Beginner adventure?

[haakon1]

I’ve seen and answered a few threads like this, but it’s always a good question.

My brother-in-law is visiting with his 10 & 8 year old, and wants me to DM for them, to get them off devices.

I really know 3.5 best, and I’ve run a ton of stuff in Greyhawk, specifically Bissel, which makes that easiest for me, so a forest or mountain setting (definitely not sea coast or island) would work.

We figure their attention span is at best 1-2 hours.

Got ideas for adventures? I was thinking “Crucible of Freya”, but it’s too long.

Maybe “Valley of the Snails” from Dungeon 87.

Other ideas?

 

[Gilladian]

Theres an adventure - th something Gauntlet. Gorgoldand’s? It was a free download at one time.
http://www.anxaludens.org/imperium/download/gauntlet.pdf

 

[haakon1]

Thanks for this, and the link.

I am currently think of running the “Valley of the Snails” adventure, but with some edits. Does this sound reasonable:

1) Start and setting remain as written. Village on the edge of forbidding Dim Forest, missing Ranger, go find him. Several wilderness encounters and random monster table also as written.

2) Change a lascivious Satyr encounter that was mostly for laughs to something more kid friendly, maybe a Centaur or sprites, or maybe drop that woods encounter.

3) However, the original plot is the Ranger was drugged by Goblins with mushrooms and is crazy. You have to catch him, and slaughter the Goblins. And there’s an old tomb with the mushrooms you collect to bring back to an alchemist to make a cure.

Change Goblins to Kobolds, so the enemy is less anthropomorphic and has a good reason to be creating the traps that are everywhere in this adventure.

Change shroom crazed Ranger, to Ranger is trapped in the old tomb.

I haven’t decided if:

(A) The Ranger was trapped by his own mistake and is alive because he hasn’t been there too long or there was food there (shrooms?).

Or (B) The kobolds trapped him, released an undead, and are dropping in food because they are afraid he might die an become undead too. If it’s this plot, a Wight would make a lot of sense to me, but it’s super deadly for a 1st level party (one hit kills are likely). So maybe a Ghast or just a Ghoul?

Opinions on the A or B?

Either way, I figure the Ranger was keeping the Kobolds in check, so in addition to the missing Ranger, small livestock like ducks and sheep are going missing during the night. Which is fun because an early encounter is a Fox in a live trap (the Ranger’s animal companion), which might seem to blame for poultry-napping.

 

[Gilladian]

I like the idea that the kobolds are keeping the ranger alive; maybe they will only let him go if he promises not to hunt them down and kill them. You could even have it so theyre not truly evil and can be “tamed” or taught to be law-abiding. My PCs once took in a small tribe of kobolds and taught them to be chicken farmers. It was fun, and had a permanent effect on that region of my campaign.

 

[Grogg of the North]

The Song of Fodin is a good first level adventure. It's written for pathfinder but you could run it in 3.5 with minimal effort. The party is stranded on an island after a shipwreck and needs to find a way home.

http://www.necromancers-online.com/Downloads/The Song of Fodin.pdf

 

[haakon1]

The Song of Fodin is a good first level adventure.

That looks cool. I was thinking of an inland adventure, but this would fit in my campaign world (my version of Greyhawk) on the coast of Blackmoor. Maybe I’ll ask if they want icy or forested.