I just finished DMing Descent into Avernus for my group.
After several months of it everyone's looking for something more chill, the constant pressure and time crunch DiA had, means I'm looking for a more classic adventure. Where I can provide long periods of downtime between quests to allow crafting and character development etc.
Storm King's Thunder looks good but like there would be a tonne of custom content I'd need to prep and that kind of defeats the purposes of a pre-written adventure for me.
I've been looking into Lost Mines of Phandelver and Dragon of Icespire Peak (proceeding into higher levels with the rest of the Essentials Kit). Would you recommend these and do either of them have any good written in downtime opportunities?
I would say Ghost of Saltmarsh would be your best bet. The first two adventures make sense to be ran close together but basicaly it's just a collection of adventures with no true timeline.
GoS is mostly a pirate-esque seafaring adventure isn't it? I'm looking for more of a classic adventure where they can journey from place to place, tavern to tavern and experience the setting.
I just finished DMing Descent into Avernus for my group.
After several months of it everyone's looking for something more chill, the constant pressure and time crunch DiA had, means I'm looking for a more classic adventure. Where I can provide long periods of downtime between quests to allow crafting and character development etc.
Storm King's Thunder looks good but like there's be a tonne of custom content I'd need to prep and that kind of defeats the purposes of a pre-written adventure for me.
I've been looking into Lost Mines of Phandelver and Dragon of Icespire Peak (proceeding into higher levels with the rest of the Essentials Kit). Would you recommend these and do either of them have any good written in downtime opportunities?
Candlekeep Mysteries might be what you're looking for -- they're all set up as individual adventures, but the hooks are all tied to the library and can be run as part of a loose narrative too, and being in/around Candlekeep opens up lots of downtime research options
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
GoS is mostly a pirate-esque seafaring adventure isn't it? I'm looking for more of a classic adventure where they can journey from place to place, tavern to tavern and experience the setting.
It's sea based, not necessarily pirate. It does have you travel to a few other towns and locations, but is mostly about the town of Saltmarsh.
As mentioned above candle keep is good, or you could get tales from the yawning portal, and have them travel to each location.
Depending on what you want to do to link adventures together there are a few options ...
- Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Tales from the Yawning Portal and Candlekeep Mysteries all contain individual adventures that could be linked together into a campaign with little effort. I'm running one that started off as GoS+TfYP set in Saltmarsh as a home base but then pulling in whichever adventures made sense from a level and interest perspective. Lots of variety and no time pressure unless you want to add it.
- Dungeon of the Mad Mage - starting with the Waterdeep adventure. Waterdeep is reasonably good and the party has an inn/tavern for a base of operations by the end of it. The party can then go on adventures into the dungeon - dungeon crawling instead of hex crawling but you can do it at your own pace and if you want some variety you can throw in adventures from TfYP or CM (Some of the GoS adventures might fit as well though GoS has a linked plot for some of the adventures that might not fit that well in or near Waterdeep)
- Out of the Abyss might be an option though I don't know whether it has any time pressure elements or not.
We're running Waterdeep: Dragon Heist in a way that is pretty open world. There's the overarching "main quests" kind of stuff with the factions and the adventure itself, then I flavored in a bunch of side quests and mini-arcs; I give the PCs the equivalent of a quest log in that they can choose to have a few quests to perform however and whenever they might like. I have tee'd up a notice board of sorts whenever enough time has passed or they've cleared their log a bit to throw some new random things at them, which they can ignore or pursue.
Now, Waterdeep is just one place; you can have them go out and come back of course, but it's not quite tavern to tavern. That said: It is a huge metropolis. You can recreate the same kind of vibe just in a more small-and-tall way, while still allowing for some excursions out. And THAT sets you up for Mad Mage if you wanted to continue onward.
That said, OP, don't be afraid to homebrew a bit! It sounds like you and your PCs want something a bit more relaxed, so what you can do is go a conventional route like they met at a tavern somewhere deep into the wilds, then just throw random missions at them via a notice board or some local person. If there's an overarching theme you want to throw in - go for it, it can happen later on or just be something you develop slowly over time. If there isn't - well, not EVERYTHING is some grand epic quest that saves the world right? Sometimes it's just a series of little things that get your PCs enough gold to buy food and booze now and then.
