What's best to run for new players?

[Ttttttt]

Heyo,

Recently I've found myself running for a party of 2-3 new players along with 1 veteran and have been finding some issues deciding what to run. For a lot of them this it their second or third time playing 5th Edition (or TTRPG's in general) so I want it to be THRILLING for them but I can't decide what to run.

I'm thinking about running Curse of Strahd or Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden but Call of the Netherdeep and Wild Beyond the Witchlight are on the list too.

I'm trying to get them more comfortable with roleplaying but if they don't then I don't want the campaign to fall apart either.

Any ideas on what to run? If not these then any ideas of what I could run?

[sithlordnergal]

Wild Beyond the Witchlight is probably going to be your best bet, especially if you want to encourage RPing. Its one of those games that encourage you to RP your way out of a situation, and a lot of encounters can be ended without combat...if you're able to talk/RP your way out of it. Curse of Strahd is pretty good, but it can also be somewhat rough for new players, Frostmaiden is sort of the same.

Of course...I can't say much. I took my full party of new players, tossed them into the deep end with Tomb of Annihilation, and ran it with no holds barred. They're still paranoid whenever they enter a seemingly empty room.

[Amnestic]

Lost Mines of Phandelver is the classic 'intro' game.

Wizards are also releasing a new starter set adventure in August of this year, Dragons of Stormwreck Isle.

[ProsecutorGodot]

Call of the Netherdeep places a heavy emphasis on roleplay so if you want to encourage roleplay it's not bad. The intro section is also a decent introduction into the skill system, you're encouraged to use a wide variety of skills for the players to compete in the competitions.

Curse of Strahd can be unfriendly to new players but I personally had a good experience with it and I hear mostly good things about it. I would avoid Rime of the Frostmaiden. It wasn't fun for me to run.

I don't know much about Wild Beyond the Witchlight but I've heard mostly good things about it, if what I've heard is correct it's also a more social focused adventure.

[Kurt Kurageous]

RE: CoS

DON'Ttttttt. It's not an easy run. I've done it eight or so times now, and I certainly wouldn't recommend it unless you are willing to do a lot of prep work. It requires much more work/research/prep than a typical module. You simply can't just read the description at a location and play it out.

Which is exactly what you CAN do with LMoP, Dragon of Ice Spire Peak. Consider them or any one of the excellent ideas in this thread.

But stay away from Strahd unless your goal is to drive new players away from D&D. It's the only module where the DM has a license and a requirement to psychologically abuse the players. It's not nice, it's not easy, and it's really dark. Plus over a hundred named NPCs...paSssssss.

[SpanielBear]

LMoP was our first. I recommend it. It’s forgiving, and hangs together simply enough that if you want to go of piste and be a bit more creative as a DM, it’s not to hard to adapt things in. But there’s a lot of ideas on here I’ve not tried at all, so they could just as good or better.

[Hawk7915]

Anecdotal so far, but over in my realm my wife (long-time player, first time DM) has been DMing a group of three veterans and three brand-new players through Wilds Beyond the Witchlight, with a intro campaign out of Candlekeep Mysteries. I have no spoilers as a player (avoided them like the plague), but we're through the first chapter of the story now and so far it's gone great! It's very combat-lite, which is nice for a DM but may disappoint players. But it's built to encourage strong role-play on the fly and to just create a fun atmosphere. For DMing, my wife has found it a ton of work because she wants to "do it justice" - but mostly just in the raw amount of reading; she's had to do extremely little writing and adapting.

[JLandan]

I'm running WBW right now. It's great for RP experience, but I combatized (Is that a word?) my game a little to accommodate my players.

CoS and IDRF are meatgrinders.

Don't know Netherdeep. I'm not too familiar with any Critical Role material.

[Hairfish]

Dungeon World

[animorte]

There was an all goblins one-shot which I don't recall the name of (it was for 3.5e). Very fun, might find it and translate to 5e.

[5eNeedsDarksun]

I'm going to answer this as a player, as that's what I've been for both CoS and RoID.
Rime, to me, seems like it ticks a lot of boxes for players. Combat: check, Social: check, Exploration: check. I think players would get a good taste of all 3 pillars of DnD in fairly good balance; without knowing what their preferences are this seems to be a good place to start to me.

[Tawmis]

I'll throw another vote down for Lost Mines.
I've been a player in it a number of times.
The only recommendation I'd make is - when the players get to the town - don't make all the quests immediately available to them.
Make one or two. Let them do it. Come back, now the person they helped mentions this person over there was just at the tavern looking for help.
Rinse repeat.

Because when you get to the town, there's something like 6 or 7 quests there you can do.
And it can be overwhelming for new players, and also may divide them as to which ones sound more interesting.

So if it's new, limit down the choices and "unlock" more quests as they complete others.

