Tips for modifying an adventure module

[spbtc]

I'm looking for some general advice on modifying a printed adventure module to include PC elements (backstory, NPCs, etc.). I do have some ideas, but any tips or pitfalls to be aware of would be welcome. I'll be using milestone leveling, so one point I'm particularly unsure about is how to "reward" the bits of the story that aren't part of the adventure without throwing off game balance.

[stoutstien]

I'm looking for some general advice on modifying a printed adventure module to include PC elements (backstory, NPCs, etc.). I do have some ideas, but any tips or pitfalls to be aware of would be welcome. I'll be using milestone leveling, so one point I'm particularly unsure about is how to "reward" the bits of the story that aren't part of the adventure without throwing off game balance.

What are you referring to with bits of the story that aren't party of the adventure? Rewards don't always have to include mechanical progress but it would help to have a reference point for better suggestions than that.

[spbtc]

What are you referring to with bits of the story that aren't party of the adventure? Rewards don't always have to include mechanical progress but it would help to have a reference point for better suggestions than that.

I'm referring to character driven story as potentially provided by players- the evil twin, the murdered parents, the kidnapped sister, etc. If I don't provide some sort of advancement for these bits of story that seems unfair. OTOH, if I do, I run the risk of the characters outpacing the printed adventure. (I'm not against adjusting the difficulty of the adventure, but the less of that I have to do the better.)

[loki_ragnarock]

I'm not sure if it's kosher to point to reddit, but each of the big book published adventures for 5e have fairly extensive modding communities that get into this kind of thing.

Are you looking for more general advice, or for adapting a specific adventure?

[spbtc]

I'm not sure if it's kosher to point to reddit, but each of the big book published adventures for 5e have fairly extensive modding communities that get into this kind of thing.

Are you looking for more general advice, or for adapting a specific adventure?

I'm not looking for a mod, per se. That's just someone else's complete adventure. I'm looking to add content that will be specifically relevant to MY players.

I am looking for general advice. I have some thoughts and ideas in mind and it may all work out perfectly, but as the saying goes, "you don't know what you don't know".

[Unoriginal]

I'm looking for some general advice on modifying a printed adventure module to include PC elements (backstory, NPCs, etc.). I do have some ideas, but any tips or pitfalls to be aware of would be welcome. I'll be using milestone leveling, so one point I'm particularly unsure about is how to "reward" the bits of the story that aren't part of the adventure without throwing off game balance.

My advice: read the adventure, and replace the elements that are "close enough" with the players' elements.

Ex: -a PC has a backstory element with an hermit. The adventjre has a Druid as a potential encounter. Now they can be one and the same


-A player wrote their chatacter has a deadly grudge against a mercenary captain. You can turn the Orc War Chief of the adventure into said mercenary captain.

[stoutstien]

I'm referring to character driven story as potentially provided by players- the evil twin, the murdered parents, the kidnapped sister, etc. If I don't provide some sort of advancement for these bits of story that seems unfair. OTOH, if I do, I run the risk of the characters outpacing the printed adventure. (I'm not against adjusting the difficulty of the adventure, but the less of that I have to do the better.)

Ah. I see the confusion. The really slimmed down answer is don't worry about it. If it doesn't directly tie into and effect the critical path, in your case the pre gen adventure provides it, then you don't need to worry about rewarding in via character advancement. If you want a simple way to reward players for engagement then the inspiration system will probably be your best bet at your current level of prep. Past that you need to consider the player's motivations more so than their characters to fine tune proper positive reinforcement and rewards.

Does it matter if Mario is a plumber if the goal is to save the princess?

[Rafaelfras]

My advice: read the adventure, and replace the elements that are "close enough" with the players' elements.

Ex: -a PC has a backstory element with an hermit. The adventjre has a Druid as a potential encounter. Now they can be one and the same


-A player wrote their chatacter has a deadly grudge against a mercenary captain. You can turn the Orc War Chief of the adventure into said mercenary captain.

This.

Another advice is to replace some adventures in the campaign and tie it's development to the continuing of the story.
For example on Storm King thunder the players went to Waterdeep and triggered a plot hook that I had placed there. The adventure had nothing to do with SKT and was totally based on the background of one of the PC's. It's end tied into another adventure related to 2 other PC's. At it's end the dragon they were looking for showed up there and they got the info they needed and now are going to chapter 4, back on tracks.