So I have played tons of 1st and 2nd Ed modules. They were always 1-3 or 5-7 or 10-14 levels, etc. Some may have been part of a series as well, but still a narrow span of levels were covered. Now after a bit of a break (smile) I'm getting into 5e (great revision) and it looks like if I start off a band of characters and buy "Curse of Strahd" or "Baldurs Gate" for example, this will span half their adventuring career from 1-10 or 1-13 level. So now I guess they loose out on every other potential adventure? Or am I missing something? Like 5e advances waaay faster than 2e and the players keep creating new PC's? Or these modules provide great range in player level challenges to allow a mix of low, medium or high groups?
These adventures are way bigger than the old modules. They're more of an adventure path, or a complete campaign arc. You can feel free to add your own stuff in.
These are assumed to be the entire campaign beginning to end. The level ranges are where the characters start and where they end. So from a point of view, you could say they miss out on other adventures. Often, I think people play them through and then start a whole new campaign with new characters. A level 1-20 campaign is quite rare these days.
Also leveling is very different now. In those editions, characters with the same number of xp would be different levels (at 2,000, if I remember right, a rogue would be level 3, a fighter just hit 2 and a magic user was still 1). Now everyone at the same xp is the same level, so a range isn’t as needed.
If your players went face to face with Archduchess Zariel of Avernus in Baldur's Gate, they probably won't take Strahd seriously anymore.
The other way round? Well, they may have beaten a vampire lord, but are they ready to face hell itself?
You cannot chain the adventures indefinitely, but something like "LmoP -> CoS-> BG:DiA" could make for an epic campaign from level 1-20.
Although you will likely have to scale the first few encounters in Baldur's Gate up a bit. Or allow your PCs to actually enjoy their new found strength by cutting through bandits and cultists like a knife cuts through butter.
Often, I think people play them through and then start a whole new campaign with new characters. A level 1-20 campaign is quite rare these days.
Was a level 1-20 campaign ever not rare, really? I know with my friends, I'm fairly sure we never got out of the single digits in pen and paper (although we did max out playing NWN co-op). Lots of times we got to level 7 or 8, switched to another game system like Champions, and when we came back we wanted to start new characters at level 1.
Making up characters is, unfortunately, just too much fun in a game like D&D.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Often, I think people play them through and then start a whole new campaign with new characters. A level 1-20 campaign is quite rare these days.
Was a level 1-20 campaign ever not rare, really? I know with my friends, I'm fairly sure we never got out of the single digits in pen and paper (although we did max out playing NWN co-op). Lots of times we got to level 7 or 8, switched to another game system like Champions, and when we came back we wanted to start new characters at level 1.
Making up characters is, unfortunately, just too much fun in a game like D&D.
Good point. Characters died so much in those 1e days, and middle schoolers (like I was at the time) don't really have much the best attention spans even for the ones that lived. About the only way to do 1-20 involved cheating.
As mentioned, the books sold for 5e aren't modules, they are campaigns. Each chapter of these is typically one or more modules. In the case of Ghosts of Salt Marsh, each chapter is based on a previously published module and most have an aquatic theme that you could tie together into a campaign. Tales from the Yawning Portal is a collection of dungeon modules that will each advance characters a couple of levels. If your group likes dungeons you can even base an entire campaign around linking the dungeons in TftYP. Curse of Strahd, Tomb of Annihilation, Descent into Avernus, Out of the Abyss etc are all wide story arc campaigns with specific themes and setting. There is typically enough content in each to advance characters from level 1 to somewhere in the low to mid teens. Waterdeep Dragon Heist + Dungeon of the Mad Mage will take characters from 1-20 but DotMM is an extensive dungeon crawl for levels 5-20 which would challenge even the most dedicated dungeon aficionado.
