D&D 5E Appropriating the Sword Coast

[reelo]

After countless years of not playing any RPG (last time was 3.x Oriental Adventures) I'm about to start a campaign as a DM. Since I wanted to use the LMoP adventure (because it's just awesome) I'll have the party start out in NW.
So, the path to around lvl 5 is pretty much set, but I'm already wondering about what comes after this. I've been considering the different official campaigns (ToD, PotA, OotA, SKT and even CoS) but none of them really appeal to me. Somehow the idea of setting the course for world-changing events already at such an early stage and then staying dedicated to that path seems awfully boring and self-limiting.
The opposite of this, of course, would be hardcore sandboxing. I want to strike a balance between these two, so I'm planning to gather as much random information about the Sword Coast as I can, just to have lots of questhooks.
Say, after the events at Phandalin the party wants to check out Triboar? Mere of Dead Men? Neverwinter Woods? Leilon? Red Larch? I want to be able to provide lots of diverse quests, but I also want to *slowly* design a grander scheme of things, so that when the party *does* hit lvl 12 or so, things get more epic. Think of it like how the Elder Scrolls games work. They are (imho) the gold-standard of sandboxy RPG.

As far as ressources go, I have the 3E FRCS, the SCAG, the old grey box and some other FR-related stuff. What I'm still looking for is a few good standalone adventures that could easily be dropped into the Sword Coast without seeming out-of-place.
Any helpful hints and tips are welcome.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using EN World mobile app

 

[CydKnight]

The DMs Guild has a few adventures that occur after LMoP and within that setting. I am getting ready to run at least one of them as my current group just completed the actual Mine portion but that will probably still not get them to Level 10. Afterwards I will either runs some homebrew (that I have yet to create) or we will simply call it quits there and start with new characters in OotA.

 

[MonkeezOnFire]

Are you using the pregens character or having the players create their own characters? Level 5 seems like a good time to start an arc based on one of the PC's backstories. The characters have gotten to know each other but are probably not the best of friends yet. Playing out something that directly involves one of the party feels more personal than adventures pulled from other sources, even for the other players cause they're helping explore an original character.

 

[reelo]

The DMs Guild has a few adventures that occur after LMoP and within that setting. I am getting ready to run at least one of them as my current group just completed the actual Mine portion but that will probably still not get them to Level 10. Afterwards I will either runs some homebrew (that I have yet to create) or we will simply call it quits there and start with new characters in OotA.

And what might those adventures be, if I may ask?

Are you using the pregens character or having the players create their own characters? Level 5 seems like a good time to start an arc based on one of the PC's backstories. The characters have gotten to know each other but are probably not the best of friends yet. Playing out something that directly involves one of the party feels more personal than adventures pulled from other sources, even for the other players cause they're helping explore an original character.

The party will probably be:
-Human Paladin (hopefully an OotG candidate)
-Gnome (or Human) Wizard
-Half-Elf Rogue (possibly Assassin though I might try to convince the player to take thief, for utility)
-Halfling Cleric of Urogalan (UA repose domain probably)
plus one as of yet undecided character

Sent from my Nexus 6P using EN World mobile app

 

[DEFCON 1]

And what might those adventures be, if I may ask?

There is a PDF adventure pack entitled In Volo's Wake that uses Phandalin (post-LMoP) as its hub for a series of five adventures loosely connected together. The issue might be that each one is written for parties of level 1 for the first up to level 5 for the last, so you'd have to perhaps add or swap out monsters for some of them were you to run they following Lost Mines. Or, the other option is to just add these adventures into the Lost Mines plotline as additional sites to explore, and increasing Encounter Level as you go along if you find them out-advancing the expected level of each area. But at the very least, this adventure pack gives you five more locations to add to your Phandalin sandbox.

I also might not dismiss Princes of the Apocalypse completely out of hand as an source, as that takes place nearby in and around Red Larch, and thus even if you decide not to run the full plot... you can use the four elemental nodes for individual stories and adventures. Now you might find that to be a waste of money buying the entire book but then only perhaps using one or two of the adventure sites separate from the book's mega-plot... but if it saves you time and energy, it might not be the worst idea in the world.

 

[CydKnight]

And what might those adventures be, if I may ask?Sent from my Nexus 6P using EN World mobile app

There is a 4-part called After Lost Mine..... that involves the Orcs of the Ghost Tribe getting stirred up and bearing down on Phandalin. Another called The Torment of Sister Garaele which deals with her apparent abduction by unknown forces. There is also Glasstaff's Revenge which deals with what happened with him if he gets away which LMoP does not really explain. I am likely going to run the Sister Garaele and Glasstaff mini adventures but I have not decided on the 4-part dealing with the Orcs.

You can find them here: http://www.dmsguild.com/

 

[aco175]

DMsGuild also has some adventures based in Leilon and others in Southcrypt. Most are levels 5+

 

[Demetrios1453]

After countless years of not playing any RPG (last time was 3.x Oriental Adventures) I'm about to start a campaign as a DM. Since I wanted to use the LMoP adventure (because it's just awesome) I'll have the party start out in NW.
So, the path to around lvl 5 is pretty much set, but I'm already wondering about what comes after this. I've been considering the different official campaigns (ToD, PotA, OotA, SKT and even CoS) but none of them really appeal to me. Somehow the idea of setting the course for world-changing events already at such an early stage and then staying dedicated to that path seems awfully boring and self-limiting.
The opposite of this, of course, would be hardcore sandboxing. I want to strike a balance between these two, so I'm planning to gather as much random information about the Sword Coast as I can, just to have lots of questhooks.
Say, after the events at Phandalin the party wants to check out Triboar? Mere of Dead Men? Neverwinter Woods? Leilon? Red Larch? I want to be able to provide lots of diverse quests, but I also want to *slowly* design a grander scheme of things, so that when the party *does* hit lvl 12 or so, things get more epic. Think of it like how the Elder Scrolls games work. They are (imho) the gold-standard of sandboxy RPG.

