Why do they keep on dying?!

[Ranger19k]

OP, if you haven't tried them, I found the following sequence of modules to be a pretty good run:
1) Crucible of Freya (Necromancer Games) LVL 1-2
2) Sons of Gruumsh (Forgotten Realms) LVL 4-5 (although we went 3-6)
3) Red Hand of Doom (3.5) LVL 5-10 (although you probably end closer to 12)

They were easy to blend together to make it seem like one longer campaign. I know you were looking to end around 9th, and RHoD will probably take you a bit further, but it is a GREAT module, so it might be worth it to overshoot a bit. It is, however, a tad deadly, so with your track record, maybe have your party start at slightly higher level to improve their survivability?

 

[terrya]

OP, if you haven't tried them, I found the following sequence of modules to be a pretty good run:
1) Crucible of Freya (Necromancer Games) LVL 1-2
2) Sons of Gruumsh (Forgotten Realms) LVL 4-5 (although we went 3-6)
3) Red Hand of Doom (3.5) LVL 5-10 (although you probably end closer to 12)

They were easy to blend together to make it seem like one longer campaign. I know you were looking to end around 9th, and RHoD will probably take you a bit further, but it is a GREAT module, so it might be worth it to overshoot a bit. It is, however, a tad deadly, so with your track record, maybe have your party start at slightly higher level to improve their survivability?

The first 2 look like very intresting suggestions that i will give a look tonight! Red Hand of Doom we have played before. And we also ended around 12th (i was a PC for this one so not everyone died ^.^) but we then died during wilderness travel to a red dragon ;_;. This would be another topic i would apreciate some light on, how do you gents deal with moving from one place to another? We have some encounter tables e.t.c we use but wilderness travel it self can not only be a party killer but also a real pain in the ass as a DM because it can throw peoples levels hugely out of wac to what you were expecting for your module!

 

[Rhun]

This would be another topic i would apreciate some light on, how do you gents deal with moving from one place to another? We have some encounter tables e.t.c we use but wilderness travel it self can not only be a party killer but also a real pain in the ass as a DM because it can throw peoples levels hugely out of wac to what you were expecting for your module!

My players and I generally dispense with random encounters during wilderness travel. We may use a few planned encounters or "flavor encounters" during their travels, but I find that random encounters often just slow the game down. And, as you stated, random encounters can lead to loads of unexpected XPs for your characters.

 

[Ranger19k]

I do the same thing as Rhun. If I want there to be some encounters, I will plan out a few ahead of time and make it part of the campaign. But I dislike the randomness of random encounters and avoid playing out unnecessary encounters that are simply based off of a dice roll. If I do wind up needing an encounter off of the random encounter list, I will invariably choose the one I want, rather than leaving it up to the dice to decide.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

how do you gents deal with moving from one place to another? We have some encounter tables e.t.c we use but wilderness travel it self can not only be a party killer but also a real pain in the ass as a DM because it can throw peoples levels hugely out of wac to what you were expecting for your module!

As a DM I also have planned out travel encounters, based upon what my players want/need. We've had occasion to:
1. plot out day-by-day travels at a time when I was giving small amounts of exp for one party that wanted to do evening fireside sparring matches between themselves for training and bragging rights.
2. Other times the players wanted a few random encounters so they can practice against different kinds of opponents, from bandits to wolf packs to bounty hunters to troll raids to a displacer beast to... well, you get the point.
3. Another specific occasion a player wanted to die intentionally so as to reroll a new character and so a very specific travel encounter was designed so he could die heroically while the rest of the party escaped.
4. And finally, sometimes it's a simple matter of, "You travelled the last 2 months on horseback. Nothing interesting happened, and now you've arrived."

 

[lordxaviar]

it wouldnt let me to him or you...which is why i disabled that dumb system... i still give em..but its useless..

X

 

[Aoric]

I've been dming for years and it appears you and your group excel at low to mid level. If you are all sticklers for first level starting points thats fine. One solution could be creating a character tree. Each player makes three characters one is the prime character the others are related to the character in some way. Not necessarily siblings, maybe they where childhood friends. Perhaps the prime character is a priest and the other two characters failed to make the cut for priesthood maybe it was to restricting or just was not cut out for a priests life. One of them pursued music and was welcomed into a bardic college. Another decided to hire on as a caravan guard and hass wondered what an adventurer life would be like.

You can run more low and mid level adventures and the Player can decide which one of their characters will join in the campaign. By switching characters in and out the tree allows for development without the need to start over. Now if one of the PC's characters die another can fill in. Another character would need to be made to replace the one that got killed.

You can incorporate the new PC slowly and help build them up quicker without making it feel like starting over from the beginning. See if this works with your players. The DM is going to have to get used to creating new adventures.

 

[kitcik]

it appears you and your group excel at low to mid level.

A compliment???

 

[Aoric]

A compliment???

It was just an observation. Most people who come across this type of impasse. Usually do so for one of the following reasons. Either they dislike the change in the challenges when you go above mid level. They get the I'm too powerful to die syndrome and take chances they would not have at lower levels. Sometimes the DM may over compensate and throw the party into a situation they can't handle. These are the top three reasons I have come across and was able to fix it based off of campaign notes. See what caused the common problem and adjust things accordingly to suit the players skills.

Best of luck on your future adventures.