I'm a first-time DM, trying to convince my friend join my campaign. She's interested in the game but doesn't know the first thing on how to play, so I'm designing a one-on-one 'prologue' for her to show her through basic gameplay (a trap, a puzzle, and a little combat). She's a big fan of Harry Potter (why I'm pretty confident she'll choose a wizard), So I thought she could journey through her wizarding acadamy to steal an item off an evil librarian.
However, I can't decide on what item she could steal; it needs to be important to the Evil Wizard, and be used again to defeat him if she joins the campaign long-term, but inconsequenital enough that it won't massively affect gameplay.
It also needs to be something that the party won't sell or break in the meantime.
The item could be as simple as a scroll. If you go for something like the Marauder Map from Harry Potter then it might appear to be a norml a spell scroll but it actually contains a hidden message from one of the evil wizards minions. The wizard wans it back to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands but the character may just be under the impression its a level 1 spell scroll but every time she tries to scribe it the spell fails to work so she'll need to do some research to find out why which ultimately leads her to find the message.
It not a long list of spells just the d&d spells I felt would be closest to those used in the book/film universe but might help your new player with something familiar to them.
Combat wise you could have her persued by "ghosts". Once she gets the scroll have some wizard robes rise up and try to grapple her. Initially this is just Unseen Servants (as per the level 1 spell) that are trying to retrieve the scroll so pose little threat (to experienced players but to a newbie might be a bit more traumatic) but after a while and a bit of a chase through the corridors the evil wizards Raven Familiar joins the fray (potentially with the evil wizard percieving events through it) as well as one or more "house elves" (goblins or boggle if you have access to Volo's Guide) also trying to stop her. You could have the finale be the character being appriated to saftely by a friendly house elf (using a dimension door spell) and telling her to run and keep safe and sending her one her way as an adventurer.
trap wise you have lots of options from poiosned needles trap on locks to student level pranks of bukets of water on top of partially open doors or tar and feather style affairs to embaress people. You alos have traps that will just alert people that an interloper is/was present such as the Alarm spell or a simple line of cotton thread trip wire, if the wizard comes back and finds the thread is broken then someone walked through it and the wizard knows to be careful. You've also got a UA on trap design: https://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/0227_UATraps.pdf.
puzzle wse it depends on how complex you want it and if you will be in the same room, if you have a bit of time and some cash handy then a rubix cube painted gold and then with some shapes or "glyphs" written on it could be a nice little physical thing for the player to handle and solve. Other things could be to google some kitchen science experiements and have the player perform them at the table (or over a kitchen sink). If you are not in the same room then you'd need to be a bit more descriptive maybe have a fireplace that belches a Burning Hands spell effect unless a pass word it said before walking passed it and have a riddle written above the fire place with the answer being the password and you then make the riddle as hard or easy as you like. A bunch of riddles can be found here: https://www.riddles.com/
Hope that helps and good luck to the both of you.
edit: as a PS there is alsoa a harry potter/D&D crossover product called Wands & Wizards if you can find it that has some interesting bits such as having the racial abilities determined by which house you were at school, so you could also flavour the players abilities a bit as well.
She should steal information that will be useful for the group when she joins, it could in fact be the very reason she joins. A Book makes sense for a librarian, a journal perhaps. Think, Tom Riddle’s Diary. A journal that is actually a direct communication to the Evil Wizard. Just keep communication in the journal to like, 5-7 words max at a time, and limited use to once per day so you aren’t just giving away tons of information. Purposely be vague with what you choose to divulge but just enough to keep the plot moving...
Level One! Those wands look really cool! I might not go for magical items straightaway so she doesn't have too many things to learn all at once, but maybe later on I can introduce some! Thanks very much
She should steal information that will be useful for the group when she joins, it could in fact be the very reason she joins. A Book makes sense for a librarian, a journal perhaps. Think, Tom Riddle’s Diary. A journal that is actually a direct communication to the Evil Wizard. Just keep communication in the journal to like, 5-7 words max at a time, and limited use to once per day so you aren’t just giving away tons of information. Purposely be vague with what you choose to divulge but just enough to keep the plot moving...
That would be cool, maybe bound in human skin or snake scales...
