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View Full Version : Which WotC Adventure/Module would be best for new players & a new gm?



mlesnews
February 19th, 2018, 00:02
As a new player or as a new DM, which adventure would you feel is best suited for each? After voting please feel free to explain your reasoning why.

Curse of Strahd https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/product.xcp?id=WOTC5ECOS
Hoard of the Dragon Queen https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/product.xcp?id=WOTC5EHOTDQ
Lost Mine of Phandelver https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/product.xcp?id=WOTC5ELMOP
Rage of Demons: Out of the Abyss https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/product.xcp?id=WOTC5EOOTA
Princes of the Apocalypse https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/product.xcp?id=WOTC5EPOTA
The Rise of Tiamat https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/product.xcp?id=WOTC5EROT
Storm King's Thunder https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/product.xcp?id=WOTC5ESKT
Tomb of Annihilation https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/product.xcp?id=WOTC5ETOA
Tales from the Yawning Portal https://www.fantasygrounds.com/store/product.xcp?id=WOTC5ETYP

LordEntrails
February 19th, 2018, 00:07
LMoP. It's exactly what it was designed for.

Axoid
February 19th, 2018, 00:08
Start with the Lost Mines, it's designed for new players/DMs. Enough side quests to feel open ended, and it lets everyone get their feet wet with 5e.

Hendell
February 19th, 2018, 00:10
Another vote for Lost Mines.

It is a good module to begin with and can branch in to some of the other modules easily.

Trenloe
February 19th, 2018, 00:15
Lost Mines - it's what it's designed for, and it's also a very good mini-campaign.

mlesnews
February 19th, 2018, 00:27
Thanks guys for the feedback! It is much appreciated as a new DM.

damned
February 19th, 2018, 00:29
The Pollsters have spoken.

Hendell
February 19th, 2018, 01:42
If your group enjoys the game I would suggest Storm Kings Thunder followed by Tomb of Annihilation after Lost Mine.

Although you will have to do a bit of work to Tomb for their level by that time, but still very doable.

TMO
February 19th, 2018, 06:57
I have not played or read through Storm King's Thunder so I cannot comment on its merits for following Lost Mines of Phandelver. I can, however, recommend Princes of the Apocalypse. It has a nice story related continuance and it is geographically nearby to make it easier to broaden your world building along the Sword Coast.

Dax Doomslayer
February 19th, 2018, 16:53
Lost Mines is definitely the obvious choice. The Sunless Citadel in TftYP is also set up to be a 'starter' adventure. I also liked one that's not on there: "Scourge of the Sword Coast" although that's for 2nd to 4th level but is an interesting early module.

damned
February 20th, 2018, 14:02
Ive set the poll to close in 2 more days.
Your peers have voted pretty clearly.

twistedtechmike
February 20th, 2018, 17:03
Im running Scourge of the Sword Coast right now for a group of 5E newbies, and we've been having a blast. Its already been dubbed our best campaign thus far as a group.

mlesnews
February 20th, 2018, 17:30
Ive set the poll to close in 2 more days.
Your peers have voted pretty clearly.

Thanks damned! I didn't see how to set a poll close day after I had created it.

Caelen
February 20th, 2018, 17:51
Phandelver would be a perfect fit. As others said, that's what it was designed for. A second choice would be Yawning Portal. It contains several shorter dungeons instead of one long arc. The only one I would advise against would be Strahd. It's extremely open ended and contains much less guidance for the players than the other modules. This makes it a much greater challenge to run.

Callum
February 21st, 2018, 14:30
I've read Lost Mine, but not played it, and it seemed rather bland to me. What do people like about it (besides the fact that it's designed for beginning players and DMs, which it clearly is)?

Nemori
February 21st, 2018, 16:29
LMoP is fun, it has a bit of everything, lots of dungeons, even some outdoor maps, nice village and freedom of choice for the players. It really shows what D&D is best at. The story is a bit weak though, I mean, Black Spider? seriously?

Sunless Citadel from the Yawning Portal is also great. Other dungeons from the YP can be quite deadly though.

Otherwise I'd advise against large modules until you have a stable group. Some campaigns can take very long time to finish (our Storm Kings Thunder was almost one year) and if people drop out in the middle it's not always easy to find replacement. It's also much more motivating to see a story to its end.

Trenloe
February 21st, 2018, 16:32
There's a lot of extra storyline to exploit if you look at the backgrounds of the pregenerated characters. If your players make their own PCs try to bring some of the pregen backgrounds into the mix - it gives them more reasons to go to Phandelver and do more role-playing/story building in the town.

tiawaz
February 23rd, 2018, 20:59
I have run LMoP twice now. Once for a Group with 2 brand new players and two 'retired' players, and the other time for 6 brand new players.

Both Groups absolutly loved it, and really appreciated the slow but steady buildup in complexity as well as the pregens with their backgrounds integrated into the story.

The Story might seem a bit 'simplistic' to older hands, but especially for people completely new to the game anything more would be overkill, as they have enough to deal with already.