I like the idea of having Durnan have the ability to allow other adventures to experience adventures he's been a part of over the years. Some magical "mcGuffin" allows him to create pocket realities (much like the Holo-decks in Star Trek). Adventures can now attempt to do the encounters while the other patrons look on from within the Yawning Portal. This alos allows a possible largescale "Green marches" style campaign.
D&D 5E Running Tales from the Yawning Portal as a single campaign
CydKnight
Explorer
I am a player in TFYP right now and from the beginning we were told by the DM this would be strung together as one campaign. We just finished Forge of Fury last night and we have simply gone back and forth between the dungeon and the town on foot so far.
As far as how you want to do it, I think your suggestion is just as good as any other if that is fun for you.
As far as how you want to do it, I think your suggestion is just as good as any other if that is fun for you.
CapnZapp
Legend
Draw or steal a fantasy map; something that doesn't tell the players it's set in the so-and-so campaign world. Essentially, a stand-alone chunk of mostly-wilderness land big enough it takes you weeks to travel from one end to the other.
Then you plop down (i.e. choose) a "starting town" and the seven dungeons from Yawning. That one is described as a "citadel" or a "temple" doesn't mean you need to have one of those on the map, the dungeon could be sufficiently overgrown or "sunken" to explain why it's only marked as a set of standing stones or a cave entrance on the map.
Then you seed the valley with at a couple dozen semi-permanent "forces" like a tribe of goblins there, a dragon here. This can include "civilized" forces such as a force of Knights protecting a Monastery, or the militia of a city. Be sure to include a couple of presumptive higher-level "vendors" (a wizard's tower, the Church of Wisdom etc).
Now select your first dungeon. Could be Sunless Citadel, but maybe that's so low in level it's already known in town, so perhaps Forge of Fury. Who knows about the place? (Where to find it, essential clues to notable traps or treasure or monsters, and the like. And who knows about that guy? This way you'll sprinkle clues as breadcrumbs for the party to find. You don't need to do all dungeons right away, as long as they always have at least one clear lead to follow up on.
Also include "questgivers" that aren't related to the main dungeons. Could be as simple as "collect thirteen goblin ears for me and you shall be rewarded with this magical dagger".
Then random encounters and wandering monsters will do the rest, and you can find those on the net (there's even threads here on ENWorld asking for good hexcrawl resources). Don't forget about these - it's paramount there is risk and cost involved with travelling and especially outdoors resting.
And you're done. (Maybe you will want to tweak the 5e ruleset to a more old-school sensibility, but that will have to be the topic of another post)
Then, when (and if!) a certain monster or NPC catches the players' fancy, you can expand its role to start a more traditional story-line (something like "the princess you met? she's been kidnapped, and rumor says the Dragon lives in something called "the forge of fury"...)
Then you plop down (i.e. choose) a "starting town" and the seven dungeons from Yawning. That one is described as a "citadel" or a "temple" doesn't mean you need to have one of those on the map, the dungeon could be sufficiently overgrown or "sunken" to explain why it's only marked as a set of standing stones or a cave entrance on the map.
Then you seed the valley with at a couple dozen semi-permanent "forces" like a tribe of goblins there, a dragon here. This can include "civilized" forces such as a force of Knights protecting a Monastery, or the militia of a city. Be sure to include a couple of presumptive higher-level "vendors" (a wizard's tower, the Church of Wisdom etc).
Now select your first dungeon. Could be Sunless Citadel, but maybe that's so low in level it's already known in town, so perhaps Forge of Fury. Who knows about the place? (Where to find it, essential clues to notable traps or treasure or monsters, and the like. And who knows about that guy? This way you'll sprinkle clues as breadcrumbs for the party to find. You don't need to do all dungeons right away, as long as they always have at least one clear lead to follow up on.
Also include "questgivers" that aren't related to the main dungeons. Could be as simple as "collect thirteen goblin ears for me and you shall be rewarded with this magical dagger".
Then random encounters and wandering monsters will do the rest, and you can find those on the net (there's even threads here on ENWorld asking for good hexcrawl resources). Don't forget about these - it's paramount there is risk and cost involved with travelling and especially outdoors resting.
And you're done. (Maybe you will want to tweak the 5e ruleset to a more old-school sensibility, but that will have to be the topic of another post)
Then, when (and if!) a certain monster or NPC catches the players' fancy, you can expand its role to start a more traditional story-line (something like "the princess you met? she's been kidnapped, and rumor says the Dragon lives in something called "the forge of fury"...)
This.
Flamestrike
Legend
I was gonna do it a a hex crawl sandbox with the adventure locations scattered about the place, and the PCs able to tackle them as they see fit.
XP halved to make it more challenging.
XP halved to make it more challenging.
