What would be a good one shot module to introduce a group to

[Trueshaft]

Hi all. So I am going to be running a one-shot game to introduce my gaming group to C & C. I'm hoping to get them sold on the system as I already have a ton of pdfs and books for C & C. Is Rising Knight a mod that can be run in one session? We normally will play for 4 to 5 hours at a time, although we've also been known to play longer if we're having a good time. For now, though this will only be a one-shot deal. They are all experienced in playing D & D and D20 systems, so I think they'll pick up on it fast. I've been raving about Castles and Crusades ever since I got to play it twice at GenCon 2017.

[Persimmon]

So they're first level? I'd recommend "Shadows of Hafling Hall" if you've got it. That can be run pretty easily in 5 hours. I don't have "Rising Knight" so I can't comment on that one.

[Trueshaft]

I do have that one, yes. I'm planning on letting them start at level two possibly. Kind of excited. I'd really like to put that " group bundle" from the 7th edition Kickstarter to good use.

[Treebore]

The A series is a pretty good series. Would have been even better if they had completed it about 5 years ago, but at least the finale is soon to be finished. "Soon", in Troll time, means some time in the next few years. With what we have already seen, we might, maybe, possibly, be below another year of waiting.

[Buttmonkey]

IIRC, my players took 2-3 sessions to complete A0 (Rising Knight). You might be able to finish it in one session if you start your PCs at 2nd level.

[Trueshaft]

Yes, that's what I'm thinking of doing, especially since this is just a one shot. I wish there were some good introductory style games that would be good for one-shots or showing off C & C at conventions. The more I think about it, I may just come up with something tailored for my group. The group happens upon a small town whose tavern has problems with their alcohol shipments being interrupted. Could be bandits, could be problems at the distillery or a competing business. Perhaps the distillery was taken over by an insane gnome alchemist who has been doing nasty experiments with the booze, or the shipments are being hijacked by a gang of alcoholic goblins.. I want it to be able to be completed within 4 hours or so. So maybe something simple that ends with a 5 room dungeon would work best. I just want to make sure the adventure shows off the neat stuff that I love about C&C. the fast and streamlined combat, and ability checks and even magic saves.

[Buttmonkey]

John Wright wrote an adventure for Crusader magazine where the party investigates some mysterious stuff which leads them to tackle the basement of a tavern/brewery. I'm blanking on the name of the adventure suddenly. It involves green and red ale. I think that adventure could be completed in one very entertaining session, particularly if you accelerate the investigation portion and get the party to the dungeon quickly. The author ran it at Gary Con a few years back and we completed it within 4 hours. It was a lot of fun.

I believe it was geared toward 4th level PCs.

Edit: The adventure is titled "A Lighter Shade of Ale." I don't remember which Crusader it appears in, but you can probably find it cheap and rpgnow.com.

[Rigon]

I have one of John Wright's convention tournament adventures. "Danovar's Desire." I ran it at a con a few years back in a 4 hour time slot. It was fun.

R-

[Buttmonkey]

You can find "A Darker Shade of Ale" in Crusader Journal #15 for the low-low price of $4.60.

You can find "Danovar's Desire" in Crusader Journal #12 for the also low-low price of $4.60.

[Rigon]

You can find "A Darker Shade of Ale" in Crusader Journal #15 for the low-low price of $4.60.

You can find "Danovar's Desire" in Crusader Journal #12 for the also low-low price of $4.60.

Didn't realize Danovar's Desire got published. I ran it years before CJ12.

