Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 bennypbk Dec 29, 2014 13:27:33	I am a new DM, leading a group for new players.  I was hoping to get some feedback on my first adventure.   Since the group probably won’t be meeting very often, I was thinking of starting with a one-off adventure that could include some hooks for future sessions.  The basic idea is that the players will be tasked with retaking a keep that has been overtaken by a goblinoid war party, led by the bugbear Rugzt.  They will start the adventure imprisoned in the keep’s jail, but will be quickly rescued in a (failed) attempt to free the keep’s lord.  Once free, the local lord’s captain of the guard will ask them to rescue his master while he defends the town.  After fighting their way to and through the keep, they will confront Rugzt, and hopefully free the lord and find a new patron.  Here’s what I have outlined so far:   ·         Jailbreak o   Start with a big explosion that shifts the foundations of the prison o   Players practice skill checks by squeezing, prying, or lockpicking their way through the bars o   Fight with 3-4 goblins, using clubs brought by the captain to practice simple combat, human guards as allies ·         Recruitment o   Captain of the guard asks for their help o   Players faced with a dilemma: Captain says that he can spare one man, either the lord’s seneschal, who knows all the back ways of the keep, or a soldier who can aid in fights ·         Scouting o   Players move towards the keep across open plains, encounter a goblin scouting party of a worg-mounted goblin and two more worgs o   Long range of sight gives players time to prepare and pick their ground, introduction to terrain and features, perhaps there is a hill with standing stones for cover nearby ·         Within the keep, a few possible encounters: o   A goblin rat master with two rat swarms, rats moving through player space could be interesting in a corridor where players are confined o   Pit trap, which could then be used against… o   A sleeping Ogre, who the players won’t be able to take on face-to-face.  Possible solutions could include dropping a chandelier on it, inciting it to chase the thief and fall into the pit trap, or a very-well planned ambush using surrounding balconies o   A cowardly goblin mage who can be pumped for information ·         Final confrontation o   I’d like the final confrontation to feel worthwhile, so I was thinking of breaking it into three parts o   First, Rugzt hides behind some goblin henchmen, throwing javelins o   Second, once the henchmen have been dispatched, Rugzt turtles up, going behind cover, using a shield, etc o   Third, Rugzt rages out, grabbing a second sword, lots of movement, etc o   Rugzt is out for glory and status, so the players could potentially negotiate with him once he sees he is defeated if they offer him other targets, or a place of honor ·         Denouement o   After freeing the lord, the heroes are rewarded and the lord becomes their new patron, offering them quests to go on in future sessions.     I'm a little worried about time.  Should I cut anything from the adventure?  Additionally, I would be interested in any thoughts on the overall difficulty of the encounters, and how engaging it seems.  I haven't really figured out how to incorporate freeing the lord.  I've also been thinking about how to imcorporate some more fantastic elements to the story, to help get these new players excited about the world.  Any comments are welcome!
#2 iserith Dec 29, 2014 13:49:31	bennypbk wrote:
#3 BRJN Dec 29, 2014 16:05:49	The PCs have been jailed by the same bugbear who captured the castle and threw the previous lord in jail too.  (HE's good for a ransom payment.)  This happened as part of the takeover, which happened last night.   The PCs can escape their cells in the end because a loyal servant of the Lord brings down the ring of keys.  (Nobody knew ahead of time; he saw an opportunity and took advantage.  A big keg of ale helped create that opportunity.)  But I agree that squeezing between the bars with the aid of Grease will teach more about the mechanics.   Cut entirely the 'Scouting' section.  The PCs (with the Lord's staff to help & advise them) are going to try to re-take the castle starting from the basement / jail up.  We don't have all night because eventually drunken bugbears get a hangover and by daylight they are MEAN.   Some of the bugbear guards are celebratory drunk.  Drunken guards behave like their INT = 3.  Convert other guards to minions; these guys are sloppy drunk.  If normal guards really clobber the PCs, then have more drunk guards cross their path.  (The sober guards know the Lord is the most dangerous escapee and search for him instead of the PCs.)   The Lord and his servants are going to make a parallel attack using the secret ways built into the castle; the PCs are doing their thing in the public areas.  But the camera follows the PCs around for the duration of this movie.    Somewhere along the way, the PCs bust in and rescue the Lord's cousin from overwhelming odds (perhaps including the Goblin Mage).  Now the Lord has a reason to show the PCs favor.   If I was the PCs and swinging from the chandeliers helped me beat the Ogre, I'd try to draw Rugzt into that room (audience hall?) too. Here's an idea: can I pull the rug out from underneath Rugzt's feet? Description can make this BBEG encounter memorable; write up a good description of the room and his likely actions / reactions to events.  Watching him drive himself berzerk just before he draws two big swords and explodes forward...   edit: I forgot - falling into a pit trap with a layer of trash on the floor might give you the Poisoned condition (you cut yourself on a smashed dinner plate's edge).  Make that Ogre less-tough via clever thinking.