changing a published adventure [Archive] - Wizards Community

changing a published adventure [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Ricardo
12-31-04, 03:24 PM Ok, so me and a few(4) friends, all new to D&D, bought the Basic Game which we've almost finished playing through (with me DMing). I've downloaded a free adventure module from the internet (The Wizard's Amulet, from Necromancer Games (http://www.necromancergames.com), to be exact), which is designed for some pregenerated characters, and a big part of the story revolves around one of these characters and his past.
However, I think my players would find the game a lot more interesting if they created their own characters. This presents the problem of the story behind the adventure, though.
The basic idea is that this wizard's young apprentice found a secret letter, which gives backstory and a plot hook. Can you help me think of any ways to get this letter to the characters/one of them? I've consdered making this apprentice an NPC, and possibly having him die in a battle so as not to take the attention away from the PCs, and I've also thought about somehow adding a bit of story to the start of the adventure, so one/all of the characters get to find this secret letter.

Can anybody give me any tips on how to handle this?

Oh, and one more (small) thing: if I think the group is unbalanced when the players are making characters, how could I ask them nicely to balance it out?

Thanks :)
LukiLoki
12-31-04, 03:45 PM Well, if one of them's going to play a Wizard, why not have him be the apprentice?

As far as "balanced" goes, I assume you mean a party in which the key roles are filled? i.e. Tank, Blaster, Skill Monkey, Support/Healer...

My advice, don't worry about it. Tell them to think about it when they make up characters, and hopefully they'll talk about it among themselves, but it's better to let the players learn on their own. If no one wants to play a cleric, forcing someone to is likely to lead to that player feeling railroaded and having less fun. Just follow your story, and let the players find the right mix.

I think the main trap new DMs fall into is thinking they have to tailor challenges to the group's strengths, that it's somehow unfair to throw traps at a rogue-less party, for instance. My feeling is that it's lame to subject such a party to a truly inordinate number of traps, but, hey, if traps are there, they're there, y'know? The guy who gets killed by a trap is very likely to think hard about rolling up a rogue.
Ricardo
12-31-04, 03:51 PM Well, if one of them's going to play a Wizard, why not have him be the apprentice?
It had come to mind, but I thought the players might feel railroaded, or maybe left out if only one character gets secret information.

And thanks for the advice on having a 'balanced' party, I was getting a bit worried! :embarrass
LukiLoki
12-31-04, 06:09 PM It had come to mind, but I thought the players might feel railroaded, or maybe left out if only one character gets secret information.

No problem.
It's not a bad idea to have each of the PCs start with a contact, who can be their mentor, or just another established NPC in the campaign with whom the PC has had a relationship prior to the in-game events.
So, everyone can start with "secret information", it just happens that the Wizard's is a hook for the first adventure.
It will be good for a beginning group, too, to have some "ready-made" role-playing opportunities, and it's a reason for you to come up with some fleshed-out NPC allies who can be around for the whole campaign.
You never stop needing plot hooks, after all.
krichaiushii
12-31-04, 07:14 PM Balance them? Consider providing everyone the same six stats, arranged to fit their characters.

Then make recommendations regarding the party makeup. Try to go with the iconic four, though races shouldn't make too much difference.

Necromancer Games has its own forums, if you have any adventure-specific questions or comments. Here (http://p082.ezboard.com/fnecromancergamesfrm8) is the one dedicated to the Wizard's Amulet.

Have fun.
Lord Stigius
01-01-05, 12:20 AM As I understand (had no time to read the adventure, onlyy skipped throug it), the adventure is based upon the background of the sorcerer Corian?
The simplest solutoiom: make Corian a NPC. If your players are relatively new (which I assume they are, since you're just playing Basic), having such a NPC during the party's first full adventure is really helpful.

You may lead them a bit when they happen to be clueless... Only don't do too much leading by nose, let them figure out themselves all they can, restorting to the NPC only when needed. You may drop him when they move to another adventure.

