So I haven't been playing for that long, but I've really enjoyed the game and decided I wanted to try running a campaign, partially to get some friends that haven't played in a while or never played involved. I will be getting the DM's guide and Monster Manual on Friday when I get paid. Which pre-built campaign should I do? Lost Mines seems like it may be too short/not what I'm looking for overall. But I do want something that is easy to DM but also fun for new players.
The other thing I am wondering about is how do you all feel about changing a pre-built campaign in some ways? The reason I ask is I want one of the first clues/events of the campaign to happen in a museum that basically honors peoples' past characters. Should I not do this or find a way to go about it?
Any other tips would be much appreciated. Thanks everyone!
Lost Mines is a fun adventure, it is a little lacking in the Villain department, but it makes up for it in actual content, Phandalin is a great little town. The only real problem I ran into when running it (it was my first adventure) was getting my players involved with their characters, this was partially because they picked pre-generated PCs. So if you're planning on having them role characters I doubt this will be a big issue. Lost Mines is also nice in that it can easily move into any other official Campaign.
If you want good advice on simply the acts of DMing then I'd check out Matt Colvilles stuff. Super helpful.
Lost Mines is a fun adventure, it is a little lacking in the Villain department, but it makes up for it in actual content, Phandalin is a great little town. The only real problem I ran into when running it (it was my first adventure) was getting my players involved with their characters, this was partially because they picked pre-generated PCs. So if you're planning on having them role characters I doubt this will be a big issue. Lost Mines is also nice in that it can easily move into any other official Campaign.
If you want good advice on simply the acts of DMing then I'd check out Matt Colvilles stuff. Super helpful.
CoS is not a good beginner mod to DM or play, there are too many inconsistencies in the writing, too many things built in that will simply one shot a party with little/no method to avoid it. That said CoS is a very fun and dark adventure. It's better run when you have a firm grasp of how to DM and/or play.
Tales from the Yawning Portal - Sunless Citadel. A shorter mod, but it is my favorite starter adventure. It will give the ability to learn about what it takes to DM, it will give the players most of the mechanics of D&D, and no pre-made characters. The nice part is you can then use other mods in Yawning Portal to continue your adventure without needing to start over. Making it one long string of adventures out of one book with multiple modules.
Lost Mines is a great choice, I did that and then Hoard of the Dragon Queen with my party, and while quite railroady, was a lot of fun and had great content, plus it only goes to level 7 and then you have the choice to either get into Rise of Tiamat or change things up entirely. I would advise to steer clear of Out of the Abyss as it requires a LOT of prep work and can be quite daunting for a new DM
The first part seems well answered above, so I will say something on the second part. I am personally in favor of changing things in pre-built campaigns, but if you do you should be careful. The main danger is changing something that causes a problem for you down the road, like allowing a NPC to be killed and finding out they are important later in the adventure. If you do make changes to existing material, make sure you are familiar with the whole Campaign. Good Luck!
Lost Mines was my first 5e DM exposure. I have to say it was absolutely great to run and it flowed very nicely. While it may not be as robust as some of the other campaigns it is just right for new DMs and Players to get used to the basics of the game and how to role play. We spend about 8 months playing this one meeting every week to two weeks to play. My play group still references things that happened during that game and it made for some memorable moments. Just remember when you DM it really doesn't matter what the store is as long as you the DM takes it and tells it in a compelling way and allow your characters to be immersed in the story and become invested. It could be a simple plot but when everyone is invested and you tell a great story it will make for a memorable time. I say run Lost Mines as it will cover a good range of experiences for you and your group.
So I haven't been playing for that long, but I've really enjoyed the game and decided I wanted to try running a campaign, partially to get some friends that haven't played in a while or never played involved. I will be getting the DM's guide and Monster Manual on Friday when I get paid. Which pre-built campaign should I do? Lost Mines seems like it may be too short/not what I'm looking for overall. But I do want something that is easy to DM but also fun for new players.
The other thing I am wondering about is how do you all feel about changing a pre-built campaign in some ways? The reason I ask is I want one of the first clues/events of the campaign to happen in a museum that basically honors peoples' past characters. Should I not do this or find a way to go about it?
Any other tips would be much appreciated. Thanks everyone!
Changing a campaign so that it's tailored more to your players interests and is something that they can connect to is one of the best ways to get your players invested. You should definitely make the changes where you feel like it is necessary. Don't feel like you need to go overboard and try to keep any changes simple, you'll be happier for it later. As far as adventures to get into and run I think Lost Mines or Tales from the Yawning Portal would be a great place to start. Lost Mines can lead very easily into other campaigns without a problem. Tales from the Yawning Portal can be very modular and allow your players to go off the rails a bit more. A good mention as a third option would be Hoard of the Dragon Queen which is a bit more linear and railroad like. Analyze your players and how much freedom they would want from their campaign. If they want some hand-holding go with something that is a bit more linear. If it's a party that is going to have trouble following a linear path you might want to look at other options. I would steer clear of Out of the Abyss, Curse of Strahd, Tomb of Annihilation, and Princes of the Apocalypse until you have a bit more knowledge of the systems. That's just my own personal opinion your mileage may vary.