The item could be as simple as a scroll. If you go for something like the Marauder Map from Harry Potter then it might appear to be a norml a spell scroll but it actually contains a hidden message from one of the evil wizards minions. The wizard wans it back to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands but the character may just be under the impression its a level 1 spell scroll but every time she tries to scribe it the spell fails to work so she'll need to do some research to find out why which ultimately leads her to find the message.
It not a long list of spells just the d&d spells I felt would be closest to those used in the book/film universe but might help your new player with something familiar to them.
Combat wise you could have her persued by "ghosts". Once she gets the scroll have some wizard robes rise up and try to grapple her. Initially this is just Unseen Servants (as per the level 1 spell) that are trying to retrieve the scroll so pose little threat (to experienced players but to a newbie might be a bit more traumatic) but after a while and a bit of a chase through the corridors the evil wizards Raven Familiar joins the fray (potentially with the evil wizard percieving events through it) as well as one or more "house elves" (goblins or boggle if you have access to Volo's Guide) also trying to stop her. You could have the finale be the character being appriated to saftely by a friendly house elf (using a dimension door spell) and telling her to run and keep safe and sending her one her way as an adventurer.
trap wise you have lots of options from poiosned needles trap on locks to student level pranks of bukets of water on top of partially open doors or tar and feather style affairs to embaress people. You alos have traps that will just alert people that an interloper is/was present such as the Alarm spell or a simple line of cotton thread trip wire, if the wizard comes back and finds the thread is broken then someone walked through it and the wizard knows to be careful. You've also got a UA on trap design: https://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/0227_UATraps.pdf.
puzzle wse it depends on how complex you want it and if you will be in the same room, if you have a bit of time and some cash handy then a rubix cube painted gold and then with some shapes or "glyphs" written on it could be a nice little physical thing for the player to handle and solve. Other things could be to google some kitchen science experiements and have the player perform them at the table (or over a kitchen sink). If you are not in the same room then you'd need to be a bit more descriptive maybe have a fireplace that belches a Burning Hands spell effect unless a pass word it said before walking passed it and have a riddle written above the fire place with the answer being the password and you then make the riddle as hard or easy as you like. A bunch of riddles can be found here: https://www.riddles.com/
Hope that helps and good luck to the both of you.
edit: as a PS there is alsoa a harry potter/D&D crossover product called Wands & Wizards if you can find it that has some interesting bits such as having the racial abilities determined by which house you were at school, so you could also flavour the players abilities a bit as well.
Thanks so much! That spell list is going to be super helpful! I really like all of those ideas, I was looking for a way to get her out of the secret lair once the alarms go off; a handy house-elf Dimension Door would work perfectly. I am thinking of using a simple glyth puzzle, but more like a locked safe (but with fingers), since I am doing this over the internet.
If I have a blank scroll, I can give myself time to intergrate the Librarian into the plot properly, and think hard about what's actually on it XD
That sounds like a great intro adventure! For the item, how about a magical bookmark or quill that seems minor but has hidden importance—like helping decode ancient spells or revealing secrets later in the campaign? It's personal to the villain but subtle enough the party won’t ditch it. Love the magical academy setup—perfect for a first-time wizard!
By the way, speaking of secrets and hidden clues, if you’re ever looking for fun ways to introduce riddles into your adventures (or just for a fun activity with kids), I’ve got a collection of riddles for kids that can be great for puzzles or challenges in-game. They’re simple yet clever, perfect for sparking creativity and problem-solving skills in a game or even just for fun!
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Hello everyone!
I'm a first-time DM, trying to convince my friend join my campaign. She's interested in the game but doesn't know the first thing on how to play, so I'm designing a one-on-one 'prologue' for her to show her through basic gameplay (a trap, a puzzle, and a little combat). She's a big fan of Harry Potter (why I'm pretty confident she'll choose a wizard), So I thought she could journey through her wizarding acadamy to steal an item off an evil librarian.
However, I can't decide on what item she could steal; it needs to be important to the Evil Wizard, and be used again to defeat him if she joins the campaign long-term, but inconsequenital enough that it won't massively affect gameplay.
It also needs to be something that the party won't sell or break in the meantime.
I'm grateful for any ideas!
The item could be as simple as a scroll. If you go for something like the Marauder Map from Harry Potter then it might appear to be a norml a spell scroll but it actually contains a hidden message from one of the evil wizards minions. The wizard wans it back to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands but the character may just be under the impression its a level 1 spell scroll but every time she tries to scribe it the spell fails to work so she'll need to do some research to find out why which ultimately leads her to find the message.