Balance - already answered.
Ricardo
01-01-05, 02:11 PM Thanks for the suggestions. I think the easiest for me (as a new DM) will be to write out stuff for every player, I think trying to run an important NPC as well as running the game would be too hard for me yet. I also think it would be quite fun to think up stories and mentors for the characters, and it would help the players (all new at RPing) with the idea of character development.:)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Ricardo 12-31-04, 03:24 PM	Ok, so me and a few(4) friends, all new to D&D, bought the Basic Game which we've almost finished playing through (with me DMing). I've downloaded a free adventure module from the internet (The Wizard's Amulet, from Necromancer Games (http://www.necromancergames.com), to be exact), which is designed for some pregenerated characters, and a big part of the story revolves around one of these characters and his past. However, I think my players would find the game a lot more interesting if they created their own characters. This presents the problem of the story behind the adventure, though. The basic idea is that this wizard's young apprentice found a secret letter, which gives backstory and a plot hook. Can you help me think of any ways to get this letter to the characters/one of them? I've consdered making this apprentice an NPC, and possibly having him die in a battle so as not to take the attention away from the PCs, and I've also thought about somehow adding a bit of story to the start of the adventure, so one/all of the characters get to find this secret letter. Can anybody give me any tips on how to handle this? Oh, and one more (small) thing: if I think the group is unbalanced when the players are making characters, how could I ask them nicely to balance it out? Thanks :)
LukiLoki 12-31-04, 03:45 PM	Well, if one of them's going to play a Wizard, why not have him be the apprentice? As far as "balanced" goes, I assume you mean a party in which the key roles are filled? i.e. Tank, Blaster, Skill Monkey, Support/Healer... My advice, don't worry about it. Tell them to think about it when they make up characters, and hopefully they'll talk about it among themselves, but it's better to let the players learn on their own. If no one wants to play a cleric, forcing someone to is likely to lead to that player feeling railroaded and having less fun. Just follow your story, and let the players find the right mix. I think the main trap new DMs fall into is thinking they have to tailor challenges to the group's strengths, that it's somehow unfair to throw traps at a rogue-less party, for instance. My feeling is that it's lame to subject such a party to a truly inordinate number of traps, but, hey, if traps are there, they're there, y'know? The guy who gets killed by a trap is very likely to think hard about rolling up a rogue.
Ricardo 12-31-04, 03:51 PM	Well, if one of them's going to play a Wizard, why not have him be the apprentice? It had come to mind, but I thought the players might feel railroaded, or maybe left out if only one character gets secret information. And thanks for the advice on having a 'balanced' party, I was getting a bit worried! :embarrass
LukiLoki 12-31-04, 06:09 PM	It had come to mind, but I thought the players might feel railroaded, or maybe left out if only one character gets secret information. No problem. It's not a bad idea to have each of the PCs start with a contact, who can be their mentor, or just another established NPC in the campaign with whom the PC has had a relationship prior to the in-game events. So, everyone can start with "secret information", it just happens that the Wizard's is a hook for the first adventure. It will be good for a beginning group, too, to have some "ready-made" role-playing opportunities, and it's a reason for you to come up with some fleshed-out NPC allies who can be around for the whole campaign. You never stop needing plot hooks, after all.
krichaiushii 12-31-04, 07:14 PM	Balance them? Consider providing everyone the same six stats, arranged to fit their characters. Then make recommendations regarding the party makeup. Try to go with the iconic four, though races shouldn't make too much difference. Necromancer Games has its own forums, if you have any adventure-specific questions or comments. Here (http://p082.ezboard.com/fnecromancergamesfrm8) is the one dedicated to the Wizard's Amulet. Have fun.
Lord Stigius 01-01-05, 12:20 AM	As I understand (had no time to read the adventure, onlyy skipped throug it), the adventure is based upon the background of the sorcerer Corian? The simplest solutoiom: make Corian a NPC. If your players are relatively new (which I assume they are, since you're just playing Basic), having such a NPC during the party's first full adventure is really helpful. You may lead them a bit when they happen to be clueless... Only don't do too much leading by nose, let them figure out themselves all they can, restorting to the NPC only when needed. You may drop him when they move to another adventure. Balance - already answered.
Ricardo 01-01-05, 02:11 PM	Thanks for the suggestions. I think the easiest for me (as a new DM) will be to write out stuff for every player, I think trying to run an important NPC as well as running the game would be too hard for me yet. I also think it would be quite fun to think up stories and mentors for the characters, and it would help the players (all new at RPing) with the idea of character development.:)