Best way to go 1-30 using existing modules

[Nennafir]

Hi everyone!

(I) About me: I am an almost 50 year old who has been playing RPGs since they came out. When D&D 4 came out, I thought the idea was awesome, but I was trapped in an AD&D 1 group at the time. By the time D&D 5 came out, I had moved to a new location where Pathfinder was popular. I like Pathfinder and have been having fun playing it. A year or so ago I decided to buy pretty much every (literally, you should see how many books/magazines I have...) D&D 4e supplement because the system was so intriguing. My Pathfinder group was not interested, but I did play D&D 4e several times a week with my kids.

To be honest, I can't say enough good things about D&D4e. I mean, tanks actually hold aggro. That is cool, right? And there are all sorts of little tactical moves you can do. I love tactics!

The only complaint I have is that with my kids I ran them through the official D&D4e module series like keep on the shadowfell, etc. They are currently level 27, so we have definitely done a lot of D&D4e at this point.

My complaints about the modules we have run are: (1) Every monster seems to be just a big bag of hit points, and it can take seemingly forever to off them. (2) They seem mainly combat focused without much else.

With the kids, I have been able to compensate for this. I often make the monsters do 2x damage but have 1/2x hit points. And I often introduce lots of zany side quests not really written into the modules. SO I think they have enjoyed it. I also run Pathfinder for them, and they report liking D&D4e much more than Pathfinder. (Of course, maybe :D they sense that is just what I want them to say.)

(II) What you can do for me: The current Pathfinder DM reports that he is willing to step aside for me to run a D&D4e campaign. This is awesome!

Can you recommend a sequence of modules that I can run to get people from lvl 1 to lvl 30?

WARNING: The pathfinder group is something of a RAW group. They don't want me doing stuff like 2x damage and 1/2xHP. They don't want me to be adding side quests. So the modules as written need to be exciting and have fun stuff. Also, keep in mind that the players will be pathfinder fans who might have jumped ship to pathfinder because they didn't like D&D4e. So they might not be particularly forgiving.

Cost is no object. It is okay if the modules are not written by WoTC. I am happy buying 3rd party modules. But if you could just suggest a series of modules that I could use to take the characters from lvl 1 on up, that would be great. Again, they should be modules that are "fun" as written, with no modification on my part.

[ScrivenerofDoom]

Good to see another "old" timer who loves 4E. I'm 48 and have been playing since 1981 and this is, far and away, my favourite edition.

That said, it has a lot of sucky adventures.

So, Heroic Tier is easy enough to fill:

The Slaying Stone
Reavers of Harkenwold
Madness at Gardmore Abbey

Epic tier you can fill legally for free by going to livingforgottenrealms.com and downloading the adventures with the EPIC prefix.

Paragon tier requires a bit more though. Hopefully someone will be along soon and fill that in for you.

But I just want to address the issue of monsters. Personally, I build all my own monsters in large part because I like their level to match their AD&D hit dice because that suits the level range I prefer to run(1-12/15). Also, I know what stat blocks work well for me and I also make sure that the maths (defences, hit points, attack bonus, damage etc...) has been updated to match the later monster design rules used in, inter alia, Monster Manual 3 and Monster Vault.

The real key in my experience to making combat exciting is avoiding solos as much as possible. They should be extremely rare and, ideally, custom-built to be a genuine thrreat to five PCs. That's actually the advice in the DMG from the beginning but the first Monster Manual was built according to different rules.

Learn what works with your group and build encounters accordingly.

[MoutonRustique]

Hello!

From what I've done and seen, heroic tier adventures are plentiful and many of the Dungeon adventures are actually pretty darn good!

For paragon - it's a bit harder... If you want to really play up the difference between the tiers, there needs to really be an escalation in stakes and an, overall, different feel to the adventures.

This can be a bit harder to pull off with the modules I know of...

For epic - actually... probably the best place to look for inspiration would be Permeton's threads on ENWorld. Look them up, you will not be disappointed.

All this being said, my modules list for a campaign I'd start from scratch:
- Some Assembly Required (Dungeon 208)
- The Slaying Stone
- The Reavers of Harkenwold (*have the dragon in the crypt be the same dragon from 1st adventure ;) )
- Owlbear Run (Dungeon 213; up leveled a bit - so fun! :D )
- Madness at Gardmore Abbey (I'm liable to get expunged if I don't put it this list ;) )
- Massacre at Fort Dolore (Dungeon 157 - some easy tweaks make it pretty interesting)
- The Dark Heart of Mithrendain (Dungeon 157 - I'd rework how the players get involved, but the rest of it is pretty solid)
After this, it starts to get a bit "wonky"...
- take most of Heathen (Dungeon 155), up-level it, the "Black March" is actually a complex shadow crossing leading to an up-leveled umbraforge from The Shadow Rift of Umbraforge (Dungeon 158)

... I have to go - I'll be back latter for the rest (but I'm sure plenty of people will give plenty of advice!)

[ScrivenerofDoom]

(snip) For epic - actually... probably the best place to look for inspiration would be Permeton's threads on ENWorld. Look them up, you will not be disappointed. (snip)

That's a great piece of advice.

It has been Pemerton's posts that have convinced me into finally looking at running a campaign designed to end at Epic plus to also look at the Nentir Vale as a serious place to run a game.

I've actually saved all of his posts and read them every now and then for inspiration. He really grokked 4E in a way most of the WotC designers never did.

[dadada]

That's a great piece of advice.

It has been Pemerton's posts that have convinced me into finally looking at running a campaign designed to end at Epic plus to also look at the Nentir Vale as a serious place to run a game.

I've actually saved all of his posts and read them every now and then for inspiration. He really grokked 4E in a way most of the WotC designers never did.

Could you link to it, maybe, or summarize it? Google isn't telling me anything.

[Meta]

I would try explaining to your players that you increase damage/decrease HP on monsters only to bring them in line with what the designers of the game intended. Monsters printed in MM3 are significantly more deadly than their MM1/2 brethren and that was a conscious choice development made. The difference is closer to 1.7X more damage, but making those adjustments to older modules shouldn't take that long on your end and will only improve the gaming experience. Your eyeballing of 2X damage was pretty close!