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Edit: I get to look at the new heist stuff today, and I hope to use more than one as part of a string of robberies that have to blend mission:impossible type stuff in.

 

I've already got ideas for how to use one of the KftGV heists in my homebrew world. It looks like a good collection from my first peeks

I could be doing it now, but I hate being interrupted by something as low priority as making a living...

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Today’s question: Prewritten published “canned” adventures, homebrewed adventures, or semi-ho and why?

 I have done both, but the thing I enjoy about running official adventures/modules is the shared cultural stories in the community about how different groups went through the same adventure. Like, how was your group's experience with Keep on the Borderlands? Did you guys kill Strahd? What happened when you encountered Meepo? And so on.

That said, when I run official adventures I almost never run them as-written. I enjoy adding more "substance" to the plots, and finding more ways to connect the PCs to the NPCs. I also like to change things up in case any of my players have any knowledge of the adventure. When I ran Storm King's Thunder, about half of the campaign was made up on the spot as we played. I know there is a lot of disagreement about whether or not a DM should have to do that kind of work, but for me, that is a lot of the fun!

Quote from OctoberGeek >>

Quote from IamSposta >>

Today’s question: Prewritten published “canned” adventures, homebrewed adventures, or semi-ho and why?

 I have done both, but the thing I enjoy about running official adventures/modules is the shared cultural stories in the community about how different groups went through the same adventure. Like, how was your group's experience with Keep on the Borderlands? Did you guys kill Strahd? What happened when you encountered Meepo? And so on.

That said, when I run official adventures I almost never run them as-written. I enjoy adding more "substance" to the plots, and finding more ways to connect the PCs to the NPCs. I also like to change things up in case any of my players have any knowledge of the adventure. When I ran Storm King's Thunder, about half of the campaign was made up on the spot as we played. I know there is a lot of disagreement about whether or not a DM should have to do that kind of work, but for me, that is a lot of the fun!

This is part of why i have to have narrative basis for everything, lol.

The shared experience stuff is absolutely one of the biggest deals -- and why once I finalize the setting proper it will have a side campaign (taking place on a narratively extant dimensional analogue) i will be running a more "regular" campaign that works with the DDB system.

I have three past adventures that I did that my older players (54 through 59) experienced that they wanted to pass on to their kids (the newer players) and the folks who missed them the first two times.

The first is based on It, by stephen king.  The original run was based solely on the book. Second run added in the old miniseries elements. They wanted a third, and they all know the basics -- when the PCs were kids they fought a monster and now it is back and they are adults. This third time, to keep it fresh, I reluctantly dropped the kids part (last week, so it is a new change) in favor of them being the kids at first level -- but as their characters are on creation.  Then, later, at 12th level or so, they will be drawn back to do it again, and this time I will draw from the first adventure for the horror effects in the second one.

The ask session was all my old players going off on how I pulled that one off on them twice, and the stories are incredible.

The second one is a Ghost Tower of Inverness run. Module c2, 1979.  It remains one of my favorites: "The player characters go on a quest to find the fabled Soul Gem, a legendary artifact of great power. They must gather the four parts of a key granting them entrance to the Ghost Tower. Inverness was the fortress of the great wizard Galap-Dreidel, whose magic raised a great stone tower within a formidable keep. The tower was built to house Galap-Dreidel’s most prized possession, an eldritch jewel called the Soul Gem, which could steal life from any creature. The monsters and magic of the tower kept the gem safe for many years, but when Galap-Dreidel vanished, Inverness was seized and its tower was destroyed."

It is like a Tomb of Horrors light, and the Soul Gem always changes as to what it is.  It is a good story (this new version has 15 floors, because of the elemental nature of each floor and the expansion to elements I have done here). It is the first module I ever localized, and we always have a blast and lots of stories as the players figure out the ways through things.

