campaigns to start 4e

[HandofMystra]

I am going to be GMing a 4e campaign for mostly high school kids who are experienced roleplayers (LARP) but not experienced D&Ders. I want to have a good bit of roleplay in the campaign so that I can distinguish it from the simultaneous Warhammer 40K games (which are all skirmish) at our FLGS (annoyingly my son would rather play 40K than be in a 4e campaign, he is a 3.5 grognard at 13 - the other kids all want 4e and we have other 3.5 campaigns that we play in). But of course not too sophisticated or adult. I may have one or two others join the campaign to fill the table. I want to run a publsihed 4e campaign.
What is the recommendation here? Should I do the H,P,E WotC series (KotS, et al) should use the Dungeon Adventure path(s) is there something 3PP that would be fun (DCCs?)

100th post!

 

[Keefe the Thief]

For kids? I wouldn´t run a cohesive "campaign" - that is, a long story that arcs over several adventures. Do it in traditional D&D style: adventurers travelling from place to place and story to story - mix and match all adventures you can find.
Episodic style play is better suited if you can burn through experiences as fast as a kid.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Both . THe KToS etc is not really structured with an overall arc, At least not so i have noticed so far. If you have access to DDI then you could mix and match the adventures.

 

[kenmarable]

Considering they are mostly high school kids, I wouldn't worry about bringing it too far down. That is a great age for really diving into RPGs. (I consider gaming with elementary school children as "gaming with kids". High school students are pretty well capable of deeper plots and all that in my opinion.)

If they have a LARP background and you are trying to differentiate from Warhammer 40K, I'd be hesitant about using the WotC modules. As they stand, especially the H series don't have a great deal of roleplaying built in (although the later ones do get a bit better from what I've seen, WotC still gravitates towards combat-centric adventures). If you think you can interject more roleplaying it into those adventures, then go right ahead.

Another option to consider is War of the Burning Sky campaign saga (disclaimer: I'm one of the writers, but I'm not getting a penny more from that, so judge my shilling as you will). Although there's plenty of combat, of course, there's also a good deal of roleplaying aspects as well.

Although I think whatever direction you go in, your best bet might be to come with an organization or three for the PCs to belong to and work in minor quests relating to those groups, as well as have the PCs actually progress in status within them. It gives some linkage and motivation across the campaign without necessarily changing any major plots. I've just found that helpful in the past.