D&D 5E (2014) Where is the content?

[dave2008]

Yeah, that's exactly it actually. We reboot each time we start a new campaign but we consider it all to be contiguous. So we have returning NPCs, old PCs show up etc. As to a new start being refreshing, maybe but we have been playing for 5 and half years in the same world so we have a lot of investment.

So you are homebrewing then, or are you using FR and bringing in elements form other settings? Saltmarsh is Greyhawk for example. UGH, sorry it doesn't matter. There is not enough content for you and that is fine. You are free to rant that you want more. Like I said earlier, you have every right to want more of something you love! I hope they surprise you soon with an adventure book. I know the Kate Welch book, which as adventures was supposed to previewed in the latest Dragon+, but it wasn't. So I fear it may have been pushed back.

 

[The Big BZ]

There are adventures in the Wildemount book, but not enough to sustain you I would think.

Yeah, I will look at those when they drop but they are likely to be short intro jobs (which is actually my favourite type of adventure but not really campaign sustaining).

 

[dave2008]

Yeah, I guess some people are homebrew devottees and other are not. I can understand those who are, it just isn't for me.

As to the hardbacks not making sense all the time, I am with you on that. We often hack out meta plot. Like I said upthread, the Death Curse is a good example. We couldn't get our heads around why 30 Level 20 Paladins didn't just teleport in and straighten things out rather than us Level 1 scrubs so we just had the Death Curse be localised to Chult and even patchy at that so we were invested.

It is not just the hardbacks, I've always had this issue. I had it in the 80-90s with 1e, I had it in 4e, and I have it in 5e. The whole format of an adventure in a book (hard or paperback) doesn't work for me. Perhaps if I took it all apart or completely re-wrote it. But that is just more work than it is worth. It has nothing to do with the adventure itself or the logic of its story. It is the format the befuddles me.

 

[The Big BZ]

So you are homebrewing then, or are you using FR and bringing in elements form other settings? Saltmarsh is Greyhawk for example. UGH, sorry it doesn't matter. There is not enough content for you and that is fine. You are free to rant that you want more. Like I said earlier, you have every right to want more of something you love! I hope they surprise you soon with an adventure book. I know the Kate Welch book, which as adventures was supposed to previewed in the latest Dragon+, but it wasn't. So I fear it may have been pushed back.

Nah not really homebrewing to be honest, though we do a little bit. With Saltmarsh we set it in the Moonshae Isles using Shawn Merwin's Baldman Games setting guide for their Moonshae AL modules (really worth looking at) and it was basically as simple as pointing on the map where Saltmarsh was and Bob's your uncle.

 

[Retreater]

My groups' problem with the release cycle is probably unique. I run for multiple groups. Each group has one or two players that crossover. So if Group 1 plays an adventure, Group 2 can't because Players A and B have already played it with me (or in another group.)
Then we have the issue of TPKs or other campaign ending events. This has happened with Out of the Abyss, for example, when the group got killed off midway through. So the campaign lasted half as long as planned, and the group elected to not return to it out of frustration or just being tired. No one's fault, but I don't want to continue a campaign or restart without player buy-in.
Then, in the case of Tomb of Annihilation, we played through the end but hardly got maximum use from it. Clever play and role-playing got them through the penultimate dungeon without a single combat, and the final dungeon was explored by luck in the most efficient means possible. That last dungeon was cleared in 4-5 sessions somehow. In both cases, I did not want to punish ingenuity or mitigate their choices by expanding the dungeons and adding encounters.
I realize my experiences aren't typical, and I agree with the OP that I could use more options for content (because of my unusual group dynamics).
I was spoiled by the amount of material available for 3.x and PF. And for as often as I hear that this is the height of popularity for TTRPGs and D&D specifically, I feel like we should have more options of vetted, in print, quality first and third party adventures.

 

[dave2008]

I was spoiled by the amount of material available for 3.x and PF. And for as often as I hear that this is the height of popularity for TTRPGs and D&D specifically, I feel like we should have more options of vetted, in print, quality first and third party adventures.

I agree with the bold part definitely. I don't know why the big names are not investing more in making quality adventures. I would think the market would be large. I would have thought Frog God, Goodman, and Kobold would have had plenty out by now. However, to my knowledge they have hardly released any.

Goodman has their OAR series, but that is about it.

 

[jayoungr]

The last release was a setting book (Eberron) and the next two are setting books (Wildemount and Theros) so three on the bounce. And look, I am going to buy them all in hard copy and on Beyond, it just seems like the balance of releases is wrong.

I actually agree that having three setting books in a row is a little weird, and probably not WotC's first choice for scheduling. They might have postponed the Theros book if they didn't have to synergize with MtG releases, for instance.

Yeah, that's exactly it actually. We reboot each time we start a new campaign but we consider it all to be contiguous. So we have returning NPCs, old PCs show up etc. As to a new start being refreshing, maybe but we have been playing for 5 and half years in the same world so we have a lot of investment.

Ahh, okay, that makes sense. Well, first off, it still doesn't rule out Odyssey of the Dragonlords, as that is meant to take place on a lost continent that can appear in any world. And you will probably be able to blend it with Theros when that book comes out.

Second, you might also be interested in Scales of War. It was originally published in Dungeon magazine for 4th edition, but there's a full 5E conversion for it on this blog:

Scales of War in 5E

My experiences converting a 4th edition D&D adventrue path into 5th edition

5escalesofwar.wordpress.com

It starts small but leads to Tiamat's return, so there could be a chance to involve some characters from when you played through Tyranny of Dragons. It also gets into some planes-hopping toward the end.

 

[Retreater]

I agree with the bold part definitely. I don't know why the big names are not investing more in making quality adventures. I would think the market would be large. I would have thought Frog God, Goodman, and Kobold we have had plenty by now. However, to my knowledge they have hardly released any.

Goodman has their OAR series, but that is about it.

Yeah, there are some. I have run parts of Rappan Athuk and Tegel Manor from Frog God, but there's just not as many choices. I wonder what had been released by this point in the lifecycle of 3.x in comparison. Personally, I don't remember ever running low on options back then.
Maybe it's the expansion of other game systems (DCC, S&W, Numenera, etc) that is shifting the 3pp's focus away from D&D?

 

[The Big BZ]

I actually agree that having three setting books in a row is a little weird, and probably not WotC's first choice for scheduling. They might have postponed the Theros book if they didn't have to synergize with MtG releases, for instance.


Ahh, okay, that makes sense. Well, first off, it still doesn't rule out Odyssey of the Dragonlords, as that is meant to take place on a lost continent that can appear in any world. And you will probably be able to blend it with Theros when that book comes out.

Second, you might also be interested in Scales of War. It was originally published in Dungeon magazine for 4th edition, but there's a full 5E conversion for it on this blog:

Scales of War in 5E

My experiences converting a 4th edition D&D adventrue path into 5th edition

5escalesofwar.wordpress.com

It starts small but leads to Tiamat's return, so there could be a chance to involve some characters from when you played through Tyranny of Dragons. It also gets into some planes-hopping toward the end.

Sweet man cheers, that Scales of War is a good find. I will have a look at that.

 

[jayoungr]

I feel like we should have more options of vetted, in print, quality first and third party adventures.

Curious what you mean by "vetted" in this context?

But your post also reminded me of this book that made a splash several months ago:

Heroes of Baldur's Gate (5e) - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild

Heroes of Baldur's Gate (5e) - From James Ohlen, the lead designer of Baldur's Gate I & II... Sinister forces are moving against the city of Bald

www.dmsguild.com