I'm looking for some recommendations for premade adventures to run for my group. I've already run Lost Mine of Phandelver with half of my group so I don't want to repeat and I'm reading as a possible adventure Tomb Of Annihilation (I've written another post on that asking for advice) but I'm struggling with where whole chapters are vague notes and you can only hope the players come with the right decisions or understanding to follow the plot along even though there is not much neon pointing sign the DM can flash to the party to keep them on track. I'm thinking of Tales from the Yawning Portal adventures as an alternative but I wanted to see if there are any other to recommend.
Yeah, Dragon Heist is fun. Are there any specific worlds that you are wanting to stick to? ex: Forgotten Realms, Eberron, etc.
If not, Storm King is very good and so is Curse of Strahd (although it is notoriously difficult to run)
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I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
Yeah, Dragon Heist is fun. Are there any specific worlds that you are wanting to stick to? ex: Forgotten Realms, Eberron, etc.
If not, Storm King is very good and so is Curse of Strahd (although it is notoriously difficult to run)
I'm running Curse of Strahd Right now, and I would not say it is difficult to run, though it is certainly difficult for the players to survive. It is a very deadly adventure, but that is by design. Not a good one for newer players.
I ran Storm Kings Thunder as my first module, I would give it a recommendation, just know that the middle part can drag a bit and may need some DM intervention to keep things interesting/going. But I would say that it is a pretty good adventure for newer players, everyone can kind of do what they want to do character wise.
DO NOT DO the Tyranny of Dragons modules, they are simultaneously hard for the DM to run and not a great experience for players to play.
I've ran Lost Mines of Phindelver. I am currently running both Dragon of Icespire Peak, and Storm Lord's Wrath. You can try the last two.
I've been looking at Icespire how long is the adventure? I'm assuming not that long given it part of the 'Essential Box' or does it have the depth of Lost Mine.
I ran Dragons of Ice Spear Peak ... it took the characters to level 7 after defeating the dragon. I had to be careful with the balance of some of the low level encounters and had to increase the difficulty substantially of some of the higher level encounters for the specific party. The deluxe essentials kit includes three more follow on modules designed to take the characters to level 11. Overall, DoIP seems to have more content than Phandelver but it is very much set up to accommodate newer players with a clearly defined "quest" structure.
I have played Tomb of Annihilation and it is a really good sandbox. However, much of the content is spread around the edges of Chult which, with the travel times required and the inherent time line of the death curse makes it difficult or impossible to actually do all the content within the time line outlined by the module so you just let the players choose which direction to go and let them find what they find. There are some very good Guild Adept modules that fit in very well with ToA but one of the best aspects of these is that they introduce a greater proportion of magic items. ToA has very few magic items of any sort. The odds of even having a magical weapon that is appropriate to your character by the end of the adventure are extremely small unless the DM decides to add them since they are not in the module. The same goes for most other magic items that might drop. (I played a rogue/warlock and was relying on improved pact weapon at level 12 in order to do magical damage ... not a single magical bow was found in ToA). Finally, the jungle travel is dominated by random encounters between destinations and gets both a bit slow and very slow experience once you are in tier 2 ... unless the DM adds in content in the deep jungle. (Overall, it was a great adventure though).
I am currently running Ghosts of Saltmarsh + Tales from the Yawning Portal. Using Saltmarsh as the base for the characters, they have options to either progress the Saltmarsh storyline, explore a dungeon from TfYP that I have placed in the general region of Saltmarsh or whatever they like. I started with the party meeting while sailing on a ship to Saltmarsh, all heading to this fishing/trading center for their own reasons but making friends on the ship and forming bonds while defending the ship from a Sahaugin attack. After landing in Saltmarsh, the ship owner had heard of their actions from the captain and approached them about investigating an haunted house (Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh). The next day a representative of the Hucrele family approached them to see if they would be interested in helping them discover what happened to their missing children who fancied themselves adventurers and had been overdue to return from their current adventure for a couple of weeks (Sunless Citadel). The party decided that the possible rescue mission might be more urgent but also promised to investigate the house ... at the moment they are in Sunless Citadel. In any case, for a somewhat more experienced DM, I find the wide mix of adventures that the combination of Saltmarsh and TfYP provide can be the basis for a decent and more flexible campaign if that is what you are looking for ..
Finally, I am also currently running Curse of Strahd. Only a couple of sessions in but we'll see how it goes. This one seems like the most challenging so far to run well. There are a lot of threads and the characters don't know very much to start with. There are also a lot of setting limitations on purchasing goods and supplies as well as the general economy which players may not grasp immediately if they are used to just walking into a shop and buying anything they want like armor/weapons/supplies etc. However, CoS is reasonably well written, there appears to be a "preferred" path through the content but the odds are good that your players will not stick to it so they could run into something that is more challenging than expected. Also, CoS is supposed to run to level 10, but some of the encounters may not be much of a challenge for a party of level 7-8 characters in the later game. Strahd is supposed to be an almost invincible seeming foe but with some luck a 7-8 party with the right items or tactics might be able to defeat him .. so, when having Strahd confront and "play with his food" it is better to do that earlier rather than later.
