# Best 1st Level 4E Adventure



## Cryndo (Apr 11, 2009)

I haven't played 4E yet, but a few of my friends are interested in giving it a go.  Since I know the rules the best (I've read them), I will be the DM.

I'm looking for an adventure for first level characters that can springboard a campaign if we decide to continue with 4E. 

Any ideas for me?


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## Frostmarrow (Apr 11, 2009)

I like Sellswords of Punjar. I haven't run it, but I've read it. I find it neat.


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## Jack99 (Apr 11, 2009)

Sellswords of Punjar or Isle of the Sea Drake are (IMO) the best 1st level adventures available.


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## darjr (Apr 11, 2009)

I've admired Sell Swords of Punjar from afar. I just picked it up and I really like it so far. I like the whole roof/ground floor thing.


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## deadsmurf (Apr 12, 2009)

I really like the quick delve adventure in the DMG, it shows off a lot of cool encounters.  The story is completely basic, but totally can be embraced in it's basic D&D tropes.


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## Inyssius (Apr 12, 2009)

I've got to say that, although only a particularly effusive loon would call it THE BEST ADVENTURE EVER, the first-level lair in _Open Grave_ features the best 4e _hook_ I've yet encountered: at least one of your players is working a contract as a freelance "resurrectionist"; that is, someone who procures suitable dead people (usually via illicit means, though preferably not with a knife) for study and for use as instructional aids by medical colleges and the occasional inquisitive wizard.


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## RichGreen (Apr 12, 2009)

Hi,

We really enjoyed Sellswords of Punjar too. It's not perfect - the map is a little small for the tactical movement that happens in 4e combat - but it's great fun and easy to fit into a city campaign. There's also a cool underground river which I expanded.

There are some Story Hour posts in the "Notes for a New Campaign City" thread in my sig - try the last 2 or 3 pages.

Cheers



Richard


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## vagabundo (Apr 12, 2009)

I remember some grumbling about a goodmans adventure <i think> that was not GSL and suffered for it. 

Was it _Sellswords_? It doesnt seem likely considering the glowing impressions above.


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## Jack99 (Apr 12, 2009)

vagabundo said:


> I remember some grumbling about a goodmans adventure <i think> that was not GSL and suffered for it.
> 
> Was it _Sellswords_? It doesnt seem likely considering the glowing impressions above.




None of them are GSL. And while some (one of them myself) was annoyed at first over the new monster names etc etc, it really turned out to just be something you have to get used to. If one could say the first GG adventures suffer from something, it's being conversions (ie, they were written for 3.5, but just not published yet). They are still better than KotS and the other 3PP adventures out there. That's not to say that they can't be improved upon. 

Just IMO, ofc


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## vagabundo (Apr 12, 2009)

Jack99 said:


> None of them are GSL. And while some (one of them myself) was annoyed at first over the new monster names etc etc, it really turned out to just be something you have to get used to. If one could say the first GG adventures suffer from something, it's being conversions (ie, they were written for 3.5, but just not published yet). They are still better than KotS and the other 3PP adventures out there. That's not to say that they can't be improved upon.
> 
> Just IMO, ofc




Ahh my memory did not fail me. It's odd, I know - or I think I do, anyway - that Goodman Games have signed up for the GSL as they are producing the Book of Rituals. Maybe they could re-release these adventures as _Revised_ with GSL updates. 

Not sure why I'm that concerned, as I said the impressions seem very positive.


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## RichGreen (Apr 12, 2009)

Jack99 said:


> None of them are GSL. And while some (one of them myself) was annoyed at first over the new monster names etc etc, it really turned out to just be something you have to get used to. If one could say the first GG adventures suffer from something, it's being conversions (ie, they were written for 3.5, but just not published yet). They are still better than KotS and the other 3PP adventures out there. That's not to say that they can't be improved upon.
> 
> Just IMO, ofc



It's not hard to figure out the slightly different terminology (eg "bruised" for bloodied"). Certainly didn't make it any harder for me to run the adventure.

Cheers


Richard


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## Jack99 (Apr 12, 2009)

Yes. It was not hard. Just annoying.


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## Kiddo (Apr 12, 2009)

I have to say, whilst _Sellswords_ is by no means the worst adventure I've seen, it's not exactly a scintillating example of adventure design. I've read it rather than run it, although I intend to do the latter at some stage.

There are some problems (maps far too cramped, treasure placement a decidedly random affair and inconsistent with the encounter design principles of 4e) that are easily resolved. Punjar certainly makes for an interesting setting for a city, but too little detail is given in the adventure about the major NPCs and the world around the adventure itself. Some of the numbers given for non-combat tasks are absurdly high. Like I say, easily fixed but a nuisance.

