I've started playing D&D about 5 months ago and my group's DM has suggested I try running a one shot to see how I get on. The session would be a whole day, so roughly 9 hours with either 2 or 4 party members.
As the whole group is as new as I am, I thought I'd keep it simple and go with the prisoner cliché.
So far, (I've literally thought of this idea about 20 minutes ago) I'm picturing starting with them in pairs in neighbouring cells. There's some sounds of alarm or battle coming echoing from the direction of the main entrance and all guards run off in that direction.
A little while later, one of them returns either exhausted/ wounded or panicked and stops to rest against the bars of one the cells. This would give the party the opportunity to either pick his pockets for the keys, grab him through the bars or some other way of getting their cell open.
At some point early on they'd find an orc that asks them to free him. They can either ignore or oblige.
From there it would become a fairly standard dungeon crawl. After a bit of exploration, a few small fights and maybe hazardous room of some kind they'd arrive at the exit where the guards (with a suitably scary captain) would be fighting off an orc war band. Several orcs, a chief and preferably a pet monster of some kind?
Then, depending on if they'd freed the orc or not, either the orcs or the guards attempt to form an alliance. Resulting in a fight with either a small but potent orc force or a badass guard captain and a few grunts.
I'd like to challenge the group's assumptions and have the orcs actually be the 'good guys'. Perhaps the orc was kidnapped, locked up and used as a bargaining tool to convince the orc chief to surrender his lands.
Does this sound like something feasible for a one shot? Is there anything I should add or take out? Also any ideas for specific monsters or encounters along the way? I was originally thinking of having them be level 5 to keep it simple but I'm open to suggestions.
Any help appreciated. If it goes well I may try DMing a campaign.
Sounds like a solid start. The escape plan is nice for several reasons. You control equipment, armor, weapons. You also can make it as straight path, or free to go any direction that you want. I will warn you about giving them limited options for escaping the cells. Players rarely (never) do the expected, so if they come with good ideas give them a chance to work. Otherwise you can waste a lot of time with them "trying" things until they figure out what you planned.
As for over all story, if you can convey that in the one-shot good. But again, it's a one shot so there is no lasting ramifications to the characters (typically). I like to ehtically challange players, but it holds more weight in a campaign.
5th level gives the players a lot of power and options. 3rd level opens most of the class options and keeps the power level down (just a thought).
Have fun, if you find out you dislike DM'ing then do a bad job, they won't ask you again. LOL
Prison breaks, as mentioned in the reply above, are tricky in D&D because players rarely (never) do the expected. They make for great stories, but it’s hard to tee it up for others to help tell. What may seem like a fairly obvious opportunity to you to grab the keys off the guard while he leans exhausted on the bars, may seem like a good opportunity to establish trust with the guard by not trying anything at that time to another player. You about have to present it as “The guard collapses in front of your cell, his keys visible on his hip. There is your ticket to freedom. How do you want to try to reach it?”
I like the “choose a side” option for them. Again, you sometimes have to make stuff crystal clear that they have to choose. To that end, I picture them walking into a room during the dungeon crawl portion of their game to find a guard and an orc, evenly matched, locked in combat. “‘Help me!’ the guard cries. Help us beat back these savages and we’ll let you go free!’ The orc counters ‘These are your jailers as well as mine! Help me rendezvous with the rest of my tribe who are fighting outside to end their tyranny. You will have your freedom. We all will!’ What do you do? Do you help either of them?”
Don't get caught up in the beginning... get caught up in the end.
Start with the type of final encounter you want. this is not prescriptive... its simply a destination that the players will most likely head towards. you have a Big bad guy - so how does he choose the terrain to make an interesting big show down. spend an evening writing (or stealing from movies and books) things you think are cool.
Cities built on floating rocks. Reversed waterfalls... they're waterups. Bizarre air currents. Big bad guy is a middle management guard/merchant/noble who has managed to get his hands on a flying carpet and a wand of magic missiles. His motivation is to get back at _____________ because ___________________________ which is tragic because ________________________________________________ Complication... the wand can "magically overheat" causing wild magic surges that will randomly mess up the physics, world, etc during the fight.
Cool. now you have some ideas as to the craziness at the end of your marathon session. combats are long (all those hit points and you;re new... so that's 2 hours for the final encounter) 6-7 hours left to scope.
