I am running the LMoP with the pre-made character, and I noticed that the adventure book doesn't always follow-up on the character background. I want to really give them all a character arc, but it's not super clear where I should start. I figured I would share what I have thus far for other DM, and you guys can share what you did too?
1) The halfling rogue : He was a Redbrand, but somehow got betrayed and chased out of town. Glasstaff wants his life, but no one knows why.
TLDR: One of the member stole a treasure, Glasstaff thinks its him. He wants it back.
Who set him up and how? The dude drunk off is ass cheating at the dice game in the social room of the hideout set him up to steal one of Glasstaff's treasure. He will have a key to a special locker found in the armory, well hidden, in which there's a hat of disguise (my player said he wanted a hat, and somehow all shops are sold out of hat, lol). If interrogated, he will divulge the location of the safe. Otherwise, the safe can be found with an investigation check DC 15. I'm going to play him as a little higher ranked than the others and give him a bit more HP. He will command them to attack the traitor, but an insight check of some sort could allow our party to know he knows something more. He's afraid. Hes afraid that our Rogue will tell Glasstaff that he never stole anything, and that he will then figure out the identity or the real traitor.
Playing the game: As soon as he gets to town, the rogue should be trying to conceal his identity. He is essentially wanted by the mafia. If he doesn't, you can run the Redbrand encounter rigth away. But I want to be kind, so i prepared an NPC, an old friend from the gang, walk up to him and tell him in theive's cant that he shouldn't in town, surely Glasstaff will learn of this. (I made him another halfing that talks like a high school gamer boy.) This dude truly beleives that the rogue is guilty. If the rogue questions him a bit longer, he could find out information about who betrayed him. Shit like "When (betrayor's name) told Glasstaff what you did, he was furious. Apparently, that treasure was really important to him. "
Alternative/bonus scenario: Let's say our halflling hides well and doesn't use the inn, instead prefering to sleep at his aunt's farm, when Glasstaff learns about his presence, he could kidnap his cousin, leaving a letter that saying that he wants his treasure back. If you're playing with the polite and formal Glasstaff personality, make the letter match this. "You are cordially invited for a lovely evening or exchanges at Tresendar Manor..." or something like that.
Interacting with Glasstaff: If GS seems him, he will ask him "Oh, have you came to return what you stole from me?" or something like that.
2) The noble fighter: He wants to civilize and rule over Phandalin. Likes money too.
This one is less straightforward. It's not clear what kind of claim the character has to rule over Phandalin. Any feedback is great here.
TLDR: Halia Thornton uses him to take over the town. He must then take it back.
Set up : At the inn, have someone say something around the lines of "Town Master Harbin is a bumbling baffoon. It's a good thing that Halia Thornton is here, let me tell you that. I don't know what we'd do without her." This helps presents Halia as a good person.
Step by step:
a. Redbrand: When the players are looking for the Redbrand hideout, they find out that the Miner's exchange works a bit like a municipal governement. They keep all the reccords of the mines and have access to archives. Halia pulls the old blueprint of Tresenday Manor and tells them how to access the basement (the normal path). When she asks them for the head of GS, she makes sure to tell them to be weary not to hurt the ruffians too bad. If the rogue is with you, she can look at him when she says something like, "most of them are just poor boys caught in a bad situation."
b. When they return with Glasstaff's head, she notices the noble's signet ring and tell him he might have claim to the land. She says that if only she could authenticate a scroll of pedigree, they could get rid of that awful town master once and for all. She doesn't need the scroll just yet, but she sets up the idea.
c. when they finally learn the location of Echo Cave : For me, this is after Crawmaw castle. By then, she's setting up shop in the old Redbrand hideout, trying to "rehabilitate" the "poor boys". She'll ask for the location of the cave so she can enter it to the Rockseeker's name.
d. after Echo Cave, she now has a firm grasp on the city. She used her cash to upgrade th Redbrands' equipement and uses them as law-enforcement. Ruffians are now Knights or something level appropriate. She can rule fairly or with an iron fist, as you see please. She can say something like "I should really thank you, adventurers. You've taken down the bandit, gave me the scroll and cleared the mine for me. My plans to take over this town fell in place 5 years ahead of schedule."
