Considering seeding hooks for every published campaign.

[doc225]

I'm starting a game again, after about a year off. I have 2 players (maybe 3) returning from the LMoP group and 2 players new to the game.

My idea is to let the returning players use their LMoP characters, and have the new players make level 1 characters. There is a difference in level, as the LMoP group was past 5th, but I think it could still work out. I'd have the returning players start their count at 6501 XP, just to be a nice round number. They'd need to hit 14000 for level 6, which is 7500 difference. The 1st level characters would hit 5th level before the returning payers hit 6th. The advanced levels would make the earlier fights easy, but the new players know they're making what basically amount to apprentice characters. The returning players also understand the fact that the new players will be gaining levels and they won't, at least not for a long time.

I'm pretty sold on this idea, and I think it'll work fine for our game and our players.

I'll be starting the group in Phandalin, the town having been mostly rebuilt with the wealth of the mine and what not.

The idea is to Use Sildar, Halia, Edermath, the Harpers, and Reidoth to sew the seeds for all the major hardbound adventures. HotDQ, OotA, PotA, CoS, SKT... all of them. Then the party can decide which way to go. DO the head toward Greenest? Take the trip to Nightstone? Red Larch isn't far...

Essentially all these things might be going on at the same time in the Realms, and they could weave between plots of all the stories, and cross over.. The only one this couldn't happen with is Strahd, obviously. I had considered laying Barovia over the Western Heartlands and Dressaryn Vale in a way where they could inadvertently cross back and forth...

Has anyone else done anything like this or know of anyone that has?

[Specter]

As long as you make sure they aren't too good for the challenges after a while and the introductory first steps to every adventure are skipped, you're good.

Strahd could work too, if they chase werewolves and end up there. Difference is, they would need to finish the darklord before returning to the other stuff. Would work best from levels 7-10, cutting some irrelevant stuff off.

[BW022]

My advice is not to do this.

The issue isn't that the others won't catch up, the issue is going to be that the higher level PCs will dominate the game and the new players will typically have fun. There is no way to balance an encounter such that 1st-level PCs will be of any use in an encounter even remotely challenging 5th-level PCs. Imagine the group facing a hill giant (CR 5, 105hp, two +8 attacks averaging 18hp per hit). The will slaughter any of the new players one hit. There is no way a new player is going to enjoy running for their life, hiding, etc. nor will they develop any skills or tactics. If you put in lesser creatures, the 5th-levels can just destroy them and the new players action won't matter much either.

My recommendation is to run the new players separately. Either through another module or adventure. Run them to at least 4th-level. Say at least 5-6 sessions. If the old players want to join in, have them play 'NPCs' (i.e. lower-level helper characters). When they are 4th, have them meet-up with the "old" player's characters and then start the new adventure. One of the joys of D&D for new players is discovery. Putting them in with high-level PCs isn't that great.

[doc225]

I appreciate your input, but that part's not really up for debate. The characters are made and the backtories have been decided.. this is how the game is moving forward. I'm asking about planting the seeds for multiple published adventures.

I'm not that worried about 'challenging' the higher level players. They're looking forward to the idea, as are the 1st level guys.

I'm looking for suggestions on weaving the big modules together in a way that makes sense.

[Addaran]

I'm pretty sold on this idea, and I think it'll work fine for our game and our players.

I'll be starting the group in Phandalin, the town having been mostly rebuilt with the wealth of the mine and what not.

The idea is to Use Sildar, Halia, Edermath, the Harpers, and Reidoth to sew the seeds for all the major hardbound adventures. HotDQ, OotA, PotA, CoS, SKT... all of them. Then the party can decide which way to go. DO the head toward Greenest? Take the trip to Nightstone? Red Larch isn't far...

Essentially all these things might be going on at the same time in the Realms, and they could weave between plots of all the stories, and cross over..


Theorically, they are already in chronological order (or some of them at least).
SKT is supposed to mention the events of Tiamat and they also have cameo appearance of PotA's enemies after most got crushed in the adventure.

Not sure about the others, but PotA and SKT definitively take places around the same part. (SKT have a bigger range though). So making them all work at exactly the same time could be wonky. All the enemies would be fighting each others to bring their kind of world domination ( dragons, elementals, demons and giants).

The other problem is the level. They should be around 14-15 when they finish one adventure. After that, they are ready to go straight for the next adventure's final dungeon. Going to all the chapters, fighting 5 orcs, then 3 bugbears as lvl 15 will be boring. If you want to use all of them, you'll have to modify the encounters a lot.

Best might be to let them choose wich adventure they want, then run that one. When it's done, everyone could make new characters that are the inheritors of the old one (or part of the same group/guild).

Another idea would be to "split" the present party. Each character goes for one adventure. That character will be the only lvl 5, the leader/mentor of the party of new adventurers. When that adventure is done, it's character 2 from LMoP that leads his grew into the next adventure. etc

[doc225]

That's not a bad idea, the 'multiple teams' idea.

I don't know that I'm that worried about doing them all one after the other... more of a 'here are all the hooks' and see which whey they go. Maybe the play one part of one adventure, maybe they skip to another part, or maybe they follow the whole thing, and I just decide that another group decided to handle the other stuff.. or got going and were kiled so they need to finish the job.