That gives you 6-7 scenes, challenges, combats, etc... to work with. Work backwards. Make branching paths that are missable. As soon as you know where it starts for sure... write that down. Use index cards and headline the scene (write a short one liner). Index cards are great ccos you can swap their order around, throw away...etc. You're trying to pace 6 scenes that lead to an epic (in my example above) aerial combat with a goblin type baddie (from spiderman). he may be relatable, maybe the pcs met him. maybe the pcs inadvertently ruined his life in scene 1 cos he was a walkon NPC without a name. and then he thought to get his revenge.
Pace it so that it includes a (not in this order, all are optional, many scene types missing, you can have more than one of each): a strong unambiguous DM provided motivation social encounter exploratory / challenge calm before the storm / PC dialogue with each other minor combat / perhaps introducing the main threat optional medium combat with clear reward goals / that can be ended with intelligence early Big bad epic ending that is awesome because of setting, narrative payoff, and making the pc feel like heroes (if thats the vibe)
another ending - to beginning writing exercise (seriously no time spent doing this... free association writing): The final confrontation happens on the rooftops of a major city (waterdeep) - 3 stories high on pitched tiled roofs - chasing an escape displacer beast. Chase scene, slipping tiles, intermediary moments in attics punctuated by crashing through windows, falling between buildings onto washing lines, hay carts, trash, wedding cakes) The displacer beast is actually a well trained and loved good align pet that has been kept by some evil dude in some horrendous exotic pet. The beast has killed those that tried to kill it, in self defense, but it is terrified, manic, and hungry. Perhaps reverting to its bestial origins. It's owner, a druid, who is completely lost in a city is on the hunt but hasnt found it. The PCs are brought in A) from the druid B) investigate brutal bestial murders c) hired by exotic pet owner to capture d) hired by pet owners rival to hunt and kill Starting scene is in media res: with them instantly rolling for initiatitive chasing the creature in the dead of night. Make the DCs super high until every one falls off the roofs. Reward a crit with a clue of long term and recent abuse against the beast. In 8 hours time, they'll be back in this situation and know how hard it is to succeed... perhaps they even plan a little.
Recap... it's the ending that needs to finish strong... the start can be explosive, slow, cordial, missdirected, a dream sequence, unusual, humorous... and thats fine and well... but how you end is how your session will be remembered.
Rule for drama. Roll for memories. If there isn't a meaningful failure condition, do not roll. Ever. (Perception checks, I'm .... clunk, roll, roll, roll, stop... 14, looking at you... maybe?)
Also... prison starts - where you have nothing, are naked, with no weapons, locked up, surrounded by guards.... sigh... it's a rite of passage I suppose. But if you have any experience, after the 12th time someone thinks this is novel and subjects you to incredibly limiting options at the table (you cannot cast spells, you cannot prepare spells, you don't have a sword, your AC is 11, your HP is 20... oh look the guards out number you 10 to 1 and they have chain, and swords etc...) it gets a bit old.
If you're all new and are super excited about the idea... then got to it. Just know that they won't know what to do until they can do what it says they can do on their character sheets. "What do you mean my punch does 1hp damage?! man, this blows... we're going be punching this guy for hours.") So be sure to reunite them with their stuff - or facsimile of their stuff - super quick. If your game is played in real time like Jack Bauer in 24, note that spellcasters are at a serious disadvantage unless they get back spells on short rests.
Resting in prison escapes, or in dungeon crawls is unusual - which means no spell return. Which is why its one of the trickiest set ups to pull off well to balance.
And lastly, why give yourself the headache of removing everything from everyone (which every player is going to love... 5 levels, a couple of magical items, money and equipment and the first thing the DM does is say "you don't have any of it. you're locked in cages separately, with manacles, guards and darkness. right, tell me what you do?" to which the sane response is "I wait for my court date where I can plead my case", and having to be really attentive with dangling keys, sleepy guards, unlocked doors, loose bars, errant shivs, etc. It seems like a whole lot of work... for what exactly? Yet again... if you have an amazing alcatraz like thing planned... all power to you - D&D that starts in a pub with a wanted poster for a heap of gold is pretty solid too.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Rule for drama. Roll for memories. If there isn't a meaningful failure condition, do not roll. Ever. (Perception checks, I'm .... clunk, roll, roll, roll, stop... 14, looking at you... maybe?)
I've started playing D&D about 5 months ago and my group's DM has suggested I try running a one shot to see how I get on. The session would be a whole day, so roughly 9 hours with either 2 or 4 party members.
As the whole group is as new as I am, I thought I'd keep it simple and go with the prisoner cliché.
