Adventures without much Hack n slash?

[Storyteller01]

Ruins of Rackfall is a non hack and slash. Well, it could be H&S, but I wouldn't want to face them all at once, what with the ettin and barghest back up and all.


The teething baby goblin was a nice touch too. Still have to see if my players can figure that out yet.

 

[Richards]

Another puzzle-based adventure, somewhat in the spirit of the various Challenges of Champions but specifically written for a party of 1st-level PCs, is "Gorgoldand's Gauntlet." You can download it at the following site, if you scroll down the page a bit:

http://www.dndadventure.com/html/adventures/adv1.html​

Several puzzles/traps, very few combat encounters (and several of those are entirely optional). And it's free!

Johnathan

 

[LcKedovan]

Several puzzles/traps, very few combat encounters (and several of those are entirely optional). And it's free!

Johnathan

Ah, I wondered if you would chime in Johnathan. You will be happy to know that G's Gauntlet was her first ever adventure and what got her hooked on the game. She still has the sword.

The Choose your own adventure is also a really good idea, but she is just one of a party of 5. Can't cater only to her.. I try to avoid favouritism. The other models in the group get jealous.... (Just kidding about the other models bit).

TarionzCousin, thanks for that pointer and very funny comment... for a second I thought I was missing a hockey game until the lightbulb went on

-Will

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Did I mention she's a model in her spare time? I admit, I am pretty damn #$%@#^ fortunate. Of course, I rue the day when I kill off her character... heh.

As for the rest of the suggestions so far.. all good. If anyone knows any specific adventures they have run or heard about that would help too. I have almost all the Dungeon's so sorting through all of them is a lot of work .

-W.

Stop lying, you liar. A hot model wife that begs her husband to run more D&D. I've never seen a bigger troll in all my life! Lucky bugger.

More on track though, I recently bought Dungeon 138. Reading "The Mud Sorcerer's Tomb" is is very much an "old school" dungeon crawl. Just keep that in mind when you choose what to run next.

Olaf the Stout

 

[LcKedovan]

Stop lying, you liar. A hot model wife that begs her husband to run more D&D. I've never seen a bigger troll in all my life! Lucky bugger.

More on track though, I recently bought Dungeon 138. Reading "The Mud Sorcerer's Tomb" is is very much an "old school" dungeon crawl. Just keep that in mind when you choose what to run next.

Olaf the Stout

haha, I never troll! Besides, Troll's couldn't follow it up with pictures

I'll keep that in mind regarding that adventure. Thanks.

-W.

 

[Ghendar]

The group I play with prefers less hack n slash, since with 3.5 and using the miniatures, combats can tend to dominate the percentage of any nights gaming session. What I am looking for is suggestions for adventures with more focus on problem solving, riddles, diplomacy and RP. Combat is still important but less is better. I usually have to do the planning and focus on those aspects myself, but without the time to really dedicate to it I would prefer suggestions on adventures that wouldn't require hours of my time to prep and run. Thanks for any suggestions,

-Will

Not a specific adventure but if you're looking to design a non combat focussed campaign.....

There's a book out there by Penumbra called Dynasties & Demagogues that focusses heavily on political intrigue type of campaigns. I've only skimmed it so far but I hear some good things from others about this book.

linky
http://www.atlas-games.com/product_tables/AG3220.php

 

[Gundark]

My wife has been bugging the heck out of me to start running D&D again.

I WISH I had your problem....my wife tells me I play too much

Anyhow I would check out Green Ronin's bleeding edge products. They can be purchased as pdfs and seem to have a larger roleplaying aspect to them.

 

[buzz]

The group I play with prefers less hack n slash, since with 3.5 and using the miniatures, combats can tend to dominate the percentage of any nights gaming session. What I am looking for is suggestions for adventures with more focus on problem solving, riddles, diplomacy and RP. Combat is still important but less is better. I usually have to do the planning and focus on those aspects myself, but without the time to really dedicate to it I would prefer suggestions on adventures that wouldn't require hours of my time to prep and run.

I'll be the token jerk in the thread and recommend the following:

http://www.burningwheel.org/
http://www.glorantha.com/
http://www.crngames.com/the_shadow_of_yesterday/index
(Free version of above: http://files.crngames.com/cc/tsoy/book1--rulebook.html)
http://www.tao-games.com/games_polaris.shtml
http://www.timfire.com/MountainWitch.html
http://www.faterpg.com/

Why? Because you basically described your group as one that's not really interested in D&D.

Okay... my NOT-jerky answer would be to look for any D&D adventures produced by Atlas Games: http://www.atlas-games.com/. Most of them are for 3.0, as Atlas is no longer in the d20 business, but conversion should not be too big a deal.

Atlas' adventures are very much "thinking man's D&D." One of their big htis was In the Belly of the Beast by Mike "My lord and master" Mearls. There's a big fight at the end, but it's almost all intrigue and RP until then. It's also for 1st -3rd level, making it good for kicking off a campaign.

 

[theemrys]

I'd suggest looking at most of the modules from Kenzerco for the Kalamar setting. Although there can be combat, there is much more focus on roleplaying and setting I have found.

 

[00Machado]

One of their big htis was In the Belly of the Beast by Mike "My lord and master" Mearls. There's a big fight at the end, but it's almost all intrigue and RP until then. It's also for 1st -3rd level, making it good for kicking off a campaign.

I second the nomination for this adventure.

My recommendations aren't centered around specific modules, but rather structuring your own adventures to flow the way you're describing.

Monte cook posted a sample of chapter 7 of Ptolus. In it, he mentions a common urban adventure structure that he's seen. You can find it here.
http://www.montecook.com/images/PtolusPart7_preview.pdf

When I used the adventure structure ideas from the Run Emmy Winning Games article by Robin Laws in Dragon 293, I found that the adventure was easily completed in about a three or four hour session. It left the players wanting more, in a good way. (like a good TV episode will). It was easy to plan in terms of GM prep, and, becuase of the nature of the structure, didn't lend itself to having too many combat moments.

I'd look at both of those if you're interested in planning your own adventures more than using modules.

If you're looking for ideas, and not just structure, I find the intrugue ideas from Power of Faerun very interesting. Many can lead to heavy investigation with the occasional combat encounter type adventures.