Looking for non-dungeon crawl (or not JUST dungeon crawl adventure)

[marksable]

I've posted before about the campaign I'm running using Five Torches Deep.

We started with The Forbidden Caverns of Archaia, moved to Tomb of the Serpent Kings and now are in the midst of N1 Cult of the Reptile God.

My players have let me know (very politely) that they are sick of dungeon crawls. Of clearing rooms of traps and monsters. That doesn't mean they don't want fights or exploration. But they feel - and I agree - the campaign has lacked role playing opportunities and variety.

So, I'm looking for a low level module (the party is currently 2nd level) that offers something other than a dungeon crawl. It can have dungeons in it, but it's go to offer memorable NPCs and/or significant faction play. The combat options in FTD are limited, so the more there is to do besides/in addition to combat the better.

At the same time...Five Torches Deep is gold for XP, so there needs to be monetary rewards as combat or social interaction alone won't allow for advancement.

I'm open to anything old school, OSR or 5E (FTD is a simplified version of 5E). It can't be the above modules, or Tomb of the Iron God, Kidnap the Archpriest, Saltmarsh or The Fall of Whitecliff because these players have been through those.

Right now I'm thinking about B10 Night's Dark Terror, as there seems to be a nice mix there. I've been going through Bryce's list but it seems like it weighs heavily towards dungeon crawls (which isn't a bad thing, the party just needs a break).

I feel like I'm constantly asking for recommendations on this forum, but I really do value you opinions and would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

Mark

PS It's been suggested I write my own adventure which I do hope to, but as my day job is writing and my prep time is limited that's not an option for now.

 

[Malrex]

Well.....I might be just a teeny bit biased here...ok...totally biased....

but why don't you take them through City of Illanter: Kellerin's Rumble. See if they got the chops to join in a gambling game....It might be a little high level for them (3-5), but its free on Drivethru and you can check it out and maybe adjust some of the encounters. There is a warehouse, small sewer, and mansion to explore, and a bunch of different NPC's.

Some that cost money (although having a 40% off sale right now at https://www.themercilessmerchants.com/shop)
There is The Willowmere Vagabonds--forested wilderness encounters, tricky gnomes for some roleplay, a cave and a fort to fight through. Levels 1-3. In the process of linking/bookmarking the pdf and should be done in a few days.

Also Of Beasts and Men is a big wilderness area with some ruins and caves...but there is a town vs. a beast cult for faction play. Levels 3-5, so maybe a bit too tough. Bryce reviewed it.

Sales pitch aside....

Night's Dark Terror though is a cool adventure. I never ran it, but read it. If you decide to run that one, you could stick in the Tavern of Daednu along the way or in the middle of it. You can get it for free here: https://www.dragonsfoot.org/php4/archive.php?sectioninit=FE&fileid=388&watchfile= Just a quick adventure that could have some roleplay. I ran it for some 11 year old girls and we had fun.

 

[squeen]

I should just shut up...really should...because there is really no point to me bringing this up...

..but, just out of curiosity, (...just trying to gauge interest...), would a small series of over-land adventures fit the bill?

What I did for the home campaign is write up a series of towns along the main river road. It's no where near ready for release, this is just idle speculation...I HAVE NO TIME. (Why do I open my big mouth?) Still I'd like to know if there is a niche for this kind of content.

Anyway, if you're curious...or need some inspiration...

Spoiler: In which I blather on unhelpfully about about imagery stuff I'll probably never get around to publishing...

It starts at the outskirts of civilization and worked it's way back towards the Capital City.

The first was a nearly-deserted hamlet with an Inn---the Innskeep and his wife are really theiving imposters, having murder the previous owners, and plan on drugging the party's food and drink in order to rob them. There were a few other nice hobbits to rescue, bodies to find, a secret room full of expensive hooch, and an insane old gaffer you get an XP bonus for if you could convince him to move somewhere safer while he tries selling you hats from his shop you probably have no interest in buying---oblivious to the looming dangers of the world, Mr. Magoo-style.

The next town up was slightly bigger---and it has a Ferry manned by a zombie boatman. In fact, the whole town was hit bad by a zombie plague, and there are zombies milling about trying to stupidly continue their previous lives. There is always a chance they would go berserk and try to eat you. At the center was a Suess-ian castle owned by a mad-inventor-turned-zombie (and in denial) who was trying to cure the plague. You, of course, know none of this, and have the option of exploring his freaky abode or just high-tailing it past town.

The last local was a proper village with normal living folk in it and a small defensive Keep (even smaller than B2). The rest of the refugee hobbits were here too. They actually welcome you with open arms because they want news of what's happening on the frontier---they (rightly) fear an invasion from the forces of evil gathering in an abandoned watchtower taken over by a dark power. There's an opportunity to run some mass combat with cavalry.

Next up was the Capital City with the king who was a doppelganger. I've written some stuff about that too. Inns, jails, secret agents. Abandoned towers. A condemned Wizard's Guild who's entire roster was in prison. Dungeons and Sewers (which Bryce HATES). Etc. I don't think I would put that in the "Road to..." product. Too large.

Man, what is it we me and loose lips on Mondays? Probably amped up from playing on the weekend.