The third is a take on a gangster heist -- inspired originally by the Sinatra era ocean's films and mafia films -- that I did only once before: 1996. through a sries of unfortunate events, the party finds itself in competition with three other teams to get something out a despot's castle, but without being caught. it starts outside, with five pieces of information, and they have to figure out how to get in, get the stuff, and get out without being caught and identified as robbers of that thing. Naturally the competition has the same rules, and there are things needed, supplies, tools, information, the works. If the competition gets to them first (and at least one of them always does), the party has to figure out how to get the stuff away.  Heavy on role playing, light on monsters, but it is remembered as one of the most challenging adventures I have ever run.

All three got dropped into the new campaign explicitly by request.  four existing modules were asked for, but I don't have to tell them what. And then I get three of my own, plus dungeons. the rest come out of the storyline (21 total).

Quote from IamSposta >>

Today’s question: Prewritten published “canned” adventures, homebrewed adventures, or semi-ho and why?

 I mostly run pre-written adventures, but I usually change small things on the fly. I like having a module ready to go, because it's easier than writing everything myself. I tend to read ahead a little, then improvise things on the spot, and see what hijinks ensue.

I also enjoy making my own adventures, but I find it pretty tiring and it takes super long. The last one I made essentially boiled down to a single short dungeon and it took me about 2 weeks on/off. I still need to get around to writing the "part 2" of it, but I have some pretty solid ideas.

I enjoy making up my own adventures.  I also enjoy running a well written/designed adventure.  

Quote from IamSposta >>

Today’s question: Prewritten published “canned” adventures, homebrewed adventures, or semi-ho and why?

 
Like just about everyone else, I LOVE Homebrew stuff but I also love stealing big or little pieces from published adventures. My current campaign, running since late 2017, is almost entirely homebrew. I use maps from wherever, including making a lot of my own, though I prefer using stuff like Dyson Logos who gives express permission to use their maps. I also borrow and adapt encounters from just about any source, in addition to making up most of my own. 

The only 5E published campaign I've run is Descent in Avernus; due to a number of factors, including the pandemic, the party never actually made it to Avernus! Using my own content and helps from DMsguild, I gave a proper build up and context to the adventure, as well as fixing what felt like unfocused thematics. But that's been pretty much abandoned, and I don't think I'll go back.

I could easily see running a campaign that launches off Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft; there are a TON of interesting locations, NPCs, and situations in there, and all require a very good heaping of customization and fleshing out. I love the idea of a campaign that does a lot of demi-plane skipping around, maybe even working in Sigil and other settings.

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semi-ho

 PHRASING!

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semi-ho

 PHRASING!

 You say that like it is a bad thing, says the Cougar...

I use published material as a points of interest in my campaigns like dollops of cheese on a pizza. I don't often use the whole thing just the bits I think blend best with my world. 

There are also some adventures that I have a fondness for because I played through them myself. I want other people to experience them too so occasionally run those. 

Honestly, I like premade adventures because they make my life as DM much easier. Books like Candlekeep Mysteries are great, and a lot of the modules are well written and interesting.

Question for the day: How do you like to start a campaign?

Personally, I am a big fan of doing a starter dungeon or mission - something small and on the rails that’ll introduce new players to the skills, traps, combat, and roleplaying.  

My favourite starting dungeon - the party woke up in a prison filled with some of the worst of the worst from D&D’s history - Kas, the Bloody Handed, Shothragot, avatar of Tharizdun, and other similarly terrifying characters.  The party were basically told, “hey, this place was created by an alliance of good and evil gods to hold things none of us want free; but someone didn’t pay the price and the prison is not strong enough to hold everyone.  So, since you mortals suffer the most when a big bad is released, we decided you, rather than the gods should be the one to choose the form of your suffering.”  The party has to prove they were worthy of the choice through a set of 12 puzzles (based on the labours of Heracles) and the decided which of the evil entities was going to be the BBEG for the campaign (they chose Kas).

That said, while I enjoy a big, complex, story driven starter dungeon, I also am a sucker for the classic “you meet in a tavern and are given a starter mission” style beginnings. 

Intro paragraph setting the scene, followed by “roll for initiative.”

Quote from Caerwyn_Glyndwr >>

Question for the day: How do you like to start a campaign?

