Adventure Modules to recommend for a new DM

[Seerow]

So one of the players in my current group has stated she is interested in stepping up to DMing, and wants to start off with a few premade modules to get her feet wet. She has a good grounding as a player, but it is a first time DMing, so she is wanting something fairly linear and easy to run. This takes some of the more sandboxy style modules off the table. The group is all fairly experienced, so we're looking for something with relatively challenging encounters that don't need much in the way of modification/prep work.

Problem is most of the group has little experience with modules. I've been running Kingmaker for the last year or so, but that was the first AP I've done. The rest of the group either doesn't DM or when they do DM custom-make everything. So we don't have much good advice to give her. I've heard good things about Sunless Citadel and Red Hand of Doom, but don't know enough about either to be able to say if it will fit her needs. I am hoping the playground may be better able to assist with recommendations. Preferably looking for a 3.5 module, starting at low level (somewhere between 1 and 3), though a Pathfinder AP may be able to do in a pinch.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

[Doctor Awkward]

The tricky thing about published modules is that how successful they are is largely dependent upon the optimization level of your group, and on how many players you are running them for. Red Hand of Doom is an excellent module, but if you have a group of six or more players most of the encounters will feel underwhelming to the party. Even if you have only the recommended four players, if they are very knowledgeable about the system then they will trample the encounters as written (as most of the monsters aren't hugely threatening).

Personally, I very much like Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave. It's a Forgotten Realms AP that starts at level 4 and runs to about level 7 or 8. It's an interesting story, with lots of neat encounters and unusual uses of game mechanics. But mechanically more than a few of the encounters are something of a joke to a well-prepared group. Though it does have the advantage of having two follow-up books; Shadowdale: The Scouring of the Land, and Anauroch: The Empire of Shade; that will cap the party out at about level 17 or 18.

Expedition to Undermountain is another good adventure that starts at level 1 and can run to about level 9 or 10, and has many excellent encounters. But it also runs on very complex mechanics and I would have a hard time recommending it to a beginner DM unless they are also an experienced player.

[Seerow]

The tricky thing about published modules is that how successful they are is largely dependent upon the optimization level of your group, and on how many players you are running them for. Red Hand of Doom is an excellent module, but if you have a group of six or more players most of the encounters will feel underwhelming to the party. Even if you have only the recommended four players, if they are very knowledgeable about the system then they will trample the encounters as written (as most of the monsters aren't hugely threatening).

Personally, I very much like Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave. It's a Forgotten Realms AP that starts at level 4 and runs to about level 7 or 8. It's an interesting story, with lots of neat encounters and unusual uses of game mechanics. But mechanically more than a few of the encounters are something of a joke to a well-prepared group. Though it does have the advantage of having two follow-up books; Shadowdale: The Scouring of the Land, and Anauroch: The Empire of Shade; that will cap the party out at about level 17 or 18.

Expedition to Undermountain is another good adventure that starts at level 1 and can run to about level 9 or 10, and has many excellent encounters. But it also runs on very complex mechanics and I would have a hard time recommending it to a beginner DM unless they are also an experienced player.

Thanks for the recommendations! For the Expedition to Undermountain, the player is fairly experienced (going on 2-3 years with us now), but for a first time where she is wanting to focus on just running the game, I would shy away from anything too complex. The others sound like they're worth taking a look at.

If it helps, the group is currently DM + 3 players, with a player controlled NPC to help round out the group (we were up to 5 players for a while, after a couple had to drop out the extra NPC got subbed in), but we were thinking dropping the extra character in this case, 3 optimized characters against an encounter designed for 4-5 lower op characters should be fun.

[ViperMagnum357]

The Sunless Citadel is probably my favorite low level module, but not a huge challenge for a veteran group. In that case, I might recommend The Forge of Fury; levels 3-4, with a couple of notes. The bones of the module are very friendly to an inexperienced DM, with a lot of plug n' play pieces and no real fetch quests or sequential puzzles to derail a new DM finding their feet.

There are also several potentially difficult encounters even for a veteran group, and the final battle is one of the very few early module battles to make good use of terrain.

[zlefin]

I used A Hard Day's Knight as an opener for my first time DM'ing. It's a nice short dungeon crawl module for level 1. It'd probably be a bit too easy for your group; but it's relatively straightforward for a DM to run. (iirc there were a few things I choose to tweak cuz they didn't quite make sense).

It's very self-contained and can easily be tweaked to fit into any world.

[Mike Miller]

I will throw in another vote for Sunless Citadel. If the encounters prove too easy, it would not be difficult even for a new DM to make minor modifications to make it more challenging.

I would also like to add that Forge of Fury is great, but NOT for levels 1-3 as said above. It is something like levels 4-6. It is good to run it after running the Sunless Citadel. A level 1 party would not survive the Forge.

A Dark and Stormy Knight is good too. (Did I get the title right? )

[ViperMagnum357]

I will throw in another vote for Sunless Citadel. If the encounters prove too easy, it would not be difficult even for a new DM to make minor modifications to make it more challenging.

I would also like to add that Forge of Fury is great, but NOT for levels 1-3 as said above. It is something like levels 4-6. It is good to run it after running the Sunless Citadel. A level 1 party would not survive the Forge.

A Dark and Stormy Knight is good too. (Did I get the title right? )

Oops-thanks for the catch, that should have just been level 3-4. Trying that module at level 1 is a little much, even for a pack of munchkins.

[Mike Miller]

Oops-thanks for the catch, that should have just been level 3-4. Trying that module at level 1 is a little much, even for a pack of munchkins.

Ah, that low? The final villain if the module seems a bit off for level 4.

[ViperMagnum357]

Ah, that low? The final villain if the module seems a bit off for level 4.

Recommended for 3rd level characters, designed to take them to about level 5. It is actually one of the more difficult modules as written for the minimum level, with several encounters that remain challenging even for a prepared, veteran group. Also the now infamous encounter with the aggressive CR 12 monster you are supposed to negotiate with rather than kill, which is more than sufficient for a TPK if the group has been roll playing like the Doom Marine.

[Mike Miller]

Well yea. I just ignore the cr 12 encounter you are referring to. >.>