4th Edition D&D Short Intro Adventure

[jaegamer]

Who would have thought that a major gaming company would fail to provide free, short intro adventures for their big new product?  I mean, seriously, you want to hook people into your game, you give them something their first level characters can dip their toes in, right? 

Oh, wait... we're talking about WotC, aren't we?

*sigh*

Okay, here's my problem.  I've been blithely assuming such a thing exists and scheduled a "make a character and play" session for this weekend.  Saturday, to be precise.  And now that I've lined people up... no adventure.  *head*desk*head*desk*.

And so, I come to you, my brilliant, connected, GAMER friends, to see if any of YOU have something I might be able to use.  I've got a 4 hour slot, probably half of which will be character building.  I just need an itty bitty demo that will showcase a little of what makes 4th Ed D&D interesting enough to play again.

:: looks around hopefully ::

Anybody?

Comments

[frabjousdave.livejournal.com]

Are you discounting the Kobold Hall adventure in the DMG? Put that together with Mike Mearls's comments on how he'd improve the final encounter, and you've got a good showcase for the new rules. When we played it, it easily filled (and perhaps exceeded) a four-hour slot.

There's also the Free RPG day scenario, but that might not be as easy to lay hands on now. Still, perhaps a local friend picked it up and can share it with you.

[frabjousdave.livejournal.com]

There are also some scenarios, including a set of Keep on the Shadowfell expansions, free from Dungeon on the Wizards site.

[jaegamer.livejournal.com]

Everything I could find on the Wizard's Site was for higher levels - the lowest was 3rd level.

I was honestly trying to avoid the Kobolds... several of the potential players have expressed deep loathing for the Kobolds. Plus, it being in the DMG, they'll have all read it. I've got 2 hours to work with...

I'd LOVE to get my hands on one of the Free RPG Day scenarios, but can't find anyone who's got one that I can borrow. I think I was assuming WotC would put them on the site for download, y'know?

Thanks!

[frabjousdave.livejournal.com]

Perhaps <a href="http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/duad/20080711>the Adventure Path</a> will suit.

[jaegamer.livejournal.com]

Still long for my timeframe, but it looks like it's something I can use for further occasions. Thanks!

[varianor.livejournal.com]

Go with Keep on the Borderlands, pull stuff out of the MM, and pick a big monster for a final encounter! That would be my suggestion. I am still reading the PH, so I haven't got good suggestions on DMly things yet.

[humpulaj.livejournal.com]

I'll ask around and see if I can pick up a demo day mod. I know some people who ran it, they may have a copy.

[wampameat.livejournal.com]

Take "It Came From the Woods" and reset it from colonial new england to a fantasy world.
Presto! :)
(( Granted, some of your players may have played it by now. ))

That or scour EnWorld for either the DDXP adventures from February, or a scan of the Free RPG day adventure.

[xuenay.livejournal.com]

The good thing with 4E is that, mechanics-wise, setting up new adventures is a breeze. Simply look up the encounter level you wish, scour the DMG for monsters and traps with the appropriate experience values and add them together, maybe throw in a couple of skill challenges.

This being the case, you could probably recycle some unrelated adventure you've run before, just substituting challenges with 4E statistics where appropriate.

[litagemini.livejournal.com]

Yeah, see, um, this is exactly the conversation I had with Patrick.

"Run the Intro Mod."
"Which intro mod? Do you have it?"
"You know... the one."
"No. Which one?"

And on and on like this. Turns out there is no such beast? Not surprising.

However. I have the World Wide Gameday module, Into the ShadowHaunt, including maps and pregens. It's first level. It is probably what you are looking for. Now how to get it to you by Saturday I have no idea since it's in old fashioned paper format, and I can't really make it out to Lansing this week.

I could run the game myself, of course, but /they scheduled it on Saturday now/ so I actually can't do that.

[jaegamer.livejournal.com]

THAT'S IT!!!!

:: hugs LitaGemini ::

Y'know, with Gencon coming up and tons of stuff to be done for Blackmoor, Cat and Colonial Gothic... :: shrug :: I've made my good faith effort, and peeps can just wait a little while longer.

Let me borrow it on Saturday, and I'll get it scanned and back to you. Might not be till after Gencon.

Love ya!

[litagemini.livejournal.com]

Sure, but don't you need it before our game session Saturday?

Edit: oh wait, misread, you're telling people to wait until the other weekend? No problem then.

[jaegamer.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking - could move it to Sunday. They can make characters on Saturday and play Sunday (for those who don't want to play the LSJ). Or you could run it, if you want to make the drive, on Sunday.

Either way, I want to borrow it long enough to scan in a copy. Since WotC doesn't appear to be willing to provide it in any way, shape or form... :)

[litagemini.livejournal.com]

I got it at Origins as part of a package deal for buying a set of the books. I spose I could still run it myself as long as it were moved to Sunday--

Which, by the way, I already said I COULD run, as long as it WAS a Sunday, BUT he kept saying 'run the intro module' and I kept asking 'what is the name of that module' and it was like that question wasn't even being asked; sorry, venting some frustration here. If he'd said at the beginning 'I don't know, do you happen to have a module at intro level you can run?' I'd have said YES and we could've avoided two weeks of back and forth.

[jaegamer.livejournal.com]

I know, I know...

[cementkitten.livejournal.com]

"showcase a little of what makes 4th Ed D&D interesting enough to play again" - I hate to be a negative nancy but I played some 4th Ed and I didn't find it interesting at all. It could be due to the lack of back-up material but I think I'll stick to 3.5. How did your game go?

[jaegamer.livejournal.com]

That's a fair question... Unfortunately for me, my need was to make it appealing. I've run and played so many RPG systems that I've started to look at them like operating systems. Sometimes you gotta use what's on the machine, and make it work the best you can.

It went really well - it turned out that our volunteer GM had attended the RPGA gameday and had a copy of the mod and maps. 4th ed seems to be gaining a lot of traction around here (Mid-Michigan), and as long as we've got people willing to run and willing to play, it behooves the club to provide it.

Me, I'll be the one at the side table running Cat, or Colonial Gothic, or Chill. I've always been a little... odd. :)