D&D 5E New DM Having Tough Time Relaxing with Published Adventures!

[pontinyc]

Strange title, I know, but it's true. I'm currently running Pathfinder's Rise of the Runelords adapted for 5e. My problem is that, despite hours and hours of prep time, I find it difficult to run the adventure fast and loose and allow the party to go off the rails if they like. Or I'm constantly concerned that if they miss a certain landmark or NPC or piece of storyline, they're going to be in deep trouble much later and I'll have a hell of a time getting them back on track.

I'm a new DM but have run a few one shots that were born completely out of my head on the spot and were improvised from the moment we sat down until we finished and they went great. However, my players have requested that we try RotRL because they've heard great things and they seem to be having fun. However, I'm having a tough time figuring out how to maintain that creative freedom I seem to enjoy when I'm not running published material while I'm running, you know. . . published material.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance!

*One note, RotRL is a huge adventure that takes the party from 1-20 so there's a mountain of material to prep and many hooks and plot lines that are helpful to drop-in during one session in order to set up a session two months down the line, etc.

 

[l0lzero]

Honestly, if you're comfortable improvising, just read through the adventure a couple times, get the general gist of it, and then run it off the top of your head (barring NPC statistics which you can reference). You'll have to make up a lot less, if something seems dumb you're already in the headspace needed to change it up on the fly, and when you're more familiar with it you can improvise to lead the characters where they need to go while still letting them do (basically) whatever they want.

When you're ready to start a new session, give a quick look through to remind yourself where you're at and where you're going, give yourself a refresher so to speak, and then wing it. Sticking to the book exactly all the time isn't required, and also helps to prevent metagaming (since they can't rely on the book to tell them what's coming up).

It seems to me that you're clearly more comfortable winging it, so just keep doing that, only inform yourself on the general structure used by the book, and keep the book for maps and NPCs, rather than specifics.

 

[Staccat0]

I have been DMing for a very very long time and I still find running a game from a book to be needlessly stressful.

 

[pukunui]

If you're concerned about the players missing a clue or hook, be sure to include more than one way for them to find out about it. There's a handy trick called the "three clue rule". I'd recommend looking it up on google.

 

[l0lzero]

If you're concerned about the players missing a clue or hook, be sure to include more than one way for them to find out about it. There's a handy trick called the "three clue rule". I'd recommend looking it up on google.

Dude, you totally just helped me with the CoC 6th game I am going to be running. I'm not familiar with mystery plots all the much, and three clue rule is going to save my bacon!

 

[pukunui]

Dude, you totally just helped me with the CoC 6th game I am going to be running. I'm not familiar with mystery plots all the much, and three clue rule is going to save my bacon!

I really need to make sure I use it more myself.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

It's tough! I also love to improvise. And I enjoy using published materials. And those don't always work the best together.

The ideal solution might be to know the published adventure inside and out, so it's just a part of your pool of resources for spontaneous access. But that takes quite a bit of time.

One thing I've tried a bit is to intentionally make changes to the adventure--mostly either small things or things I need to make it fit my campaign. It is easier to remember those parts that I created, and it anchors the rest of material it influences in my mind more easily. The more little details I change, the more I internalize it.

But just trying to remember what the book says by itself...that's doable, but a pain.

 

[S'mon]

I had this problem running my first AP (Curse of the Crimson Throne). I'm also running Runelords in 5e right now (Book 2 Skinsaw Murders, Skinsaw Man nearly TPK'd them)

My advice is NOT to worry about sticking to the rails or hitting the major plot points. Treat it more like a buffet of ideas. In reality the chapters & books tend to be only loosely connected and it's natural that the PCs will miss chunks - IME this does no harm really. Just move ahead to the next natural entry point and maybe add your own material where appropriate. Eg if the PCs don't trace the Skinsaw Cult to its lair, the murders continue, maybe someone they know is attacked. If the cult is not dealt with, no problem - the PCs can still be hired for the Book 3 Fort Rannick mission. In my game Nualia TPK'd the original party and burnt Sandpoint; campaign still runs fine with minimal tweaking.

 

[Shiroiken]

Strange title, I know, but it's true. I'm currently running Pathfinder's Rise of the Runelords adapted for 5e. My problem is that, despite hours and hours of prep time, I find it difficult to run the adventure fast and loose and allow the party to go off the rails if they like. Or I'm constantly concerned that if they miss a certain landmark or NPC or piece of storyline, they're going to be in deep trouble much later and I'll have a hell of a time getting them back on track.

That's a problem with most AP. Published Adventures are often pretty self contained, and players seldom choose to go off the rails badly enough to ruin the adventure. APs, however, have that problem pretty much every chapter, and sometimes when the players go off the rails, it takes a lot of work to get them back inside (especially if you don't want them to know). Unfortunately, I don't have any advice for you on this, because while I'm good at it, my skill is based on intuition and decades as a DM. If I could translate it out of my head for you, I would

I'm a new DM but have run a few one shots that were born completely out of my head on the spot and were improvised from the moment we sat down until we finished and they went great. However, my players have requested that we try RotRL because they've heard great things and they seem to be having fun. However, I'm having a tough time figuring out how to maintain that creative freedom I seem to enjoy when I'm not running published material while I'm running, you know. . . published material.

Never let an adventure (or AP) control you; you control the adventure! You not just can, but SHOULD modify it to suit your campaign world and group. I agree that reading the adventure a few times is a good idea. I'd write down the major points and themes on a note card for each section/area, so that you can reference it during the session (so that you don't forget something important). I'd then make notes on the adventure of what you don't like and want to change. If you prefer improv, then don't change it immediately, but during the game. Whatever you do, write down changes you made at the end of each session, so that you don't forget!

Since you're a new DM, I assume your players will cut you some slack, so if you do forget something (such as giving out a vital clue), they'll forgive you if you ret-con it into the game or use some blatant methods to add it.

 

[iserith]

When I am a player in an adventure path, I take the hooks. I don't "go off the rails." I find a reason for my character to care about whatever quest is put before him or her.

You could ask your players to do the same. I do, when I run a plot-based adventure like an adventure path.