I was recently approached by a co-worker eager to try out D&D after hearing about all the shenanigans my players get up to. She has about 4 or 5 other eager people in mind. Thing is, we're all overseas for our company with expected return dates in December. Plus, as I mentioned, I'm already running my regular campaign through Roll20 at odd hours because of the time difference. What I'm ideally looking for is a solid module that is kind to beginners and takes roughly 3 months to complete. I've already purchased all of the 5e adventures (apparently I'm a dragon when it comes to hoarding adventure modules) so I would like to use those if possible. The ones I'm considering are Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Dragon of Icespire Peak, Lost Mine of Phandelver (I've run that one before), and possibly Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. A small, devious part of me wants to run them through Curse of Strahd, but I don't think we have enough time for that one.
I'm interested in any recommendations or suggestions you all might have. Thanks!
I am new to DMing but maybe Tales of the Yawning Portal an adventure can run from 3 or 4 sessions and its diverse enough to have something that most people will like. If you are looking for something maybe a little quicker I would suggest 5th Edition Adventure: The Mortality of Green by Stephan Chenault. This gives you multiple ways an adventure can go but allows for the illusion of freedom of choice for the players.
Also, check out some of the Encounter's of the week like the Idle Champions Presents Encounters which string together five or six encounters for a short themed adventure.
What parts of your stories did she respond to the most and which modules offers the best scope for that experience? If she likes the idea of RP or exploration more than combat, Phandelver and Icespire are built with all three pillars in mind. The oldest stuff in Saltmarsh and TYP are just old fashioned dungeon crawls, focused on combat and traps (That said, the U-series in Saltmarsh has a surprising amount of scope).
I am new to DMing but maybe Tales of the Yawning Portal an adventure can run from 3 or 4 sessions and its diverse enough to have something that most people will like. If you are looking for something maybe a little quicker I would suggest 5th Edition Adventure: The Mortality of Green by Stephan Chenault. This gives you multiple ways an adventure can go but allows for the illusion of freedom of choice for the players.
I would paticularly advise the sunless citadel, for levels 1-3. With a party of almost entirely noobs it took a few weeks and it didn't go horribly. Its in tales from the yawning portal
Thanks for all the suggestions guys. You all really came through. I completely forgot about the adventures from Tales of the Yawning Portal. To answer the question about what she responds to the most, I think probably RP with a little bit of combat woven in. They've been watching Critical Role, so I will have to make sure session 0 focuses on them being aware that they are just as much a part of the story-telling as the DM. That and I'm no Matt Mercer, lol.
I'm thinking that we'll have anywhere from 10 to 12 weekly sessions at around 3 hours a pop. With that in mind, I'm leaning towards Phandelver or Icespire. I've run LMoP before which means I know the material but I'm kind of keen on figuring out Icespire. I'm the type of person who likes to order something new when I go to my favorite restaurants, lol. We'll see if that ends up biting me later on.
Icespire gives you a nice set of quests, but it falls a bit short within Phandalin itself but owning Lost Mines will help a lot to flesh out the village. Also the dragon roaming around gives it a nice motivator to drive the players forward, but with 5 players the dragon may be a bit weak. Be prepared to add a few Kobold servants to soften up the group before they hit the beast.
Thanks for all the suggestions guys. You all really came through. I completely forgot about the adventures from Tales of the Yawning Portal. To answer the question about what she responds to the most, I think probably RP with a little bit of combat woven in. They've been watching Critical Role, so I will have to make sure session 0 focuses on them being aware that they are just as much a part of the story-telling as the DM. That and I'm no Matt Mercer, lol.
I'm thinking that we'll have anywhere from 10 to 12 weekly sessions at around 3 hours a pop. With that in mind, I'm leaning towards Phandelver or Icespire. I've run LMoP before which means I know the material but I'm kind of keen on figuring out Icespire. I'm the type of person who likes to order something new when I go to my favorite restaurants, lol. We'll see if that ends up biting me later on.
Good luck! I never played Lost Mines, I hope your group has fun. One of the hardest things for a DM (in my experience) is to be sure that you're providing the best experience for new players at your table. Looks like you've got that covered.
Icespire gives you a nice set of quests, but it falls a bit short within Phandalin itself but owning Lost Mines will help a lot to flesh out the village. Also the dragon roaming around gives it a nice motivator to drive the players forward, but with 5 players the dragon may be a bit weak. Be prepared to add a few Kobold servants to soften up the group before they hit the beast.
I do like the idea of having a dragon roaming around. It gives it an air of urgency and danger that I think Phandalin misses. When I ran LMoP before, my group wanted to explore and go places that weren't in the module and, not wanting to curb their enthusiasm, I often let them. Of course, we didn't have the calendar looming over us at the time so there was no rush.
