Lead-in adventure to Red Hand of Doom?

[BadMojo]

I'm planning on running Red Hand of Doom (hopefully sooner, rather than later). Right now, our group is playing Goodman Games's "Lost Vault of Tsathzar Rho". I'm reasonably sure this adventure will take the PCs up to 3rd level (or nearly so).

So, I'm looking for a good adventure to get the PCs from 3rd to 5th level. Since "Lost Vault" is a dungeon crawl and a good one too, I'd like something that features more varied settings. Outdoor encounters would be a big bonus, since one of the PCs is specializing in mounted combat.

Anything from PDF products to stuff out of Dungeon is fine by me...I welcome any suggestions. Thanks!

 

[Thomas Percy]

If you want to bind the PCs with Elsir Vale and make them personally involved (and interested) in defence of the vale, you can grant them some land, temple, or guild there. In this case you can use our Manor. There are 20 aventure ideas there. The Commander new prestige class was playtested in RHoD, because some of my players enjoy commanding of troops.

My group consist of:
dwarf fighter commander - captain of Brindol's infantry
elf ranger commander - captain of Brindol's scouts
elf wizard - ally from Tiri Kitor
elf archer - ally from Tiri Kitor
human paladin commander - support from templars along with company of heavy cavalry
tiefling rogue - mercenary (I have a lot of problems with a motivation of this mercenary, because he didn't want to do some "heroic" deeds simply for money.)

 

[Keith Robinson]

I'm planning on running Red Hand of Doom (hopefully sooner, rather than later). Right now, our group is playing Goodman Games's "Lost Vault of Tsathzar Rho". I'm reasonably sure this adventure will take the PCs up to 3rd level (or nearly so).

So, I'm looking for a good adventure to get the PCs from 3rd to 5th level. Since "Lost Vault" is a dungeon crawl and a good one too, I'd like something that features more varied settings. Outdoor encounters would be a big bonus, since one of the PCs is specializing in mounted combat.

Anything from PDF products to stuff out of Dungeon is fine by me...I welcome any suggestions. Thanks!

I've just started a new campaign, with the aim of running the Red Hand of Doom. Here's what I am planning to do:

Start: I'm starting in a city of my own creation, but you could very well start everything in Brindol. The first adventure is Funeral Porecession from Dungeon (June, I think). This should boost them to 2nd level, but does not relate to the red hand in any way.

I'm also going to run The 11th Hour by Ronin Arts. I'll probably just drop it in as I'm running Funeral Procession, just to confuse the players

I'm going to follow this up with a small adventure of my own making, which will kick off the red hand campaign. Basically, raids are being made by hobgoblins on merchants and the local merchants guild wants to hire some people who will put an end to it. This will lead the players to a ruined keep, where the hobgoblins are holed up (I'll probably release this as a PDF when it's done). This should boost them to 3rd/4th level. There, they'll find some clues which...

...will lead them to an old house. At this point I'm going to run a modified version of The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh. It will be basically the same, except it will be higher level and the smugglers are smuggling weapons for the red hand horde. Oh, and the lizardfolk will be hobgoblins! Of course, the clues will lead the adventurers to...

... Drellin's Ferry and the Vault of Vraath Keep, where the Red Hand of Doom will kick off.

Not sure that helps you much, but it may give you a few ideas.

 

[Klaus]

Note that there is a "prologue" encounter for download at the WotC's site, involving hobgoblins trying to draft an ogre into the Red Hand.

 

[Festivus]

I am going to kick off with "A Dark and Stormy Knight", where the characters don't know one another and stumble upon a small complex to duck out of a storm. This should make for a good roleplay intro to the characters, as well as present an opportunity to drop hints about Vraath Keep, perhaps one of the hobgoblins has a symbol or a map from there.

After that, it's up to the players but I have a couple adventures in mind. Either that same Goodman adventure "Lost Vault of Tsathzar Rho", "Thieves in the Forest" from penumbra, or in a recent issue of Dungeon there was a goblin adventure that would be easy to drop a hook for. Any of those three should get folks to level 2-3.

I was planning on placing them near Derlusk, so they will be on the right continent, and have a plains crossing adventure of some sort (I need to find something I can drop in or create my own -- any pointers appreciated!). I have this idea of them sailing across the grassy plains in a "land schooner" adventure that might work.

By the time they get across the Shaar they will be of the appropriate level for the first encounter in RHoD.

 

[BadMojo]

I'm also going to run The 11th Hour by Ronin Arts. I'll probably just drop it in as I'm running Funeral Procession, just to confuse the players

I would use The 11th Hour too, but since it was written by one of my players...well, there goes the element of surprise. Really good adventure, though.

I started the players out in the Firesteap Mountains, travelling south on the Golden Way in the employ of a semi-competent Halruuan Wizard. The intent of the expedition was to find the ruins of an ancient Untheric outpost in the mountains (and liberate the magical items housed there for further study in Halruaa.)

I did get plenty of good ideas from this thread. I'll most likely set the next adventure in the city of Shaarmid. Perhaps I'll adapt something or just write my own. I like the idea of an urban adventure with some opportunity to ride the plains of the Shaar.

BTW, Claudio...I'd be enternally grateful if you could point me towards that intro to Red Hand of Doom you were talking about. I can't seem to find it.

 

[Klaus]

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ub/20060224a

Eternal gratitude line forms to the left.

 

[Dragonbait]

I started the PCs in Elsir Vale with a smattering of adventures. I then ran Sons of Gruumsh, and (Warning: Sons of Gruumsh spoilers):

Spoiler

changed the two Zenth diplomats to the orcs to two hobgoblin representatives from the Red Hand. The orc fortress was located in the eastern mountains, and if the PCs failed the mission, the Vale would have been attacked on two sides.