Adventures in Beginning

[LibraryOgre]

So, this March, I'm going to run a 4 week campaign at my library in 5th edition (followed by Savage Worlds, then Hackmaster). There may be up to 8 players, and I'm going to be working from the 3 main books (no other supplements).

What would you suggest?

[Unoriginal]

Well, it depends.

The Lost Mines of Phandelver has been praised as great for beginners, but maybe you'd rather write an introductory adventure yourself? What do your players like?

8 players is far too much, IMO. The maximum manageable is, in my experience, 7, and even then it's stretching.

[Man_Over_Game]

For beginners:


Lost Mines of Phandelver is great as a world module. It covers mostly everything well, but it sometimes can be a bit light on combat. -Best at open world, bit too easy
The Sunless Citadel (In Tales of the Yawning Portal) is great at a dungeon crawl. It makes a wonderful introduction with little "openness" to distract players and derail the game. The dungeons also have a good amount of RP and mechanics that aren't just combat. -Best at simplicity/combat, lacking much plot once it's over, short.
Hoard of the Dragon Queen is a combination of both worlds, involving lots of travel that has singular goals and tasks for the team. They can experience a world, but not so much that the DM is scrambling for answers. -Combination of both, a bit "railroaded" as far as plot, with the players focusing more on goals than fluidly experiencing the world, great use of mechanics (first session involves saving a burning town from a dragon cult, lots of fun)


Since these are all new players, I'd recommend skimming through and finding out which of these works the best. They're all pretty comparable in their own categories. But for the stereotypical expectations of DnD (hunting monsters in dungeons) and a short campaign time (6 or so sessions), The Sunless Citadel is my recommendation for people to get their feet wet.

Lost Mines of Phandelver can take players up to about level 4 (8 or so sessions), and Hoard of the Dragon Queen normally goes to about level 7 (25 sessions), and can be played into its continuation, Rise of Tiamat.

Hoard of the Dragon Queen is easily the most difficult for the players, with Lost Mines of Phandelver likely being the easiest for players with few ways to make mistakes and lots of advice to fill in gaps should players get off course.

[LibraryOgre]

I don't know what they like. It's a library program and sign-ups don't start until mid-February. I have no experience with 5e, and so I am less inclined to make an adventure up on my own.

[2D8HP]

Seconding Phandelver, and new Waterdeep Dragon Heist (http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/dragonheist) is really good, but what I really wish you to run is:

Into the Borderlands (http://goodman-games.com/store/product/original-adventures-reincarnated-1-into-the-borderlands/)

which updates to 5e the first "module" I every ran.

Do that one!

I think you're getting sleepy. ..

....very sleepy. ..

...w-o-o hypnotize y-o-o-o-u

(when you awake you feel a great urge to run updated old adventures, yes you d-o-o-o...)

[Falcon X]

I do feel that Hoard of the Dragon Queen (Abridged) might be a good option.
- There are several sections that can work well with a few or many people
- It has a variety of types of games, so you can take a sampling.

As a Librarian who ran Castle Naerytar for my library before, here is what I would do:
Play Episode 1 (Greenest), 4/5 (On the Road/Carnath Roadhouse), 6 (Castle Naerytar), and 8 (Skyreach Castle)
Start them at Level 4, Level them between each game, and increase the monster difficulties in the first 2 sessions.