e. How to resolve this? I don't know just yet. I'm thinking of making him travel to his birth place to find proof of his lineage. In my campaign, I don't have the folk hero, so I'll use the Thundertree mission for this. The dragon will be guarding what he needs. Alternatively, Halia might want to wed our noble and rule with him. If so, I might make him travel to Thundertree for a proposal gift. lol
FLAW: I'm not doing anything with the Great axe... that's unfortunate. His bond is : "My greataxe is a family heirloom, and it’s by far my most precious possession."
3) Dwarf Cleric: She is the cousin of the Rockseeker brothers.
I'll add something here later.
Problem: - There's basically no mention of 2 out of 3 Rockseeker brothers throughout the story. Makes sense that our dwarf cares about finding Tharden and Nundro as well. - It's not clear why the character sheet mentions Daran Edermath. Are they old friends? Maybe Edermath could be a doppelganger?
I see this character as wanting to regain his rank to protect the people. He could be made the chief of the phandalin forces.
i think it's great that you want to help your players develop their characters and have more in-depth arcs, but it does seem that you're writing it for them, instead of it coming up semi-organically through play. the first step would be to talk with your players and figure what all do they want from the game. you can't prep for everything and maybe your players do something that is drastically different from what you had planned.
anyways--maybe the greataxe has the noble's families' crest carve/inscribed on it. maybe the town hall has an old tapestry hung in it that was recovered and restored, that was from phandolin in the good-old-wave echo cave days, that has the "old version" of the crest. maybe in thundertree, there's this super shiny, gold-gilded book, that's literally just a history book on old family crests/the newer versions, that they can use to prove their lineage.
i would assume daran edermath to be a family friend--maybe phandolin is the rockseeker's hometown? (talk to your player about this). from what i can tell from lmop, tharden and nundro went ahead of gundren to wave echo cave. could be a family rivalry? then they promptly got themselves killed. maybe your dwarven character knows about this and just wants to check up on her cousins and is suspicious of gundren.
these are just my thoughts! i'm currently running lmop as well, but my players made up their own characters.
remember to be flexible with your plans, be able to improvise, and talk with your players! good luck!
I used LMoP to start a duet campaign for my 8yo. He was really keen on playing a ranger, so we made that happen. And since that’s not a class in the starter kit, I introduced rangers as a sort of Green Lantern Corps that works for a distant elf king on another continent. His ranger is in charge of keeping an eye on Neverwinter, investigating and intervening strange activity. I give my son room to help me create the backstory for his ranger and I use that to develop the kings agenda.
The king has other allies he (I) can dispatch for hooks. For instance this is how I use NPC and provided characters. I used one of the fighters as a character sent by the king to protect Gundren and the secrets of Phandelver. When Gundren went missing, the fighter sought the ranger out for help. Now the fighter acts as a sidekick for my son. I also developed Sildar Hallwinter into a sidekick using one of the other pre-gen fighter stat blocks.
What I like LMoP is that it gives you a taste of a larger world to use as you see fit. So the first fighter I mentioned has allegiance to the Lord’s Alliance, but believes the king to be the best chance for peace on the Sword Coast. Sildar has become a political rival for Harbin Wester. Daran Edermath knows of the king and of the Ranger Corps and provides counsel to the party. And my character has successfully turned Tresendar Manor into a school for the Redbrand Ruffians.
Currently we are running Dragon of Icespire Peak and the Ruffians are being prepped to provide security and aid to Phandalin as Cryovain stalks the Sword Coast. Maybe this a lot, especially for a duet campaign. But it’s actually been pretty awesome, especially COVID-19. We even do a little D&D math to work out the economics of running Tresendar Manor. The key for us has been following the players’ passion and running the adventure with the rule of cool. You’ve got a stellar hook. I say just get playing!
