I am prepping for a Thanksgiving family 4e D&D game. My last 4th edition game for this same group was Keep on the Shadowfell, but half the players lost interest in the game by the third encounter, and wanted to go back to 3.5 so I stopped playing the module “as is” and tweaked the game to turn them around and keep them intrigued. After reading the next two modules published by WoTC, I will only run published 4e LFR for the RPGA for now on. RPGA people don’t seem to mind bad modules as long as they get to “play” unlike most of my non RPGA players who are very picky about story and atmosphere. I am officially done with DMing published modules for my home games.
For this Thanksgiving I am building up a quick dungeon. I have the maps and the traps and pictures, but the encounters were bugging me. Luckly, Grey Wolf’s Lair posted a quick data sheet that makes it easy to figure out what to fill the dungeon with. I am using the caves near Yates Hill for the first part of the game. I plan to experiment on the encounters to make it fun, scary and quick. The players are all 1st and 2nd level.
So the party will initially have to deal with:
1 hobgoblin warcaster, 2 hobgoblin guards, and 2 skeletons in one of the smaller caves.
I will use the following to guide me during play: Little cave, little monster; big cave, big monster (from my dungeon notes). Yup, my secret to perfect dungeon mastering, is simplicity. I just keep it simple and let the players imagine the rest, though it does help to use edible monsters from time to time. The players will be able to wander into any of the caves and into the ruins of Yates Manor. They will find safety at Four Wells or Brendon Mill. Oh, and if you are thinking “well that aint much,” There is more to the dungeon, I just don’t want my players to know too much…
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About shent_lodge
Happy to be of some use
Simple dungeon design is definitely the best way to go, every time – it certainly beats spending hours working on an encounter only to have the players walk straight past the door…..
Greywulf,
That little spread sheet you made is really, really helpful.