My group is now knee deep in the Lost Mines campaign and I’m wondering how best to follow it up. All new players and I’m a new DM but everyone seems really engaged thus far. I’ve considered expanding into the Storm Coast and going home brew backed by source material from the SWAG but am open to a more structured adventure. Any suggestions from the more experienced folks out there?
Think about a cool theme, pick monsters that go with that, see in what kind of environments those monsters live.... make up a story/reasons to tie it all together.
Unless you have a rough idea of what kind of theme you want there is little concrete advice/suggestions anyone can give.
Maybe tale of their exploits has reached far across the land, enticing the ear of an ambitious lord with an agenda, so he sends an emissary with a job offer
Storm King's Thunder has specific directions for using it as a follow-up to Lost Mine of Phandelver. Basically, you skip the first chapter and have them start the next chapter at level 5.
I had my PCs whisked away by the mists to Barovia (Curse of Strahd) after LMoP, and now they're back and in the middle of SKT.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
That’s really useful, thanks. Any preference between CoS and SKT? I’ve read pretty good things about the former.
Both are fun, it will depend on your style of play. Do you players want a horror element to the story, or more of a kick down the door and fight some giants?
If you are playing, and enjoying LMoP I would suggest SKT, I personally feel it has a similar flow. But changing tones can help get players off balance which leads to good horror.
I found Princes of the Apocalypse very easy to merge with Lost Mines. They take place in the same general area. I made the Spellforge the location the elemental weapons were forged (which is what burned it out). The Black Spider was an apprentice of Vizeran DeVir, tasked with guarding mine and researching whether the Spellforge could be restored.
SKT is a good follow up and I was planning on using that to follow up but another hook from LMoP got picked up and led to me changing direction. Visiting Thundertree the party got into a verbal confrontation with the cultists and left with "unfinished business" before taking on and defeating Venomfang which led to me deciding to make more of dragon cults and move instead on to the Tyranny of Dragons campaign with Hoard of the Dragon Queen, when they return from Wave Echo Cave, things might not be that pleasant...
Ultimately the next direction can be built off of events from within LMoP depending on what sort of things has carried out. There was a point earlier on where a couple of random encounters with undead had me also toying with going on a more horror flow before the dragon angle became a bit too big to overlook for me! Another thing to do could be to look into the characters backgrounds to see what sort of arc is appropriate. If you want to take them exploring far off realms for example Tomb of Annihilation could be the best option.
Of course, this is just looking at premade adventures, ultimately it depends on how comfortable you are with the homebrew ideas, what sort of hooks have you been given that you're thinking of working with?
In my game, I decided the Forge of Spells was actually a long-lost part of the Vonindod that the fire giants are trying to rebuild.
The PCs made a deal with Nezznar (The black spider) who was seeking the Forge for an "unnamed client". He agreed to leave the mines and Phandalin in exchange for the PCs retrieving and giving him the forge. He also paid them for their help.
Nezznar then took the Forge of Spells to Triboar where was going to hand it over to his contact. The PCs went their separate way to Thundertree.
After returning from Barovia, the PCs discovered a month of time had passed in Faerun. The attack on Triboar had already happened with the Vonindod piece sought by the giants being the forge of spells. Now the PCs have been tasked with tracking the fire giants and getting the forge back so it can finally be delivered to the "buyer" and everyone can get paid.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
CoS is a well-written adventure, but it's drastically different in tone. I wouldn't use as a follow-up to LMoP unless your players are into gothic horror (or can be convinced).
As someone who's played and later read through SKT, I personally don't recommend it. Fights with giants can be fun, but the plot has a number of major structural problems and whole sections of the adventure seem aimless, potentially requiring a lot of effort on your part to paper over the holes. Also, the tie-in with LMoP amounts to "here's how to get the PCs to this location" and not "here's how to get the PCs interested in a plot involving giants."
If you're looking for a more natural follow-up, I would do as others have suggested and make the Black Spider the pawn of a greater enemy. One obvious option is to tie it into a Drow-centric storyline, as there's a considerable amount of lore on the Drow and the Underdark to draw upon. But he could also easily be the minion of many other kinds of foes.
