I'm looking at running some 5e for a local club, the challenge is the PCs will vary week to week so I want to avoid a story heavy narrative where I have to manage PCs that will come and go. (or maybe I could run a tavern/job type quests..hmm..)
Anyway, I'd ideally like a puzzle room/dungeon crawl type adventure for instance characters are trapped in some sort of extra dimensional dungeon and have to complete and escape rooms that could have a range of puzzles/monsters to deal with. They might get through 1-3 rooms an evening and when they shift to another room characters go missing and appear so I can explain the changing of toons in the group. I've searched a few products but nothing seems to be grabbing me as suitable. Any suggestions?
I did consider running DotMM and have people come and go as they like but they miss parts of the narrative and I have another group with some members who might overlap who want to run it shortly.
I was also considering running dungeon land but trying to come up with my own reason for the dungeon and their part in this and that's not my strength. Anyway, just looking to see if anyone has any good suggestions or thoughts on how to run this sort of group.
One idea that comes to me is, running a guild type game. You have your players in an adventurer's guild and they take up quests that are one shots. This also allows them to change out characters from time to time so they're not stuck with the same one all the time. It works where they will constantly be forming parties to go on these quests, and each time they go out they work with different members of the guild. This will help keep things interesting, and allows players to choose what type of adventure they go on. Not everybody wants to go kill a dragon and not everybody wants to go talk a crime lord into letting a hostage go. You can also have a variety of quests that they can go on. Some will cater to the murderhobos while some will cater to those that want more of a roleplaying experience. Having some that intertwine both could keep certain groups happy. You are only limited by your imagination. Have fun and I hope this helped.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Remember this is a game and it's suppose to be fun for everybody. Let's all have fun and kill monsters.
It sounds like you've got a good start in the idea area. WeldingBear gave some good ideas as well. If you are looking for something published to help, you could go with Tales from the Yawning Portal, run only portions from any of the other published adventures, or consult Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica. You could have a bounty list that players could sign up on with the hook for the one shots along with when they will take place so you can prepare specifically for that session. You could have players leave a hook and brief sketch of an idea to mimic other patrons engaging the guild and you could flesh out the encounter during your preparation time. This could also be a way to encourage others to DM the one shots and possibly open up several patrons on any given night looking for adventurers to help them out.
Thanks for the input. I’ve run a guild type before it worked fine, I’d probably be looking for some published work as the quests/challenges, maybe give them a choice of 2 on the night. Ravnica is interesting after I posted this yesterday I thought about it as a setting.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hi,
I'm looking at running some 5e for a local club, the challenge is the PCs will vary week to week so I want to avoid a story heavy narrative where I have to manage PCs that will come and go. (or maybe I could run a tavern/job type quests..hmm..)
Anyway, I'd ideally like a puzzle room/dungeon crawl type adventure for instance characters are trapped in some sort of extra dimensional dungeon and have to complete and escape rooms that could have a range of puzzles/monsters to deal with. They might get through 1-3 rooms an evening and when they shift to another room characters go missing and appear so I can explain the changing of toons in the group. I've searched a few products but nothing seems to be grabbing me as suitable. Any suggestions?
I did consider running DotMM and have people come and go as they like but they miss parts of the narrative and I have another group with some members who might overlap who want to run it shortly.
I was also considering running dungeon land but trying to come up with my own reason for the dungeon and their part in this and that's not my strength. Anyway, just looking to see if anyone has any good suggestions or thoughts on how to run this sort of group.
Sorry for rambling and thanks!
One idea that comes to me is, running a guild type game. You have your players in an adventurer's guild and they take up quests that are one shots. This also allows them to change out characters from time to time so they're not stuck with the same one all the time. It works where they will constantly be forming parties to go on these quests, and each time they go out they work with different members of the guild. This will help keep things interesting, and allows players to choose what type of adventure they go on. Not everybody wants to go kill a dragon and not everybody wants to go talk a crime lord into letting a hostage go. You can also have a variety of quests that they can go on. Some will cater to the murderhobos while some will cater to those that want more of a roleplaying experience. Having some that intertwine both could keep certain groups happy. You are only limited by your imagination. Have fun and I hope this helped.
Remember this is a game and it's suppose to be fun for everybody. Let's all have fun and kill monsters.
It sounds like you've got a good start in the idea area. WeldingBear gave some good ideas as well. If you are looking for something published to help, you could go with Tales from the Yawning Portal, run only portions from any of the other published adventures, or consult Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica. You could have a bounty list that players could sign up on with the hook for the one shots along with when they will take place so you can prepare specifically for that session. You could have players leave a hook and brief sketch of an idea to mimic other patrons engaging the guild and you could flesh out the encounter during your preparation time. This could also be a way to encourage others to DM the one shots and possibly open up several patrons on any given night looking for adventurers to help them out.
Thanks for the input. I’ve run a guild type before it worked fine, I’d probably be looking for some published work as the quests/challenges, maybe give them a choice of 2 on the night. Ravnica is interesting after I posted this yesterday I thought about it as a setting.