Help Picking a Module

[Aldrakan]

I'm going to be DMing for a group of strangers and am looking for advice on which pre-built module(s) to use. It's going to be done over the course of 8 2-hour sessions and we're going to create characters in advance. The players should be familiar with D&D but may not have much experience.

It should be a pretty low-level campaign, ideally starting at 2nd level but that's not essential.

Can anyone recommend a module of about the right length that's suitable for an unfamiliar group?

[Fiskco]

Any idea on how large the group is?

Lost mines of phandelver is my go to when I have to DM for people I don't know very well, it's written in such a way that players that don't have much experience will get to understand 5e, but if they are familiar it doesn't feel like a boring tutorial.

Lost mines also is shorter than the other official modules I can think of (curse of strahd took my group around 6-7 months of weekly 4 hour games, rise of Tiamat took my group 2 years of weekly sessions). The only other short adventure I can think of would be Water-deep: dragon heist, which is for levels 1-5 and I've heard only takes a few weeks to do.

Otherwise, you could check out the DM's guild and play it week by week, choosing one off dungeon modules to occupy the players time.

[2D8HP]

Lost Mines of Phandelver, from the Starter Set is really good, the new Waterdeep Dragon Heist (http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/dragonheist) is pretty good, but what I most suggest 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.

[DMThac0]

Tales from the Yawning Portal gives you a good selection of modules that can all be interwoven into consecutive adventures. I like to start with Sunless Citadel and go from there.

[Fiskco]

Tales from the Yawning Portal gives you a good selection of modules that can all be interwoven into consecutive adventures. I like to start with Sunless Citadel and go from there.

Just know in advance that you probably shouldn't run tomb of horrors, unless you really want to kill off the party.

[Contrast]

LMoP is good if none of them have played that before. Another option would be to have a look at some of the Adventures League modules.

They're usually designed to be run in 2-4 hours and are arranged into seasons with a loose overarching plot. You would need to put a little polish on them to flesh out the story stuff and bring them to life a little.

[Aldrakan]

Any idea on how large the group is?

Lost mines of phandelver is my go to when I have to DM for people I don't know very well, it's written in such a way that players that don't have much experience will get to understand 5e, but if they are familiar it doesn't feel like a boring tutorial.

Lost mines also is shorter than the other official modules I can think of (curse of strahd took my group around 6-7 months of weekly 4 hour games, rise of Tiamat took my group 2 years of weekly sessions). The only other short adventure I can think of would be Water-deep: dragon heist, which is for levels 1-5 and I've heard only takes a few weeks to do.

Otherwise, you could check out the DM's guild and play it week by week, choosing one off dungeon modules to occupy the players time.

I don't know how many players there will be exactly, but probably 3-5.

Phandelver seems like a good choice; time is a primary concern as the length is pretty much hard-capped at 16 hours and I'm not sure this is going to be a very efficient group.

Dragon Heist also seems about the right length.

If things are running long is there a portion of either module that could be excised easily?

[JNAProductions]

Whatever you do, don't do Hoard of the Dragon Queen.

I got it.

It sucks.

[Fiskco]

If things are running long is there a portion of either module that could be excised easily?

I know that in LMoP I've cut out some of the bandit/hideout areas and gone straight to the final dungeon (wave echo cave) for time.

you can probably cut out a lot of Waterdeep: Dragon heist if it's running long, particularly the faction mission side-quests and some of the railroading (ie, have the party get the mcguffin during one of the many chase sequences). the party also can skip out visiting the villains HQ and just go straight to the Vault with the loot.

[guachi]

My go-to adventures for starting 5e:

Lost Mines of Phandelver
U1 Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh
N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God (best for levels 2-4)

U1 and N1 (and, really, all old low level adventures) are easy to convert. There's little reason to pay Wizards for their U1 conversion.

Also, U1 and N1 have great, free fan-made maps available for them.

You can get both for $3 each at DMs Guild and then pay $0 for the maps.

I'd also like to try N4 Treasure Hunt. It's an adventure for 0-level PCs and I'd like to have a go at playing it in 5e.

[poolio]

If you look up "The Burning Plague" you should find a PDF of it, it's a favorite of mine cause it's got a little bit of everything, traps, combat, and chances to talk to npcs and enemies,

The only downside is it's an older module from 3.5, so there are some rebalancing aspects to be aware of.

[Samayu]

I don't know how many players there will be exactly, but probably 3-5.

Phandelver seems like a good choice; time is a primary concern as the length is pretty much hard-capped at 16 hours and I'm not sure this is going to be a very efficient group.

Dragon Heist also seems about the right length.

If things are running long is there a portion of either module that could be excised easily?

I'm dong LMoP with a group of new players. It's looking like it's going to be four sessions of 5 to 6 hours each. The group staying on track, but not moving quickly.

You could cut out half of part three, since it's not essential to the plot. Agatha, Old Owl Well, Thundertree and Wyvern Tor. Just use an advancement system other than straight XP, or they'll be behind.