Good morning fellow DMs,
I am running the LMoP with the pre-made character, and I noticed that the adventure book doesn't always follow-up on the character background. I want to really give them all a character arc, but it's not super clear where I should start. I figured I would share what I have thus far for other DM, and you guys can share what you did too?
1) The halfling rogue : He was a Redbrand, but somehow got betrayed and chased out of town. Glasstaff wants his life, but no one knows why.
TLDR: One of the member stole a treasure, Glasstaff thinks its him. He wants it back.
Who set him up and how? The dude drunk off is ass cheating at the dice game in the social room of the hideout set him up to steal one of Glasstaff's treasure. He will have a key to a special locker found in the armory, well hidden, in which there's a hat of disguise (my player said he wanted a hat, and somehow all shops are sold out of hat, lol). If interrogated, he will divulge the location of the safe. Otherwise, the safe can be found with an investigation check DC 15. I'm going to play him as a little higher ranked than the others and give him a bit more HP. He will command them to attack the traitor, but an insight check of some sort could allow our party to know he knows something more. He's afraid. Hes afraid that our Rogue will tell Glasstaff that he never stole anything, and that he will then figure out the identity or the real traitor.
Playing the game: As soon as he gets to town, the rogue should be trying to conceal his identity. He is essentially wanted by the mafia. If he doesn't, you can run the Redbrand encounter rigth away. But I want to be kind, so i prepared an NPC, an old friend from the gang, walk up to him and tell him in theive's cant that he shouldn't in town, surely Glasstaff will learn of this. (I made him another halfing that talks like a high school gamer boy.) This dude truly beleives that the rogue is guilty. If the rogue questions him a bit longer, he could find out information about who betrayed him. Shit like "When (betrayor's name) told Glasstaff what you did, he was furious. Apparently, that treasure was really important to him. "
Alternative/bonus scenario: Let's say our halflling hides well and doesn't use the inn, instead prefering to sleep at his aunt's farm, when Glasstaff learns about his presence, he could kidnap his cousin, leaving a letter that saying that he wants his treasure back. If you're playing with the polite and formal Glasstaff personality, make the letter match this. "You are cordially invited for a lovely evening or exchanges at Tresendar Manor..." or something like that.
Interacting with Glasstaff: If GS seems him, he will ask him "Oh, have you came to return what you stole from me?" or something like that.
2) The noble fighter: He wants to civilize and rule over Phandalin. Likes money too.
This one is less straightforward. It's not clear what kind of claim the character has to rule over Phandalin. Any feedback is great here.
TLDR: Halia Thornton uses him to take over the town. He must then take it back.
Set up : At the inn, have someone say something around the lines of "Town Master Harbin is a bumbling baffoon. It's a good thing that Halia Thornton is here, let me tell you that. I don't know what we'd do without her." This helps presents Halia as a good person.
Step by step:
a. Redbrand: When the players are looking for the Redbrand hideout, they find out that the Miner's exchange works a bit like a municipal governement. They keep all the reccords of the mines and have access to archives. Halia pulls the old blueprint of Tresenday Manor and tells them how to access the basement (the normal path). When she asks them for the head of GS, she makes sure to tell them to be weary not to hurt the ruffians too bad. If the rogue is with you, she can look at him when she says something like, "most of them are just poor boys caught in a bad situation."
b. When they return with Glasstaff's head, she notices the noble's signet ring and tell him he might have claim to the land. She says that if only she could authenticate a scroll of pedigree, they could get rid of that awful town master once and for all. She doesn't need the scroll just yet, but she sets up the idea.
c. when they finally learn the location of Echo Cave : For me, this is after Crawmaw castle. By then, she's setting up shop in the old Redbrand hideout, trying to "rehabilitate" the "poor boys". She'll ask for the location of the cave so she can enter it to the Rockseeker's name.
d. after Echo Cave, she now has a firm grasp on the city. She used her cash to upgrade th Redbrands' equipement and uses them as law-enforcement. Ruffians are now Knights or something level appropriate. She can rule fairly or with an iron fist, as you see please. She can say something like "I should really thank you, adventurers. You've taken down the bandit, gave me the scroll and cleared the mine for me. My plans to take over this town fell in place 5 years ahead of schedule."