So far, (I've literally thought of this idea about 20 minutes ago) I'm picturing starting with them in pairs in neighbouring cells. There's some sounds of alarm or battle coming echoing from the direction of the main entrance and all guards run off in that direction.
A little while later, one of them returns either exhausted/ wounded or panicked and stops to rest against the bars of one the cells. This would give the party the opportunity to either pick his pockets for the keys, grab him through the bars or some other way of getting their cell open.
At some point early on they'd find an orc that asks them to free him. They can either ignore or oblige.
From there it would become a fairly standard dungeon crawl. After a bit of exploration, a few small fights and maybe hazardous room of some kind they'd arrive at the exit where the guards (with a suitably scary captain) would be fighting off an orc war band. Several orcs, a chief and preferably a pet monster of some kind?
Then, depending on if they'd freed the orc or not, either the orcs or the guards attempt to form an alliance. Resulting in a fight with either a small but potent orc force or a badass guard captain and a few grunts.
I'd like to challenge the group's assumptions and have the orcs actually be the 'good guys'. Perhaps the orc was kidnapped, locked up and used as a bargaining tool to convince the orc chief to surrender his lands.
Does this sound like something feasible for a one shot? Is there anything I should add or take out? Also any ideas for specific monsters or encounters along the way? I was originally thinking of having them be level 5 to keep it simple but I'm open to suggestions.
Any help appreciated. If it goes well I may try DMing a campaign.
I'm still new to DMing. But what I've learned from my first time playing with my brothers, even if you're using a module, "When in doubt, BS it". If they do something incredibly different from what you've planned, roll with it.
The reason I thought of doing the prison break concept is one of the players has some pretty severe mental health problems and is heavily medicated. D&D is starting to become part of his therapy. So complex plots with lots of moving parts will just confuse them. A prison break has a very clear, simple objective -Escape. And it would have an inherent sense of urgency to hopefully encourage quick-thinking. Complex puzzles would also cause a problem so I'm more looking at things like - the stairs are collapsing, how do you get down safely, this room is flooded/on fire. Nothing that's going to stop them in their tracks but will require a bit of thought and care.
I picture them walking into a room during the dungeon crawl portion of their game to find a guard and an orc, evenly matched, locked in combat. “‘Help me!’ the guard cries. Help us beat back these savages and we’ll let you go free!’ The orc counters ‘These are your jailers as well as mine! Help me rendezvous with the rest of my tribe who are fighting outside to end their tyranny. You will have your freedom. We all will!’ What do you do? Do you help either of them?”
I like the idea of them choosing early on between helping the guards or the orcs, that'll give them an NPC to follow/guide them. If they side with the orc and press for information, I can reveal a bit of backstory but it's not essential.
As for starting equipment, I'd definitely work in either an armoury or evidence locker to gather their equipment and possibly find some magic items very early on. Spells would be restricted by special manacles? Purely designed to stop magic users, so a half decent strength test would break them off, or the key would be on the first guard. I don't want to go down the route of making characters for them, I'll just message them before they make their characters and ask 'your character is imprisoned. Why?'
As for the end conflict, I like the idea that it depends on who they side with, if anyone. Do they heroically save the wounded guard captain from the blood-thirsty orc chieftain? Or do they help the desperate, ageing orc chief re-unite with his son, released from the clutches of the sadistic guards? This can be decided as soon as the party make that first decision. I'm trying to think of an interesting but logical place for the combat to take place rather than just 'the front gate'.
The reason I thought of doing the prison break concept is one of the players has some pretty severe mental health problems and is heavily medicated. D&D is starting to become part of his therapy. So complex plots with lots of moving parts will just confuse them. A prison break has a very clear, simple objective -Escape.
That right there is awesome. You're already a great DM, thinking of your players first. Happy to help if I can.
Okay so I've had an idea. Rather than a prison, have them be on a prisoner transport ship. Keep the orc raid but now it's a boarding action. Then the big climax can be on the boarding planks or on the rigging?
Being honest, I’m not picking up on what that would add to your idea. So they’re still starting the adventure as prisoners. But now it’s just on a ship? It seems like all it would do is detract from the dungeon crawl portion of the adventure, and possibly add the more complex ship to ship battle mechanics. It might make it easier to ”hide the ball” in regards to the orcs being the better side to choose, but I don’t think that was really a problem before.
I totally relate to the feeling of writing an adventure and getting a “gift” of inspiration, and wanting to find where it could fit into what I’m already working on, but I think it’s best to keep good ideas focused and going in a unified direction. Maybe this idea is for your next adventure.
