The Trouble at Mountain Pass (1st level adventure)

AndrewRF · Aug 17, 2008

The Trouble at Mountain Pass is a first level adventure that I put together for my group to introduce us all to 4th edition mechanics. I thought I'd post it for other folks to use or take ideas from.

Here it is

If you like it or have a comment you'd like to share, let me know. Enjoy!

Walknot · Aug 18, 2008

That is an impressive adventure, but now I am not sure I can write my own. Maybe if it is possible to simplify the process. How did you learn to do that?

AndrewRF · Aug 18, 2008

Thanks! I actually found it to be a fairly straight-forward process.

First, I came up with a general plot line and made a list of potential encounter points. Next, I created the encounter specifics using the guidelines in Chapter 4 of the DMG and the list of "Monsters by Level" in the back of the MM. After building a few encounters, I'd add in treasure based on the parcels in Chapter 7 of the DMG, then I'd let the whole thing sit for awhile before giving it another read through and tuning/tweaking things as seemed appropriate.

I was pleasantly surprised at what a easy process it was.

Walknot · Aug 18, 2008

How long (calendar time, and actual hours) did that take you?

AndrewRF · Aug 19, 2008

Well, I work really slowly, so my times probably aren't representative of anything. That being said...

I started working on the adventure when the 4E books first came out in early June and continued tweaking things until my group finished the adventure (4 or 5 weekly play sessions). Putting together the basics of an encounter probably take 10 or 20 minutes. If you want like things more detailed (maps, specific tactics, etc) or are building complicated encounters (e.g., mixing monsters, traps and skill challenges), then it will obviously take longer.

Van der Hoorn · Dec 13, 2008

AndrewRF said:
If you like it or have a comment you'd like to share, let me know. Enjoy!

Great work! The adventure reads really well!
Some comments and suggestions:

- The PDF doesn't display well on my Mac (all kinds of question marks), but if I use Acrobat Professional it displays normally. Maybe it has something to do with the fonts; not sure.

- p.1: Key Locations -> Important NPCs: There is currently no komma after Artemis Lobo

- p.2: Give the goblin's camp sub-boss a name and separate entry; also make sure to put this name at the adventure. Now the information is a bit hidden in the text and naming bosses and sub-bosses makes the adventure more fun (I think).

- E1: It mentions the largest of the group, but there are actually two Warriors (which are practically the same). Either change the group so it has one larger goblin or don't mention one is larger at all (make it up to the DM to select which warrior speaks).

- I1: "... the head trader speak with the guard captain ..." -> "speak"

- I1: Artemis Lobo -> 3rd success -> "he won't offer more". This should probably be "she won't offer more".

- E3: It mentions an unlooted corpse. Who is it? Human? Goblin? Do the rewards come from the corpse? Either mention something more about the corpse for niceness or remove the reference to the unlooted corpse. Another option could be an adventure hook that someone is missing. The people in town think the Goblins killed him, but instead the party finds out Kruthiks killed him.

- I3: It says "5 Player Party: None". Does this mean the 5 player party doesn't get any XP? If so, this is absolutely not clear. Or should it have been the 4 player party? (Like the lines in the other encounters/interludes are as well). If so, also change "None" to "No change"; this is more clear.

- E7/E8: Artemis Lobo is also present, but what are her stats? Can she fight or is it just a commoner? The first one would be quite nice, but I guess an additional enemy should be included.

- E9: The party should get -2 on the checks (or do an additional check) if they were captured before (EAlt1): i.e. then the Goblins know them and thus aren't easily convinced, especially if they escaped.

- E10 & E11: Split them up. There is no reason to combine them (the doors to the temple are closed anyway).

- E12: "4 Player Party: None" -> "4 Player Party: No change"

- E16: "1 Iron Defender" -> It mentions "Guard Person" applied to the panel. Shouldn't this be "Guard Object" instead?

- I4: "4 Player Party: None" -> "4 Player Party: No change"

- E20: "Experience Points: 975xp or 1075xp" -> This is probably dependent on the presence of the 4 Goblin Cutters right? I suggest to mention this explicitly here, as for a 4 Player Party the Goblin Blackblade is removed, which also happens to be 100xp and thus may cause confusion.

Keep up the great work!

Cheers!

Emryys · Dec 14, 2008

Very Nice!

Now we need to hook you up with the skilled cartographers lurking round here...

mps42 · Dec 14, 2008

Hello,

I found this adventure earlier and liked it but found, in my opinion, that a few things were missing and I was not overly fond of the formatting, so I added the stuff I thought were missing and reformatted. This was all without knowing who the author was. Now that you have claimed it, I would very much like for you to look at it and either approve or disapprove the changes.

Van der Hoorn · Dec 14, 2008

mps42 said:
I found this adventure earlier and liked it but found, in my opinion, that a few things were missing and I was not overly fond of the formatting, so I added the stuff I thought were missing and reformatted. This was all without knowing who the author was. Now that you have claimed it, I would very much like for you to look at it and either approve or disapprove the changes.

You may want to PM the author; this thread dates back to August, so the author may not read this thread anymore.

AndrewRF · Dec 15, 2008

Thanks for the all the feedback. I'm really pleased that folks are using and enjoying the adventure.

Van der Hoorn

1. I've updated the adventure to incorporate the errata you provided. Much appreciated! The link is the same, specifics on the updated version to follow.

2. I don't have access to a Mac, so I don't have an easy way to diagnose the display problems you encountered. I've created an alternate version using Arial, instead of what might be a Winows only font. Here's the link, let me know if it works better.

mps42

1. I'm very curious where you found a copy that didn't have my authorship information. To the best of my knowledge the adventure is only available as a PDF from my website and includes my name and copyright info. If you found it elsewhere or in modified condition, I'd really appreciate more information.

2. You mentioned making some changes, but it's very tough to tell what they are with the altered formatting. Can you let me know what content you changed?

3. Finally, and I'm sorry to have to ask this, could you please remove your attached version? I believe that the inclusion of stat blocks from the Monster Manual is a violation of Wizards of the Coast's copyright. Possibly the same for the images on the creature tokens, depending on their origin (although I do like them!)

Thanks!