There are a few more problems that are less easily resolved. The initial run up to the dungeon is extraordinarily brief. The encounters are oddly balanced, with few fights meeting the XP bill to make up a challenge for a group of even first level, apparently justified by the expectation that fights will often merge together. In addition, there are some elements such as poisons with jarringly powerful, lasting effects. The result is an encounter balance that seems to swing unpredictably between absurdly easy and unnecessarily lethal. The whole seems less skillfully planned than 4e makes possible.

I've also got a fair few problems with the formatting, although these are mostly just little complaints that have no impact on the adventure itself. The encounters often refer to one another, with some clearly intended as one encounter but inexplicably split over two areas, which is confusing and unhelpful. In some cases, one encounter will refer to elements of another area that don't exist or aren't listed in any great detail. Some of the stat blocks claim levels that they patently don't merit (to all appearances as an excuse for awarding a higher XP value, which could just be arbitrarily assigned - an approach that the adventure takes elsewhere - rather than fiddling with the given levels). Treasure values fluctuate between essentially worthless to remarkably valuable, with little consistency.

All this having been said, some of the ideas embodied within the adventure were very interesting. A cautious and skilled GM could turn this into an adventure to be remembered by their players. Some of the encounters, with a little creative re-imagining, could be excellent and Punjar itself is certainly a thoroughly usable environment. I would recommend a liberal hand be taken in modifying the adventure as it stands. Elements could certainly be incorporated from other sources. There was a _Dungeon_ adventure a while ago for 3.5 which included a chase across barges, the latter half of which was somewhat disappointing (generic dungeon crawl after a thrilling first half). This could be attached to the end of that fairly easily, providing _Sellswords_ with a more gripping introduction and the other adventure (which I forget the name of - the secret of something... there was a key involved...) with a better conclusion.

[Edit: I've found it. Mad God's Key, Dungeon 114]

My best luck with 1st level 4e adventures has been had with a conversion of the "Burning Plague" 3rd edition adventure available on the Wizards website. It's pretty easy to modify and re-map, and remains a passable - if generic - dungeon crawl.


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## Festivus (Apr 12, 2009)

My thoughts about this are: 

1) 1st level doesn't really demonstrate the full possibilities of what characters can do in 4E, so don't judge things until you have played a few levels.  

2) Have a look at some of the Living Forgotten Realms modules, which are free and offer a nice short story that plays out in about 4 hours (I have found these to be hit and miss however, perhaps look for a review of them) 

3) Even with it's warts, I did enjoy running H1 and found it a very good introduction to the 4E rules and a few things to demonstrate some of the cooler aspects of 4e, however I think it could have used more skill challenges within and suffered a bit form lack of variety with the encounters.


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## MatthewJHanson (Apr 13, 2009)

vagabundo said:


> Ahh my memory did not fail me. It's odd, I know - or I think I do, anyway - that Goodman Games have signed up for the GSL as they are producing the Book of Rituals. Maybe they could re-release these adventures as _Revised_ with GSL updates.



The first wave of Goodman adventures were released before the date allowed by the GSL. Since that date has passed I think they are now using it.


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## JeffB (Apr 13, 2009)

Forge of the mouuntain King is good, but is extremely deadly and has some eratta/issues (check out the Goodman site)

IMO- Isle of the Sea Drake- it's very...X1-ish...X1-like?  Very cool.

Also the $2.00 4E adventure from Goodman (name escapes me) looks like good fun after my read through awhile back.

I'd def stay with Goodman- Ignore WOTC. YMMV , but I've yet to purchase a late 2E, 3E or 4E adventure from them that I thought was pretty decent .  They need to stick to creating rules and nerd-rage-that's what they do best.


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## FATDRAGONGAMES (Apr 13, 2009)

I picked up Goodman Games In Search of Adventure at our local shop a couple weeks ago- it's a collection of several 1st level adventures and is really well done. I've run two so far and the players had a blast.


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## Daern (Apr 13, 2009)

I just ran Sellswords of Punjar last night and it was fun!  The whole upper level turns into one big running battle!  However, I wouldn't recommend it for a first time DM.  There are a lot of curses and traps that are very Gygaxian and require adjudication as well as the triggering multiple encounters part.  
I think the main reason to avoid H1 KOTS is because of its length.  Starting out you might want to stick to shorter adventures so you can get through them and try a few things out.


