D&D 5E Reclaiming Blingdenstone

[Li Shenron]

We need a 5e adventure for starting 1st-level characters, but we want it short, ideally playable in one evening (we don't know if there will ever be a second session). If so short is not possible, at least something that can be prepared by the DM fairly quickly, e.g. a couple of hours.

Looking into the 5e playtesting material I have found "Caves of Chaos" and "Reclaiming Blingdenstone", and the second looks more interesting... Has anyone here played or DMed this one? What are your experiences with this adventure?

BTW, AFAIK there are no free adventures on WotC website for 5e as there used to be in the 3e era, is that right?

 

[Agamon]

Reclaiming Blingdenstone is definitely not a one-shot adventure. The party could spend half of one session exploring the part of the city the gnomes have taken back so far, interacting with NPCs.

That said, you could turn it into a one-shot by bypassing that and just assuming the party has been hired to do one of the 5 (or is it 6?) missions available. One mission would take about one session to complete.

WotC doesn't have any free adventures, but there are plenty available from others. MerricB has reviewed a bunch of them on his blog

 

[Rhenny]

I used Blingdenstone for a mini-campaign during the playtest and I liked it very much. It basically presents a main hub (Blingdenstone) which is not too big. Then, there are a number of locations/quests spread out around it. It is a very good foundation that is easy to enhance. Many of the individual quests within the campaign can be one shot experiences.

If you can get your hands on Mines of Madness, that one can be a one-shot (although I think my group spent about 3 sessions or about 9 hours completing it). I modified it heavily to fit into a campaign I was running, but it was written as a one shot that is pretty deadly. It is a throw back to Gygaxian dungeon crawl with lots of traps and very little story.

Good luck.

Edited Mines of Madness typo!

 

[Li Shenron]

Reclaiming Blingdenstone is definitely not a one-shot adventure. The party could spend half of one session exploring the part of the city the gnomes have taken back so far, interacting with NPCs.

I was confused by the introduction, where it says that it's a set of 6 mini-adventures that should take 1-2 hours each, so I thought maybe each of them (or two, if things go fast) could be used as a one-shot?

 

[Agamon]

I was confused by the introduction, where it says that it's a set of 6 mini-adventures that should take 1-2 hours each, so I thought maybe each of them (or two, if things go fast) could be used as a one-shot?

Our sessions weren't that long back then, 2.5 to 3.5 hours each, but we didn't get though more than one per session.

 

[Redthistle]

If you can get your hands on Maze of Madness, that one can be a one-shot (although I think my group spent about 3 sessions or about 9 hours completing it). I modified it heavily to fit into a campaign I was running, but it was written as a one shot that is pretty deadly. It is a throw back to Gygaxian dungeon crawl with lots of traps and very little story.

Good luck.

Did you mean Mines of Madness?

 

[Rhenny]

Did you mean Mines of Madness?

Yes...Mines of Madness (Dang typing on phone!!! I hate it.)

 

[halfling rogue]

I was looking for something similar in scope last week. I suggested that maybe the side quests offered in part 3 of Lost Mine might be used. I didn't get a chance to run a game like I hoped but I still think it might work with a little tweaking.

 

[Li Shenron]

Well it looks like I have to run Reclaiming Blingdenstone indeed, because I was just told I have to be the DM tonight, and I don't have any alternatives right now, unless I want to convert an old module. I have only a few hours now to read it through, wish me luck!

 

[Mercurius]

I've always liked the idea that the first session be really simple: PCs meet, perhaps travel together, are attacked, investigate why they were attacked. Session over, level gained. It is like getting your feet wet, and past that awkward and horrible phase of having single digit HP (for many of them).

This could be as simple as:
"After leaving your home, you got employment as a caravan guard on the way to X." Caravan gets attacked by goblins/orcs/gnolls/undead, someone gets stolen away - children and/or young women to be sold to duergar slavers? Etc. PCs, all guards, rally to fight them off, then track them back to their lair, maybe face more of them and their leader, perhaps a bit of treasure and/or save a captive or two and/or a reward from the grateful merchant, whose daughter you saved.

It is a very simple scenario, can be played in one night, and doesn't require much planning - just decide what will attack them, who gets taken, what the lair looks like, if there is any treasure.

After that, level them up, and then they can go off on their first true adventure - a dungeon, or whatever.

But that wasn't your question, I realize. I was riffing off your desire for a one-shot adventure to get things started.