1st level Starting Adventures - Which is the Best?

[Sholari]

A couple of my favorites over the years...

Thirds of Purloined Vellum (Dungeon) - Heroes start out rescuing a merchant ambushed on a city street. A quest to recover his stolen contracts leads to thieves operating under the shadow of other thieves and a wizard living in the shadow of another wizard.

The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh - The town council of a sleepy sea town hire the players to clear out the mansion of a long dead alchemist rumoured to be haunted. The characters find more than meets the eye buried in the cellars.

Legacy of the Liosalfar (Dungeon) - Drought has brought starvation to you characters' village. Even worse the miller who was sent with the village's emergency cash reserve to buy more food has disappeared. The answer lies somewhere in the forest in where once there was a war of elves.

The Longest Night - Players start out escorting a caravan to a city. The investigation of grave robberies lead to a 10-year old scandal of epic proportions.

Grudwilla's Stew (Dungeon) - The annual offering to placate a tribe of local bugbears has fallen apart. Can the characters pick up the pieces before time runs out.

 

[Ed Cha]

"1A The Hamlet of Thumble", the debut product for Open World Press, will be released in July 2003.

It is a 1st-level adventure/setting/starter kit and the first in the WORLD OF WHITETHORN series campaign setting. It includes a short adventure, a highly-detailed halfling hamlet (over 40 NPCs statted), rules on morale checks/incorporating dreams/reputation points, tips for a new DM, and how to keep role-playing from becoming "roll-playing".

Details are discussed here:

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=46632

Also, be sure to check out the main Web site at:

http://www.openworldpress.com

Here is a link to samples of the fantastic artwork and cartography:

http://www.openworldpress.com/1a

 

[Graf]

I remember reading lots and lots of positive stuff about Nemoren's Vault when 3rd ed started. So I went out to pick it up.....

honestly it was just a dungeon romp, except with an inordinate amount of treasure (many times what a low level party should get). It seems like people have had a lot of fun with it but if you're looking for a classic maze-of-death you don't need to go further than the web or dungeon mag.

For example: Life's Bazaar appeared recently (dungeon 97?), should still be availible, comes with a great map and was really good. Not to mention that it was huge and cheap (8 bucks is a remarkable bargain; given that you get lots of other stuff along with it).

Just make sure to check the errata thread on these boards.

[edit: price oops]

 

[SpiderMonkey]

thieves in the forest

this is a great module for newbie players for its straight forwardness, and for experienced players who would like to use some flexibility and tactics. I've run it twice, and both groups had a lot of fun.

 

[WizarDru]

I prefer "The longest night" over "Sunless Citadel" any day, so I´m surprised nobody mentioned it either.

I'd have to be aware of it to mention it. Who publishes it? I've never heard of it. Could you elaborate some about it?

 

[Mark Chance]

Are there any 1st level adventures out there that start out with action? And by action I mean a wave of attacks that brings the group together. Maybe the first wave of an orc war that the PCs run into.

Not that I'm aware of, but there's bound to be. In media res is such a good device, I'd be amazed if no one used it.

I know!

While the PCs are meeting in the Golden Cliche Tavern, have a table full of half-orc barbarians simultaneously grip their temples, scream in pain, and then go murderously berserk.

While the PCs wonder what's up, have them get sent off on some adventure while you, the GM, decide exactly why those half-orcs did what they did.

 

[haiiro]

I'd have to be aware of it to mention it. Who publishes it? I've never heard of it. Could you elaborate some about it?

The Longest Night is the first book of the Witchfire Trilogy, and is published by Privateer Press. Parts two and three are Shadow of the Exile and Legion of Lost Souls, and from what I've seen the whole trilogy gets consistently good reviews. All three are lengthy adventures, and are set in Privateer's Iron Kingdoms setting. I read TLN when it first came out, but I don't remember much of it.

Here's a link to Privateer's products page: http://www.privateerpress.com/products/books.shtml.