For my current campaign, I ran separate little "session 0.5"s for each player that included a bit of story (and backstory) and a bit of combat

This served a few purposes: 1) it gave them a taste of their character's basic features and strengths (two of the four initial players were brand new to D&D); 2) it gave me an excuse to level them up from 1 to 2 (using milestone) rather than just say "make level 2 characters"; and 3) it allowed me to get all their characters to the same town, and the same starting point

In this case, the 0.5s sessions involved:

- for the Beast Master ranger, she thwarted some poachers, saved the snow leopard that would become her companion once she hit level 3, and got a lead on the wider poaching network that led her to a big frontier city, where she picked up a job as a merchant guard on a wagon headed to the town of Riega -- where the campaign proper started

- for the warlock with a homebrew "nature spirits" sort of patron, she hunted a strangely elusive boar, which led her to a cave and some very Minion-like xvarts who seemed to worship/revere magic, before making her way to the same city and getting hired by the same merchant headed to Riega

- for the paladin with the homebrew librarian/scholar sort of Oath (protector of knowledge, that sort of thing), she was doing research on her history dissertation and headed home from the capital when she bumped into some farmers near the edge of a big spooky forest who were having some trouble. After solving their issue, she hitched a ride to Riega (not with the merchant that hired the ranger and warlock, since they were coming from a different direction, but as it turned out with the ranger's parents)

- for the sorcerer with the entertainer background, she was coming home from a gig in the port city where she lived, got accosted by some would-be muggers, killed one who turned out to be the idiot nephew of a big gang leader, and in escaping the rest found herself in a creepy haunted house that shifted locations within the city (not unlike the House of Lament in the Dark Domains, although that hadn't even come out yet). She made it out alive, but then had to flee the city to avoid retribution from the gang... which led her to working at a tavern in Riega

So the campaign ended up with a classic "you meet at a tavern" opening, but they all knew why they were in that tavern in the first place

Quote from Caerwyn_Glyndwr >>

Question for the day: How do you like to start a campaign?

Personally, I am a big fan of doing a starter dungeon or mission - something small and on the rails that’ll introduce new players to the skills, traps, combat, and roleplaying.  

My favourite starting dungeon - the party woke up in a prison filled with some of the worst of the worst from D&D’s history - Kas, the Bloody Handed, Shothragot, avatar of Tharizdun, and other similarly terrifying characters.  The party were basically told, “hey, this place was created by an alliance of good and evil gods to hold things none of us want free; but someone didn’t pay the price and the prison is not strong enough to hold everyone.  So, since you mortals suffer the most when a big bad is released, we decided you, rather than the gods should be the one to choose the form of your suffering.”  The party has to prove they were worthy of the choice through a set of 12 puzzles (based on the labours of Heracles) and the decided which of the evil entities was going to be the BBEG for the campaign (they chose Kas).

That said, while I enjoy a big, complex, story driven starter dungeon, I also am a sucker for the classic “you meet in a tavern and are given a starter mission” style beginnings. 

 Oh dang, I love that prison start. Might have to steal that lol

Tbh I don't have a standard start for most of my games. They usually end up with the standard tavern meet-up, or a brief description of the starting area, followed by the ever-classic "what do you do?"

As said before though, I usually run pre-made campaigns so the start is usually whatever's written in the book

Quote from Caerwyn_Glyndwr>>

Question for the day: How do you like to start a campaign?

Great Question!

I like to start off with an excuse for everyone to have met, or be meeting, and then dump them right into adventure of some sort. For example, maybe they all responded to the same job posting, so they are all meeting at the interview and they immediately get the job and have to start gathering clues together. Or perhaps they all already contracted for the same job and I start them at the doors to the dungeon. Or maybe they all met on the road to wherever they’re going independently and stop at an inn for the night, they’re all getting checked in or sitting in the taproom for dinner when suddenly the town blacksmith busts in exclaiming that their child was kidnapped, or bandits attack the inn or something.

I find that giving them an excuse to have met before the game starts helps avoid that awkward first meeting scene, and that a nice hot start gets everyone into the action so people feel less self conscious.

Quote from IamSposta >>

Quote from Caerwyn_Glyndwr>>

Question for the day: How do you like to start a campaign?

