Campaign in a Box

[Stormborn]

I agree with Brakkart, Freeport Trilogy for some very interesting Lovecraftian cults and intrigue. And remember, even if you don't have a lot/any of the Freeport supplements/settign books the original was written before there were any (the orginal was written before there was practiacally ANYTHING 3rd party for 3rd edition). I recommend them, I am sure you can find reviews here on ENWorld that give more detail if needed. I had a slightly modified (lower magic) setting and gleaned a great deal from it.

Edit: While they don't exactly fit the criteria of "crawl up w/ it for a weekend and then be ready to run" you might want to look at the Event books from Malhavok for non-dungeon cral campaigns.

 

[SteveC]

Hmmm, don't know how to say it any more clearly :

Dungeon Crawl= Not interested

Meatgrinder= Not interested

Granted, my definitions of these are probably a little different. RttToEE, for instance, was a huge PC killing machine, but I know that "fixing" that is pretty easy, since it's also very plot-heavy. So maybe these dungeon crawls many of you are suggesting are still in my ballpark.

Is there somewhere I can get a brief rundown of the Age of Worms plot? After reading the Shackled City preview with it's backstory summary I was VERY interested. Maybe AoW will be similar.

I'm not sure how interested you will be in any of the long-term campaign adventures then, because almost all of them are centered around a dungeon. I have looked at the "Drow War" campaign, and this may be what you're looking for, actually, but it has some specific campaign meta issues (the characters are specific heroes with a destiny). You might like this, but I would read the background before buying it.

The titles I recommended, specifically Barakus and Abthysor are focused on dungeon adventures, and they're both from Necromancer Games, which means they're difficult. However, if you were able to adapt RttToEE you will have no problems with them. They're very GOOD dungeon based adventures with a strong backstory and possibility for strong roleplaying, much of which comes directly from the opposition. I think this is par for the course with most Necromancer Games products, actually. The group I play with is mostly story based/roleplay based, and they have enjoyed both adventures tremendously.

In all seriousness, though, I think what you want is either the Drow Wars (if you can deal with the campaign issues) or Age of Worms. The first Age of Worms has an excellent mix of dungeon, city and wilderness adventure, with strong roleplaying. You're starting in a wretched hive of scum and villany that is rotten to the core, which is something that my players are really enjoying at the moment.

--Steve

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I also would recommend those two modules, particularly the Vault of Larin Karr. I'd say that if you write up just a few low-level adventures using the locale, you could even start off at first level there.

Check out The Lost City of Barakus by Necromancer Games. It takes you from 1st-5th level and recommends you cut xp in half (so the party doen't quickly outstrip the challenges). After you finish that, you can head over to The Vault of Larin Karr

 

[Mystery Man]

3. You won't use dungeons _at all_. In that case D&D probably isn't your cup of tea.

I would recommend lots and lots of Orc and Pie.

 

[Eltern]

Thanks, folks, you've given me a lot of options to think about.

I'm not completely anti-dungeon (it's half the name of the game, afterall), but I don't like them to be the focus of my games. Lost City of Barakus is beginning to sound interesting, though as most of the players will be new to the game I'm probably going to need to go with something tamer, in terms of combat challenges. As it is, though, I have another month before school gets here (enjoy it, Christoph), so I can wait for Shackled City and Freeport Trilogy to hit the stands and read some reviews before I make my decision. That, and Age of Worms will have one more installment to look at.

I don't suppose Barakus will ever come out in PDF, will it?

 

[Dtipp71]

It's available right here.
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=48&products_id=1617

 

[S'mon]

. Lost City of Barakus is beginning to sound interesting, though as most of the players will be new to the game I'm probably going to need to go with something tamer, in terms of combat challenges.

My current group only has 1 player from my previous powergame campaign, the other 5 players are less min-maxy - group is Wizard, Fighter/Ranger, Cleric with low physical stats, Monk, Fighter/Rogue and Rogue (currently away). To encourage character development and prevent random PC death I use Fate Points, from my web site:

"Fate Points
I'm using narrative Fate Points similar to those in the Conan RPG. PCs usually start with 3 (4 for Paladins), most commonly they are used on the player character's behalf for the PC to be 'left for dead' after losing a fight (a common occurrence at first level!). They can also be used by GM or on the player's request to get a 'lucky break' in a dire situation, eg help with escaping captivity, a sudden distraction & such. FPs can be gained for major achievements related to the PC's personality & goals, the GM can also award fate points at his discretion if the PC is "screwed over by fate", eg being arrested for a crime they didn't commit."

Check out my Barakus page at: http://www.geocities.com/s.t.newman/barakus.htm

Like I said, I haven't found Barakus to be a meatgrinder. So far no PCS has died in 10 sessions, thanks to FPs. My players are decent in combat but 5 out of 6 are not powergamers (and the powergamer is a min-max character builder, not a combat tactician). I found with Barakus that shepherding the PCs through the first 2 levels took a degree of care, but the scenario is designed for this. For a small group of new players starting at 3rd level might be best. Half XP works brilliantly, it actually reduces lethality because players have time to get used to their PC abilities - for this reason I think Barakus is exceptionally suitable for new players. Likewise it's much easier to GM than other 3e scenarios I've used.

 

[James Jacobs]

If you haven't run Shackled City yet, I definately recomend you wait to check out the hardcover. Among other enhancements, we've added in a large amount of information about the setting and region, along with an appendix on how to tie characters' histories into the area. I'm the first to admit that there's a lot of dungeons in the series, but they're interspersed with lots of opportunity for role playing and social/political/urban intrigue. Especially in the hardcover, since we've returned some of the non-core-to-the-plot encounters that had to be cut from the original run in the magazines due to space limitations.

As for other campaigns, I've not run it yet but Barakus does look really neat. I'll be running it in my Saturday game but supercharged up for 18th level characters (I'm not sure that it'll work bumping it up to this level, but I'm gonna give it a try). I started this same campaign out with the Freeport adventures and those went over quite well also.

 

[S'mon]

As for other campaigns, I've not run it yet but Barakus does look really neat. I'll be running it in my Saturday game but supercharged up for 18th level characters (I'm not sure that it'll work bumping it up to this level, but I'm gonna give it a try).

I have to say, I really don't think it's designed for that - I can see it as a maybe 8th-10th if you buff up the opposition (roughly, doubling their levels), but 18th? One of the things I like about Barakus is that it has a place for plenty of random encounters of the "1d6 orcs" kind wandering the countryside, but 18th level PCs don't wander, they teleport...