 

[The Heretic]

"At the Spottle Parlor" (Dungeon #12) is a fun one-nighter.
"In the Dread of Night" (Dungeon #24) has some roleplaying in it, but it depends on your party being good aligned otherwise they'll have little interest to intervene.
Blood Moon Rising looks good but I haven't tried it yet.

 

[marksable]

Well.....I might be just a teeny bit biased here...ok...totally biased....

but why don't you take them through City of Illanter: Kellerin's Rumble. See if they got the chops to join in a gambling game....It might be a little high level for them (3-5), but its free on Drivethru and you can check it out and maybe adjust some of the encounters. There is a warehouse, small sewer, and mansion to explore, and a bunch of different NPC's.

Some that cost money (although having a 40% off sale right now at https://www.themercilessmerchants.com/shop)
There is The Willowmere Vagabonds--forested wilderness encounters, tricky gnomes for some roleplay, a cave and a fort to fight through. Levels 1-3. In the process of linking/bookmarking the pdf and should be done in a few days.

Also Of Beasts and Men is a big wilderness area with some ruins and caves...but there is a town vs. a beast cult for faction play. Levels 3-5, so maybe a bit too tough. Bryce reviewed it.

Sales pitch aside....

Night's Dark Terror though is a cool adventure. I never ran it, but read it. If you decide to run that one, you could stick in the Tavern of Daednu along the way or in the middle of it. You can get it for free here: https://www.dragonsfoot.org/php4/archive.php?sectioninit=FE&fileid=388&watchfile= Just a quick adventure that could have some roleplay. I ran it for some 11 year old girls and we had fun.

First, don't feel bad about recommending your work. I mean, I was asking for suggestions, and it's on Bryce's list. Plus, if I wind up running one of your modules then I can bug you with stupid questions here

In fact...it turns out I own Kellerin's Rumble, digitally and in print. For a while I was buying everything that made Bryce's list, so much so that I had forgotten what I'd bought and never got around to reading it.

Anyway, but I've only skimmed it but it (like Red Prophet Rises) looks like it could be fun.

Quick question - are there any other products set in Illanter? Not that there isn't enough to do in Kellerin's Rumble, just curious because I like city settings.

 

[Malrex]

First, don't feel bad about recommending your work. I mean, I was asking for suggestions, and it's on Bryce's list. Plus, if I wind up running one of your modules then I can bug you with stupid questions here

In fact...it turns out I own Kellerin's Rumble, digitally and in print. For a while I was buying everything that made Bryce's list, so much so that I had forgotten what I'd bought and never got around to reading it.

Anyway, but I've only skimmed it but it (like Red Prophet Rises) looks like it could be fun.

Quick question - are there any other products set in Illanter? Not that there isn't enough to do in Kellerin's Rumble, just curious because I like city settings.

No questions are stupid! I love em!

City adventures always intimidated me to run as a DM, so I was trying to challenge myself to design one in 30 days that I felt I could do comfortably. As I was designing it, I realized the potential and fun of creating city adventures. The goal was to have more content in Illanter. But I screwed up....when I was running my Patreon, I was busting out these adventures..one a month. I screwed up because I used a city map from the Forge due to lack of time--which looks great and works ok for the adventure...but if I did more stuff in Illanter, I'd want to do my own map because that map would feel constricting to me. So I felt sorta stuck since the city maps wouldn't line up. Maybe I'll update it someday because I had some other ideas for it...

But instead, I created a whole new city called Vermilion. It was a failed Kickstarter. The editor, cover, and going to a outside printing press really ramped up the costs, and I probably wanted too much art, but the whole thing was pretty beefy and the costs were justified in my opinion to make it how I wanted (which was a mistake...should of killed my darlings). Since I had a lot of fun putting it together, I decided to expand it. I got a few 3- 5 level dungeons in it now, a bunch of wilderness areas--island, and mostly underwater adventures, a whole thief hideout, a whole prison (think jail break scenario)...but I also want to add a warehouse adventure/situation and a few different mansions to explore and get in trouble. I have about 7 factions but I may increase that with more minor factions throughout the city....It will be a gigantic sandbox that has some 'storylines' in the background on a timetable that the party can get involved in or not. It's about 200x busier than Kellerin's...it was meant to overwhelm players with options so that they focus on one thing (which makes the DM's job easier, or at least it does for me). I got most of the expansions sketched out and notes and we started to play test it, but quarantine is slowing that down. When I Kickstart it again one day, I probably will not organize what the finished product could look like--Ill go bare bones--fulfill it through Drivethru, and money raised will be dumped into the project (art, etc.).


We are also hoping to finish up Coppercore this year. This is Jonbar's baby but I've set it up similar to Vermilion with a bunch of stuff going on and I added a bunch of adventures. Its more of a bustling frontier town than a city. Instead of trying to hook your players into going into one adventure for the night, you are presenting 15-20 adventures for them to choose from depending on the rumors they hear or situations they get themselves into--and you just have to turn to the appropriate appendix and you are off and running. I'm not sure why we have jumped into these huge projects (it's like 12-15 adventure modules wrapped into one), but they are fun to do...

I think I found out why no one asks questions or comments on my blog....I appear to be very long-winded.

 

[squeen]

I keep forgetting to visit your blog...

Dang! You've been busy there.