New Players, Sunless Citadel, HELP!!!

[TheNameless14590]

I'm a new DM, having only played for 2 months. I've been reading source books and making several campains over the ast year and a half, just now getting my brother and over enthusiastic dad to join in. We have just finished an experimental campian set in a post Middle Age Planescape, and I'm about to run the Sunless Citadel and then RttToEE, City of the Spider Queen, an Bastion of Broken Souls.
I would greatly appreciate any tips on how to run Sunless Citadel, whiel setting the tone for the rest of the camapian. Does anyone have any special things they used to make the adventure mmore exciting, a way to make Erky Timbers come alive and not be some stupid nnoyign gnome? Our party has only 3 members, mot likly 1 wizard, some sort of fighter, and one unkown ( my brother often changes his shoice of class at the last minute, making me make a new charecter)

Sorry about the length of the post, but I want to make a good 1st impression and need all the help I can get.

 

[Harlock]

Length of the post? Hell, I just read Mongoose Matt's "State of the Industry" post and it was so long it probably had footnotes! Oh well, at least it was better edited than most of Mongoose's books (lowblow, I know).

On to your question. Erky Timbers isn't annoying. I had him ask the party for an escort out of the Citadel and enough food to get to the nearest town. He was out of there in no time, hence, no annoyance. Make up a funny voice for Meepo. Meepo is perhaps, when played the way they've written him, one of the funniest characters I've ever had the opportunity to play. My party still was influenced by him up into Epic Level gameplay.

I felt it was an exciting module as it was written. Granted, a lot of that is pacing, and being fairly new to D&D, you may not pace yourself very well. Try to keep the characters moving, but try and have them wary of their impending demise at every corner. Don't actually try and kill them all, but try and set the mood by describing things in more detail. Describe shadows that move and flee around corners from the torch or lantern light (that's just shadows, after all... you turn on a light, they are vanquished). You can give them that sense of urgency by simple things like describing odd noises they may hear that break the eerie silence of the underground gloom. It can be creaks, clicks, clanks... just normal sounds of settling that can motivate a group to quit dawdling and get a move on.

All in all, pace and atmosphere are your most important jobs as DM. Oh, and I'd make sure they have a Cleric in the party. Inexperienced players tend to need a lot of healing.

EDIT: It is also your job as DM to know the module very well. It sounds as if you've read it already, but become very familiar with it. That way you know the key points and places. Sometimes newer players can miss important secret doors, rooms, etc. by being too hasty. If you think they're about to miss something, drop a few more clues. Maybe a secret panel on a door, statue, or torch sconce seems a bit more worn than other things in the room. Maybe there are footprints in the dust that just seem to go through the wall. Most importantly, HAVE FUN, and make sure the players are having fun too. It is only a game after all!

 

[TheNameless14590]

Thank you for the advice. I had never really thought about having Erky leave, but that is a good idea as I'm pretty sure I'll have my hands full, and i dont need another NPC to deal with. All of this seems easy enough, xcept the part about having a Cleric, I think I'll have to work hard to convince anyone to play that class. Thanks agian for the advice, I really apprecaite the tips on hwo to keep them moving.

 

[stevelabny]

I DMed back when I first go the red box and then the AD&D books back in the 80s then didn't play for a decade, and started playing again when 3e came out.
I recently tried to DM online, and ran a bunch of younger folk through the Sunless Citadel.

First I think your idea that Erky (or any NPC) will be too much for you to control is a mistake. In almost EVERY game I've ever run or played in, there is always one NPC travelling with the party. NPCs are how the DM can keep the pace, give some advice when the players are stuck, and contribue in all sorts of useful ways. If youre implying you already have a campaign-specific NPC that you want to use instead of Erky, then just do what Harlock suggested and send Erky packing. But if you think you're going to have a problem finding a PC to play a cleric, a cleric NPC is the perfect choice, because the NPC that was a prisoner won't mind playing the full-time healer like a PC would. If you're afraid that you'll only be able to play a gnome as stupid and annoying, just switch him to another race. Play to your strengths.

I also think Sunless Citadel is one of the best modules I've ever read or played through. Challenging without being impossible and with enough potentially odd turns of events. I was running it with PCs I'd never gamed with before, and was surprised at some of the things that happened.

They gathered NO information in town. Nothing. Zero. Didnt even bother asking a question. They had their plot hooks, and wanted to go straight to the Citadel. Bizarre.

After watching them commit that newbie sin, I was sure that they would never befriend or negotiate with the kobolds, but they did.

