#much like DnD it's built with the assumption that you will be an out-of-context problem for the bad guys

[owlbear33]

So recently, I've been running DnD 5e, largely, so I can say I've run more than one 5e game, proving to myself that I actually don't like the system, that sort of thing (this is with some long-time friends), and like I have many issues with 5e, but here I'm going to talk specifically about prewritten material, because I am running the most beginner of beginner games

(edit: added a read more, this got long)

I'm running Lost Mines of Phandlever, and like as dnd adventures go it's fine, it does most of the work for you, particularly the work of setting up the encounters, and like it's well regarded as an adventure for a reason, it's a good dnd adventure, and I am genuinely having fun running it

but I have one big problem with it

The player characters Just don't matter

sure their actions matter, if the goblins aren't defeated bad things will happen to this village, if the Spider isn't dealt with bad things more generally will probably happen, but who they are, naa, 3-5 well-armed beginner adventurers are needed, but they could be any 3-5 well-armed beginner adventurers,

the setup for the adventure is: an acquaintance of yours has a job for you, escorting a cart of goods, they are willing to pay, while doing said job you get goblinned, and find out bad things have happened to your acquaintance

that's the long and short of it (OK there is a bit more but not much)

I can't help but feel this would be a better adventure if it was written with the assumption that the player party are from Phandolin, fed up with the redcloaks causing problems, worried about the rise in goblin raids on travellers, cue investigation and the discovery of the wider problem

I mean that's how the fantasy novels of my youth would have started,

and like I know why the adventure wasn't written like that, it goes something like, more influenced from earlier sword and sorcery (before my time), adventure modularity (something IMO 5e could have done more of), the writer not having to worry about whatever nonsense backstory the Players come up with for their characters/giving players the freedom to create the characters they want to play and like all that is fair

I do know of one fantasy ttrpg that sets things up more the way I would like things, "Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures", a great little OSR game, has prewritten scenarios, and playbooks for generating characters, that you do as a group, slowly building the village the PCs all come from as you create the characters, great for minimal prep one-shots, and there's the rub, Beyond the Wall is great, and as much as it does have rules for character advancement and running campaigns, I'd much rather have something not quite so light for longer games

#owlbear grumbling #dnd #dungeons and dragons #long post #I do have a favorite long term Fantasy RPG #it's exalted #and though I think it does a better job of having a default setting and embedding your characters within that world #much like DnD it's built with the assumption that you will be an out-of-context problem for the bad guys