I would also suggest making note of the elements of LMoP that your players enjoyed and using these as guidelines when crafting a new campaign.
CoS is a well-written adventure, but it's drastically different in tone. I wouldn't use as a follow-up to LMoP unless your players are into gothic horror (or can be convinced).
As someone who's played and later read through SKT, I personally don't recommend it. Fights with giants can be fun, but the plot has a number of major structural problems and whole sections of the adventure seem aimless, potentially requiring a lot of effort on your part to paper over the holes. Also, the tie-in with LMoP amounts to "here's how to get the PCs to this location" and not "here's how to get the PCs interested in a plot involving giants."
If you're looking for a more natural follow-up, I would do as others have suggested and make the Black Spider the pawn of a greater enemy. One obvious option is to tie it into a Drow-centric storyline, as there's a considerable amount of lore on the Drow and the Underdark to draw upon. But he could also easily be the minion of many other kinds of foes.
I would also suggest making note of the elements of LMoP that your players enjoyed and using these as guidelines when crafting a new campaign.
Thanks a lot. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for the party’s play style and preferences as the story continues. CoS may be too much of a shock to the system at his point.
In my game, I decided the Forge of Spells was actually a long-lost part of the Vonindod that the fire giants are trying to rebuild.
The PCs made a deal with Nezznar (The black spider) who was seeking the Forge for an "unnamed client". He agreed to leave the mines and Phandalin in exchange for the PCs retrieving and giving him the forge. He also paid them for their help.
Nezznar then took the Forge of Spells to Triboar where was going to hand it over to his contact. The PCs went their separate way to Thundertree.
After returning from Barovia, the PCs discovered a month of time had passed in Faerun. The attack on Triboar had already happened with the Vonindod piece sought by the giants being the forge of spells. Now the PCs have been tasked with tracking the fire giants and getting the forge back so it can finally be delivered to the "buyer" and everyone can get paid.
Sounds like a pretty good transition over to the new quest line. It seems like the Spellforge, the Black Spider, and Venomfang all seem like interesting segways into future quests. I’ve thought about getting my PCs back to a major urban area: Neverwinter, Waterdeep, etc. and hitting them with a lot of hooks. I think they might enjoy the change of pace.
@polydwarf: Definitely. My PCs spent over a week in Neverwinter doing downtown activities. I had them hear rumours about all the giant attacks around the north. I had a rival adventuring party bring a giant head to the city, and the authorities used speak with dead to question it. Then the PCs and three other adventuring parties were called before Lord Neverember who told them about the death of Queen Neri, and said that the group who could successfully find a way to quell the coming Giant civil war (fix the ordning?) would be rewarded with land, titles, and gold.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
I would suggest trying to homebrew using the dragon cultists as a plot hook or even using The Red wizard(Old owl well quest) which could be an interesting twist but it kinda undermines the actual plot but whatever you do you.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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My group is now knee deep in the Lost Mines campaign and I’m wondering how best to follow it up. All new players and I’m a new DM but everyone seems really engaged thus far. I’ve considered expanding into the Storm Coast and going home brew backed by source material from the SWAG but am open to a more structured adventure. Any suggestions from the more experienced folks out there?
Think about a cool theme, pick monsters that go with that, see in what kind of environments those monsters live.... make up a story/reasons to tie it all together.
Unless you have a rough idea of what kind of theme you want there is little concrete advice/suggestions anyone can give.
Maybe tale of their exploits has reached far across the land, enticing the ear of an ambitious lord with an agenda, so he sends an emissary with a job offer
Storm King's Thunder has specific directions for using it as a follow-up to Lost Mine of Phandelver. Basically, you skip the first chapter and have them start the next chapter at level 5.
I had my PCs whisked away by the mists to Barovia (Curse of Strahd) after LMoP, and now they're back and in the middle of SKT.
