New DM: need help with wild idea to tie two campaigns

[TheWildQ]

--Background--

We (4 friends) started played d&d (3.5ed) around 6 months ago. The only one with some experience was the DM that was a long time player. He ran the Return to the temple of elemental evil campaign.

Last month we brought to the table another friend and we tryed for one session the 5ed. We liked so much that (after a long discussion) we decided to stop the current campaign and start Curse of Strahd from september as 5. We were a bit sad to leave our first character behind but very excited to start something new.

In the time between now and september, since I was very curious to play as the DM, I volunteered to run the Lost Mine of Phandelver for the group (my first session was this week).

--What I need help for--

After a bit of thinking, to give a "proper" closure to the previous campaign, I'm planning to create a little adventure at the end of LMoP that ties to the ToEE and to our previous characters. This may sound a little bit crazy and ambitious and to be honest I'm not sure that I'm gonna succeed but I'm gonna try nonetheless.

Who were the previous character:
-Human Cleric of Tyr (LN) (cursed by Tharizdun)
-Human Rogue (with some wizard spell like invisibility) (Neutral)
-Goliath Warblade (a fighter with some cool attacks) (LN)

Where were the previous character:
After clearing out half, I think, of the "main" dungeon (we leveled to 8) and we went to Vebobonc (a very big city) to sell some loot and buy some stuff.

What I have in mind:
The current party find the goliath in a city (many years after that adventure) and tells them that he was the lone survivor of the group: the group after Verbobonc returned to the dungeon but their were defeated by the BBEG.

In reality both the rogue and the cleric (and the BBEG) are affected by an Imprisonment spell. The spell was given by Tyr to the cleric as last effort to "seal the evil" but the spell sealed both the players and the BBEG.

What do you think ? Too stupid ? Too cheesy ?
Do you any ideas to improve this adventure?

[brian 333]

Ah, Greyhawk. Good times.

First: trust your players. They are your frirends, and given the chance they will play along and help you ovef the rough spots.

Second, trust yourself. You seem to have a good idea about where you want to go with your adventure.

So, to build your adventure you need a goal: rescue the trapped characters. This is an excellent way to tie the two adventures together.

But how do the characters get this goal? Are they recruited to do it? Do they hear stories about the previous group who came to town loaded with loot then went back for more? What pushes the PCs onto the path that leads to the goal?

Note: They don't have to know what the actual goal is; they can be lead to the rescue for an unrelated reason. All they need is some kind of motivation to go there, and rescuing the old party becomes possible.

They need a means to succeed. If the Imprisonment spell is broken, everyone trapped in it is released. Can the party and the imprisoned characters deal with the BBEG? Do they need help, like a scroll of imprisonment to re-capture the BBEG?

Once you have the motivation to get there and the tools the players need to succeed, the rest of your job is obstacles and, if needed, clues. Pace youf obstacles so the characters feel more pressure the closer they get to the goal, and don't be afraid to give them a place where they can rest and regroup before the end because sometimes players get into a "clean the dungeon" mindset and they use up too much of their magic to deal with the final encounter.

Your basic story is good. As you gain experience DMing you will get a better feel for how your players react, and you can build ever more complex scenarios, but some of the best game sessions are simple missions undertaken by friends whose only goal is to have fun. Focus on the fun and your game will be a success.

But remember to go back to the first step: trust your players. If you're feeling overwhelmed by the amount of detail you have to track, the calculations you have to make, and the multitude of modifiers to various dice rolls, ask your players for help.

Some examples:

The map is the players' problem. If they want one, let them draw it. Drawing maps for players during a session eats up time and halts the flow of the game.

A Battlemat helps, but is not necessary. Have the characters set up and move the figurines of both the party and the monsters. If you don't have figurines, use coins. I have a dice box with a few dollars worth of coins that I put a piece of masking tape on, then write the name of the entity it represents on the tape. Dimes are Tiny creatures, pennies Small, nickles Medium, quarters Large, etc. Having physical objects laid out allows players to see who can attack who, but you don't need to go full miniatures rules until your group is ready.

Creating encounters on the fly is time consuming, but players can help by rolling and recording Hit Dice. You don't even have to say what they are. For example, your team is attacked by four wights: have each character roll and record the hit points of the one that attacks them, then track its hit point loss as combat progresses. This works if your random encounter is with large numbers of foes too. Each player can record HP for a squad of goblins or a swarm of bumblebees while you are calculating the To Hit rolls they need to achieve against each PC.

And last: keep it moving. When things begin to slow, it might be a good point to take a break. But it might also be a sign that you need to move the story along. Players go off topic and get silly when they don't know what to do next. Suppose your players have all failed to look for the secret door that leads to the next part of the adventure. You might have an enemy reveal it by having a dying one claw at the wall, or having one exit the secret door, or have something dramatic happen that grants the character a chance to see the door. One of my favorite examples of this was when a DM had a goblin pop up through a floor tile trapdoor, say a rude word in his surprise, and drop back down.

Good luck, and welcome to the club. Oh, one more thing: the DM is not responsible for the Cheetoes and Mountain Dew. That's in the DMG. (Okay, it's in pencil, and I wrote it, but it's in the DMG!)

[TheWildQ]

Well, thanks a lot! You gave me the right amount of confidence and motivation to try.

I'm gonna read through LMoP to see if and where I can plant some hooks and come up with some ideas.

Right now I'm struggling to see where the final encounter could take place. Since the campaign settings are differents I wanna find a "believable" place for that. Thankfully we know nothing about the end of the old campaign so I could make something up.

[brian 333]

I once had a DM who designed a Moria style dungeon. We went from the back door out the front, mapping the whole way.

Some months later that character was captain of a skirmish company, (crossbow hobilar company,) who was tasked with covering a retreat. We managed to sting the enemy van and mostly get away, but we were caught on the wrong side of the mountains with the enemy skirmishers on our trail.

In a moment of inspiration I pulled out the not-Moria map and said, "Here's the plan..."

Reuseing dungeons and old characters is a very good way to make the most of your assets. They are familiar, fun, and free.

I'm not sure what you have in mind for the final encounter, but portals can cross between planes. Suppose a villain on this side goes to that side for shopping trips. The two settings link without requiring alterations.

It could also be a case of the not-Moria situation where the entrance and exit are on opposite sides of the mountains and a little map merging can fix that if the players havn't thoroughly explored either.