I've played Tomb of Annihilation and it was a lot of fun. The party went from level 1 to level 12ish by the end of the tomb but it took over a year and a half playing a 4-5 hour session once every 2 weeks. We didn't play all of the ToA content but the DM supplemented with some of the Guild Adept content for ToA from DMs Guild to liven up the deep jungle a bit :)
The DMs Guild website contains a lot of self published modules as well as the Adventurers League modules. Each of these are much smaller but some of them, especially the AL ones, can be linked together into a campaign. https://www.dmsguild.com/
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So I have played tons of 1st and 2nd Ed modules. They were always 1-3 or 5-7 or 10-14 levels, etc. Some may have been part of a series as well, but still a narrow span of levels were covered. Now after a bit of a break (smile) I'm getting into 5e (great revision) and it looks like if I start off a band of characters and buy "Curse of Strahd" or "Baldurs Gate" for example, this will span half their adventuring career from 1-10 or 1-13 level. So now I guess they loose out on every other potential adventure? Or am I missing something? Like 5e advances waaay faster than 2e and the players keep creating new PC's? Or these modules provide great range in player level challenges to allow a mix of low, medium or high groups?
These adventures are way bigger than the old modules. They're more of an adventure path, or a complete campaign arc. You can feel free to add your own stuff in.
The old adventures were called "modules" for a reason -- they were meant to be modular. These new ones really... aren't.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
These are assumed to be the entire campaign beginning to end. The level ranges are where the characters start and where they end. So from a point of view, you could say they miss out on other adventures.
Often, I think people play them through and then start a whole new campaign with new characters. A level 1-20 campaign is quite rare these days.
Also leveling is very different now. In those editions, characters with the same number of xp would be different levels (at 2,000, if I remember right, a rogue would be level 3, a fighter just hit 2 and a magic user was still 1). Now everyone at the same xp is the same level, so a range isn’t as needed.
For example, Castle Ravenloft is probably similar total size to the original (though much higher word count), but it's only around 20% of the book.
It depends on the module you start with.
If your players went face to face with Archduchess Zariel of Avernus in Baldur's Gate, they probably won't take Strahd seriously anymore.
The other way round? Well, they may have beaten a vampire lord, but are they ready to face hell itself?
You cannot chain the adventures indefinitely, but something like "LmoP -> CoS-> BG:DiA" could make for an epic campaign from level 1-20.
Although you will likely have to scale the first few encounters in Baldur's Gate up a bit. Or allow your PCs to actually enjoy their new found strength by cutting through bandits and cultists like a knife cuts through butter.
Was a level 1-20 campaign ever not rare, really? I know with my friends, I'm fairly sure we never got out of the single digits in pen and paper (although we did max out playing NWN co-op). Lots of times we got to level 7 or 8, switched to another game system like Champions, and when we came back we wanted to start new characters at level 1.
Making up characters is, unfortunately, just too much fun in a game like D&D.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Good point. Characters died so much in those 1e days, and middle schoolers (like I was at the time) don't really have much the best attention spans even for the ones that lived. About the only way to do 1-20 involved cheating.
As mentioned, the books sold for 5e aren't modules, they are campaigns. Each chapter of these is typically one or more modules. In the case of Ghosts of Salt Marsh, each chapter is based on a previously published module and most have an aquatic theme that you could tie together into a campaign. Tales from the Yawning Portal is a collection of dungeon modules that will each advance characters a couple of levels. If your group likes dungeons you can even base an entire campaign around linking the dungeons in TftYP. Curse of Strahd, Tomb of Annihilation, Descent into Avernus, Out of the Abyss etc are all wide story arc campaigns with specific themes and setting. There is typically enough content in each to advance characters from level 1 to somewhere in the low to mid teens. Waterdeep Dragon Heist + Dungeon of the Mad Mage will take characters from 1-20 but DotMM is an extensive dungeon crawl for levels 5-20 which would challenge even the most dedicated dungeon aficionado.
I've played Tomb of Annihilation and it was a lot of fun. The party went from level 1 to level 12ish by the end of the tomb but it took over a year and a half playing a 4-5 hour session once every 2 weeks. We didn't play all of the ToA content but the DM supplemented with some of the Guild Adept content for ToA from DMs Guild to liven up the deep jungle a bit :)
The DMs Guild website contains a lot of self published modules as well as the Adventurers League modules. Each of these are much smaller but some of them, especially the AL ones, can be linked together into a campaign. https://www.dmsguild.com/