Has anyone brought their leveled up (5th level) characters into the Dragon of Icespire Peak adventure from the Essentials Kit? I wonder if I should have my players to that, or if I should have them roll brand new characters.
They both start at level 1 don't they? I've never actually run either, but I've read through them while considering them. I'd forgo the level up after each of the starter quests, because that would get them to levels way higher than the adventure would fit. I'd also raise the numbers of monsters in each of those quests. The second tier of quests say they're balanced for characters of 4th level and above, so if they happen to be breezing through those encounters, add a scouting party or some form of reinforcements to give them a bit of a challenge. With a few minor changes, it seems like it could play over well.
Yes, both the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure and the Dragon of Icespire Peak adventure start at level 1. I was thinking of keeping the 5th level characters at 5th level when starting the Icespire Peak adventure and just adjusting the first several encounters accordingly.
I am a new DM, so I'm not really sure what is best.
What is easiest is to run level appropriate characters for the content.
What is best though, is hard to say. Just because you are a new DM doesn't mean that adjusting the adventures to suit 5th level players is a bad idea. It sounds like fun, especially if you give it a personal touch and are willing to put in the time. I would probably have each adventure provide 1 level up.
You can use the encounter builder to adapt the fights from the Essential's kit, adding more enemies or even upgrading them. For sure you will need to use a higher version of the dragon, otherwise they could get rid of it on a random encounter.
Anyways, you should ask your players what they want. Do they want to play this adventure with the same characters or try new ones? For example, I´m DMing the Essential kit to a group of new players and they already told me for the next campaing they prefer new ones, so many classes to try!
I'm starting to think now that I might have my players roll new characters or the Essentials Kit adventure. I've seen a few articles that say that that adventure actually takes place some time later than the Starter Kit adventure.
What I've done in the past for other games when the recommended level is lower than the character played is to use the Encounter Builder on DDB and upscale the combat encounters so the challenge is more in line with the desired character levels. It's pretty simple to create an encounter using the tool, add in your number character and their levels under the "Manage" link, and then add your monsters to match the current encounter. At this point it is more likely the encounter will be way too easy so from that point up the monster quota until it becomes something more of a challenge or to add a few of your choice into the mix. The only downside is going through each encounter to that I'd recommend going through the adventure ahead of time so you know what to include come game time.
This might seem like a lot to throw at you as a new DM but I'd be happy to outline more steps if you would at least try to pursue this upscaling method. Just pick an encounter from the Essentials Kit adventure to try and upscale.
Thanks for this! I'll take a look at some things and try to figure out what I want to do.
All of this may be moot anyway. I'm only assuming my players wouldn't want to roll new characters. I could be surprised and have them tell me that they can't wait to play new characters!
Combat is geared to levels 1-3 and then 4-6. You could do it and just beef up the encounters. Make sure you know how to do that though. It can be complicated. You could definitely do it though. You'll also want to tailor rewards to fit the higher levels.
Depends on how much the players love their current characters I guess, if they aren't bothered either way then roll new. If they really like their characters and want to develop them further then keep them and buff up the encounters. It is more work so I would only do it if they liked their characters. That said, I never run pre-written adventure modules straight out of the book, they always get tweaked.
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Has anyone brought their leveled up (5th level) characters into the Dragon of Icespire Peak adventure from the Essentials Kit? I wonder if I should have my players to that, or if I should have them roll brand new characters.
Thoughts?
Thanks,
Brad
They both start at level 1 don't they? I've never actually run either, but I've read through them while considering them. I'd forgo the level up after each of the starter quests, because that would get them to levels way higher than the adventure would fit. I'd also raise the numbers of monsters in each of those quests. The second tier of quests say they're balanced for characters of 4th level and above, so if they happen to be breezing through those encounters, add a scouting party or some form of reinforcements to give them a bit of a challenge. With a few minor changes, it seems like it could play over well.
Yes, both the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure and the Dragon of Icespire Peak adventure start at level 1. I was thinking of keeping the 5th level characters at 5th level when starting the Icespire Peak adventure and just adjusting the first several encounters accordingly.
I am a new DM, so I'm not really sure what is best.
Brad
What is easiest is to run level appropriate characters for the content.
What is best though, is hard to say. Just because you are a new DM doesn't mean that adjusting the adventures to suit 5th level players is a bad idea. It sounds like fun, especially if you give it a personal touch and are willing to put in the time. I would probably have each adventure provide 1 level up.
You can use the encounter builder to adapt the fights from the Essential's kit, adding more enemies or even upgrading them. For sure you will need to use a higher version of the dragon, otherwise they could get rid of it on a random encounter.
Anyways, you should ask your players what they want. Do they want to play this adventure with the same characters or try new ones? For example, I´m DMing the Essential kit to a group of new players and they already told me for the next campaing they prefer new ones, so many classes to try!
We're relatively new to the game and thinking about doing this with the Essentials kit as well.
I'm starting to think now that I might have my players roll new characters or the Essentials Kit adventure. I've seen a few articles that say that that adventure actually takes place some time later than the Starter Kit adventure.
What I've done in the past for other games when the recommended level is lower than the character played is to use the Encounter Builder on DDB and upscale the combat encounters so the challenge is more in line with the desired character levels. It's pretty simple to create an encounter using the tool, add in your number character and their levels under the "Manage" link, and then add your monsters to match the current encounter. At this point it is more likely the encounter will be way too easy so from that point up the monster quota until it becomes something more of a challenge or to add a few of your choice into the mix. The only downside is going through each encounter to that I'd recommend going through the adventure ahead of time so you know what to include come game time.
This might seem like a lot to throw at you as a new DM but I'd be happy to outline more steps if you would at least try to pursue this upscaling method. Just pick an encounter from the Essentials Kit adventure to try and upscale.
Side Note: I've also used https://kobold.club/fight/#/encounter-builder to work with encounter building.
Thanks for this! I'll take a look at some things and try to figure out what I want to do.
All of this may be moot anyway. I'm only assuming my players wouldn't want to roll new characters. I could be surprised and have them tell me that they can't wait to play new characters!
Combat is geared to levels 1-3 and then 4-6. You could do it and just beef up the encounters. Make sure you know how to do that though. It can be complicated. You could definitely do it though. You'll also want to tailor rewards to fit the higher levels.
Depends on how much the players love their current characters I guess, if they aren't bothered either way then roll new. If they really like their characters and want to develop them further then keep them and buff up the encounters. It is more work so I would only do it if they liked their characters. That said, I never run pre-written adventure modules straight out of the book, they always get tweaked.