Aemon
2018-09-08, 01:01 PM
Hello all. Been DMing for the past year after a long, 16 year hiatus. I have really enjoyed getting back into D&D and introducing my friends to it. I got my characters through our first story arc, and they are now the heroes of a small area. However, I am looking for some good story ideas to move them forward. I have not felt as comfortable with crafting large story arcs, and though my first one was fine, it wasn't great. Now that the characters are higher level (level 4, almost 5), I know that the story will need to continue to get suitably more epic. I have read lot online and listen to many good YouTube channels, but I would still like to look into one of the published adventures for 5e. I think these may be neat for the players to have a well-crafted story, but I also think it would be good for me as a DM to see how these long-term stories are crated. To this end, I would appreciate some advice on what 5e adventure may best fit our party.
Here's a bit of a breakdown of what I have in my group. The characters are all level 4, close to level 5. We have a wood elf hunter ranger (I let her have a pet panther too for fun and so they could have a bit of a tank at early levels), a high elf divination wizard, and a human shepherd druid. These are brand new players to D&D and rpgs in general (They actually asked not to level up to 5 for a bit so they can get a better feel for the mechanics of their characters first). They just completed a quest line in Arkenbridge in the south of the Dalelands in which they defeated an army of orcs brought in by a low-tier wizard from Thay. In an effort to help rebuild the Dales and the elven forests of Cormanthor they were given a small plot of land to build on in the northwest of this forest near Hillsfar. They have done a bit of adventuring near and around Hillsfar and have gotten their few farmers settled in their new village that is being constructed.
When asking my players what type of adventures they are interested in, the two highest things they rated were building up their new village and a "Lord of the Rings"-like adventure. I assume by this last one that they are looking for more of a world-spanning epic quest with some familiar fantasy tropes. Also, their leader, the wizard, is a decent guy, but motivated by money and power. So, they won't be going on many quests out of the goodness of their hearts, at least at first. They will need some sort of material reason to get pulled in.
I'm sort of at a point where I am stalled story wise. I have a few small things in mind, and I just purchased "The Mysteries of the Moonsea" to try and find some good quests in their area for them, but since they wanted something like the Lord of the Rings, I was looking for something with a broader scope. I would really appreciate any suggestions of good adventures to use for this group that may be fun for them. In addition, any general advice would be welcome as well! Thanks!
Here's a bit of a breakdown of what I have in my group. The characters are all level 4, close to level 5. We have a wood elf hunter ranger (I let her have a pet panther too for fun and so they could have a bit of a tank at early levels), a high elf divination wizard, and a human shepherd druid. These are brand new players to D&D and rpgs in general (They actually asked not to level up to 5 for a bit so they can get a better feel for the mechanics of their characters first). They just completed a quest line in Arkenbridge in the south of the Dalelands in which they defeated an army of orcs brought in by a low-tier wizard from Thay. In an effort to help rebuild the Dales and the elven forests of Cormanthor they were given a small plot of land to build on in the northwest of this forest near Hillsfar. They have done a bit of adventuring near and around Hillsfar and have gotten their few farmers settled in their new village that is being constructed.
When asking my players what type of adventures they are interested in, the two highest things they rated were building up their new village and a "Lord of the Rings"-like adventure. I assume by this last one that they are looking for more of a world-spanning epic quest with some familiar fantasy tropes. Also, their leader, the wizard, is a decent guy, but motivated by money and power. So, they won't be going on many quests out of the goodness of their hearts, at least at first. They will need some sort of material reason to get pulled in.
I'm sort of at a point where I am stalled story wise. I have a few small things in mind, and I just purchased "The Mysteries of the Moonsea" to try and find some good quests in their area for them, but since they wanted something like the Lord of the Rings, I was looking for something with a broader scope. I would really appreciate any suggestions of good adventures to use for this group that may be fun for them. In addition, any general advice would be welcome as well! Thanks!