Great Question!

I like to start off with an excuse for everyone to have met, or be meeting, and then dump them right into adventure of some sort. For example, maybe they all responded to the same job posting, so they are all meeting at the interview and they immediately get the job and have to start gathering clues together. Or perhaps they all already contracted for the same job and I start them at the doors to the dungeon. Or maybe they all met on the road to wherever they’re going independently and stop at an inn for the night, they’re all getting checked in or sitting in the taproom for dinner when suddenly the town blacksmith busts in exclaiming that their child was kidnapped, or bandits attack the inn or something.

I find that giving them an excuse to have met before the game starts helps avoid that awkward first meeting scene, and that a nice hot start gets everyone into the action so people feel less self conscious.

 Yeah, I've noticed that often when a campaign starts, there's a moment if awkward silence before someone pikes up and describes what they're doing. Next time I start a campaign, I'll definitely provide some background info and then dump the players right into the action.

This is the primer I sent to the players prior to session zero.  It lists important locations and the structure of the Guild that they are members of.  This campaign is primarily designed to allow for people to switch out characters as new UA material drops, but isn't far off from what I do for each campaign.  From here the party will form around one of several "quests" that they can choose from off the "quest board",  Currently I have 9 first level adventure options that will get them started, and hooked them into the "main plot".  (I am secretly hoping that the pick the prize goat escort quest.)

In general, I like to start simple with my campaigns and give the players time to get to know their characters a little bit before dropping the big plot bomb on them.

 Deephold - Large city that lies at the entrance to the Dark Sea Rift.  A very large trade city and fortress. It is the last point of true safety when travelling from the Human Magocracy of Oromyrr on the eastern side of the Great Barrier Peaks to the Orc Kingdom of Kargan on the western side.

 Dor'Ul - On the other end of the Dark Sea Rift lies the citadel of Dor'Ul, a wealthy Orc trade fortress that is the destination for most of the ships and caravans from Deephold.

 Dark Sea Rift - A massive underground water way and cave network that connects the Storm Sea with the Avath Sea. Though quite narrow in the grand scale of things, it is still 5 miles wide at its most narrow point in the caverns and hundreds of feet deep in places. Sailing through the Dark Sea Rift is not possible in the traditional sense, but the steam ships designed by the Cog's Guild of Oromyrr makes the journey possible if you have the coin.

 Bermen Post - The first waypoint post where caravans can stop and replenish supplies and get a brief respite along the dark road towards Dor'Ul. Though fortified, it is still not completely without dangers. Creatures from the Underdark are still a persistent threat.

 Rul'Mak Falls - Land travel along the shore of the Dark Sea Rift is possible for a large portion of the journey, but about a third of the the way in you must make use of a winding side passage where the shore comes to an abrupt end. This place has a series of waterfalls known as Rul'Mak Falls. The place gets the name from the waypoint post established there by an orc named Rul'Mak several decades ago.

 Ur'Kres Vul - Ancient Giant stronghold now in ruins deep within the Dark Sea Rift. The primary trade routes through the Dark Sea Rift do not pass close to the ruins, but the Rift is the most widely know way to reach the ruins.

 Miner's Post - The winding underground highway that branches off at Rul'Mak Falls rejoins the Dark Sea Rift water way at Miner's Post. This particular post is almost a town in it's own right as a number of prospectors seeking to make their fortune rely upon this post for most of their needs.  The reason there are so many prospectors here is due to the veins of precious metals that have been discovered in the warren of smaller tunnels that snake their way beneath the safer regions used by the trade caravans in this area. The areas where the prospectors seek their wealth are dangerous in the extreme and not just from the denizens of the Underdark that roam there, but from others looking to take what the prospectors might have found.

 Eruu Post - A waterside shanty town run primarily by Kobolds, Eruu Post is mishmash of scrap wood structures and winding stone warrens. However, the trading post has a reputation for being home to the best salvage companies one could hope to find working within the Dark Sea Rift.

