If this is the wrong place for this please let me know and I will change it :). I'm running a one-shot for people in my local game group (Dungeons and Dragons of the South Bay so if you're part of them look away!) and I was hoping someone could read it over and let me know if I need to make any changes. I've only ran a handful of games for my friends so this will be the first time running a game for strangers and let's just say I'm EXTREMELY nervous. With my friends I feel ok messing up but with strangers I feel I need to be polished, especially since it will be a first time experience for some players (I don't want to scare them away).
I wrote it with the intent to start off with some RP, have a small battle so the new players can get accustomed to the battle system, a little exploration (just a few choices of paths they can take) , and end with a big battle that involves two NPC groups clashing which should give the PC's a chance to escape. I also left room so I can pause at times and explain things for the new players. The game will have all wizard characters and so I brought down the attack power of some enemies a bit ( I don't want them all to die at once :p). I inlcuded links to the document I created for the one shot and the map I will be creating for it. Any critiques are welcome! I'd rather be torn to shreds here so I don't cause any bad associations of Dnd in new players minds.
Is it explained in the document why it’s an all wizard adventure? I promise I’ll read it, but just before I do I wanted to address that much. That alone seems like something to be avoided. No one will get in the thick of any fights, and if they do, the enemies will have to be so weak as to be not worth engaging or the players will fall left and right. If it’s to be a lot of new people, but you wanted to introduce the magic use mechanics, maybe Cleric would be a better class to focus on. That way you get some people who could be more tanky depending on what domain they are, and others could focus on a wide variety of spells or support roles.
Thank you for your response help! The players are supposed to be from a magic school visiting the City of Brass but they get kidnapped by Azer thigs trying to sell them into slavery. They escape and are on the run trying to catch their bus before it takes off at 3PM. I really dumbed down the enemies because of how squishy the wizards are but I can always dumb them down some more.
OK, so what I read is an adventure that doesn’t feel very connected to your premise, which was the Wizard School Trip. The other big potential problem I see is not a lot of opportunity for these wizards to use any spells.
My suggestion is that they get dropped off in the morning with allowance money and sent around looking for souvenirs as school trip kids always do when they have an allowance. That can satisfy the RP portion of this introductory session between haggling prices, making intelligence checks to identify things, or whatever other shenanigans they want to engage in. But they’re asked to make perception checks every so often, where a success means they notice one or two of their schoolmates has disappeared. A high enough check, or enough successful checks and they actually see the kidnapping take place. Now they know a group is snatching up their schoolmates. Now they have a choice. Try to track the kidnappers to rescue their classmates (Which requires skill checks or spells) or devise a plan to act as bait, and catch these guys in the act, or maybe to just be wary and try to reach the bus on time with or without their classmates.
If they choose the last option, the kidnappers will try to snatch them up soon anyway, and they have a chance to use spells or fight whether they meant to or not. You can have the warehouse as a location for rescuing their classmates or as a final showdown if they got snatched by surprise or by losing the fight. (That’s when they wake up in the cages). I’d recommend the boxes have some loot or usable goodies in them that happen to get spilled into visibility if not searched for. Their classmates are in cages as well. Some tied up. Some still unconscious. Some too far from any boxes to mage hand anything to themselves. Maybe have the PCs spellbooks and a variety of spell components within reach of a mage hand and let them pull together what they need to cast the 1st level spell from their book that they know that could free them. This would feel almost puzzle-like to new players, even though it’s really straightforward. If they aren’t connecting the dots, one of their classmates who is too far to mage hand anything shares that if they could get some materials, they would cast a spell and if they know anything useful, to please get what they need to cast it.
I think they should choose whether to fight their way out or try to sneak out, but their goal is still to get to the bus either way..
Anyway, that’s what I’d do with a learning game for an all wizard party on a field trip adventure with kidnappers.