You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
That’s really useful, thanks. Any preference between CoS and SKT? I’ve read pretty good things about the former.
I found Princes of the Apocalypse very easy to merge with Lost Mines. They take place in the same general area. I made the Spellforge the location the elemental weapons were forged (which is what burned it out). The Black Spider was an apprentice of Vizeran DeVir, tasked with guarding mine and researching whether the Spellforge could be restored.
SKT is a good follow up and I was planning on using that to follow up but another hook from LMoP got picked up and led to me changing direction. Visiting Thundertree the party got into a verbal confrontation with the cultists and left with "unfinished business" before taking on and defeating Venomfang which led to me deciding to make more of dragon cults and move instead on to the Tyranny of Dragons campaign with Hoard of the Dragon Queen, when they return from Wave Echo Cave, things might not be that pleasant...
Ultimately the next direction can be built off of events from within LMoP depending on what sort of things has carried out. There was a point earlier on where a couple of random encounters with undead had me also toying with going on a more horror flow before the dragon angle became a bit too big to overlook for me! Another thing to do could be to look into the characters backgrounds to see what sort of arc is appropriate. If you want to take them exploring far off realms for example Tomb of Annihilation could be the best option.
Of course, this is just looking at premade adventures, ultimately it depends on how comfortable you are with the homebrew ideas, what sort of hooks have you been given that you're thinking of working with?
In my game, I decided the Forge of Spells was actually a long-lost part of the Vonindod that the fire giants are trying to rebuild.
The PCs made a deal with Nezznar (The black spider) who was seeking the Forge for an "unnamed client". He agreed to leave the mines and Phandalin in exchange for the PCs retrieving and giving him the forge. He also paid them for their help.
Nezznar then took the Forge of Spells to Triboar where was going to hand it over to his contact. The PCs went their separate way to Thundertree.
After returning from Barovia, the PCs discovered a month of time had passed in Faerun. The attack on Triboar had already happened with the Vonindod piece sought by the giants being the forge of spells. Now the PCs have been tasked with tracking the fire giants and getting the forge back so it can finally be delivered to the "buyer" and everyone can get paid.
You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
CoS is a well-written adventure, but it's drastically different in tone. I wouldn't use as a follow-up to LMoP unless your players are into gothic horror (or can be convinced).
As someone who's played and later read through SKT, I personally don't recommend it. Fights with giants can be fun, but the plot has a number of major structural problems and whole sections of the adventure seem aimless, potentially requiring a lot of effort on your part to paper over the holes. Also, the tie-in with LMoP amounts to "here's how to get the PCs to this location" and not "here's how to get the PCs interested in a plot involving giants."
If you're looking for a more natural follow-up, I would do as others have suggested and make the Black Spider the pawn of a greater enemy. One obvious option is to tie it into a Drow-centric storyline, as there's a considerable amount of lore on the Drow and the Underdark to draw upon. But he could also easily be the minion of many other kinds of foes.
I would also suggest making note of the elements of LMoP that your players enjoyed and using these as guidelines when crafting a new campaign.
If you want some info on SKT before deciding whether or not to buy it, check out the two blog articles below.
http://thecampaign20xx.blogspot.com/2016/08/dungeons-dragons-guide-to-storm-kings.html
http://slyflourish.com/getting_the_most_out_of_skt.html
You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
@polydwarf: Definitely. My PCs spent over a week in Neverwinter doing downtown activities. I had them hear rumours about all the giant attacks around the north. I had a rival adventuring party bring a giant head to the city, and the authorities used speak with dead to question it. Then the PCs and three other adventuring parties were called before Lord Neverember who told them about the death of Queen Neri, and said that the group who could successfully find a way to quell the coming Giant civil war (fix the ordning?) would be rewarded with land, titles, and gold.
You don't OWN your books on DDB: WotC can change them any time. What do you think will happen when OneD&D comes out?
I would suggest trying to homebrew using the dragon cultists as a plot hook or even using The Red wizard(Old owl well quest) which could be an interesting twist but it kinda undermines the actual plot but whatever you do you.