Anyway, of the options I've tried, I currently like Ghosts of Saltmarsh + Tales from the Yawning Portal as the most flexible campaign like combination of content.
It's funny you mention Ghosts of Saltmarsh + Tales from the Yawning Portal as I was just looking through those two books and I agree the melding of the two could definitely create some good adventures without getting too deep into the major campaign books. I am also looking at Dragons of Ice Spear Peak and may give that a ride for my players and then look at the post-adventures on DnDBeyond. The one thing I plan on doing it running the Encounter Builder before each session to make sure the battles are not overtly easy to deal with, I like a medium to a hard challenge so if it looks like cakewalk of a battle I may make the necessary adjustments to the players do not get bored.
It's funny you mention Ghosts of Saltmarsh + Tales from the Yawning Portal as I was just looking through those two books and I agree the melding of the two could definitely create some good adventures without getting too deep into the major campaign books. I am also looking at Dragons of Ice Spear Peak and may give that a ride for my players and then look at the post-adventures on DnDBeyond. The one thing I plan on doing it running the Encounter Builder before each session to make sure the battles are not overtly easy to deal with, I like a medium to a hard challenge so if it looks like cakewalk of a battle I may make the necessary adjustments to the players do not get bored.
One thing to keep in mind is that magic items and character optimization play a roll in encounter balance that may not be captured by the encounter builder. Kobold fight club is a cool web site for estimating encounter difficulty.
It's funny you mention Ghosts of Saltmarsh + Tales from the Yawning Portal as I was just looking through those two books and I agree the melding of the two could definitely create some good adventures without getting too deep into the major campaign books. I am also looking at Dragons of Ice Spear Peak and may give that a ride for my players and then look at the post-adventures on DnDBeyond. The one thing I plan on doing it running the Encounter Builder before each session to make sure the battles are not overtly easy to deal with, I like a medium to a hard challenge so if it looks like cakewalk of a battle I may make the necessary adjustments to the players do not get bored.
One thing to keep in mind is that magic items and character optimization play a roll in encounter balance that may not be captured by the encounter builder. Kobold fight club is a cool web site for estimating encounter difficulty.
Curious. I'm familiar with Kobold Fight Club but what difference does it have to the Beyond Encounter Builder?
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I'm looking for some recommendations for premade adventures to run for my group. I've already run Lost Mine of Phandelver with half of my group so I don't want to repeat and I'm reading as a possible adventure Tomb Of Annihilation (I've written another post on that asking for advice) but I'm struggling with where whole chapters are vague notes and you can only hope the players come with the right decisions or understanding to follow the plot along even though there is not much neon pointing sign the DM can flash to the party to keep them on track. I'm thinking of Tales from the Yawning Portal adventures as an alternative but I wanted to see if there are any other to recommend.
Waterdeep: Dragon Heist is a lot of fun, I'm playing through it now.
Yeah, Dragon Heist is fun. Are there any specific worlds that you are wanting to stick to? ex: Forgotten Realms, Eberron, etc.
If not, Storm King is very good and so is Curse of Strahd (although it is notoriously difficult to run)
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
- Litany Against Fear, Frank Herbert
I'm running Curse of Strahd Right now, and I would not say it is difficult to run, though it is certainly difficult for the players to survive. It is a very deadly adventure, but that is by design. Not a good one for newer players.
I ran Storm Kings Thunder as my first module, I would give it a recommendation, just know that the middle part can drag a bit and may need some DM intervention to keep things interesting/going. But I would say that it is a pretty good adventure for newer players, everyone can kind of do what they want to do character wise.
DO NOT DO the Tyranny of Dragons modules, they are simultaneously hard for the DM to run and not a great experience for players to play.
There's also good content on the DM's Guild.
I like M. T. Black a lot, for example.
https://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/198501
https://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/254172
More Interesting Lock Picking Rules
I've ran Lost Mines of Phindelver. I am currently running both Dragon of Icespire Peak, and Storm Lord's Wrath. You can try the last two.
I've been looking at Icespire how long is the adventure? I'm assuming not that long given it part of the 'Essential Box' or does it have the depth of Lost Mine.
Well if you think to buy one search in The DMGuild for the bundle 😁
You will get great stuff that will help you bring it to life and use your creativity
To make it your adventure for your groups 😇
(yes, I use the same adventure on multiple groups and its never the same) 😏
Peace be with you friend.