I don't think you can really go wrong here. If your players are brand new like you, then it's just about being patient and understanding both ways. For my first campaign with brand new players, I home-brewed the whole thing. I spoke to each player and created their characters, but they were responsible for backstory and personality and how it would affect their play. I put a bout of encounters, whether its combat or friendly interactions, throughout the story. I wanted to teach the players as much as challenge them. In the first challenge, we had a tavern, we had a gambling rogue approach them, a simple and adventure hook, clues, traps, monsters, rests, so on and so forth. I put a little bit of everything I've seen in Critical Role or other youtube D&D option. They're all level 1 so when they get hit, it's devastating. I gave them a long rest for several reasons. I taught them different ways to replenish their health, the importance of taking turns at watch, and also couple of them were nearly dead.
Lost Mine was my go to. I haven't played in years, and none of my friends had played ever. It's short, direct, has great side quests and helps slowly immerse your players in. I bought the Starter Pack when Toys R Us was still a thing, just so I could get back in the feel of the game. (YEARS!) With that pack they had a nice mini DMG and PHB to start with so the textbook version doesn't get so overwhelming.
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I pick on no one. I leave everything to the fate of dice. -rolls 1- Dah, crap.
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So I haven't been playing for that long, but I've really enjoyed the game and decided I wanted to try running a campaign, partially to get some friends that haven't played in a while or never played involved. I will be getting the DM's guide and Monster Manual on Friday when I get paid. Which pre-built campaign should I do? Lost Mines seems like it may be too short/not what I'm looking for overall. But I do want something that is easy to DM but also fun for new players.
The other thing I am wondering about is how do you all feel about changing a pre-built campaign in some ways? The reason I ask is I want one of the first clues/events of the campaign to happen in a museum that basically honors peoples' past characters. Should I not do this or find a way to go about it?
Any other tips would be much appreciated. Thanks everyone!
Lost Mines is a fun adventure, it is a little lacking in the Villain department, but it makes up for it in actual content, Phandalin is a great little town. The only real problem I ran into when running it (it was my first adventure) was getting my players involved with their characters, this was partially because they picked pre-generated PCs. So if you're planning on having them role characters I doubt this will be a big issue. Lost Mines is also nice in that it can easily move into any other official Campaign.
If you want good advice on simply the acts of DMing then I'd check out Matt Colvilles stuff. Super helpful.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlUk42GiU2guNzWBzxn7hs8MaV7ELLCP_
Curse of Strahd. Great starter. Can't go wrong with the classics.
CoS is not a good beginner mod to DM or play, there are too many inconsistencies in the writing, too many things built in that will simply one shot a party with little/no method to avoid it. That said CoS is a very fun and dark adventure. It's better run when you have a firm grasp of how to DM and/or play.
Tales from the Yawning Portal - Sunless Citadel. A shorter mod, but it is my favorite starter adventure. It will give the ability to learn about what it takes to DM, it will give the players most of the mechanics of D&D, and no pre-made characters. The nice part is you can then use other mods in Yawning Portal to continue your adventure without needing to start over. Making it one long string of adventures out of one book with multiple modules.
Lost Mines is a great choice, I did that and then Hoard of the Dragon Queen with my party, and while quite railroady, was a lot of fun and had great content, plus it only goes to level 7 and then you have the choice to either get into Rise of Tiamat or change things up entirely. I would advise to steer clear of Out of the Abyss as it requires a LOT of prep work and can be quite daunting for a new DM
"Roll for kink."
My homebrews - Naturalcrit
The first part seems well answered above, so I will say something on the second part. I am personally in favor of changing things in pre-built campaigns, but if you do you should be careful. The main danger is changing something that causes a problem for you down the road, like allowing a NPC to be killed and finding out they are important later in the adventure. If you do make changes to existing material, make sure you are familiar with the whole Campaign. Good Luck!
Lost Mines was my first 5e DM exposure. I have to say it was absolutely great to run and it flowed very nicely. While it may not be as robust as some of the other campaigns it is just right for new DMs and Players to get used to the basics of the game and how to role play. We spend about 8 months playing this one meeting every week to two weeks to play. My play group still references things that happened during that game and it made for some memorable moments. Just remember when you DM it really doesn't matter what the store is as long as you the DM takes it and tells it in a compelling way and allow your characters to be immersed in the story and become invested. It could be a simple plot but when everyone is invested and you tell a great story it will make for a memorable time. I say run Lost Mines as it will cover a good range of experiences for you and your group.
Thanks for the advice.
The only things I was thinking of adding were a place to go to get information. but thank you.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
I don't think you can really go wrong here. If your players are brand new like you, then it's just about being patient and understanding both ways. For my first campaign with brand new players, I home-brewed the whole thing. I spoke to each player and created their characters, but they were responsible for backstory and personality and how it would affect their play. I put a bout of encounters, whether its combat or friendly interactions, throughout the story. I wanted to teach the players as much as challenge them. In the first challenge, we had a tavern, we had a gambling rogue approach them, a simple and adventure hook, clues, traps, monsters, rests, so on and so forth. I put a little bit of everything I've seen in Critical Role or other youtube D&D option. They're all level 1 so when they get hit, it's devastating. I gave them a long rest for several reasons. I taught them different ways to replenish their health, the importance of taking turns at watch, and also couple of them were nearly dead.
Lost Mine was my go to. I haven't played in years, and none of my friends had played ever. It's short, direct, has great side quests and helps slowly immerse your players in. I bought the Starter Pack when Toys R Us was still a thing, just so I could get back in the feel of the game. (YEARS!) With that pack they had a nice mini DMG and PHB to start with so the textbook version doesn't get so overwhelming.
I pick on no one. I leave everything to the fate of dice.
-rolls 1-
Dah, crap.