Good starter campaign suggestions?

[KillingTime]

Hey all
I'm about to run a starter campaign for a group of mostly complete newbs, and I'm looking for a good starter campaign to run them through.
BUT
I really don't want to run the Lost Mines again.
I've played through it myself and I've also run it twice for other groups. As much as I know it's well designed for starter groups I just can't face the thought of grinding through the same material again.

I'm not super keen on spending serious cash on a hardback module that may only see one session of play, but it wouldn't be the end of the world.
That said, a free/cheap pdf download from the DM guild or similar would be my preference.

So... any suggestions?

[NRSASD]

If you don't mind reinventing the stat blocks (just substitute in something similar), I personally really like A Dark and Stormy Knight (http://dnd.etherealspheres.com/eBooks/DM_Tools/Adventures_1/3.5E%20D&D%20-%20Adventrue%2001%20-%20A%20Dark%20and%20Stormy%20Knight.pdf). I've run it twice and it's a very solid starting dungeon.

[Bobthewizard]

I like both of these. I think they are intros to the books that were run as AL games.

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/189150/DDIA05-Storm-Kings-Thunder-A-Great-Upheaveal-5e

https://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/DDEN_PrincesoftheApocalypse.pdf

You could also reflavor LMOP. Change the redbrands to zombies. Glassstaff to a necromancer. The dragon at Thundertree to a mummy. Goblins to skeletons. Make it a town under siege from dark forces.

[KillingTime]

Oooh
Great suggestions so far. Thanks!



LMOP
I just can't face it again.

[FilthyLucre]

Hey all
I'm about to run a starter campaign for a group of mostly complete newbs, and I'm looking for a good starter campaign to run them through.
BUT
I really don't want to run the Lost Mines again.
I've played through it myself and I've also run it twice for other groups. As much as I know it's well designed for starter groups I just can't face the thought of grinding through the same material again.

I'm not super keen on spending serious cash on a hardback module that may only see one session of play, but it wouldn't be the end of the world.
That said, a free/cheap pdf download from the DM guild or similar would be my preference.

So... any suggestions?

Scourge of the Howling Horde (3.5) -> The Sunless Citadel (3.5/5e) -> The Forge of Fury (3.5/5e)

[deljzc]

The new Ghosts of Saltmarsh is pretty solid.

[Trask]

You sound experienced enough to make something of your own. Get a sheet of graph paper and make a dungeon, either thinking it up or using the random generation tables in the DMG, and just put monsters, traps, and treasures inside. Connect them with a loose plot thread, a nice villain and hints to future adventure.

[Lupine]

You sound experienced enough to make something of your own. Get a sheet of graph paper and make a dungeon, either thinking it up or using the random generation tables in the DMG, and just put monsters, traps, and treasures inside. Connect them with a loose plot thread, a nice villain and hints to future adventure.

Honestly, this. The best dungeons are the ones you design for the group. With a bit of effort, you can build a reasonably medium sized dungeon and stock it in a day. Do this after the session 0, so you know what they’re going to play as, then design one Encounter that centrally features one proficiency for each player. Fights with a gimmick are good in that they don’t take a whole lot of time to plan, but they are also don’t last very long. Puzzles are good because they can take a long time, and are fun to think about (particularly if you view complex traps as puzzles.) be careful with puzzles, because they can be frustrating. Also, be sure to put a few roll play things. But only one or two. New players won’t really feel comfortable roll playing, as it’s a new experience.

[Trask]

Honestly, this. The best dungeons are the ones you design for the group. With a bit of effort, you can build a reasonably medium sized dungeon and stock it in a day. Do this after the session 0, so you know what they’re going to play as, then design one Encounter that centrally features one proficiency for each player. Fights with a gimmick are good in that they don’t take a whole lot of time to plan, but they are also don’t last very long. Puzzles are good because they can take a long time, and are fun to think about (particularly if you view complex traps as puzzles.) be careful with puzzles, because they can be frustrating. Also, be sure to put a few roll play things. But only one or two. New players won’t really feel comfortable roll playing, as it’s a new experience.

Also you only need like 10 rooms for a starter dungeon, better it be a bit too short than too unwieldy and long. Put combat in about half of them, and make sure each one has at least something interesting in it, whether it's a puzzle, trap, treasure, some kind of non hostile npc or some kind of setting dressing.

