Starting a new campaign- and I want it to be memorable

[UltimaGabe]

Hey, everyone. I recently acquired a group of new minds wanting to partake of the wonder known as Dungeons & Dragons. None of them (save one or two) have ever played D&D before, and after a couple nights of explaining the rules and having them make characters, I want our first adventure to be as fun and as memorable as possible.

I decided to start them off with something simple- a Dungeon Crawl. The setting has sort of been set (I made up a little town for them to start in, and another player DMed a short little Festival thingie to get them all used to skill checks, and roleplaying, and whatnot), but I want to be able to introduce a bunch of fun, memorable NPCs, create a good atmosphere, and get the group to have fun. Basically, I know what I'm gonna do, it's the going-about-it part I want advice on.

Does anyone have any tips on the pre-crawl portion of the adventure (where everyone meets up and finds their hook to go where I want them to), or even any tips on the Dungeon Crawl itself? I wanted it to be long, but not too hard- yet I want it to have a feeling of mystery and danger to keep the PCs on their toes. I want it to be easy, but make them think otherwise.

Just, does anyone have any general advice for creating a good, memorable, fun first adventure/campaign? Any advice would be most appreciated.

 

[arwink]

I actually favor something other than a dungeon crawl with first-timers - while the dungeon has the advantage of limiting choices in direction and being more "gamish", it's often easier for people to groove to the style of a fantasy murder mystery or some such.

Basically, if you want to make it memorable, try to pick the genres of film, books, movies etc that your players are most familiar with, and find a way to twist it into the fantasy setting.

 

[UltimaGabe]

I actually favor something other than a dungeon crawl with first-timers - while the dungeon has the advantage of limiting choices in direction and being more "gamish", it's often easier for people to groove to the style of a fantasy murder mystery or some such.

Basically, if you want to make it memorable, try to pick the genres of film, books, movies etc that your players are most familiar with, and find a way to twist it into the fantasy setting.

Eh, I'll definitely keep that in mind, but I'm still going with a dungeon crawl. However, as far as NPCs and things go, I stayed up last night and made some interesting important NPCs for the town they're starting in (such as the Head of the Town Guard, a 13th-level Fighter/1st-level Sorcerer, or the "Circle of Seven", the group of spellcasters that govern the city). I also drew up the beginning of the dungeon.

Anyone else have ideas?

 

[LostSoul]

I'd start with some kind of action. Like, the city gets attacked by a horde of monsters and they have to flee into the catacombs/sewers/proving ground of the mad overlord. The situation itself should force them together and they might have fun doing it.

How much have you got down so far?

 

[Stormborn]

How about having the dungeon in question occupied by an evil but realtively harmless race, a xenophobic group of goblins or kobolds comes to mind. The hook can be that the creatures seems to be istaging an impromptu invasion of the little town, and the PCs can get mixed up with the seeming invaders in various ways. The twist would be that the little creatures are not really invading...they are fleeing. Something has creeped into one of the lower tunnels of their lair and has driven them out. The upper level could still have the traditional dungeon traps and hazards, left by the former occupants, and various monsters have been driven up formthe lower levels too, dire rats etc.

The PCs can then have various hooks of
helping the kobolds take back their home
driving out the monster before it threatens the town
looting the dungeon while no one is looking
all of these
none of these

The mystery and danger can come from competing reports from the fleeing kobolds of exactly what the thing might be, if any one bothers. Maybe the PCs are the only ones who care that the kobolds have been driven out. Or maybe no one takes it seriously enough, and so have sent the kid brother/acolyte/apprentice and his friend to check it out.

 

[The Thayan Menace]

Nothing Like the City

I suggest starting the adventure in a major metropolis; create a few cool encounter areas with flexible locations and then make sure that your player characters "find" them.

Other than that, just let your PCs go silly in the big city and get to know each other better.

In my experience, most PCs have no problem fabricating the bulk of any urban adventure with very little assistance from the DM.

After all, cities are great places to get in trouble.

(Make sure to generate basic statistics for the city watch.)

 

[Henry]

Does anyone have any tips on the pre-crawl portion of the adventure (where everyone meets up and finds their hook to go where I want them to), or even any tips on the Dungeon Crawl itself? I wanted it to be long, but not too hard- yet I want it to have a feeling of mystery and danger to keep the PCs on their toes. I want it to be easy, but make them think otherwise.