Being honest, I’m not picking up on what that would add to your idea. So they’re still starting the adventure as prisoners. But now it’s just on a ship? It seems like all it would do is detract from the dungeon crawl portion of the adventure, and possibly add the more complex ship to ship battle mechanics. It might make it easier to ”hide the ball” in regards to the orcs being the better side to choose, but I don’t think that was really a problem before.
I totally relate to the feeling of writing an adventure and getting a “gift” of inspiration, and wanting to find where it could fit into what I’m already working on, but I think it’s best to keep good ideas focused and going in a unified direction. Maybe this idea is for your next adventure.
I see your point, thanks for the advice!
I've just got a copy of the DMG and MM, so I can give those a read before I plan anything definite. I would like to give the prison an interesting twist. Maybe do it on it's own separate island like Alcatraz. Have the final battle take place on a small dock, vary up the environment without having to run a naval battle? Mission successful when they secure a boat to the mainland. I don't want to make it too weird or confusing but still have some twists and turns.
If it doesn't get to confusing, maybe a use a prison island that is a work camp. On the "more complex" side the characters have more freedom of movement and interaction that is not linear. On the upside they will have an easier time getting "stuff", as they can choose where to go to get it. You could still do an orc attack on the island, and options to get off could be orc ship, or prison ship.
Maybe a gold or gem mine, which adds the wrinkle of the characters could potentially get away with a pile of gold or gems and come out ahead?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Everyone is the main character of their story
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I've started playing D&D about 5 months ago and my group's DM has suggested I try running a one shot to see how I get on. The session would be a whole day, so roughly 9 hours with either 2 or 4 party members.
As the whole group is as new as I am, I thought I'd keep it simple and go with the prisoner cliché.
So far, (I've literally thought of this idea about 20 minutes ago) I'm picturing starting with them in pairs in neighbouring cells. There's some sounds of alarm or battle coming echoing from the direction of the main entrance and all guards run off in that direction.
A little while later, one of them returns either exhausted/ wounded or panicked and stops to rest against the bars of one the cells. This would give the party the opportunity to either pick his pockets for the keys, grab him through the bars or some other way of getting their cell open.
At some point early on they'd find an orc that asks them to free him. They can either ignore or oblige.
From there it would become a fairly standard dungeon crawl. After a bit of exploration, a few small fights and maybe hazardous room of some kind they'd arrive at the exit where the guards (with a suitably scary captain) would be fighting off an orc war band. Several orcs, a chief and preferably a pet monster of some kind?
Then, depending on if they'd freed the orc or not, either the orcs or the guards attempt to form an alliance. Resulting in a fight with either a small but potent orc force or a badass guard captain and a few grunts.
I'd like to challenge the group's assumptions and have the orcs actually be the 'good guys'. Perhaps the orc was kidnapped, locked up and used as a bargaining tool to convince the orc chief to surrender his lands.
Does this sound like something feasible for a one shot? Is there anything I should add or take out? Also any ideas for specific monsters or encounters along the way? I was originally thinking of having them be level 5 to keep it simple but I'm open to suggestions.
Any help appreciated. If it goes well I may try DMing a campaign.
Sounds like a solid start. The escape plan is nice for several reasons. You control equipment, armor, weapons. You also can make it as straight path, or free to go any direction that you want. I will warn you about giving them limited options for escaping the cells. Players rarely (never) do the expected, so if they come with good ideas give them a chance to work. Otherwise you can waste a lot of time with them "trying" things until they figure out what you planned.
As for over all story, if you can convey that in the one-shot good. But again, it's a one shot so there is no lasting ramifications to the characters (typically). I like to ehtically challange players, but it holds more weight in a campaign.
5th level gives the players a lot of power and options. 3rd level opens most of the class options and keeps the power level down (just a thought).
Have fun, if you find out you dislike DM'ing then do a bad job, they won't ask you again. LOL
Everyone is the main character of their story
Prison breaks, as mentioned in the reply above, are tricky in D&D because players rarely (never) do the expected. They make for great stories, but it’s hard to tee it up for others to help tell. What may seem like a fairly obvious opportunity to you to grab the keys off the guard while he leans exhausted on the bars, may seem like a good opportunity to establish trust with the guard by not trying anything at that time to another player. You about have to present it as “The guard collapses in front of your cell, his keys visible on his hip. There is your ticket to freedom. How do you want to try to reach it?”
