Adventure to teach players

[Ethernil]

I will be dming for a group of players who have played dnd 3.x for many years but partly because of poor understanding of English and partly out of not bothering to browse through the books extensively have been missplaying many rules and totally ignoring others. I would like an adventure starting at level 1, possibly linking to some other adventure when it ends through which i will teach them about threatened areas, attacks of opportunity, action economy, different attack maneuvers: grapple, trip etc. Would be nice if it wasn't the sunless citadel as the group has already played that module more than once. It could be a non-official adventure as well.

[Mike Miller]

3.0 had the fright at tristor, levels 1-3. 3.5 had scourge of the howling tide, level 1. There are certainly more. Has the group done the entire sunless citadel adventure path or just the namesake module?

[Venger]

Eyes of the lich queen is pretty darn fun and is in the eberron setting. At low levels, teaching the party about combat maneuvers such as trip and bullrush and such is a good way to avoid the orc with the falchion problem. shattered gates of slaughtergarde is fairly well regarded also.

[Ethernil]

Eyes of the lich queen is pretty darn fun and is in the eberron setting. At low levels, teaching the party about combat maneuvers such as trip and bullrush and such is a good way to avoid the orc with the falchion problem. shattered gates of slaughtergarde is fairly well regarded also.

We are playing in forgotten realms unfortunately.

[Venger]

We are playing in forgotten realms unfortunately.

It's just a module, so you can keep the encounters the same and change the emerald claw guys to worshippers of Urdlen, or whatever you and your friends plan to do in your FR game.

[ksbsnowowl]

It's unfortunate that Sunless Citadel won't work for you; it really is a great module, precisely because it does introduce so much of the rules. Climb, Jump, Balance, Cover, Concealment, poison, crit-immune foes, disease, large foes with reach...

I had to do a combat rules crash-course for a new player to my run (http://minmaxforum.com/index.php?topic=14113.0) of the Sunless Citadel module series. He had played 2nd ed, but this was his first time playing 3rd, and he came in at 8th level. What I did was run him and a few of the other players through the Sunless Citadel, but I'd restocked it with drow (http://minmaxforum.com/index.php?topic=15490.msg274096#msg274096). I know that's not the level you'll be dealing with, but it might give you an idea of how to achieve your goal by just restocking a dungeon with some different monsters.

Regardless, if your goal is to teach the tactical combat rules, then a dungeon-crawl style module is going to give you the most opportunities to do that.

Since you are playing in the Forgotten Realms... Expedition to Undermountain is for levels 1–10... I've never run it, and have no clue what creatures or encounters are stocked in its pages, but you could sub out encounters for other creatures and/or classed characters to introduce the various elements you want to portray (trip, grapple, reach and AoO's, etc).

[Ethernil]

It's unfortunate that Sunless Citadel won't work for you; it really is a great module, precisely because it does introduce so much of the rules. Climb, Jump, Balance, Cover, Concealment, poison, crit-immune foes, disease, large foes with reach...

I had to do a combat rules crash-course for a new player to my run (http://minmaxforum.com/index.php?topic=14113.0) of the Sunless Citadel module series. He had played 2nd ed, but this was his first time playing 3rd, and he came in at 8th level. What I did was run him and a few of the other players through the Sunless Citadel, but I'd restocked it with drow (http://minmaxforum.com/index.php?topic=15490.msg274096#msg274096). I know that's not the level you'll be dealing with, but it might give you an idea of how to achieve your goal by just restocking a dungeon with some different monsters.

Regardless, if your goal is to teach the tactical combat rules, then a dungeon-crawl style module is going to give you the most opportunities to do that.

Since you are playing in the Forgotten Realms... Expedition to Undermountain is for levels 1–10... I've never run it, and have no clue what creatures or encounters are stocked in its pages, but you could sub out encounters for other creatures and/or classed characters to introduce the various elements you want to portray (trip, grapple, reach and AoO's, etc).

Ty very much

[DEMON]

Ty very much

There's also the DD trilogy: Barrow of the Forgotten King (starts at level 2), Sinister Spire (level 5) and Fortress of Yuan-Ti (level 7) which might be close enough to what you're looking for.

[Ursus Spelaeus]

I don't know about published adventures, but I'm getting some ideas based on your criteria...

Encounter 1: Cowardly Goblins
The purpose of this encounter is to show the players what not to do.
Goblins attack with slings from range, and run away from players that get too close. The goblins provoke opportunity attacks when they do so, making this a very quick and easy fight. The players learn that attacks of opportunity can be used to kill things.

Encounter 2: Reckless Goblins
This elaborates on encounter 1. There are goblins, and they are fighting stupidly again.
This time, the goblins go balls to the wall with poorly conceived aggression.
One goblin, dressed in monk's garb, attempts an unarmed strike and provokes an AoO.
Another goblin runs up and tries to shoot at point blank with a shortbow without the relevant feat. He provokes an AoO.
A goblin in a luchadore mask goes for a grapple. He provokes AoO.
A goblin in a viking helmet attempts to charge. He provokes AoO.
A goblin in a wizard hat tries to pop off a magic missile in melee. He provokes an AoO.
This is meant to be an easy fight. Use the goblins as an example of what not to do.

Encounter 3: Hobgoblin Passage
An encounter with two hobgoblins in a passage. These guys aren't stupid like the goblins before.
Take this opportunity to test the players and make sure they know what they should not do.

Encounter 4: Mixed Encounter
This time, the party encounters three goblins lead by a hobgoblin.
The goblins hurl ranged attacks from the back while the hobgoblin blocks the player's movement from the front.
Here is an opportunity to show contrast.

Encounter 5: Hobgoblin Guards
Now we need to show players the importance of reach.
Two hobgoblin guards block a doorway. They are equipped with polearms, so they are able to threaten a larger area.

Encounter 6: Duergar
Elaborate on the topic of reach with a duergar. We build upon lessons of the previous encounter by giving our duergar a polearm, but this time he uses his expansion/enlarge person ability to become a large-sized creature, thereby increasing his reach even further.

Other Encounters
Have a hobgoblin spellcaster cast burning hands defensively to demonstrate that you don't always provoke AoO when casting. Have a hobgoblin monk use flurry of blows on the party and demonstrate that unarmed strikes don't always provoke AoO. Utilize contrast to teach the players lessons.

Of course, it should not be a straight line like this. A good dungeon should branch out and loop back in on itself. Just stick with a theme for each section of a dungeon, and build upon that theme as the players advance down each branch. You might start by laying out your beginning area and your goal line, and drawing three paths between them (MOBA style) with intervening areas along them. Place some hidden short cuts and secret areas along the paths for fun.
You might even steal a page from Mega Man X and have a powerful DMPC swoop in to help the players with a tough encounter; not to overshadow or lord over them, but to show them what they have the potential to become.

[ksbsnowowl]

There's also the DD trilogy: Barrow of the Forgotten King (starts at level 2), Sinister Spire (level 5) and Fortress of Yuan-Ti (level 7) which might be close enough to what you're looking for.

Scourge of the Howling Horde is a pretty decent adventure to run before that trilogy. It's for level 1, and will only get a party enough XP to get to 2nd level. It just seems like a natural module to insert before Barrow of the Forgotten King.