Me and friends got some 3.5e books, wondering where to start from ?

[bbgun21]

Hey everyone.


Recently me and my group bought ourselves some 3.5e books (along with 5e) and we thought to start on 3.5e first because we are more familiar with it.


Now the thing is I am a DM and other friends are players, but since I never DM-ed before ( or actually played P&P version of D&D), I'm wondering where to start from.


We already got the tools needed:
- Players Handbook
- Monsters Manual
- Dungeon Masters Guide
- Other equipment (dice, battle grid, minis etc...)


Now from where I want to start with is some pregenerated adventure just to get the group going and to see how it is, and then later go for a Forgotten Realms setting, but the problem is, I don't know where to look for both the Forgotten Realms premade adventures or other ones, so we're hoping if anyone could help us.


Thanks in forward.

 

[Morrus]

You can buy a billion 3.5 adventures from Drivethrurpg.com or rpgnow.com in PDF format.

If you insist on Forgotten Realms, that limits you more, but here's a search for 3.x FR stuff on DMs Guild:

http://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?filters=45471_0_45356_0_0_0&term=forgotten realms

If PDF isn't your bag, all 3.x FR stuff is out of print (as WotC is on 5E these days), so you'd need to check out eBay.

 

[delericho]

Recently me and my group bought ourselves some 3.5e books (along with 5e) and we thought to start on 3.5e first because we are more familiar with it.

Honestly, I think I'd strongly recommend picking up the 5e Starter Set (if you don't already have it) and starting with that. The editions are not so incredibly different that you won't be able to manage, and 5e gains by virtue of its relative simplicity. Plus, the adventure in the Starter Set is a good one.

Still, if you do decide to stick with 3.5e...

Now from where I want to start with is some pregenerated adventure just to get the group going and to see how it is...

Paizo have a couple of free 3.5e adventures available on their site: Hollow's Last Hope (for 1st level characters) and Revenge of the Kobold King (for 5th level - but this is a sequel to Crown of the Kobold King, which isn't free. That said, that one's also worth a look!). Note that these are 3.5e adventures, despite being from Paizo, so they should suit you.

If you're wanting FR materials in particular, your best bet is probably the DM's Guild. I'd recommend picking up the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, which probably has more material than you'll ever get through (including an introductory adventure), and the adventure Sons of Gruumsh (for 4th level PCs). And, though not FR, I'd also recommend The Burning Plague and The Sunless Citadel, both of which I've had good experiences with, especially with new-to-3e players.

(All of these except The Burning Plague are also available as physical products, though tracking them down might be tricky.)

I hope that helps!

 

[Zhaleskra]

While I understand the like and push for the current edition, I'm going to disagree with delericho's first statement. Simplicity is not always a good thing: oversimplification is a real thing.

As for your other questions, bbgun21, I believe the others have given great answers.

 

[Celebrim]

Do you like to house rule? If so, stick with 3.5 but be prepared to hit it hard with the hammer in order to deal with the enormous number of balance issues (that are compounded by each book you have). Either you have to be prepared for "Everything is broken so nothing is", or a hundreds of tweaks to the spells (especially), the core PC classes, and the rules generally. Also keep in mind that 3e starts to get very fiddly to play at high level, and may get fiddly even faster in a group that really tries to break it.

If your are a rules smithing novice, I'd go with 5e. Balance is better overall, it's less fiddly at high levels, and you'll need to do fewer patches. On the other hand, support is fairly low so you'll often need to be able to smith your own content for other reasons.

I am not a fan of the Forgotten Realms, but it does have the advantage of a huge amount of support for DMs that aren't themselves into world building.

Some ideas for a starting adventure:
Mad God's Key
Of Sound Mind
Sunless Citadel

 

[delericho]

While I understand the like and push for the current edition, I'm going to disagree with delericho's first statement. Simplicity is not always a good thing: oversimplification is a real thing.

I don't disagree, but a bit of context: the OP says, "we thought to start on 3.5e first" (emphasis mine). To me, that suggests they're planning to jump to 5e before too long anyway, and in that case I would argue it makes sense to just take the jump right away.

 

[bbgun21]

Thanks for the replies everyone, really great suggestions.

We will look into all of these adventures.