Would it be a good idea to run this adventure for new players considering that they are
Playing established characters with previous backstory
Playing level 4 characters and not starting at level 0
My concern is that it may be too much info to digest for a starting player IE. skills/gear and abilities versus a more simpler start with session 0 and level 1 adventurers.
For new players I think you've got one positive and one negative. Premade characters are good, they can get straight to playing and find out if they have fun without having to struggle through a lot of rules first, but level 4 comes with a lot of options, especially for spellcasters, that can cause decision paralysis if you don't know the game. I think the best bet is to ask the players what they think, they might be willing to put up with complexity in one place to save it in another, and especially if they've got nostalgia for the cartoon might love the idea of playing the now grown up adventurers
Of course there's always the option to play it and tweak the encounters for a first level party. If you go to character creation and select premade characters all 7 of them are there and they import as level 1 characters
Looking at the monsters in there and apart from the Big Bad there's nothing that should be too challenging if they play as level 1, especially if you let them keep the massively overpowered at that level magic items
Having run this already for my long-standing group (in anticipation of starting a new DND50 campaign after the MM50 comes out), I would not recommend the adventure for brand new players. There is a lot to absorb very quickly even before all the magic items are added in, and in my opinion you need to use those resources well to be successful in this short adventure. 10 bullywug warriors + 1 bugbear warrior is a pretty big first battle, with environmental effects on top of that--then inside the spellcasting can be pretty strong inside as well.
I would recommend the starter set Stormwreck Isle personally. I've run it for a few groups now that wanted to try out D&D and it was very well received.
Would it be a good idea to run this adventure for new players considering that they are
My concern is that it may be too much info to digest for a starting player IE. skills/gear and abilities versus a more simpler start with session 0 and level 1 adventurers.
Thoughts?
For new players I think you've got one positive and one negative. Premade characters are good, they can get straight to playing and find out if they have fun without having to struggle through a lot of rules first, but level 4 comes with a lot of options, especially for spellcasters, that can cause decision paralysis if you don't know the game. I think the best bet is to ask the players what they think, they might be willing to put up with complexity in one place to save it in another, and especially if they've got nostalgia for the cartoon might love the idea of playing the now grown up adventurers
Of course there's always the option to play it and tweak the encounters for a first level party. If you go to character creation and select premade characters all 7 of them are there and they import as level 1 characters
I like the idea of level 1 as the player group have no history with the TV show < which defeats the point of the adventure I guess>
Looking at the monsters in there and apart from the Big Bad there's nothing that should be too challenging if they play as level 1, especially if you let them keep the massively overpowered at that level magic items
Having run this already for my long-standing group (in anticipation of starting a new DND50 campaign after the MM50 comes out), I would not recommend the adventure for brand new players. There is a lot to absorb very quickly even before all the magic items are added in, and in my opinion you need to use those resources well to be successful in this short adventure. 10 bullywug warriors + 1 bugbear warrior is a pretty big first battle, with environmental effects on top of that--then inside the spellcasting can be pretty strong inside as well.
I would recommend the starter set Stormwreck Isle personally. I've run it for a few groups now that wanted to try out D&D and it was very well received.
Go for it ... it sounds like SO MUCH FUN