And I will probably have to throw some of those Kobold servants in. My regular group is six people, so I generally tend to feel like some monsters aren't as hard for them - especially if they're fully rested.
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Hi Fellow DMs,
I was recently approached by a co-worker eager to try out D&D after hearing about all the shenanigans my players get up to. She has about 4 or 5 other eager people in mind. Thing is, we're all overseas for our company with expected return dates in December. Plus, as I mentioned, I'm already running my regular campaign through Roll20 at odd hours because of the time difference. What I'm ideally looking for is a solid module that is kind to beginners and takes roughly 3 months to complete. I've already purchased all of the 5e adventures (apparently I'm a dragon when it comes to hoarding adventure modules) so I would like to use those if possible. The ones I'm considering are Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Dragon of Icespire Peak, Lost Mine of Phandelver (I've run that one before), and possibly Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. A small, devious part of me wants to run them through Curse of Strahd, but I don't think we have enough time for that one.
I'm interested in any recommendations or suggestions you all might have. Thanks!
I am new to DMing but maybe Tales of the Yawning Portal an adventure can run from 3 or 4 sessions and its diverse enough to have something that most people will like. If you are looking for something maybe a little quicker I would suggest 5th Edition Adventure: The Mortality of Green by Stephan Chenault. This gives you multiple ways an adventure can go but allows for the illusion of freedom of choice for the players.
Some of the source books also include beginners adventures.
Attack: [roll]3d20dl2+6[/roll] Damage: [roll](if([roll:-1:critical], =0, 1d8, 2{1d8}.expand()))+4[/roll] Sneakattack: [roll](if([roll:-2:critical], =0, 2d6, 2{2d6}.expand()))[/roll]Also, check out some of the Encounter's of the week like the Idle Champions Presents Encounters which string together five or six encounters for a short themed adventure.
Example: https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/691-idle-champions-presents-trouble-at-breezy-hills starts off a five-part adventure.
Don’t forget these:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/wa/frozen-sick
https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/751-wildemount-dark-star
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
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What parts of your stories did she respond to the most and which modules offers the best scope for that experience? If she likes the idea of RP or exploration more than combat, Phandelver and Icespire are built with all three pillars in mind. The oldest stuff in Saltmarsh and TYP are just old fashioned dungeon crawls, focused on combat and traps (That said, the U-series in Saltmarsh has a surprising amount of scope).
I would paticularly advise the sunless citadel, for levels 1-3. With a party of almost entirely noobs it took a few weeks and it didn't go horribly. Its in tales from the yawning portal
Proud poster on the Create a World thread
Thanks for all the suggestions guys. You all really came through. I completely forgot about the adventures from Tales of the Yawning Portal. To answer the question about what she responds to the most, I think probably RP with a little bit of combat woven in. They've been watching Critical Role, so I will have to make sure session 0 focuses on them being aware that they are just as much a part of the story-telling as the DM. That and I'm no Matt Mercer, lol.
I'm thinking that we'll have anywhere from 10 to 12 weekly sessions at around 3 hours a pop. With that in mind, I'm leaning towards Phandelver or Icespire. I've run LMoP before which means I know the material but I'm kind of keen on figuring out Icespire. I'm the type of person who likes to order something new when I go to my favorite restaurants, lol. We'll see if that ends up biting me later on.
Icespire gives you a nice set of quests, but it falls a bit short within Phandalin itself but owning Lost Mines will help a lot to flesh out the village. Also the dragon roaming around gives it a nice motivator to drive the players forward, but with 5 players the dragon may be a bit weak. Be prepared to add a few Kobold servants to soften up the group before they hit the beast.
Attack: [roll]3d20dl2+6[/roll] Damage: [roll](if([roll:-1:critical], =0, 1d8, 2{1d8}.expand()))+4[/roll] Sneakattack: [roll](if([roll:-2:critical], =0, 2d6, 2{2d6}.expand()))[/roll]Good luck! I never played Lost Mines, I hope your group has fun. One of the hardest things for a DM (in my experience) is to be sure that you're providing the best experience for new players at your table. Looks like you've got that covered.
Proud poster on the Create a World thread
I do like the idea of having a dragon roaming around. It gives it an air of urgency and danger that I think Phandalin misses. When I ran LMoP before, my group wanted to explore and go places that weren't in the module and, not wanting to curb their enthusiasm, I often let them. Of course, we didn't have the calendar looming over us at the time so there was no rush.
And I will probably have to throw some of those Kobold servants in. My regular group is six people, so I generally tend to feel like some monsters aren't as hard for them - especially if they're fully rested.