IronMike
2017-11-26, 10:22 AM
Our group of newbies is about done with their initial adventure. We're two meetings in and about 2-3 meetings away from done. We're all new, including the DM. Well, new in that none of us has played in over a decade, some longer.
FWIW, the DM has done a great job, and I've agreed to DM the next iteration. I've chosen ToA as our setting. Can't really remember why, but after reading a lot about the various options, I chose it. It's a done deal. No take backs!
Anyway, the book should arrive any day (currently stationed overseas, so it takes 2-3 weeks to get mail...boy I miss next day delivery from Amazon!). I think I have a basic grasp about how these book-based adventures go, but would love some confirmation or correction to the below questions. I thank you in advance for your help.
Oh! This is probably important. We are a weird group. Five consistent players, although we might become four soon depending upon the vagaries of my 14-year old. We all just hit 3rd level:
1) Human monk, drunken master;
2) Tiefling bard, college of lore (DM played him, so he (DM) is looking forward to playing him as a player when I start DMing);
3) Half-orc barbarian, unsure what path she's gonna take;
4) Lightfoot halfling rogue, destined to be an assassin;
5) Fey pixie (based on DMS Guild "Monstrous PC Races Fairy"), this is my 14-year old who might not continue playing with us.
At each of our two meetings so far we've had a visitor play with us. The first time was a dragonborn druid and just yesterday at our second meeting we had a half-elf rogue. I think in future meetings these characters will run away or somehow disappear. So, bottom line, we'll be a party of 4 or 5 characters soon.
So, the questions:
a) I understand ToA takes a group from level 1 and progresses them through the levels till they're high enough (hopefully) for that deadly tomb. We probably don't want to start with brand new characters, so: can I scale the encounters from the very beginning of the book for a group of 3rd (or maybe 4th?) level characters from the very start? Or do I have to start farther in the book?
b) Does the book come with maps for these various encounters or do I need to make some or find some at DMS Guild? I see from the book description that it comes with a fold-out map. What exactly does that mean? We use miniatures to represent us and we've all enjoyed that aspect of the game.
c) These DMS Guild ToA AL adventures that I see, like DDAL07-05 Whispers in the Dark, are these already in the ToA book, or are these additional encounters/adventures set in the same book?
d) How about maps for these DDAL07-XX adventures on DMS Guild? The description of the maps for DDAL-07-05 for instance says "The maps correspond to verbal descriptions in 7-03. They do not duplicate the existing maps included in the adventure." If that is true, do I even need this map supplement?
e) Should I make sure my characters are on the high end of the levels before I move them on? Should I have extra encounters for each section of ToA and, for instance, if a section of ToA says "for levels 11-15", should I wait till they're level 15 before moving them to that part of the book?
As you can probably tell from the above, it has been a looooong time since I've DM'd. Like, 3+ decades. D&D has changed in the intervening years (for the good, I think) so I could use all the help you're willing to give!
If you've read this far, thanks. If you're going to reply with some helpful advice, thanks even more!
FWIW, the DM has done a great job, and I've agreed to DM the next iteration. I've chosen ToA as our setting. Can't really remember why, but after reading a lot about the various options, I chose it. It's a done deal. No take backs!
Anyway, the book should arrive any day (currently stationed overseas, so it takes 2-3 weeks to get mail...boy I miss next day delivery from Amazon!). I think I have a basic grasp about how these book-based adventures go, but would love some confirmation or correction to the below questions. I thank you in advance for your help.
Oh! This is probably important. We are a weird group. Five consistent players, although we might become four soon depending upon the vagaries of my 14-year old. We all just hit 3rd level:
1) Human monk, drunken master;
2) Tiefling bard, college of lore (DM played him, so he (DM) is looking forward to playing him as a player when I start DMing);
3) Half-orc barbarian, unsure what path she's gonna take;
4) Lightfoot halfling rogue, destined to be an assassin;
5) Fey pixie (based on DMS Guild "Monstrous PC Races Fairy"), this is my 14-year old who might not continue playing with us.
At each of our two meetings so far we've had a visitor play with us. The first time was a dragonborn druid and just yesterday at our second meeting we had a half-elf rogue. I think in future meetings these characters will run away or somehow disappear. So, bottom line, we'll be a party of 4 or 5 characters soon.
So, the questions:
a) I understand ToA takes a group from level 1 and progresses them through the levels till they're high enough (hopefully) for that deadly tomb. We probably don't want to start with brand new characters, so: can I scale the encounters from the very beginning of the book for a group of 3rd (or maybe 4th?) level characters from the very start? Or do I have to start farther in the book?
b) Does the book come with maps for these various encounters or do I need to make some or find some at DMS Guild? I see from the book description that it comes with a fold-out map. What exactly does that mean? We use miniatures to represent us and we've all enjoyed that aspect of the game.
c) These DMS Guild ToA AL adventures that I see, like DDAL07-05 Whispers in the Dark, are these already in the ToA book, or are these additional encounters/adventures set in the same book?
d) How about maps for these DDAL07-XX adventures on DMS Guild? The description of the maps for DDAL-07-05 for instance says "The maps correspond to verbal descriptions in 7-03. They do not duplicate the existing maps included in the adventure." If that is true, do I even need this map supplement?
e) Should I make sure my characters are on the high end of the levels before I move them on? Should I have extra encounters for each section of ToA and, for instance, if a section of ToA says "for levels 11-15", should I wait till they're level 15 before moving them to that part of the book?
As you can probably tell from the above, it has been a looooong time since I've DM'd. Like, 3+ decades. D&D has changed in the intervening years (for the good, I think) so I could use all the help you're willing to give!
If you've read this far, thanks. If you're going to reply with some helpful advice, thanks even more!