I like the “choose a side” option for them. Again, you sometimes have to make stuff crystal clear that they have to choose. To that end, I picture them walking into a room during the dungeon crawl portion of their game to find a guard and an orc, evenly matched, locked in combat. “‘Help me!’ the guard cries. Help us beat back these savages and we’ll let you go free!’ The orc counters ‘These are your jailers as well as mine! Help me rendezvous with the rest of my tribe who are fighting outside to end their tyranny. You will have your freedom. We all will!’ What do you do? Do you help either of them?”
Don't get caught up in the beginning... get caught up in the end.
Start with the type of final encounter you want. this is not prescriptive... its simply a destination that the players will most likely head towards. you have a Big bad guy - so how does he choose the terrain to make an interesting big show down. spend an evening writing (or stealing from movies and books) things you think are cool.
Cities built on floating rocks.
Reversed waterfalls... they're waterups.
Bizarre air currents.
Big bad guy is a middle management guard/merchant/noble who has managed to get his hands on a flying carpet and a wand of magic missiles.
His motivation is to get back at _____________ because ___________________________ which is tragic because ________________________________________________
Complication... the wand can "magically overheat" causing wild magic surges that will randomly mess up the physics, world, etc during the fight.
Cool. now you have some ideas as to the craziness at the end of your marathon session. combats are long (all those hit points and you;re new... so that's 2 hours for the final encounter)
6-7 hours left to scope.
That gives you 6-7 scenes, challenges, combats, etc... to work with. Work backwards. Make branching paths that are missable. As soon as you know where it starts for sure... write that down. Use index cards and headline the scene (write a short one liner). Index cards are great ccos you can swap their order around, throw away...etc. You're trying to pace 6 scenes that lead to an epic (in my example above) aerial combat with a goblin type baddie (from spiderman). he may be relatable, maybe the pcs met him. maybe the pcs inadvertently ruined his life in scene 1 cos he was a walkon NPC without a name. and then he thought to get his revenge.
Pace it so that it includes a (not in this order, all are optional, many scene types missing, you can have more than one of each):
a strong unambiguous DM provided motivation
social encounter
exploratory / challenge
calm before the storm / PC dialogue with each other
minor combat / perhaps introducing the main threat
optional medium combat with clear reward goals / that can be ended with intelligence early
Big bad epic ending that is awesome because of setting, narrative payoff, and making the pc feel like heroes (if thats the vibe)
another ending - to beginning writing exercise (seriously no time spent doing this... free association writing):
The final confrontation happens on the rooftops of a major city (waterdeep) - 3 stories high on pitched tiled roofs - chasing an escape displacer beast. Chase scene, slipping tiles, intermediary moments in attics punctuated by crashing through windows, falling between buildings onto washing lines, hay carts, trash, wedding cakes)
The displacer beast is actually a well trained and loved good align pet that has been kept by some evil dude in some horrendous exotic pet.
The beast has killed those that tried to kill it, in self defense, but it is terrified, manic, and hungry. Perhaps reverting to its bestial origins.
It's owner, a druid, who is completely lost in a city is on the hunt but hasnt found it.
The PCs are brought in A) from the druid B) investigate brutal bestial murders c) hired by exotic pet owner to capture d) hired by pet owners rival to hunt and kill
Starting scene is in media res: with them instantly rolling for initiatitive chasing the creature in the dead of night. Make the DCs super high until every one falls off the roofs. Reward a crit with a clue of long term and recent abuse against the beast. In 8 hours time, they'll be back in this situation and know how hard it is to succeed... perhaps they even plan a little.
Recap... it's the ending that needs to finish strong... the start can be explosive, slow, cordial, missdirected, a dream sequence, unusual, humorous... and thats fine and well... but how you end is how your session will be remembered.
Rule for drama. Roll for memories.
If there isn't a meaningful failure condition, do not roll. Ever. (Perception checks, I'm .... clunk, roll, roll, roll, stop... 14, looking at you... maybe?)
Also... prison starts - where you have nothing, are naked, with no weapons, locked up, surrounded by guards.... sigh... it's a rite of passage I suppose. But if you have any experience, after the 12th time someone thinks this is novel and subjects you to incredibly limiting options at the table (you cannot cast spells, you cannot prepare spells, you don't have a sword, your AC is 11, your HP is 20... oh look the guards out number you 10 to 1 and they have chain, and swords etc...) it gets a bit old.
If you're all new and are super excited about the idea... then got to it. Just know that they won't know what to do until they can do what it says they can do on their character sheets. "What do you mean my punch does 1hp damage?! man, this blows... we're going be punching this guy for hours.") So be sure to reunite them with their stuff - or facsimile of their stuff - super quick. If your game is played in real time like Jack Bauer in 24, note that spellcasters are at a serious disadvantage unless they get back spells on short rests.
