Long Lasting Fun

[Eltern]

Starting a new gaming group, and am looking for some help. My players are new-ish to the game. My current plan is to give the 4-5 people a pre-made character, and we run through a short, simple, level 1 adventure, something that would only last a session or two.
Then, after that, they will make their own character, now that they have a feel for how things work, and we will start a long term campaign. My intention was to play the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil (They will make their characters at level 4), because I understand that it is long and high-quality, good bang for the buck.
Would any of you suggest using a different adventure, other than RttToEE? Is there anything else out there that is really long just by itself, and is pretty decent? (I don't want a big, sprawling dungeon w/o a story.)
Oh, I also don't want to dish out a metric buttload of money, either.

Eltern

 

[Ashrem Bayle]

I've really got to suggest the Sunless Citadel. It is excellent for 1st level character and beginners.

And it is only $10.00 or so.

My group spent several sessions going through it, but you could probably do it in about 3.

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Salutations,

From what I understand RttToEE can have a very high character death rate, you may not want to subject newbies to that.

Sunless Citadel is a decent starting adventure. It is a large dungeon, but contains a lot of the basics of d&d (traps, monsters, skill uses, etc) and there are areas to roleplay within it.

Good luck!

Respectfully submitted,
FD

 

[Eltern]

Hmmm, just so I know, how many sessions did it take most of you to run RttToEE? (And how long were your sessions?)

Eltern

 

[Femerus the Gnecro]

The temple is more of a campaign scenario than an adventure, per se. It's meant to run characters up several levels and it's meant for characters who know how to use their characters effectively.

I highly suggest you let your players earn their way up to the required level before subjecting them to the temple. If you don't, there's a good chance that they'll be destroyed at the moathouse.

-Femerus

 

[Eltern]

Yes, I am wanting something that will be more of a campaign than an adventure. Why? Because then I only need to have one thing (RttToEE), rather than get 6+ adventures and figure out a way to connect them.

But if you're saying that the Temple is a little, eh, dangerous, what are some other 'adventures' that fit the description of "Campaign in a Box"?

Eltern

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Salutations,

Ahh, silly me.

The Freeport Trilogy would be a good min-campeign for characters. The website even has Focus on Freeport with free adventures to plug in between the published adventures. Their forum is also a good source for other adventure ideas.

My only suggestions is changing a trap in the second adventure- I thought it was a bit too dangerous as written.

Otherwise, it is a good series of adventures.

Respectfully submitted
FD

 

[KnowTheToe]

Two things, first, I recoomend the Freeport series of adventures. They are for first level and have both role play and a few traps and some good old fights. I have also heard very good things about the Coin Trilogy by Kenzar & co.

Second, even if RttToEE is very tough, you as the DM can run it a little soft until your players have a hang of it. Anyways, player deaths give them a chance to try different classes and feat combos.

 

[ghettognome]

I don't have any recommendations for you, but I can tell you that Return to the Temple is a tough adventure, and I think it would be better saved until the group knows the rules really well. It is way too easy to die in there. It is one of those modules that works much better with intricate rules knowledge, though it is fun.