D&D 5E What do you want in the first D&D Next adventure path?

[MatthewJHanson]

As long as it doesn't have kobolds, I'll be good to go. No kobolds, please. I'm sick to death of kobolds. There's always kobolds. What's with all the kobolds?

Kobolds are the new drow.

 

[JeffB]

Wait, are you saying that all adventure publishers should only be publishing one type of adventure? There are currently all types being published, surely there's something out there for you already.

Sure am. I can wish, can't I? I would rather see the effort put into products i would use, instead of a majority of effort put into scripted adventure products I have no use for and very little effort put into a few mediocre at best self contained modules. Which is the current case with WOTC and the big P.

I don't care about what the rest of you want

 

[JeffB]

Paizo is where it is today because the format is so popular. It sure isn't for everyone though (including this guy). It's too bad Ben Robbins did the West Marches blog and not someone at Paizo, we might be in a different world today....

Ricky Martin, Debbie Gibson, and Miley Cyrus were very popular at one time too.



Of course I am aware of the success, I thought this was a "wish" thread, and i'm expressing my genuine, but hopeless desires

 

[Mercurius]

Oh, I like that. Though I think a Dragon Hunt on its own is probably not something for 20 levels. But why not kill a few more than one. Start as a Dragon Hunting expedition that reveals some sinister plot involving multiple dragons, and some other factions - so that not every adventure is a dragon at the end.

Right. You could do a Chromatic-themed adventure path, with a few levels per dragon culminating with an Ancient Red in early Epic, and then perhaps even Tiamat at Epic.

That isn't quite the classic dragon quest I was envisioning, though, which would draw from such influences as the movie Dragonslayer, The Hobbit, and the Adventurers comic from the late 80s that had a dragon that had destroyed a dwarven city and resided within it.

I love the Point of LIghts setting and that it isn't cohesive and fleshed out, but a collection of plot ideas and historical elements you are free to interpret on your own. I like to believe that the people that used POL were able to take all these elements and spin a setting that genuinely feels their own.

Eberron, Dark Sun, Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk all feel more like someone else's setting to me, and I worry i may "break" the setting accidentally. PoL made it clear that I am free to interpret the different events and individuals as I want to.

I agree but the reason I think a developed world is a plus is that it brings the game to life and provides a kind of meeting place for fans. Not all Pathfinder folks play in Golarion, but it provides an iconic setting that everyone is aware of and can draw inspiration from.

 

[hbarsquared]

I am also a fan of 4E PoL setting. Generic enough to be a good "base" that anyone can build on top of, yet riddled with evocative and inspiring ideas. Fallcrest and the Nentir Vale (and even Red Hand of Doom's Elsir Vale) have been tremendous sources for me.

I vote for a sandbox approach, complete with NPC and faction descriptions, a few "encounter" suggestions, and a couple "side trek" adventure outlines. I'd say include a town with a few inspiring jumping-off points and adventure ideas in the DMG (like Fallcrest). This can get DMs and groups started.

One of the first releases can be a 96-page-ish (something halfway between an adventure and sourcebook) sandbox of the Nentir Vale designed for levels 1-5, including NPC descriptions, locations, a few maps, encounter and adventure design suggestions and advice, and side treks that can be linked together.

A second release would be a sandbox designed for levels 6-10, and act like a module (in a 5ENext sense) that layers on top of the original sandbox. More locations, more factions, leveled up NPCs, higher level encounters and side treks, and plot hooks that connect with those in the first release.

A third release for levels 11-15, adding more depth to the setting and providing higher level material.

This way, you keep the "Adventure Path" concept of starting with lower level material and progressing the characters through higher and higher levels. Each release can have several threads that thematically connect, but remain broad enough for the DM and players to flesh out.

Of course, a lot more would need to be fleshed out for this idea to work, and I have no idea financially how WotC might work it out. But this would be my vision: it builds on the adventure path concept without railroading, and I think it fits the D&DNext intentions of allowing people to play the game how the want and utilizing the D&DNext concepts of layering on modules.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Actually, my [URL=http://www.enworld.org/forum/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=1]#1 [/URL] preference would be for WotC to hire Willie Walsh, of old Dungeon adventures fame, keep him in the loop on the internals of the design, and then help him turn whatever his home adventures are into a bang-up product.

There might be a few goofy side tracks, but the majority of it will be worlds ahead of anything that has been done by WotC this century. If they announced today that Walsh was doing his own version of a 5E sandbox, I'd pre-order it immediately, sight unseen. Walsh has a "serious about fun, but not too serious" sensibility that has historically been rare.

Walsh was also responsible for my favourite series of adventures in Dungeon mag - the Contest of Champions! A group of 4 adventurers is sent into a puzzle & trap filled dungeon to try and win the contest. I think he did 5 installments with about 10 puzzles in each. I've used most of the puzzles either as part of a CoC or individually inside other adventures. Mr. Walsh is very talented and I too would pre-order, sight, unseen any adventure he cares to write!

 

[PinkRose]

Did no one read the Scales of War?
It's all about Dragons. An Undead Dragon to finish the Heroic Tier and eventually a fight with multiple dragons and then the Mother of All Dragons, Tiamat shows up.
Seriously, Lots of Dragons.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Walsh was also responsible for my favourite series of adventures in Dungeon mag - the Contest of Champions! A group of 4 adventurers is sent into a puzzle & trap filled dungeon to try and win the contest. I think he did 5 installments with about 10 puzzles in each. I've used most of the puzzles either as part of a CoC or individually inside other adventures. Mr. Walsh is very talented and I too would pre-order, sight, unseen any adventure he cares to write!

It was awesome back when it was a Fighting Fantasy game book.

 

[Lalato]

I want pirates, ninjas and dragons. Here's what I mean by that...

I want pirates... If there is going to be an adventure path, I want a chunk of it to happen in the great outdoors or on the high seas. I want it to include travel to some far off place and side treks and plot hooks along the way that may or may not have anything to do with the main story arc. I don't mind dungeons, but I find too many adventures lay on the dungeon part a bit too thickly. They're in the title of the game, but there's more to it than that.

I want ninjas... I want the players to be rewarded for finding ways around obstacles that don't necessarily include combat. And I want a bit of intrigue involved in some of the situations the players must resolve. I also want enemies that don't fight to the death unless there is a compelling reason to do so. It's never made sense to me that some random intelligent creature would fight to the death... just because.

I want dragons... It's in the title of the game, so I want to see dragons in all their glory. These are intelligent and powerful creatures with all manner of agendas. I want the good dragon that protects a particular valley from the encroachment of a despotic empire... and the evil dragon that controls the slave trade in some metropolis.

Anyway... as long as we're making wishes.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I find the idea with the Dragon Hunting Expedition so interesting that I opened my own thread on it. I hope some creative minds reply.