I did a Harry Potter one shot a while ago and used the following to get spellcasting into the Harry Potterstyle; https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZkLbMuUqivtQMjTKnplAFkNvHtKnunzB/view?usp=sharing
It not a long list of spells just the d&d spells I felt would be closest to those used in the book/film universe but might help your new player with something familiar to them.
Combat wise you could have her persued by "ghosts". Once she gets the scroll have some wizard robes rise up and try to grapple her. Initially this is just Unseen Servants (as per the level 1 spell) that are trying to retrieve the scroll so pose little threat (to experienced players but to a newbie might be a bit more traumatic) but after a while and a bit of a chase through the corridors the evil wizards Raven Familiar joins the fray (potentially with the evil wizard percieving events through it) as well as one or more "house elves" (goblins or boggle if you have access to Volo's Guide) also trying to stop her. You could have the finale be the character being appriated to saftely by a friendly house elf (using a dimension door spell) and telling her to run and keep safe and sending her one her way as an adventurer.
trap wise you have lots of options from poiosned needles trap on locks to student level pranks of bukets of water on top of partially open doors or tar and feather style affairs to embaress people. You alos have traps that will just alert people that an interloper is/was present such as the Alarm spell or a simple line of cotton thread trip wire, if the wizard comes back and finds the thread is broken then someone walked through it and the wizard knows to be careful. You've also got a UA on trap design: https://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/0227_UATraps.pdf.
puzzle wse it depends on how complex you want it and if you will be in the same room, if you have a bit of time and some cash handy then a rubix cube painted gold and then with some shapes or "glyphs" written on it could be a nice little physical thing for the player to handle and solve. Other things could be to google some kitchen science experiements and have the player perform them at the table (or over a kitchen sink). If you are not in the same room then you'd need to be a bit more descriptive maybe have a fireplace that belches a Burning Hands spell effect unless a pass word it said before walking passed it and have a riddle written above the fire place with the answer being the password and you then make the riddle as hard or easy as you like. A bunch of riddles can be found here: https://www.riddles.com/
Hope that helps and good luck to the both of you.
edit: as a PS there is alsoa a harry potter/D&D crossover product called Wands & Wizards if you can find it that has some interesting bits such as having the racial abilities determined by which house you were at school, so you could also flavour the players abilities a bit as well.
She should steal information that will be useful for the group when she joins, it could in fact be the very reason she joins. A Book makes sense for a librarian, a journal perhaps. Think, Tom Riddle’s Diary. A journal that is actually a direct communication to the Evil Wizard. Just keep communication in the journal to like, 5-7 words max at a time, and limited use to once per day so you aren’t just giving away tons of information. Purposely be vague with what you choose to divulge but just enough to keep the plot moving...
What level would she be joining at?
there are a number of wands and staffs that do cool tricks
Wand of secrets, Wand of magic detection, staff of birdcall’s, etc
Level One! Those wands look really cool! I might not go for magical items straightaway so she doesn't have too many things to learn all at once, but maybe later on I can introduce some! Thanks very much
That would be cool, maybe bound in human skin or snake scales...
Thanks so much! That spell list is going to be super helpful! I really like all of those ideas, I was looking for a way to get her out of the secret lair once the alarms go off; a handy house-elf Dimension Door would work perfectly. I am thinking of using a simple glyth puzzle, but more like a locked safe (but with fingers), since I am doing this over the internet.
If I have a blank scroll, I can give myself time to intergrate the Librarian into the plot properly, and think hard about what's actually on it XD
That sounds like a great intro adventure! For the item, how about a magical bookmark or quill that seems minor but has hidden importance—like helping decode ancient spells or revealing secrets later in the campaign? It's personal to the villain but subtle enough the party won’t ditch it. Love the magical academy setup—perfect for a first-time wizard!
By the way, speaking of secrets and hidden clues, if you’re ever looking for fun ways to introduce riddles into your adventures (or just for a fun activity with kids), I’ve got a collection of riddles for kids that can be great for puzzles or challenges in-game. They’re simple yet clever, perfect for sparking creativity and problem-solving skills in a game or even just for fun!