R-

[Trueshaft]

So I did get to run " Danovar's Desire" for our group Last night. It went well, though we had to end the session before we got all the way through it. We were running late ( started late ) and a couple of the guys' wives wanted to leave ( they came along but didn't play ). First time GMing C and C and I really enjoyed it, came across a couple things that I made mistakes on, and some things I think I would house rule on when I run the game again. It was a little rough running it with only three players, even though we used lvl 3 characters. we had a half-elven druid, a half-orc fighter, and a human rogue. I probably should have assigned them a cleric hireling to help out, though I did give them a couple light heal potions each, and I gave them max hitpoints. Those hobgoblins can be tough.
But no deaths! The rogue did get knocked unconscious though, but the group brought him back with a potion. They all seemed to enjoy it. We have just started up a new campaign of DnD 5, but they did say that if they weren't running that, they think this would be a fun system to play. So I didn't convert them over to the Troll Side, but they all appreciated the system, and think they'd be open to playing it in the future.
We got through the biggest chunk of the dungeon, and I think if I was a bit more experienced ( I haven't actually run a game in several years, and that was Pathfinder ), we would have finished the whole thing inside of about 3 and a half hours or so. But I might also have edited it a bit to add more variety in either creatures or what equipment they used, or given one or two of the hobgoblins a class like the rogue.
Overall though, a really fun one-shot adventure and a good demo of Castles and Crusades. And it really makes me want to get a group together and run more games.

[Rigon]

Glad to her you and your group enjoyed the adventure.

R-

[Buttmonkey]

given one or two of the hobgoblins a class like the rogue.

I'm glad you and your group enjoyed the game. If I could throw out one suggestion, it would be to try to step a way from a Pathfinder mindset (or what I ignorantly think is a Pathfinder mindset). You mentioned possibly giving hobgoblins "a class like the rogue." You are the GM. You can give your monsters whatever abilities you want without resorting to assigning PC classes to them. Sometimes, it may be helpful to think in terms of a set of PC class abilities like that, but there is nothing stopping you from deciding a monster has the ability to pick locks or some other particular ability that is covered as part of a class package for PCs. Just say hobgoblin #3 is great at climbing walls (or casting fireballs or whatever other ability you decide on) and run with it. Hob #3 doesn't need to be a rogue to do that. The rules in the PHB are for PCs, not monsters. Similarly, if you want to create a wizard NPC, I'd recommend not creating a classed wizard of whatever level you decide on. Instead, decide how many hit dice you want your wizard to have, assign hit points, and then decide what spells your wizard casts (or leave the spells determination until it comes up in play). You can also just let them do wizardy things that aren't tied to the wizard spell description at all. Want your wizard to shoot some sort of magical energy blast at the PCs? Just do it. Who cares if it's a magic missile versus something else? Describe what it looks like to the PCs and decide what kind of damage it does arbitrarily. NPCs are monsters, not PCs.

Anyway, I hope this was helpful. Welcome to the Crusade!

[Rigon]

given one or two of the hobgoblins a class like the rogue.

I'm glad you and your group enjoyed the game. If I could throw out one suggestion, it would be to try to step a way from a Pathfinder mindset (or what I ignorantly think is a Pathfinder mindset). You mentioned possibly giving hobgoblins "a class like the rogue." You are the GM. You can give your monsters whatever abilities you want without resorting to assigning PC classes to them. Sometimes, it may be helpful to think in terms of a set of PC class abilities like that, but there is nothing stopping you from deciding a monster has the ability to pick locks or some other particular ability that is covered as part of a class package for PCs. Just say hobgoblin #3 is great at climbing walls (or casting fireballs or whatever other ability you decide on) and run with it. Hob #3 doesn't need to be a rogue to do that. The rules in the PHB are for PCs, not monsters. Similarly, if you want to create a wizard NPC, I'd recommend not creating a classed wizard of whatever level you decide on. Instead, decide how many hit dice you want your wizard to have, assign hit points, and then decide what spells your wizard casts (or leave the spells determination until it comes up in play). You can also just let them do wizardy things that aren't tied to the wizard spell description at all. Want your wizard to shoot some sort of magical energy blast at the PCs? Just do it. Who cares if it's a magic missile versus something else? Describe what it looks like to the PCs and decide what kind of damage it does arbitrarily. NPCs are monsters, not PCs.

Anyway, I hope this was helpful. Welcome to the Crusade!

This right here. It makes prepping so much easier.

R-

[Trueshaft]

Point taken. I've been playing a variety of games lately, from Savage Worlds to Pathfinder and I did keep comparing it to Pathfinder and other D20 systems.Thanks for the tips!