As far as ressources go, I have the 3E FRCS, the SCAG, the old grey box and some other FR-related stuff. What I'm still looking for is a few good standalone adventures that could easily be dropped into the Sword Coast without seeming out-of-place.
Any helpful hints and tips are welcome.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using EN World mobile app

If you want to have a lot of information so you can have lots of questhooks, then you still may want to take a look at SKT. The entirety of Chapter 3, some 50+ pages, simply goes over just about every settlement in the Sword Coast region, gives a brief description, and provides some plot hooks. Granted, some of these are thematically giant-related, but a lot of them aren't. Even the settlements in Chapter 2, which are set up to have major giant encounters (one of which is Triboar), could easily have that component stripped out and could be used simply as detailed settlements with a large number of plot hooks provided (each provides 6 fairly substantial side quests after the main action that could be used even if the main giant attack is taken out). And if you're not wanting giants all the time, but still want a good giant one-shot adventure, the five giant settlements can easily be inserted into any campaign with minimal fuss.

Similarly, if you want your campaign to visit the Underdark of the region, you might want to look into OotA, as it has detailed descriptions of the major settlements and geography of the region, with plot hooks galore (in the case of Graklstugh, maybe too many plot hooks!)

 

[Jester David]

Princes of the Apocalypse has a little of information on the Red Larch area and the surrounding valley (whose name escapes me).
Storm King's Thunder has a pretty expansive section on the regions of the North.
You can steal liberally from both.

If you don't mind PDFs, you can try the various Volo's Guides on the DMsGuild for world information.
Many of the Adventurer's League modules might also be of use, especially the Storm King's Thunder tie in ones. I bet a lot of the 4e and earlier adventures could also fit. Get some cheap classics. Go Keep on the Borderlands.

 

[hastur_nz]

Unfotunately 5e is very heavily skewed towards the 'bottom tier', as far as adventures go, and also the balance of the rules (no edition ever does well at the top-end, as published). Also, from my one time DMing players to 20th and beyond in 5e, it gets harder and harder to find anything relevant as far as the mechanical nuts and bolts go, you end up having to tweak / invent monsters, encounters, and so on, so what you mostly get form published adventures is 'plot', which means you might as well look at all versions of D&D's published adventures for high level play.

So yeah, the idea of leaving the 'epic' plots for the top-half of the levels range (e.g. 11-20) makes a lot of logical sense, but unfortunately in 5e your work as a DM goes exponential as the players go up in levels. That's why Storm King's Thunder is recommended for PCs up to 10th, maybe 11th level - WoTC have given up trying to design adventures for the upper levels, because that's where things start to get too specific in terms of your group's level of power, the available monsters thin out and are not really scaling in power the same as PC's do, and many groups find the pace of play really grinds down as well - just too many problems, which each group needs to work out themselves (mostly the DM).

Personally, I've recently started DMing the Forgotten Realms, and I just figure that 4e/Spellplague then 5e/Sundering hit a big 're-set' button, and there are not many high-level characters around any more, especially in the North. Elminster isn't sticking his nose into everything here (thank goodness), nor Drizz't etc, and overall I see the rulers of the cities and towns etc are not the 20th level character types of old, they are probably pretty ordinary, many places are re-building from carnage, etc. All the "Sundering" adventures published during the 5e playtest, were for characters of quite low levels (1-7 IIRC), around Daggerford, Neverwinter, Icewind Dale, etc. I use them as sources of information, and as a benchmark of sorts.

So I don't think it's unreasonable to say that PC's approaching level 10 are, in fact, quite exceptional, and hence having 'epic' adventures, at least in the context of The North. Storm King's Thunder is set up for a fair bit of "hit and run" action, rather than "kill 'em all", hence the main action is for levels 5-10, but you could easily run it to higher levels and use a bit more of the book. And it's a local event, not Faerun-wide; if you really wanted to keep going towards level 20, the upper-most levels are probably where you branch off into more "Faerun-wide" and/or "other planes" type of adventures, rather than just be in the North; I suspect you'll need to make something yourself, or find from a previous edition of the game and convert (e.g. I ran "Age of Worms", converting it to 5e; the second half of "Savage Tide" would be a good fit for an 'epic' campaign, I ran that converting it to 4e).

Anyway, I think Storm King's Thunder could easily fit your 'guided sandbox' idea, the 'big plot' doesn't have to be there from level 5, you could easily slowly graft it in from around level 7, and run it to say level 12, with non-giant related side-treks here and there; there's heaps of sand-box ideas for you in chapter 3, to help inspire other stuff. But it's a mess as far as logical 'quests' go, to me it reads like a really bad PC game from the '80's. So it needs a lot of DM work, to get the most out of it, and help your players feel like they are living in the real world with interesting things to do, rather than wander around getting handed random quests until a plot eventually reveals itself (or not). The one question is whether your players will get sick of Giants towards the end - I ran "Against the Giants" converted to 3.5, and although I trimmed it a lot there was a certain amount of fatigue on fighting endless giants, especially in the middle sections.