 The Delvers Guild

        The Delvers Guild is a guild for adventurers that operates primarily in the northeastern reaches of Kymorria with guild halls in all the major cities of Oromyrr and Faelaria as well as one in Dor'Ul and a few cities in the Northern Barrens region.

       Members of the guild are divided up into ranks with the rank "E" being the lowest were all beginners start, going all the way up to rank "A". There are currently very few members above rank "D" but there are a handful that are as high as rank "B".  There are no active members of the guild that are rank "A", but that doesn't keep members from trying to attain that lofty position.

       As a member of the Delvers Guild, you are provided with modest lodgings and meals as long as you are completing quests on a regular basis. You are also able to purchase basic gear and healing potions at a 20% discount from shops that are guild approved. The guild also buys most unwanted items and hard to sell treasures at a reasonable rate and can even help find magical gear if you have the coin to spend.

The standard pay rate for quests are as follows:

•        E:          20 gp
•        D:        200 gp
•        C:     2,000 gp
•        B:   20,000 gp
•        A: 200,000 gp

        Some quests also pay a bonus, but those are normally listed with the quest itself and can vary greatly.

       Quests are also rated from E to A based on expected difficulty. Members are allowed to accept quests from the guild of one rank lower or higher than their current rank in the guild. Along with being divided up by difficulty, quests are divided into 5 types as follows:

• Fetch Quests: These are fairly simple tasks of either delivering a package or going somewhere to get a package to return with. Though there can be some of these that are ranked as "C" and above, they are most commonly "E" or "D" ranked quests. The rank generally reflects the worth of the item as well as the speed in which the quest must be completed.
• Kill Quests: Most of these quests come up periodically to keep monsters from over running the areas used for transporting goods and travelers through the Dark Sea Rift or other major trade routes. The ranking of these quests is dependent on the strength and number of the monsters in question, but most of these quests are "D" and "C" ranked.
• Gathering Quests: Gathering items such as medicinal herbs, spell components and rare delicacies are most commonly "E" and "D" ranked but do require certain skill sets to accomplish so generally pay out as though one rank higher than they are. The higher the rank, the more dangerous or remote the area where these items are found.
• Escort Quests: Protecting caravans, steam ships, and at times individuals as they travel from one town to another is another common quest for rank "D" and "C" but mostly are the purview of the "E" ranked guild members.
• Investigation Quests: When guild members go missing while on assignment or if there are strange and unexplained occurrences, guild members are sent in to investigate and potentially deal with the situation. These quests are generally "C" rank or higher due to the experience and skills required to adapt to the situation and complete the missions. Sometimes the Investigation Quests turn out to be minor, but there are plenty of stories of when things were far from minor.

I’m also a fan of a hot start, but, like, I mean a really hot start where they’re already in the dungeon or something. And I like it to be something completely separate from the main adventure, or at least seems completely separate at first until it gets tied in again much, much later as a kind of a twist. You know, the way the Indiana Jones movies always started with something unrelated until it comes back around again in act 2 or 3.

Quote from IamSposta >>

Quote from Caerwyn_Glyndwr>>

I find that giving them an excuse to have met before the game starts helps avoid that awkward first meeting scene, and that a nice hot start gets everyone into the action so people feel less self conscious.

Personally, I love a good, awkward opening scene - awkward roleplaying is part of D&D’s charm!  (With the caveat that certain types of awkward roleplay, like unwelcome romance plots, are decidedly not charming.)

That said, completely agree it is important to have some reason to force them together.  I think I’ve run the gauntlet from the simple - “Hey, you lot look like the most capable in here, want to get paid for a task?” - to giving them no choice - “crap, we are stuck in some extra dimensional BS, guess we need to work together to get out” - to the cataclysmic - sitting in a tavern and dropping an Elder Evil on the city, forcing them to flee the city together. 

Usually I’ll judge the timing in the “call to adventure” based on how well the initial interactions go.  Things super awkward in a way that isn’t going anywhere?  Party will get poked into the starting quest early.  Things going pretty well? I might hold off a bit and let them form some connections before starting. 

I don't have one consistent way to start a campaign. I kinda like using taverns, but it's also neat if I can think up a cooler plot hook.