e. How to resolve this? I don't know just yet. I'm thinking of making him travel to his birth place to find proof of his lineage. In my campaign, I don't have the folk hero, so I'll use the Thundertree mission for this. The dragon will be guarding what he needs. Alternatively, Halia might want to wed our noble and rule with him. If so, I might make him travel to Thundertree for a proposal gift. lol
FLAW: I'm not doing anything with the Great axe... that's unfortunate. His bond is : "My greataxe is a family heirloom, and it’s by far my most precious possession."
3) Dwarf Cleric: She is the cousin of the Rockseeker brothers.
I'll add something here later.
Problem:
- There's basically no mention of 2 out of 3 Rockseeker brothers throughout the story. Makes sense that our dwarf cares about finding Tharden and Nundro as well.
- It's not clear why the character sheet mentions Daran Edermath. Are they old friends? Maybe Edermath could be a doppelganger?
I see this character as wanting to regain his rank to protect the people. He could be made the chief of the phandalin forces.
i think it's great that you want to help your players develop their characters and have more in-depth arcs, but it does seem that you're writing it for them, instead of it coming up semi-organically through play. the first step would be to talk with your players and figure what all do they want from the game. you can't prep for everything and maybe your players do something that is drastically different from what you had planned.
anyways--maybe the greataxe has the noble's families' crest carve/inscribed on it. maybe the town hall has an old tapestry hung in it that was recovered and restored, that was from phandolin in the good-old-wave echo cave days, that has the "old version" of the crest. maybe in thundertree, there's this super shiny, gold-gilded book, that's literally just a history book on old family crests/the newer versions, that they can use to prove their lineage.
i would assume daran edermath to be a family friend--maybe phandolin is the rockseeker's hometown? (talk to your player about this). from what i can tell from lmop, tharden and nundro went ahead of gundren to wave echo cave. could be a family rivalry? then they promptly got themselves killed. maybe your dwarven character knows about this and just wants to check up on her cousins and is suspicious of gundren.
these are just my thoughts! i'm currently running lmop as well, but my players made up their own characters.
remember to be flexible with your plans, be able to improvise, and talk with your players! good luck!
I used LMoP to start a duet campaign for my 8yo. He was really keen on playing a ranger, so we made that happen. And since that’s not a class in the starter kit, I introduced rangers as a sort of Green Lantern Corps that works for a distant elf king on another continent. His ranger is in charge of keeping an eye on Neverwinter, investigating and intervening strange activity. I give my son room to help me create the backstory for his ranger and I use that to develop the kings agenda.
The king has other allies he (I) can dispatch for hooks. For instance this is how I use NPC and provided characters. I used one of the fighters as a character sent by the king to protect Gundren and the secrets of Phandelver. When Gundren went missing, the fighter sought the ranger out for help. Now the fighter acts as a sidekick for my son. I also developed Sildar Hallwinter into a sidekick using one of the other pre-gen fighter stat blocks.
What I like LMoP is that it gives you a taste of a larger world to use as you see fit. So the first fighter I mentioned has allegiance to the Lord’s Alliance, but believes the king to be the best chance for peace on the Sword Coast. Sildar has become a political rival for Harbin Wester. Daran Edermath knows of the king and of the Ranger Corps and provides counsel to the party. And my character has successfully turned Tresendar Manor into a school for the Redbrand Ruffians.
Currently we are running Dragon of Icespire Peak and the Ruffians are being prepped to provide security and aid to Phandalin as Cryovain stalks the Sword Coast. Maybe this a lot, especially for a duet campaign. But it’s actually been pretty awesome, especially COVID-19. We even do a little D&D math to work out the economics of running Tresendar Manor. The key for us has been following the players’ passion and running the adventure with the rule of cool. You’ve got a stellar hook. I say just get playing!
I really dig this greataxe piece!