D&D 5E What's the easiest way to start playing 5E?

[Mercurius]

Quick background: My group has largely been on hiatus for a couple years, with a few false starts that didn't get off the ground mainly because I've been so busy. But my schedule is opening up soon and I'm very excited to get back into. I hope to run a homebrew campaign, a combination of sandbox with many small scenarios that may or may not build into a larger story arc. But for now, what I'm looking for is a very simple (but fun) short scenario that will get the PCs to 2nd or 3rd level.

We did try our hand at the playtest rules, but that was almost a year ago. I want something that will be easy for everyone to learn the rules, get them a level or two, and take no more than three or four sessions and allow me to set up further adventure possibilities.


What do you recommend? What I DON'T want is an in-depth story arc, at least not at this point. I've thought of using Phandelver but for whatever reason it just doesn't inspire me, plus its a bit too long. I may just do it the old fashioned way and pull out the graph paper and design a cute little dungeon with the random generator....that could be fun.

 

[Gilladian]

My suggestion? Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh. Leaves a lot of little loose ends if you don't run the follow-on modules, which were not nearly as good, IMHO. And the town of Saltmarsh was detailed in one of the 3e books, if you want to track it down. But the original module is simple, fun, and classic. The PCs can claim the haunted house for their own, if they want (my PCs did, on at least one occasion). There are possible pirates/smugglers to investigate, and "whoever" the smuggled weapons were being traded to. And Ned's origins are fun to investigate... etc...

 

[Evhelm]

If you have the Starter Set (i.e. you've got the Phandelver arc, you just aren't inspired by it) it could be fun to still use Phandalin as a base of operations, but just change the quest. Maybe the PCs aren't involved in the hunt for Wave Echo Cave? The Cragmaw Castle arc could be fleshed out a bit, as could the Redbrands arc. Either one of those could provide easy fodder for a dungeon and a new homebrew arc

 

[SirAntoine]

Just decide on a single adventure that will get the PC's to the level you want. You don't need to use anything published, just make something up.

Decide on a goal you want the players to try to accomplish. Think of something that would inspire them to adventure, and take risks.

 

[Rhenny]

Honestly, I really like Lost Mines of Phandalin. It has a sandbox feel that can be expanded at will but it also has an overarching story. The more I think about it the more I appreciate it for starters and veterans alike.

My first 5e campaign is using The Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle. We are in the 3rd part (level 5 pcs although the adventure recommends pcs of level 6 for this part). I like running this adventure path, but it feels more like a path than a campaign. I have to work harder to make it more full and open, and since villains are acting on kind of a timeline, the pcs feel like they are always in pursuit mode.

 

[Nebulous]

Honestly, I really like Lost Mines of Phandalin. It has a sandbox feel that can be expanded at will but it also has an overarching story. The more I think about it the more I appreciate it for starters and veterans alike.

I honestly have to recommend the Lost Mine as well. It can easily accommodate enough story to get you to 3rd level (there's enough by default to reach 4th or 5th) and it becomes so sandbox once you reach Phandalin that it can really go any direction you want. There are NPCs with agendas, different factions, side quests, red herrings and lots of interesting monsters (in my opinion). I find that it hits all the necessary notes a rpg needs with a nice balance of encounters. The last segment that we're on now has so far turned into a 6+ hour dungeon romp and it's been great.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

Also Lost Mines is fairly easy to drop in any campaign setting. I'd toyed with the idea of dropping it into Greyhawk previously, but my tiny group wanted to play in Karameikos. It dropped right in with minimal modifications.

 

[Tormyr]

I thought Lost Mines of Phandalin was part of adventurer's league (Expeditions) and you could only get it through a store's AL membership?

I would recommend converting The Whispering Cairn. Great adventure with all the things you would want in a level 1-2 adventure, interesting puzzles, nefarious traps, deadly monsters. There would be some converting to do for monsters (mainly choosing others from the MM). You start in a run down, corrupt mining town and decide to raid a tomb to generate the funds to leave town, at which point, you can head anywhere.

 

[Nebulous]

I thought Lost Mines of Phandalin was part of adventurer's league (Expeditions) and you could only get it through a store's AL membership?

No, it's in the $20 Starter Box set that came out before the PHB did.

 

[Tormyr]

No, it's in the $20 Starter Box set that came out before the PHB did.

Oh, Lost Mines of Phandelver. There are to many Ph's in the early adventure titles between that, Tyranny in Phlan, and possibly others.