You really dont need much for a solid dungeon that can last you 3 hours.

[Segev]

For a campaign? I'd go with either Tomb of Annihilation or Storm King's Thunder. The latter has a whole chapter on an intro adventure for it, even. The biggest potential problem with SKT is that it assumes miletsone leveling, where you just level the PCs up as they beat each chapter, sometimes several levels at once.

For just an introductory, self-contained story, Sunless Citadel as printed in Tales From the Yawning Portal is pretty solid. And you can, if you want, chain all the dungeons in a row for a full 20 levels, though I am not sure that's the best way to use the resource.

[Lupine]

You really dont need much for a solid dungeon that can last you 3 hours.

this is absolutely true.

[KillingTime]

Some great suggestions.
Thank you!

As for creating my own...
To be honest I'm just being lazy. I have run my own stuff in the past, and I've also run modules spliced in with homebrew.
This time I did just want something off the shelf, though I'll doubtless tweak it anyway to include my own favourite monsters etc.

[SpawnOfMorbo]

Hey all
I'm about to run a starter campaign for a group of mostly complete newbs, and I'm looking for a good starter campaign to run them through.
BUT
I really don't want to run the Lost Mines again.
I've played through it myself and I've also run it twice for other groups. As much as I know it's well designed for starter groups I just can't face the thought of grinding through the same material again.

I'm not super keen on spending serious cash on a hardback module that may only see one session of play, but it wouldn't be the end of the world.
That said, a free/cheap pdf download from the DM guild or similar would be my preference.

So... any suggestions?

Make one yourself? It can be a lot of fun to go "off the rails" of what is normally there. You could even start it out like Lost Mines and then get... Weird.

I love to modify adventures amd make my own, so this idea may not work for you.

I'm going to run a one shot that starts at a trial. The players are on a jury and will be granted different evidence for a murder charge.

When they are deliberating the room goes dark and the balif is gone... When the players investigate, they will follow a blood path back to the courtroom where the defendant and the judge are killed.

A couple of demons or devils will be there waiting for them. The enemies will be killed or will flee and the party will be suspect to the murders (the NPC jurors will be killed in the fight or taken into custody).

Now the players need to figure out why the judge was killed, why the defendant was killed, and prove their innocence.

Spoiler: The defendant was innocent but was made to be a ritual sacrifice, the balif was a Warlock in disguise, and the judge was the target all along.

[GlenSmash!]

If you don't mind reinventing the stat blocks (just substitute in something similar), I personally really like A Dark and Stormy Knight (http://dnd.etherealspheres.com/eBooks/DM_Tools/Adventures_1/3.5E%20D&D%20-%20Adventrue%2001%20-%20A%20Dark%20and%20Stormy%20Knight.pdf). I've run it twice and it's a very solid starting dungeon.

This was the first thing I DMed. Simple to run and short enough for one session. It was super easy to convert to 5e too.

[GlenSmash!]

https://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/DDEX31_HarriedHillsfar.pdf this is one of my favorites starter adventures

Wizards has a few other Adventures League ones available for free.

[HappyDaze]

The new Ghosts of Saltmarsh is pretty solid.

I would actually advise against Saltmarsh. The way the adventure is structured (or the lack of) isn't really kind to new players (or, especially, new DMs).

[KillingTime]

I would actually advise against Saltmarsh. The way the adventure is structured (or the lack of) isn't really kind to new players (or, especially, new DMs).

I'm actually playing through Saltmarsh at the moment in another group.
It's a lot of fun, but I agree it's not really for newbie players.

I've got plenty of DM experience and would happily run it for a more experienced group, but the group I'm running for are absolute beginners.
Also it's pretty sizeable. I'm looking for something that we can play through in a single (long) session ideally. Two tops.

I'm coming around to the idea of building my own in fairness.
Or heavily modding one of the short-form pdfs that have been suggested.

[JustIgnoreMe]

No love for Icespire Peak and the sequels?

[Nod_Hero]

I'm a big fan of Rafael Fiadi's Haven Cross (https://www.dmsguild.com/product/187592/Haven-Cross-The-Adventurers-Guild) (starter city).
It's a great sandbox to get a group started in.