Hello all,
If this is the wrong place for this please let me know and I will change it :). I'm running a one-shot for people in my local game group (Dungeons and Dragons of the South Bay so if you're part of them look away!) and I was hoping someone could read it over and let me know if I need to make any changes. I've only ran a handful of games for my friends so this will be the first time running a game for strangers and let's just say I'm EXTREMELY nervous. With my friends I feel ok messing up but with strangers I feel I need to be polished, especially since it will be a first time experience for some players (I don't want to scare them away).
I wrote it with the intent to start off with some RP, have a small battle so the new players can get accustomed to the battle system, a little exploration (just a few choices of paths they can take) , and end with a big battle that involves two NPC groups clashing which should give the PC's a chance to escape. I also left room so I can pause at times and explain things for the new players. The game will have all wizard characters and so I brought down the attack power of some enemies a bit ( I don't want them all to die at once :p). I inlcuded links to the document I created for the one shot and the map I will be creating for it. Any critiques are welcome! I'd rather be torn to shreds here so I don't cause any bad associations of Dnd in new players minds.
The one shot:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j_u4ZynX5VFObje__EvOnAIbBNyTvASaQfmxt5pdEZs/edit?usp=drivesdk
The map I'm creating on a Chessex Megamat:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/2W1mSWS5jZfvvrUj7
Thank you again for any help :)
Is it explained in the document why it’s an all wizard adventure? I promise I’ll read it, but just before I do I wanted to address that much. That alone seems like something to be avoided. No one will get in the thick of any fights, and if they do, the enemies will have to be so weak as to be not worth engaging or the players will fall left and right. If it’s to be a lot of new people, but you wanted to introduce the magic use mechanics, maybe Cleric would be a better class to focus on. That way you get some people who could be more tanky depending on what domain they are, and others could focus on a wide variety of spells or support roles.
Hi Kcbcollier,
Thank you for your response help! The players are supposed to be from a magic school visiting the City of Brass but they get kidnapped by Azer thigs trying to sell them into slavery. They escape and are on the run trying to catch their bus before it takes off at 3PM. I really dumbed down the enemies because of how squishy the wizards are but I can always dumb them down some more.
OK, so what I read is an adventure that doesn’t feel very connected to your premise, which was the Wizard School Trip. The other big potential problem I see is not a lot of opportunity for these wizards to use any spells.
My suggestion is that they get dropped off in the morning with allowance money and sent around looking for souvenirs as school trip kids always do when they have an allowance. That can satisfy the RP portion of this introductory session between haggling prices, making intelligence checks to identify things, or whatever other shenanigans they want to engage in. But they’re asked to make perception checks every so often, where a success means they notice one or two of their schoolmates has disappeared. A high enough check, or enough successful checks and they actually see the kidnapping take place. Now they know a group is snatching up their schoolmates. Now they have a choice. Try to track the kidnappers to rescue their classmates (Which requires skill checks or spells) or devise a plan to act as bait, and catch these guys in the act, or maybe to just be wary and try to reach the bus on time with or without their classmates.
If they choose the last option, the kidnappers will try to snatch them up soon anyway, and they have a chance to use spells or fight whether they meant to or not. You can have the warehouse as a location for rescuing their classmates or as a final showdown if they got snatched by surprise or by losing the fight. (That’s when they wake up in the cages). I’d recommend the boxes have some loot or usable goodies in them that happen to get spilled into visibility if not searched for. Their classmates are in cages as well. Some tied up. Some still unconscious. Some too far from any boxes to mage hand anything to themselves. Maybe have the PCs spellbooks and a variety of spell components within reach of a mage hand and let them pull together what they need to cast the 1st level spell from their book that they know that could free them. This would feel almost puzzle-like to new players, even though it’s really straightforward. If they aren’t connecting the dots, one of their classmates who is too far to mage hand anything shares that if they could get some materials, they would cast a spell and if they know anything useful, to please get what they need to cast it.
I think they should choose whether to fight their way out or try to sneak out, but their goal is still to get to the bus either way..
Anyway, that’s what I’d do with a learning game for an all wizard party on a field trip adventure with kidnappers.
Thank you for your feedback ! It gives me a lot to think about. I'm going to go back and rework some things 👍🏼