[Jervis]

Heyo,

Recently I've found myself running for a party of 2-3 new players along with 1 veteran and have been finding some issues deciding what to run. For a lot of them this it their second or third time playing 5th Edition (or TTRPG's in general) so I want it to be THRILLING for them but I can't decide what to run.

I'm thinking about running Curse of Strahd or Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden but Call of the Netherdeep and Wild Beyond the Witchlight are on the list too.

I'm trying to get them more comfortable with roleplaying but if they don't then I don't want the campaign to fall apart either.

Any ideas on what to run? If not these then any ideas of what I could run?

I’m gonna suggest something out of the box and say the 5e conversion of Island of Dread is pretty good. Dinosaurs, magic, ancient temples, pirate treasure. My take on the plot hook is having the pirate captain who’s journal you find instead get executed saying he left his treasure in one place for anyone who wants to find it before getting hanged. (Yes i’m a one piece fan Sue me.) Doesn’t take that much modification, though you do need to have them find the journal somehow yo know where to go. Maybe not the best for a standard fantasy but it’s definitely something people will remember.

[Kane0]

There was an all goblins one-shot which I don't recall the name of (it was for 3.5e). Very fun, might find it and translate to 5e.

We be goblins? That was PF IIRC, but still a good one-shot.

[PhoenixPhyre]

I have extensive experience with new players--just about every group I've had so far has had at least one new person.

And the secret, it seems, is that the most important part is doing something you're excited about and comfortable with. Same goes for teaching anything, to be honest.

The actual content matters less than your sense of flow and smoothness and excitement.

I've not done modules much at all, so I can't help there except to say that CoS is notoriously difficult to run well. Or so I've heard.

[Mastikator]

Start with a series of one shots before you commit to a long campaign, you can incorporate elements/outcomes from the one-shots into the campaign at your leisure.
DMs guild has a bunch of one shots. Also it's very easy to follow the 5 dungeons principle if you want to make your own.

Thrilling is IMO best accomplished with deadlines + dynamic environment, like fighting pirates on a ship that is sinking. Square dungeon rooms with nothing but monsters and some static obstacles in them are super boring. Have some moving parts and hazards.

Ask players what they like about D&D, this will give you insight into what they want to do.

[da newt]

I'm w/ Kurt on this one. "stay away from Strahd unless your goal is to drive new players away from D&D. It's the only module where the DM has a license and a requirement to psychologically abuse the players. It's not nice, it's not easy, and it's really dark."

IMO CoS is a crappy adventure for new DnD folks not so much because of it's difficulty level but more because it's so depressing and there is almost zero reason for any PC to think that they might have a chance to do anything useful, that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, or that there is any reason to give one crap about the people of Barovia.

For a new group I'd definitely go for something more upbeat / fun. LMoP for example.

[Catullus64]

Of the ones you mention? Rime of the Frostmaiden for sure. (I actually don't know anything about Netherdeep). It's what I'd consider the closest to a 'baseline' D&D experience. It's also fairly flexible in terms of being DM-driven vs. player-driven. You can pick one of the adventures for them to start, and then open up the world for them to decide where to go once they've got the ropes.

[Tawmis]

I'm w/ Kurt on this one. "stay away from Strahd unless your goal is to drive new players away from D&D. It's the only module where the DM has a license and a requirement to psychologically abuse the players. It's not nice, it's not easy, and it's really dark."
IMO CoS is a crappy adventure for new DnD folks not so much because of it's difficulty level but more because it's so depressing and there is almost zero reason for any PC to think that they might have a chance to do anything useful, that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, or that there is any reason to give one crap about the people of Barovia.


I'd agree. Stay away from Curse of Strahd. Also stay away from Out of the Abyss, for the very same reason. It's dark (literally), depressing, party starts of stripped of everything and prisoners, then there's the fazrez or whatever stone that effs up magic (putting any of your casters in an awkward place), and then there's the potential madness each of them may experience as characters... Just. Stay. Away.

[stoutstien]

Honestly I would avoid most published material or at least only using them in the vaguest forms. New players should get to enjoy the most unique part of TTRPGs in that that are limitless so give them a simple goal and outline and let them explore.

[Jervis]

Honestly I would avoid most published material or at least only using them in the vaguest forms. New players should get to enjoy the most unique part of TTRPGs in that that are limitless so give them a simple goal and outline and let them explore.
I haven’t played it (yet) but isn’t Rime of the Frost Maiden a sandbox? That might work out well, assuming they aren’t afraid to run when they see a giant white dragon.

[stoutstien]

I haven’t played it (yet) but isn’t Rime of the Frost Maiden a sandbox? That might work out well, assuming they aren’t afraid to run when they see a giant white dragon.
Yes and no. It's pretty open but it also assumes the players have a good understanding of the rules and how to deal with hostile environments, travel, and non combat action resolution. The bones of it is great but like a said I wouldn't stick to the critical path for new players.

**Probably the best module to date IMO so worth the shelf space.**