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## darjr (Apr 13, 2009)

If you are open to RPGA adventures, one of my favorite is the Radiant Vessel of Thesk.

I've run it a couple of times and it has a ton of non combat rp possiblities in it with a short crawl in it as well. It can go rather quickly to and covers a range of things in the game.

I also think it has one of the better mixed mode combats, a combat and skill challenge combined.

As far as a continuing campaign, the NPC who hires the characters could be an interesting patron for a low level party, considering that he is literally insane.


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## Derulbaskul (Apr 13, 2009)

Can I throw out another question related to the OP's original question: what, for you, would make for an excellent 1st-level 4E adventure? What are the some of the highlights in terms of encounters, flavour and mechanics do you think an excellent 1st-level 4E adventure should include?



RichGreen said:


> It's not hard to figure out the slightly different terminology (eg "bruised" for bloodied"). Certainly didn't make it any harder for me to run the adventure.




Bruised/bloodied I could (and can) cope with. Using "aurora" rather than "aura" is just bizarre.



MatthewJHanson said:


> The first wave of Goodman adventures were released before the date allowed by the GSL. Since that date has passed I think they are now using it.




I just bought the two latest adventures and they're both OGL. One even makes reference to the "underdark": I'm not sure how they can do that without thoroughly browning off the new militant Wizards of the Coast (who are likely already browned off by the fact that these "4E compatible" adventures, as they are labelled, are released under the OGL).



JeffB said:


> (snip) Ignore WOTC. YMMV , but I've yet to purchase a late 2E, 3E or 4E adventure from them that I thought was pretty decent .  They need to stick to creating rules and nerd-rage-that's what they do best.




- Late 2E: What about _The Gates of Firestorm Peak_ and _The Shattered Circle_? They're both classics, IMO, and ones I have used in 3.xE and will soon use in 4E. Ahhh, how I long for the days when Bruce Cordell had his mojo... and wasn't chasing around pre-incarnate souls and other examples of his 3E-era nonsense (although _Sunless Citadel_ was rather good).

- 3E: _Red Hand of Doom_ has little competition for competent design and execution. The hardback _Expedition to..._ were, with the exception of _Ravenloft_, were atrocious. 

- 4E: If it's not written by Rich Baker (one of the designers also of _Red Hand of Doom_) then chances are it will be pretty ordinary.

What I don't understand is that WotC has one of the best adventure designers of all time on its staff in Chris Perkins and he doesn't write anymore. Give him a gig!


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## Cryndo (Apr 16, 2009)

Thanks!  You've given me a lot to chew on.  I thought of going the RPGA route since there are a ton of free adventures, but they don't have a campaign feel and I'd love to springboard this first adventure into a campaign.

It sounds like there are a few good 1st level adventures, but perhaps nothing great yet.  I'll give Sellswords a look and see if it fits my needs.  Sounds intriguing.  I do enjoy urban advantures.


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## capn_frank (Apr 16, 2009)

I'm playing through Sellswords of Punjab and don't like it all that much.
The maps are way too small to take advantage of the 4e movements rules, after the 3rd session or so our DM started redrawing the maps on his tact-tiles.
Each room seems to be a huge grind which is sucking up our resources every battle. We've had to hide for extended rests twice and am not finished yet.
Two of the players on on their second characters due to deaths.
YMMV, it could just be that the group inexperience with 4e is the problem.

When I started DMing another group I used the D&D Roleplaying Game Starter Set as a "training session" for the PCs to get used to 4e and since then have just been stealing freely from Dungeon, H1, the DMG, FRCG, RPGA and Dungeon Delve to create my own storylines.


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## TerraDave (Apr 17, 2009)

I played through the Kobold Hall miniadventure in the DMG in its earlier, DDXP version, and it was fun enough, if a a little straightforward. 

Keep on the Shadowfell also has its strengths. The poster maps are nice, a lot happens outside the dungeon,  it has a lot of classic monsters, and many of the encounter set-ups take advantage of 4Es more wide open approach to combat. 

It is longish, combat oriented (but yes, there are some RP encounters, even in the keep itself) and not much on the skill challenge side, though that system was probably finished after KotS was (assuming it has been finished). But then again, its an official D&D adventure, so what do you expect?


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## qstor (Jan 17, 2010)

*da da bump*

Are any of the adventures in the newer issues of Dungeon 1st level?

thanks

Mike


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## Derulbaskul (Jan 18, 2010)

qstor said:


> *da da bump*
> 
> Are any of the adventures in the newer issues of Dungeon 1st level?
> 
> ...