OK - I know everyone thinks I'm a bit mad for my "Ready Player One" themed TftYP campaign idea but I've given it a bit more thought... 
When setting up the campaign the players will come up with their "future character" (the human - where they live, their name, age etc) as well as their PC avatar for the virtual world. They'll also come up with a team name. I, as DM, will produce a bracket of teams so that each team is paired up with a different team for each "challenge" (the opposing teams would have PCs derived from the various WotC prepared character sheets). This gives the opportunity to "catch up with" or be caught up by the opposing team (there would be some kind of chase mechanic - if the PCs complete an encounter quickly they get advantage on their advance on the other team - if they seem to go slowly they have disadvantage on their advance against the other team.
At the start of the round I would roll a d20 to determine whose got the lead, and a d6 to determine how far ahead or behind (in encounters) the other team is. (That needs some more thought....)
If the teams encounter each other then of course there's a "battle royal" between the teams and whoever loses is sent back to the start of the adventure to try and catch back up.
Whichever team makes it to the end "first" then they win the "round" (this does have the potential for the PC team to not win a round... hmmm. Perhaps a "last chance kitchen" would be needed ).
Obviously lots of thinking still to be done - but the bracket thing seems like a cool visualization tool for how the competition is going!
Anyway, I still think this idea has some potential for a different spin on things.... (or it could totally suck!)
When setting up the campaign the players will come up with their "future character" (the human - where they live, their name, age etc) as well as their PC avatar for the virtual world. They'll also come up with a team name. I, as DM, will produce a bracket of teams so that each team is paired up with a different team for each "challenge" (the opposing teams would have PCs derived from the various WotC prepared character sheets). This gives the opportunity to "catch up with" or be caught up by the opposing team (there would be some kind of chase mechanic - if the PCs complete an encounter quickly they get advantage on their advance on the other team - if they seem to go slowly they have disadvantage on their advance against the other team.
At the start of the round I would roll a d20 to determine whose got the lead, and a d6 to determine how far ahead or behind (in encounters) the other team is. (That needs some more thought....)
If the teams encounter each other then of course there's a "battle royal" between the teams and whoever loses is sent back to the start of the adventure to try and catch back up.
Whichever team makes it to the end "first" then they win the "round" (this does have the potential for the PC team to not win a round... hmmm. Perhaps a "last chance kitchen" would be needed
).Obviously lots of thinking still to be done - but the bracket thing seems like a cool visualization tool for how the competition is going!
Anyway, I still think this idea has some potential for a different spin on things.... (or it could totally suck!)
Bacon Bits
Hero
I don't know, I used to aim for the ugliest looking modules. They often turned out the best. That's how I ended up with A4, B2, and S2!
Tales From the Yawning Portal is a great way to limit the prep and world building. You don't have to keep in mind great amounts of detail across a campaign spanning a year's worth of game play. You just need to prepare for the specific adventure and keep a select few notes of cool ideas for NPCs to make reappearances or other complications or adventures that occur between the adventures. And if you don't, your players will make
Prep the adventure, let the campaign take care of itself.
Yeah, really, coming up with a reason to tie them together isn't important. Some journeys are epic in scale, while others are just individual chapters. Nobody watches the Simpsons expecting what happened last week to affect this week. Sometimes it's ok to let your game do that, too.
After the first module, let the players go wherever they want and have ample downtime. Then, throw the next hook at them. Usually by the time it comes up the way forward is self-evident.
glitterstem
First Post
I appreciate this thread, as I have been prepping for a campaign based on these old dungeon crawls for a group of older, but inexperienced players. And I have considered much of the above; these adventures located in undermountain, YP full of portals etc...
I think I am going to place them in Forgotten Realms in the various locations suggested in TYP. And then develop some one or two session adventures for the journey in between where the party can do a little more role play and develop some story arch to bind the adventures together.
I am not sure that I have much more of a plan than for either Durham or some other patron of the Inn to become the parties sponsor and send them off. Perhaps the Red Sash has some expanded operation outside of Waterdeep and makes contact with the party if need be.
I am not really concerned about developing the connections between adventures, as much as I am developing a bit of a story arc so that the players who really enjoy that aspect of the game don't get totally hosed or feel bored rolling from one dungeon crawl to the next.
I think I am going to place them in Forgotten Realms in the various locations suggested in TYP. And then develop some one or two session adventures for the journey in between where the party can do a little more role play and develop some story arch to bind the adventures together.
I am not sure that I have much more of a plan than for either Durham or some other patron of the Inn to become the parties sponsor and send them off. Perhaps the Red Sash has some expanded operation outside of Waterdeep and makes contact with the party if need be.
I am not really concerned about developing the connections between adventures, as much as I am developing a bit of a story arc so that the players who really enjoy that aspect of the game don't get totally hosed or feel bored rolling from one dungeon crawl to the next.
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