We're running Waterdeep: Dragon Heist in a way that is pretty open world. There's the overarching "main quests" kind of stuff with the factions and the adventure itself, then I flavored in a bunch of side quests and mini-arcs; I give the PCs the equivalent of a quest log in that they can choose to have a few quests to perform however and whenever they might like. I have tee'd up a notice board of sorts whenever enough time has passed or they've cleared their log a bit to throw some new random things at them, which they can ignore or pursue.
Now, Waterdeep is just one place; you can have them go out and come back of course, but it's not quite tavern to tavern. That said: It is a huge metropolis. You can recreate the same kind of vibe just in a more small-and-tall way, while still allowing for some excursions out. And THAT sets you up for Mad Mage if you wanted to continue onward.
That said, OP, don't be afraid to homebrew a bit! It sounds like you and your PCs want something a bit more relaxed, so what you can do is go a conventional route like they met at a tavern somewhere deep into the wilds, then just throw random missions at them via a notice board or some local person. If there's an overarching theme you want to throw in - go for it, it can happen later on or just be something you develop slowly over time. If there isn't - well, not EVERYTHING is some grand epic quest that saves the world right? Sometimes it's just a series of little things that get your PCs enough gold to buy food and booze now and then.
Yeah I already ran Dragon Heist. It was in winter so they stuck to the city. I'm not the biggest fan of the module and I believe only Chapter 2 really gives any opportunity for downtime, after that shit hits the fan pretty hard and it's just a chase for the you know what
Curse of Strahd could potentially work. The party is trapped in Barovia, so there isnt anywhere to go. Strahd isn't necessarily in a rush to kill them or interfere with them. If anything, he might be more entertained if he can slowly break their spirits or try to win turn them into his servants. Although not used in alot of depth, the module also introduces an alter ego Strahd uses to walk among the commoners, allowing a method for him to interact with the party during their downtime without prompting a fight or flight response.
The main issue is that alot of materials and goods are scarce in Barovia (there isnt a very sophisticated trade setup through the Mists, except through the Vistani) so using downtime to craft items may prove more difficult than usual. Fetching rare materials could prompt the party to try and visit Castle Ravenloft for dinner, even if they are not yet prepared to face Strahd. There are also plenty of roleplay opportunities for different groups acting within Barovia (especially if you make use of some of the new groups introduce in VRGtR)
But I agree with the others, an anthology series of adventures is probably your best bet.
+1 for Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Waterdeep is a big place and you can squeeze a lot of side content into it based on what the characters have going on in their lives and stuff. The adventure has moments where they'll probably want to stay in the dungeon for a day or more, but plenty of opportunities to take a break also. In fact you might want to put some effort into making sure leaving isn't too easy. If you think your group might exploit it.
-1 for Dragon Heist. There's a ticking clock aspect to that adventure and if you ignore it, it's going to feel pretty silly.
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I just finished DMing Descent into Avernus for my group.
After several months of it everyone's looking for something more chill, the constant pressure and time crunch DiA had, means I'm looking for a more classic adventure. Where I can provide long periods of downtime between quests to allow crafting and character development etc.
Storm King's Thunder looks good but like there would be a tonne of custom content I'd need to prep and that kind of defeats the purposes of a pre-written adventure for me.
I've been looking into Lost Mines of Phandelver and Dragon of Icespire Peak (proceeding into higher levels with the rest of the Essentials Kit). Would you recommend these and do either of them have any good written in downtime opportunities?
I would say Ghost of Saltmarsh would be your best bet. The first two adventures make sense to be ran close together but basicaly it's just a collection of adventures with no true timeline.
GoS is mostly a pirate-esque seafaring adventure isn't it? I'm looking for more of a classic adventure where they can journey from place to place, tavern to tavern and experience the setting.
Candlekeep Mysteries might be what you're looking for -- they're all set up as individual adventures, but the hooks are all tied to the library and can be run as part of a loose narrative too, and being in/around Candlekeep opens up lots of downtime research options
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
It's sea based, not necessarily pirate. It does have you travel to a few other towns and locations, but is mostly about the town of Saltmarsh.
As mentioned above candle keep is good, or you could get tales from the yawning portal, and have them travel to each location.
Depending on what you want to do to link adventures together there are a few options ...
- Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Tales from the Yawning Portal and Candlekeep Mysteries all contain individual adventures that could be linked together into a campaign with little effort. I'm running one that started off as GoS+TfYP set in Saltmarsh as a home base but then pulling in whichever adventures made sense from a level and interest perspective. Lots of variety and no time pressure unless you want to add it.
- Dungeon of the Mad Mage - starting with the Waterdeep adventure. Waterdeep is reasonably good and the party has an inn/tavern for a base of operations by the end of it. The party can then go on adventures into the dungeon - dungeon crawling instead of hex crawling but you can do it at your own pace and if you want some variety you can throw in adventures from TfYP or CM (Some of the GoS adventures might fit as well though GoS has a linked plot for some of the adventures that might not fit that well in or near Waterdeep)
- Out of the Abyss might be an option though I don't know whether it has any time pressure elements or not.
We're running Waterdeep: Dragon Heist in a way that is pretty open world. There's the overarching "main quests" kind of stuff with the factions and the adventure itself, then I flavored in a bunch of side quests and mini-arcs; I give the PCs the equivalent of a quest log in that they can choose to have a few quests to perform however and whenever they might like. I have tee'd up a notice board of sorts whenever enough time has passed or they've cleared their log a bit to throw some new random things at them, which they can ignore or pursue.
Now, Waterdeep is just one place; you can have them go out and come back of course, but it's not quite tavern to tavern. That said: It is a huge metropolis. You can recreate the same kind of vibe just in a more small-and-tall way, while still allowing for some excursions out. And THAT sets you up for Mad Mage if you wanted to continue onward.
That said, OP, don't be afraid to homebrew a bit! It sounds like you and your PCs want something a bit more relaxed, so what you can do is go a conventional route like they met at a tavern somewhere deep into the wilds, then just throw random missions at them via a notice board or some local person. If there's an overarching theme you want to throw in - go for it, it can happen later on or just be something you develop slowly over time. If there isn't - well, not EVERYTHING is some grand epic quest that saves the world right? Sometimes it's just a series of little things that get your PCs enough gold to buy food and booze now and then.
Yeah I already ran Dragon Heist. It was in winter so they stuck to the city. I'm not the biggest fan of the module and I believe only Chapter 2 really gives any opportunity for downtime, after that shit hits the fan pretty hard and it's just a chase for the you know what
Curse of Strahd could potentially work. The party is trapped in Barovia, so there isnt anywhere to go. Strahd isn't necessarily in a rush to kill them or interfere with them. If anything, he might be more entertained if he can slowly break their spirits or try to win turn them into his servants. Although not used in alot of depth, the module also introduces an alter ego Strahd uses to walk among the commoners, allowing a method for him to interact with the party during their downtime without prompting a fight or flight response.
The main issue is that alot of materials and goods are scarce in Barovia (there isnt a very sophisticated trade setup through the Mists, except through the Vistani) so using downtime to craft items may prove more difficult than usual. Fetching rare materials could prompt the party to try and visit Castle Ravenloft for dinner, even if they are not yet prepared to face Strahd. There are also plenty of roleplay opportunities for different groups acting within Barovia (especially if you make use of some of the new groups introduce in VRGtR)
But I agree with the others, an anthology series of adventures is probably your best bet.
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+1 for Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Waterdeep is a big place and you can squeeze a lot of side content into it based on what the characters have going on in their lives and stuff. The adventure has moments where they'll probably want to stay in the dungeon for a day or more, but plenty of opportunities to take a break also. In fact you might want to put some effort into making sure leaving isn't too easy. If you think your group might exploit it.
-1 for Dragon Heist. There's a ticking clock aspect to that adventure and if you ignore it, it's going to feel pretty silly.