1. Greenest - Have a list of things you would like to do, but make sure they reach a climax in the last hour of gameplay. Likely the Dragon attack.
- Have the mayor directly put you in a caravan and start Episode 4 next time.
2. On The Road/Carnath - Have the road be about half of the playtime, maybe 2 or 3 of the encounters listed. Have them reach Carnath Roadhouse as just another inn along the road, but one that is obviously suspicious. If you get down to 45 minutes left of gametime and they haven't found a strong lead to the secret tunnel, throw them a bone.
3. Castle Naerytar - This is where you can really let them get adventurous in how they approach the castle. My library had a blast with this (Literally. They bombed a wall open and led a lizardman assault). I added in some great ideas from Sly Flourish, like having Voaraghamanthar stop them on their way in and offer them magic items if they retrieved an old book from inside the castle and gave it to Snapjaw. Having the dragon introduce Snapjaw expedited some of the pre-castle exploration too.
They should also get some cool magic weapons here to make Skyreach easier.
http://slyflourish.com/hodq_chapter_6.html
- The portal underneath takes them straight to Parnast.
4. Skyreach Castle - The climax of the game, but also the longest and most difficult.
I would give them some crazy magic items going into this (From Naerytar so they can breeze through parts of it.
Such as: 3.5 version of Rod of Rulership (https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Rod_of_Rulership)
- Staff of the Magi (https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Staff%20of%20the%20Magi#content)
- Sword of Ogre Decapitation (Is a crit on rolls of 17-20 against ogres and works as a vorpal sword against them.)
This way, they feel way OP and get through the bulk of the castle fights easily, but still have a real fight on their hands with the Dragon and can explore.

Always be prepared to shorten the game if necessary.
In my Naerytar game at the library, they were getting ready to chase the Bullywug leader down into the lower sections with only 15 minutes to go. So, I pretended that down below was just a room or two with nothing in them but a portal. I had given them a Staff of the Magi (from Snapjaw) for completing a sidequest, so they happily just obliterated the Bullywugs below and moved on. The players were happy.

[LibraryOgre]

Seconding Phandelver, and new Waterdeep Dragon Heist (http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/dragonheist) is really good, but what I really wish you to run is:

Into the Borderlands (http://goodman-games.com/store/product/original-adventures-reincarnated-1-into-the-borderlands/)

which updates to 5e the first "module" I every ran.

Do that one!

I

Is that a 5e version of B2? B2, which I have run multiple times, in three different games/editions? B2, which I combined with T1 into a supermodule?

(I ask because I can't check from work)

[2D8HP]

Is that a 5e version of B2? B2, which I have run multiple times, in three different games/editions? B2, which I combined with T1 into a supermodule?

(I ask because I can't check from work)


I wish it included T1 (I love me some Hommlet)!

It incorporates B1 In Search of the Unknown (the first module I every ran) with B2 Keep on the Borderlands, and a short linking adventure, all updated with 5e stats.

[LibraryOgre]

I wish it included T1 (I love me some Hommlet)!

It incorporates B1 In Search of the Unknown (the first module I every ran) with B2 Keep on the Borderlands, and a short linking adventure, all updated with 5e stats.

Winner winner chicken dinner. If only it were on Drivethru RPG (I've checked)

[2D8HP]

Winner winner chicken dinner. If only it were on Drivethru RPG (I've checked)


I don't know much about "Drive thru RPG" ( or buying anything "on-line" really), I got my copy by the same way I've gotten most of my gaming materials in the last 40 years: I walked into Games of Berkeley and gave them cash, last night I did that again and walked out with an updated Isle of Dread (http://goodman-games.com/blog/2018/08/24/the-isle-of-dread-chris-doyle-interview/), which is AWESOME!

[Pixel_Kitsune]

I don't know much about "Drive thru RPG" ( or buying anything "on-line" really), I got my copy by the same way I've gotten most of my gaming materials in the last 40 years: I walked into Games of Berkeley and gave them cash, last night I did that again and walked out with an updated (link removed) which is AWESOME!

I'd highly recommend checking them out. Specially if you like various old materials that won't be seeing the light of day (was able to pick up the four main Planescape Boxsets for $40 total)

[LibraryOgre]

I don't know much about "Drive thru RPG" ( or buying anything "on-line" really), I got my copy by the same way I've gotten most of my gaming materials in the last 40 years: I walked into Games of Berkeley and gave them cash, last night I did that again and walked out with an updated Isle of Dread (http://goodman-games.com/blog/2018/08/24/the-isle-of-dread-chris-doyle-interview/), which is AWESOME!

Yeah, unfortunately, I can't drop $50 on a module.