adventure between then and session one. That way, you can weave in hooks tailored to each of them, and maybe provide a tie between each pairing (A/B, A/C and B/C).

Or do you already know what sort of PCs you're going to be working with? If so, please share...

[Gwiz]

Thanks for your reply. We are definently going to have a character creation day and I am planning on creating the adventure after that so I can tailor in their unique traits etc. The DM guide is quite extensive, do you have any tips for someone who has never made an adventure before?

[Ninja_Prawn]

do you have any tips for someone who has never made an adventure before?

Start with the antagonist. They're the driving force behind the adventure.

Put in a good variety of things if you can. Combats to fight, mysteries to solve, politics to meddle in...

Make sure all of your encounters feature a conflict and a clear objective.

When you introduce a scene, start by pointing out a long term objective or destination, then draw their attention sharply to an immediate issue. "You scramble out of the caves, finally catching your first sight of Mt. Doom on the horizon. One really can see for miles over this barren, blasted terrain... though you don't have time to look around right now - a band of orcs springs up from behind a rocky outcrop, bows at the ready, demanding that you identify yourselves!"

[Axorfett12]

do you have any tips for someone who has never made an adventure before?

First off, welcome to the forum.

In addition to the previous response detailing combat, you should write out a few responses to common questions the pcs might ask any npcs. For instance when asked about the goblins in the hills, Neninth the leatherworker might comment about how it's throwing off trade. Being a member of the council, he might also request the players to show up at the meeting tonight to discuss the Goblin problem. When asked the same thing, Baldrik the Blacksmith would probably grunt and make a surly comment about Goblin scum (Complete with unlikely anatomical configurarions), or offer his Axe if the players need help.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Baldrik the Blacksmith would probably grunt and make a surly comment about Goblin scum (Complete with unlikely anatomical configurarions), or offer his Axe if the players need help.

While 'Trenchcoat' Manny (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?493849-Three-Goblins-in-a-Trenchcoat-and-Hat-(and-the-validity-thereof-)) might suddenly start looking shifty and making oddly specific denials about how ridiculous it would be for three goblins to stand on each other's shoulders and pretend to be a human...

[Axorfett12]

While 'Trenchcoat' Manny (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?493849-Three-Goblins-in-a-Trenchcoat-and-Hat-(and-the-validity-thereof-)) might suddenly start looking shifty and making oddly specific denials about how ridiculous it would be for three goblins to stand on each other's shoulders and pretend to be a human...

That is the most amusing character idea I've seen in a while. Thanks for the laugh.

[Gwiz]

Another question. I was looking at how to create encounters in the DM and after I figured out how to calculate exp budget compared to amount of players etc. I was kinda surprised by something.

In the "seek the keep" encounter in hotdq, the party meets 8 kobolds chasing a family. So I decided to do the calculations for that to see how it compares. In the DMG it says a deadly encounter for a group of 4 level 1 players to be 400 exp total (4 x 100 exp for four players at lvl 1) as a DEADLY encounter and the rule says there's a multiplier aswell depending on how many mobs there are. This means the first encounter of 8 x kobolds is (25 exp * 8 = 200 exp) then because there is eight monsters the multiplier is 2.5 which means 200*2.5 = 500 exp. How can that possibly make sense? Surely the first encounter for four lvl 1 chars in hotdq is not an exp budget of 500 exp which goes beyond even a deadly fight for four lvl 1 chars? Or am I misunderstanding something?

[Ninja_Prawn]

Surely the first encounter for four lvl 1 chars in hotdq is not an exp budget of 500 exp which goes beyond even a deadly fight for four lvl 1 chars? Or am I misunderstanding something?

No, you're not. HotDQ is well known for its high density of insanely deadly encounters, especially at low levels. It's a common complaint.

The thing to do as the DM is to make sure that the kobolds panic and break once a few of them go down. That's more realistic, anyway.

[Axorfett12]

As mentioned, HotDQ is famous for its deadly encounters. I'm currently running Curse of Strahd, where a party of 4 level 2 characters (deadly encounter rating 800 xp) is expected to defeat a CR 5 shambling mound (encounter ex rating 1,800). Far beyond deadly. The best thing to do in such a situation is to emphasize strategies to defeat the encounter. In the case of kobolds, mention how some of them look nervous, and reluctant to attack well armed enemies. This might encourage the players to intimidate or rout the Kobolds rather than fight them to the death.

[Ninja_Prawn]

And you can always cut it down to 6 kobolds if you don't think the party can handle it (such as if someone doesn't show up). Really, the module be mair o' what ye'd call a 'guideline', than actual rules... :smalltongue: