I have a small group of novice players with very limited time to play. I'm looking for a one-shot adventure or a longer adventure with manageable short chapters. I'm thinking of a city adventure with multiple means to reach the goal - not just combat, but trickery, stealth, and subterfuge. Outline of characters so far:
Changeling rogue who goes disguised as a dragonborn (including if he can, his own group). He prefers finding ways through tough situations using his head, guile, and shapechanging. The player is a young player and I don't want to overwhelm him with combat.
Dhampir ranger with wolf. She's a bounty hunter and would rather ambush and fight than talk her way out of situations. The player tires easily with dialogue and would rather simply dive into the task - preferably a fight and the more fighting the better. The player is my wife and plays more to entertain me than out of enjoyment for herself. She doesn't really know the rules and prefers being walked through applicable rules as we play.
The third player still hasn't come up with a character nor has much experience with the game. I don't anticipate he's going to delve much into the rules. So, I'm probably going to suggest he play a barbarian, monk, or fighter with manageable special actions and special qualities.
Any suggestions would be most appreciated. I'm especially interested in pre-fabbed 5th edition, but can delve into Pathfinder/3.5 and some 4th. The main thing I want to do is give the group a nice solid (but not overwhelming) entry into the game. I don't have preference for any particular setting.
I only play 5e so that's all I can recommend. I think Waterdeep Dragon Heist is perfect - IMO it's not too complicated for both players and DMs and it's pretty fun too.
Lost Mine of Phandelver is fun, and easily divisible into "bite size" sessions of 3-4 hours or less. Comes with, I think, 4 dungeons, including the finale, which may take two sessions, at least one overland session, an optional dragon, a small town, multiple side quests, interesting npcs, and tons of room for you to customize to your taste.
Lost Mine of Phandelver is fun, and easily divisible into "bite size" sessions of 3-4 hours or less. Comes with, I think, 4 dungeons, including the finale, which may take two sessions, at least one overland session, an optional dragon, a small town, multiple side quests, interesting npcs, and tons of room for you to customize to your taste.
Got to second this. It's a solid introduction, and could easily be followed by a modified Dragon of Icespire Peak.
Though I will say that unless you are willing to make some edits or restrict characters to PHB then some of the challenges and obstacles could be affected by the balance. For example one of the areas has a river...can your Dhampir cross running water? Could be an issue if they can't.
I have a small group of novice players with very limited time to play. I'm looking for a one-shot adventure or a longer adventure with manageable short chapters. I'm thinking of a city adventure with multiple means to reach the goal - not just combat, but trickery, stealth, and subterfuge. Outline of characters so far:
Changeling rogue who goes disguised as a dragonborn (including if he can, his own group). He prefers finding ways through tough situations using his head, guile, and shapechanging. The player is a young player and I don't want to overwhelm him with combat.
Dhampir ranger with wolf. She's a bounty hunter and would rather ambush and fight than talk her way out of situations. The player tires easily with dialogue and would rather simply dive into the task - preferably a fight and the more fighting the better. The player is my wife and plays more to entertain me than out of enjoyment for herself. She doesn't really know the rules and prefers being walked through applicable rules as we play.
The third player still hasn't come up with a character nor has much experience with the game. I don't anticipate he's going to delve much into the rules. So, I'm probably going to suggest he play a barbarian, monk, or fighter with manageable special actions and special qualities.
Any suggestions would be most appreciated. I'm especially interested in pre-fabbed 5th edition, but can delve into Pathfinder/3.5 and some 4th. The main thing I want to do is give the group a nice solid (but not overwhelming) entry into the game. I don't have preference for any particular setting.
Thanks in advance.
I only play 5e so that's all I can recommend. I think Waterdeep Dragon Heist is perfect - IMO it's not too complicated for both players and DMs and it's pretty fun too.
If anybody would like my GMing playlists
battles: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2mRp57MBAz9ZsVpw895IzZ?si=243bee43442a4703
exploration: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0qk0aKm5yI4K6VrlcaKrDj?si=81057bef509043f3
town/tavern: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/49JSv1kK0bUyQ9LVpKmZlr?si=a88b1dd9bab54111
character deaths: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6k7WhylJEjSqWC0pBuAtFD?si=3e897fa2a2dd469e
Lost Mine of Phandelver is fun, and easily divisible into "bite size" sessions of 3-4 hours or less. Comes with, I think, 4 dungeons, including the finale, which may take two sessions, at least one overland session, an optional dragon, a small town, multiple side quests, interesting npcs, and tons of room for you to customize to your taste.
Got to second this. It's a solid introduction, and could easily be followed by a modified Dragon of Icespire Peak.
Though I will say that unless you are willing to make some edits or restrict characters to PHB then some of the challenges and obstacles could be affected by the balance. For example one of the areas has a river...can your Dhampir cross running water? Could be an issue if they can't.
DM session planning template - My version of maps for 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' - Send your party to The Circus - Other DM Resources - Maps, Tokens, Quests - 'Better' Player Character Injury Tables?
Actor, Writer, Director & Teacher by day - GM/DM in my off hours.