New DM here, only on my 15th session or so. But it's going okay so far.
We started out with LMOP, and started to move on to Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. Long story short, our group structure got disrupted temporarily and we needed a short side-quest before the PCs got to Waterdeep. I used Reidoth from LMOP (and his tie-in to the Emerald Enclave) as a hook for a messy, undercooked, but conceptually solid -- and pretty fun, at least for my group -- adventure I got off Dungeon Master's Guild: The Lair of Elaacrimalicros. In Lair, the PCs help the last remaining High Forest Aarakockra enclave liberate themselves from the tyranny of the ancient green dragon, Elaacrimalicros, who has over the centuries hunted nearly all of them down.
Anyway, the module itself isn't amazing but it was definitely good enough (particularly for a home brew) for me to work around and modify into something entertaining for my group. And I give the author credit: the core idea is really strong. That, and the fact that it's centered on the Aarakockra and we have an Aarakockra PC, was the reason I chose it. As it turned out, it's been an awesome time. And a great way to create some sense of history and backstory for the Aarakockra PC without forcing any dumb "sitting around the campfire / so, tell me about yourself" scenes.
It made me wonder, what other short modules (3-5 sessions) are both fun, and a great way to create history and backstory for my PCs? Any recommendations? We have
A morally ambiguous, spoiled rich kid paladin, who's desperate for the approval of his father, a very wealthy Lord. (His backstory's the best developed, without a doubt, as the player's a naturally good roleplayer...)
A sexually deviant tiefling warlock (Pact of the Fiend).
A dwarven barbarian (Path of the Ancestors) who's sort of a strong silent-type / simpleton.
A dragonborn drunken monk.
Any recommendations on fun modules to take a look at? I'm really trying to hit that "fun side-quest" / develops a PC's backstory sweet spot.
For the Barbarian you may want to look into Hammon Eggs -- a questionable title for a well written module available from the Dungeon Master's Guild. The barbarians are human, but I don't see why it wouldn't work with very minor modifications. I just finished a variation of this adapted to my homebrew campaign world and the players really enjoyed it. What level are your PCs?
Hey y'all,
New DM here, only on my 15th session or so. But it's going okay so far.
We started out with LMOP, and started to move on to Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. Long story short, our group structure got disrupted temporarily and we needed a short side-quest before the PCs got to Waterdeep. I used Reidoth from LMOP (and his tie-in to the Emerald Enclave) as a hook for a messy, undercooked, but conceptually solid -- and pretty fun, at least for my group -- adventure I got off Dungeon Master's Guild: The Lair of Elaacrimalicros. In Lair, the PCs help the last remaining High Forest Aarakockra enclave liberate themselves from the tyranny of the ancient green dragon, Elaacrimalicros, who has over the centuries hunted nearly all of them down.
Anyway, the module itself isn't amazing but it was definitely good enough (particularly for a home brew) for me to work around and modify into something entertaining for my group. And I give the author credit: the core idea is really strong. That, and the fact that it's centered on the Aarakockra and we have an Aarakockra PC, was the reason I chose it. As it turned out, it's been an awesome time. And a great way to create some sense of history and backstory for the Aarakockra PC without forcing any dumb "sitting around the campfire / so, tell me about yourself" scenes.
It made me wonder, what other short modules (3-5 sessions) are both fun, and a great way to create history and backstory for my PCs? Any recommendations? We have
Any recommendations on fun modules to take a look at? I'm really trying to hit that "fun side-quest" / develops a PC's backstory sweet spot.
For the Barbarian you may want to look into Hammon Eggs -- a questionable title for a well written module available from the Dungeon Master's Guild. The barbarians are human, but I don't see why it wouldn't work with very minor modifications. I just finished a variation of this adapted to my homebrew campaign world and the players really enjoyed it.
What level are your PCs?
Thanks for this!! Exactly the kind of advice I was looking for. I'll definitely check Hammon Eggs out.
PC's are all around level 6 right now, but I've gotten pretty comfortable with scaling-up and scaling-down challenges.
This is really good, thanks again!