The new Chaos Scar "sandbox" is made of up five or six 1st-level delves (not full adventures) and a 2nd-level delve.  I like them and plan to use most of them.

There is a thread on the WotC boards that lists all of the _Dungeon_ adventures by level with a short summary. I can't find the link right now but I will try and post it later today when I find it.


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## Rabbitbait (Jan 18, 2010)

If you are looking for one that springboards into a campaign the adventure in the Eberron Campaign Guide is excellent. However it is very Eberron (one of the battles is set on an airborn ship flying between towers, it has dragonmarks and there is politics and betrayal) so it's probably best to use if you want to continue with an Eberron campaign. It also leaves lots of tasty loose ends that the adventurers will want to follow up.


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## Blackbrrd (Jan 18, 2010)

I would run WotBS published by Enworld. It's not a dungeon crawl and there is plenty of background pulling the players in. If you like it it's the start of a campaign going up to level 30.


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## level1gamer (Jan 18, 2010)

I've read and liked Rescue at Rivenroar the first adventure in the scales of war adventure path.  The first two encounters are great and have interesting elements.  The dungeon crawl that follows is pretty mundane except for the NPCs you pick up along the way that allow for good RP opportunities.  Also, it's free!


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## Thanlis (Jan 18, 2010)

Cryndo said:


> Thanks!  You've given me a lot to chew on.  I thought of going the RPGA route since there are a ton of free adventures, but they don't have a campaign feel and I'd love to springboard this first adventure into a campaign.
> 
> It sounds like there are a few good 1st level adventures, but perhaps nothing great yet.  I'll give Sellswords a look and see if it fits my needs.  Sounds intriguing.  I do enjoy urban advantures.




Hm. You know, you might want to take a look at the RPGA Embers of Dawn mini-campaign (MINI 1-1 through 1-6). I wouldn't recommend the majority of LFR stuff for your purposes, but Embers of Dawn is quite good and fits your criteria very well.

It's an urban setting (or rather, multiple urban settings). The cities aren't generic, which is cool -- Sambral and Tarmalune in particular are pretty distinctive. It's six adventures, each one of which runs nicely in no more than six hours of play. The setting is the Windrise Ports, which are not strongly connected to the rest of the Forgotten Realms; you could drop this into any world fairly seamlessly. And, of course, free.

Downsides: you'd need/want to fiddle with the treasure a bit, since LFR treasure parcels don't map precisely into the standard treasure system. The background does assume that the world has primordial elemental beings of god-like power in it. Only the first five are out (although the last should come later this month or early next). The final adventure could be a crashing disappointment.

Cheap to take a look at it, anyhow. I've run sessions 1 through 3 if you have any questions.


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## samursus (Jan 18, 2010)

I'll second Blackbrrd for War of the Burning Sky from our very own ENWorld Publishing.  For $3 you can get the first module and its the 1st of 12 in a very rich and epic Adventure Path.


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## Tallifer (Jan 18, 2010)

Can you get adventure modules for the Living Forgotten Realms via the D&D Insider? If so, how? I could not find a link for them.


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## Thanlis (Jan 18, 2010)

Tallifer said:


> Can you get adventure modules for the Living Forgotten Realms via the D&D Insider? If so, how? I could not find a link for them.




Nope, they are not part of DDI Insider. If the current RPGA guide is telling the truth, though, it's pretty easy!


Get an RPGA/DCI number. At the moment, this means finding an event (either a CCG event or LFR, either works) and asking the organizer for a card. They'll give you one even if you aren't playing. Here's an event locator.
Register the number -- there's a handy URL on the card. Don't ask why you can't just get a number at the same Web site.
Log in.
Go to Event sanctioning.
Click on the D&D logo currently in the middle of the page -- not the one that says Public Play.
Select D&D Private Event from the Event Type pulldown menu.
Click Next...
and follow the prompts from there; it should be pretty clear. Note that you have to select your module, then click Add to add it to the list before moving on.

Once you're done sanctioning and downloading your event, you can always cancel it if it turns out you won't run it on the day you expected. That's perhaps the easiest thing to do if you don't want to bother reporting it.

I'm sorry this is sort of a pain; the hoops are somewhat silly, particularly the bit where you have to get a physical card. On the other hand, you get access to something like 100 adventures for levels 1 through 14, all for free.


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## darjr (Jan 21, 2010)

The site is supposed to get a revamp ala DDI some time soon.....

I'm starting the mini campaign for a group next Sunday. They kept asking about it, finally I saw the clue by four they were carrying.

I've run parts of it before and had a great time.


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