The trick is not specifics, but in the generals.

1. Make sure the party has a good spread of character classes - at least have the diplomacy, fighting, and healing angles covered.
2. Tailor the challenges to each character's strength beforehand. Make sure that EACH player has something that only his character can do. Give them the gentle nidge they need if one player forgets, or is too shy to suggest they CAN do something in a troublesome spot.
3. Get some light roleplaying in there; supply an NPC-to-NPC interaction if you have to, to get the ice broken and show them how. Address them in character where possible, and act as if they addressed the NPC in character, even without an out-of-character remark.
4. Make sure the combat descriptions are dynamic, without approaching the gory (unless that's what they like). Some new players don't really make the leap that "I can do all that?!?!" until you describe it for them.
5. Don't forget livening up the treasure! An old hand may be jaded to receive a potion of cure light, but the newbie will eat up "the mysterious earthen-brown garlic-smelling liquid with a holy symbol on it."
6. Include at least one 10 x 10 x 10 spiked pit trap somewhere.

Good luck, and I hope this brings a few reminders for you.

 

[soulforge]

hmm.. I also wouldn't recommend a dungeon crawl. If some of the player's aren't of the dungeon loving sort they may find the game boring. I'd recommend a more open setting adventure.. I assume your starting at low levels? I would recommend an old Dungeon magazine adventure called Janx's Jinx. It's low level, second edition but conversion should be easy as there's not many monsters and besides the story is what matters. I'd try and find that if I were you, I believe it was in Dungeon #56.. Good Luck

 

[UltimaGabe]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'm still gonna do a Dungeon Crawl, but I'll be sure to add in some other stuff before/after/during it to enhance the roleplaying. I'm sure the group won't mind it, though.

Basically, here's what I've got so far:

I'm planning on having the PCs exploring this old underground cavern that they come across at some point. (I haven't gotten the hooks worked out yet, because I don't know how to use the characters' interests to the best ability yet. Next time we get together I'll get it figured out before we play.) Anyway, the cavern just happens to be inhabited by a large tribe of goblins- all of which bear crude markings of some sort of whitish beast of some sort. Upon beating up some goblins and continuing through the caverns (which seem to be getting cooler in temperature, and sloping down slowly) they eventually come out to the underground remains of some old shrine or temple or something. Some more goblin battles ensue, and they find all sorts of carvings on the walls, with poorly-drawn images of goblins bringing sacrificies before some white horned thing. It starts getting really cold. They continue further, and start to find the walls and floor are beginning to be covered in ice, and eventually find the being all the goblins worship- a very young White Dragon. It chases them through the complex, and eventually they slay it. The surroundings were my main focus- I want them to be cool (pardon the pun).

That's what I've got so far. As far as the group goes, it's a big group- I believe there's a Monk, a Fighter, a Rogue, a Bard, a Sorcerer, possibly another Fighter, and a Cleric that won't be able to join until later in the campaign (after the first few adventures). They're all 1st level. Healing is my main concern, as they don't have a Cleric yet- but they're a big group, and there's bound to be lots of opportunities to rest over the course of the adventure. I figure I'd put some crude traps in, and some things that require specific strengths to get through, and tailor most of the non-battle encounters to fit the characters. The battles are almost all going to be low-number Goblin troops, however, with maybe a wolf here or some rats there, but for the most part the encounters are going to be relatively uniform. It's kinda a necessity, though, as they're 1st-level characters. A single hit could drop them to negatives.

Oh well. Any suggestions?

 

[Thimble the Squit]

I think you have a good start there. Strong descriptions of the surroundings will go a long way towards making the adventure memorable, believe me.

However, a very young white dragon wouldn't really be my enemy of choice for a new campaign. Firstly, it's probably still too tough for them and, secondly (more importantly), they might well come away from the adventure thinking, "Oh, we killed a baby dragon. Goody for us. How heroic is that?" Nobody wants to kill babies. Even baby dragons. Just a thought.

Maybe, as an alternative, the goblins worship at an idol of a proper white dragon -- and that the treasure could be some dragon eggs they could go back and sell at that festival-thingie. And then they learn that mummy wants the eggs back...

Which is, incidentally, another good one of those "generals" to add to Henry's excellent DM's Primer: a good adventure draws the characters into further adventures. If one scenario provides hooks for the next, your campaign will feel more like an ongoing story, rather than a series of disjointed episodes.