Which ones would you recommend?
I run Princes of the Apocalypse
And used both
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/188187/A-Guide-to-Princes-of-the-Apocalypse?filters=45474
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/186847/DMs-Kit-Defenders-of-the-Dessarin-Valley?src=hottest_filtered&filters=45474
As the major power I used Talona and Zuggtmoy (b/c the original Elemental Evil)
Not drow powers 👀
Peace be with you friend.
Thanks for the suggestion!
I ran Dragons of Ice Spear Peak ... it took the characters to level 7 after defeating the dragon. I had to be careful with the balance of some of the low level encounters and had to increase the difficulty substantially of some of the higher level encounters for the specific party. The deluxe essentials kit includes three more follow on modules designed to take the characters to level 11. Overall, DoIP seems to have more content than Phandelver but it is very much set up to accommodate newer players with a clearly defined "quest" structure.
I have played Tomb of Annihilation and it is a really good sandbox. However, much of the content is spread around the edges of Chult which, with the travel times required and the inherent time line of the death curse makes it difficult or impossible to actually do all the content within the time line outlined by the module so you just let the players choose which direction to go and let them find what they find. There are some very good Guild Adept modules that fit in very well with ToA but one of the best aspects of these is that they introduce a greater proportion of magic items. ToA has very few magic items of any sort. The odds of even having a magical weapon that is appropriate to your character by the end of the adventure are extremely small unless the DM decides to add them since they are not in the module. The same goes for most other magic items that might drop. (I played a rogue/warlock and was relying on improved pact weapon at level 12 in order to do magical damage ... not a single magical bow was found in ToA). Finally, the jungle travel is dominated by random encounters between destinations and gets both a bit slow and very slow experience once you are in tier 2 ... unless the DM adds in content in the deep jungle. (Overall, it was a great adventure though).
I am currently running Ghosts of Saltmarsh + Tales from the Yawning Portal. Using Saltmarsh as the base for the characters, they have options to either progress the Saltmarsh storyline, explore a dungeon from TfYP that I have placed in the general region of Saltmarsh or whatever they like. I started with the party meeting while sailing on a ship to Saltmarsh, all heading to this fishing/trading center for their own reasons but making friends on the ship and forming bonds while defending the ship from a Sahaugin attack. After landing in Saltmarsh, the ship owner had heard of their actions from the captain and approached them about investigating an haunted house (Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh). The next day a representative of the Hucrele family approached them to see if they would be interested in helping them discover what happened to their missing children who fancied themselves adventurers and had been overdue to return from their current adventure for a couple of weeks (Sunless Citadel). The party decided that the possible rescue mission might be more urgent but also promised to investigate the house ... at the moment they are in Sunless Citadel. In any case, for a somewhat more experienced DM, I find the wide mix of adventures that the combination of Saltmarsh and TfYP provide can be the basis for a decent and more flexible campaign if that is what you are looking for ..
Finally, I am also currently running Curse of Strahd. Only a couple of sessions in but we'll see how it goes. This one seems like the most challenging so far to run well. There are a lot of threads and the characters don't know very much to start with. There are also a lot of setting limitations on purchasing goods and supplies as well as the general economy which players may not grasp immediately if they are used to just walking into a shop and buying anything they want like armor/weapons/supplies etc. However, CoS is reasonably well written, there appears to be a "preferred" path through the content but the odds are good that your players will not stick to it so they could run into something that is more challenging than expected. Also, CoS is supposed to run to level 10, but some of the encounters may not be much of a challenge for a party of level 7-8 characters in the later game. Strahd is supposed to be an almost invincible seeming foe but with some luck a 7-8 party with the right items or tactics might be able to defeat him .. so, when having Strahd confront and "play with his food" it is better to do that earlier rather than later.
Anyway, of the options I've tried, I currently like Ghosts of Saltmarsh + Tales from the Yawning Portal as the most flexible campaign like combination of content.
It's funny you mention Ghosts of Saltmarsh + Tales from the Yawning Portal as I was just looking through those two books and I agree the melding of the two could definitely create some good adventures without getting too deep into the major campaign books. I am also looking at Dragons of Ice Spear Peak and may give that a ride for my players and then look at the post-adventures on DnDBeyond. The one thing I plan on doing it running the Encounter Builder before each session to make sure the battles are not overtly easy to deal with, I like a medium to a hard challenge so if it looks like cakewalk of a battle I may make the necessary adjustments to the players do not get bored.
One thing to keep in mind is that magic items and character optimization play a roll in encounter balance that may not be captured by the encounter builder. Kobold fight club is a cool web site for estimating encounter difficulty.
Curious. I'm familiar with Kobold Fight Club but what difference does it have to the Beyond Encounter Builder?