D&D 5E Prepping for Princes

[Nebulous]

So I'm reading over PotA and making notes, and i have to say that yes, this is a lot of work. For one thing it's a huge adventure and there's a ton of ideas frontloaded along with plot hooks and a dozen NPCs. Not that I have to use it all of course, and I won't, but I have to kinda sorta have an idea which directions PCs can go so I don't corral them down a certain path but instead give them choices.

So i was just thinking about that, and when people say "nah, i never used published adventures, it makes it more work." I think it does make it harder in some ways, but easier in others. Easier especially once you've read over the material multiple times and the DM knows the story. It also helps when BAM, the party goes someplace you did not expect (which always happens) but then you have a whole neat encounter laid out already in the book.

For that it's worth, even though we're starting at 3rd level, i also like the Tomb of Moving Stones and the Necromancer adventure at Lance Rock.

 

[jamesjhaeck]

I'm in the process of doing this, too. I'm running it to my own world, which feels more like Eberron (or really more like Legend of Korra) than the Forgotten Realms. It's a big process, but it doesn't have to be an all-consuming one. I treat the book like I would my notes for some of my older, homemade campaigns. I get a general sense of what's going on before I run the game, and wing it from there. If I go off-script, then I'll either course-correct before the next game, or alter my notes to fit the new reality that exists now.

Don't let the book shackle you. The things in the book are only as important as you want them to be. If I have to rename every minor NPC in Red Larch because I didn't want to leaf through and waste time, so be it.

 

[Henry]

What have you been doing for stat blocks? Running straight from theMonster Manual or rewriting them all into a document?

 

[Agamon]

What have you been doing for stat blocks? Running straight from theMonster Manual or rewriting them all into a document?

This can come in handy for stat blocks.

 

[DongMaster]

This can come in handy for stat blocks.

Wow, I totally missed that.

Thanks!

 

[Nebulous]

What have you been doing for stat blocks? Running straight from theMonster Manual or rewriting them all into a document?

Totally missed that too! This is why i love EN and prepublished adventures and getting advice from other people

 

[Nebulous]

This can come in handy for stat blocks.

Thanks. I didn't know that was even there. I was just going to comb through the MM....

 

[Agamon]

Don't blame you for not knowing about it, it only came out yesterday.

 

[Rhenny]

I'm making a cheat sheet of the key locations and PCs in Red Larch to help me keep everything straight. Also, since I run our sessions in Fantasy Grounds, I've hand entered all the monsters so that they are ready to go. That's one of the best things about FG...I don't have to look in the monster manual to prep monsters if I take the time to type in all the data.

Before each session, I'm just going to make a quick outline of possibilities. I like to pre think how monsters and NPCs will react and what actions will take place to keep the story moving. Sometimes that is part of the adventure and sometimes I just make it up to force the PCs to make decisions.

To add flavor, and prompt PC movement and a sense of urgency, I may also come up with a quick table of random events that are elemental related (like the ground begins to rumble and you find it hard to keep your feet...or a whirlwind picks up out of nowhere...or the sky suddenly turns dark and rain begins to fall, but within moments, the rain becomes golfball sized pieces of hail, etc.)

 

[Nebulous]

So - has anyone taken either the Necromancer scenario at Lance Rock or the Tomb of Moving Stones and integrated them with 3rd level characters? I have a batch of new characters coming from Phandalin, unrelated to any PCs that played through LMoP, and I guess we could start with all the clues leading to the missing delegation in Red Larch, or I might use the aforementioned scenarios because I actually like both of them.

Are there any advantages or disadvantages to me doing this, or am I just delaying what is already going to be a very long slog against the cultists eventually?

For what it's worth, i don't see myself running this thing all the way through to 15th level. At our rate of play that's going to take over a year to get there.