Resting in prison escapes, or in dungeon crawls is unusual - which means no spell return. Which is why its one of the trickiest set ups to pull off well to balance.
And lastly, why give yourself the headache of removing everything from everyone (which every player is going to love... 5 levels, a couple of magical items, money and equipment and the first thing the DM does is say "you don't have any of it. you're locked in cages separately, with manacles, guards and darkness. right, tell me what you do?" to which the sane response is "I wait for my court date where I can plead my case", and having to be really attentive with dangling keys, sleepy guards, unlocked doors, loose bars, errant shivs, etc. It seems like a whole lot of work... for what exactly? Yet again... if you have an amazing alcatraz like thing planned... all power to you - D&D that starts in a pub with a wanted poster for a heap of gold is pretty solid too.
Rule for drama. Roll for memories.
If there isn't a meaningful failure condition, do not roll. Ever. (Perception checks, I'm .... clunk, roll, roll, roll, stop... 14, looking at you... maybe?)
I'm still new to DMing. But what I've learned from my first time playing with my brothers, even if you're using a module, "When in doubt, BS it". If they do something incredibly different from what you've planned, roll with it.
All great input.
The reason I thought of doing the prison break concept is one of the players has some pretty severe mental health problems and is heavily medicated. D&D is starting to become part of his therapy. So complex plots with lots of moving parts will just confuse them. A prison break has a very clear, simple objective -Escape. And it would have an inherent sense of urgency to hopefully encourage quick-thinking. Complex puzzles would also cause a problem so I'm more looking at things like - the stairs are collapsing, how do you get down safely, this room is flooded/on fire. Nothing that's going to stop them in their tracks but will require a bit of thought and care.
I like the idea of them choosing early on between helping the guards or the orcs, that'll give them an NPC to follow/guide them. If they side with the orc and press for information, I can reveal a bit of backstory but it's not essential.
As for starting equipment, I'd definitely work in either an armoury or evidence locker to gather their equipment and possibly find some magic items very early on. Spells would be restricted by special manacles? Purely designed to stop magic users, so a half decent strength test would break them off, or the key would be on the first guard. I don't want to go down the route of making characters for them, I'll just message them before they make their characters and ask 'your character is imprisoned. Why?'
As for the end conflict, I like the idea that it depends on who they side with, if anyone. Do they heroically save the wounded guard captain from the blood-thirsty orc chieftain? Or do they help the desperate, ageing orc chief re-unite with his son, released from the clutches of the sadistic guards? This can be decided as soon as the party make that first decision. I'm trying to think of an interesting but logical place for the combat to take place rather than just 'the front gate'.
That right there is awesome. You're already a great DM, thinking of your players first. Happy to help if I can.
Everyone is the main character of their story
Okay so I've had an idea. Rather than a prison, have them be on a prisoner transport ship. Keep the orc raid but now it's a boarding action. Then the big climax can be on the boarding planks or on the rigging?
Being honest, I’m not picking up on what that would add to your idea. So they’re still starting the adventure as prisoners. But now it’s just on a ship? It seems like all it would do is detract from the dungeon crawl portion of the adventure, and possibly add the more complex ship to ship battle mechanics. It might make it easier to ”hide the ball” in regards to the orcs being the better side to choose, but I don’t think that was really a problem before.
I totally relate to the feeling of writing an adventure and getting a “gift” of inspiration, and wanting to find where it could fit into what I’m already working on, but I think it’s best to keep good ideas focused and going in a unified direction. Maybe this idea is for your next adventure.
I see your point, thanks for the advice!
I've just got a copy of the DMG and MM, so I can give those a read before I plan anything definite. I would like to give the prison an interesting twist. Maybe do it on it's own separate island like Alcatraz. Have the final battle take place on a small dock, vary up the environment without having to run a naval battle? Mission successful when they secure a boat to the mainland. I don't want to make it too weird or confusing but still have some twists and turns.
That’s good.
If it doesn't get to confusing, maybe a use a prison island that is a work camp. On the "more complex" side the characters have more freedom of movement and interaction that is not linear. On the upside they will have an easier time getting "stuff", as they can choose where to go to get it. You could still do an orc attack on the island, and options to get off could be orc ship, or prison ship.
Maybe a gold or gem mine, which adds the wrinkle of the characters could potentially get away with a pile of gold or gems and come out ahead?
Everyone is the main character of their story