Their fighting tactics were so bad, that when they finally arrived at the white dragon's room, lost initiative and failed their reflex saves, they had to run.
After regrouping and returning , the wizard sucessfully put the dragon to sleep. They stuffed him in sack and slowly worked their way back through the citadel, completely forgetting the spell's DURATION. This led to a tense encounter with the dragon right in front of the kobold queen and her warriors, who worship dragons. Again, the party followed up their mistake by realizing they should only fight to subdue rather than kill the dragon in front of its "owners".

To make the module more exciting? Find a way for the PCs to get that key that leads to the quasit and the troll. They're too good to pass up. If they make the deal with the kobolds, sucessfully return the dragon, and DONT take the key, dont despair. The module makes it very clear that Calcryx doesnt want any part of being the kobolds pet. A little off-camera mayhem can lead to dead kobolds, a wandering dragon and a key sitting there for the taking. That quasit is immune to everything and can easily become a recurring thorn in the party's side.

Besides letting 1st level characters handle a little bit of everything, the best part of the module is that all the denizens of the Citadel have fun personalities to work with.

 

[Shadowdancer]

When I ran this module, Erky only remained with the party for the duration of the first level. He asked for a weapon and scavenged some armor from some dead jailers, then helped kill goblins so he could take his revenge against those who had imprisoned him. But he didn't go with the party to the lower level -- he split.

Everyone apparently had more fun with Meepo than we did. I had an OK time running him, while he lasted. But he got killed by Calcryx. I had a lot of fun with this, role-playing Calcryx's successful slaying of his "great enemy." The party had fun, too, feeding his ego so he thought he was one hot-shot dragon. They never captured Calcryx or took him back to the kobolds.

The best advice is to give lots of dynamic descriptions which engage as many of the senses as possible: How do things look? Smell? Sound? Taste? Feel to the touch? Also, try to make all key NPCs distinct individuals. As suggested, give them funny voices or other distinctive characteristics. If you need to, make a list so you can keep them straight.

 

[Buttercup]

I ran Sunless Citadel for a party of 6 when I was a new DM too. I had a heck of a time keeping them alive. Level one characters are pretty fragile, and when they also make stupid choices, or neglect to do things (like look for traps) the players can be rolling up new characters before you know it.

I strongly suggest there be a cleric in the party, even if you have to run it as an NPC. If you end up with only three party members, you might have to tone down some of the encounters--use fewer monsters or fudge things a bit--unless you want the adventure to end quickly.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Urbannen]

I concur with Buttercup. I ran SC and the first character down the ledge was quickly killed by the three giant rats. He failed his opposed Spot checks, he was flatfooted, a rat got a natural 20, and then he also lost his second round iniative. That means death for a 1st level rogue (unless the DM fudges). We retconned it so that everyone was really 2nd level to start

The Sunless Citadel is fun because the PCs actually get to interact with some "evil" humanoids (the kobolds) like they are weird primitives rather than Evil-Creatures-That-Must-Be-Destroyed. I tried to recreate the "yapping" of the kobolds by creating a higher-pitched staccato on stressed syllables. Meepo is a very adorable and memorable character. If we had continued with those characters, he would have become the ranger's apprentice (favored enemy: goblins).

Also make sure you understand the physical setup of the dungeon, and how you think the lighting works. I didn't think it was very clearly explained in the module and diagrams.

 

[Zjelani]

I also ran Sunless Citadel as a prelude to RttToEE. To help tie them together, I included a stashed journal from one of the original residents discussing the downfall of the Citadel and mentioned some of the villians from RttToEE (a couple by name, but mostly as just mentioning the Cult of the Elder Elemental Eye and such). With a little research they discovered that those bad guys were last heard of at this temple to the north, near a town called Hommlett in a great battle that may or may not have defeated them for good...

Also, I'm trying to remember if it was in the original module or something I added for fun, but I *think* there's a tunnel leading into the Underdark inside the Sunless Citadel. You could easily drop a hint or two about City of the Spider Queen there, or even have the initial character hook or drow attacking the surface come through that tunnel.

 

[tmaaas]

With only three PCs, I would consider starting them out at level two.

 

[Shadowdancer]

The group I ran through had four characters. We made everyone multiclassed, with one level in two different classes. I think everyone was Fighter 1/XXX 1, except for one Bard 1/Sorceress 1. Having so many fighters, and a broad range of spells from the bard/sorceress, really helped.