Hi everyone, I know this is probably a silly time to post this (it being Christmas Eve) but I'm looking for help with some idea for an intro adventure for some new players.

I'm returning to my TOR game in the New Year and I've 1 one player (2 remaining) and gaining 2 new players. Now I'm hoping to start the Tales from Wilderland books with the group, but I thought it might be worth running a simple starting adventure to help the new players get used to the system. I can't use the Marsh Bell adventure because my remaining 2 players have already played it.

My campaign is currently in Lake Town and I'm looking for ideas for an adventure to run in and around the Lake Town/Dale/Erebor area - which is not too complicated. I'm also loathe to send them into the long marshes again, as the last two adventures have been set there.

Hope folk can help me out.

Any ideas people can come up with will be greatly appreciated when I check back in the New Year.

Here's the first adventure I ran for my players:

During the fifth anniversary celebrations of the Battle of Five Armies, one of the emissaries sent by Thranduil falls sick. Things are kept quiet but people notice something is going on when the Elven embassy is absent during the opening ceremony. The PCs are approached, because someone is needed to fetch a special herb, or (even better) one of the PCs has traits and / or skills that mark him as a potent healer.

Depending on how things go, the PCs might learn that the sick elf is none other than the Thranduil's Heir, Legolas and that furthermore, he's not sick (as anyone with elven lore might have surmised) but poisoned. Things are kept quiet because no one wants to publicly acknowledge that such an important ambassador has been the target of an attack and because although relations have warmed during the recent years between Elves, Dwarves and Humans, should the unthinkable befall Legolas, things could get ugly real fast.

The PCs have to find the herb that will act as the antidote. And if a PC is very knowledgeable regarding herbs, he can determine that the poison used is in fact a yeast that's normally used in brewing alcohol by dwarven brew-masters; another important fact to keep from becoming known because of the historical enmity between Elves and Dwarves.

This is the basic infos I wrote, in the format used in ToR adventures:

Strange Brew -

When: In 2946, during the feast celebrating the Free People's victory at the Battle of the Five Armies.
Where: The adventure begins in Dale.
What: The characters are enjoying the festivities when they are asked to help Gandalf heal a young elvish princeling. The diseased is sick from a yeast used by dwarven master brewers. A plant that might help grows on the small hills east of Erebor.
Why: The characters are asked to help because they have knowledge of medicinal plants and they are mostly unknown; it is imperative to keep the princeling's condition under wraps, unless diplomatic mayhem erupts.
Who: The companions get to meet Gandalf, the famous wizard who helped the Quest of Erebor succeed and who was no small part in the Free People's victory at the Battle of the Five Armies. The young princeling is none other than Legolas son of Thranduil, who will become famous during the War of the Ring.

As you'll notice, I used Gandalf because he was well known by my players and were really thrilled to meet him, and I think brown wizards riding rabbit-driven apparatus is kinda silly

Thanks for the idea Mythicos, though it did get me wondering - can elves be poisoned? Maybe an important Man of Dale or Laketown might work better.

Anyone else got anything?

They can, one example I'm aware of is Celebrían; Arwen's mother. She at one time received a poison wound from Orcs.

Also, in the Silmarillion, Aredhel died from a poisoned dart thrown by her husband Eol.

That's a really cool storyline, Mythicos!

If he's going to be running Tales from Wilderland, he'll need his first adventure to take place before The Gathering of Five Armies. I believe that occurs in the 6th adventure in the book.

Poostick7,
Since you've stated this is an introductory adventure of short length to get the new players familiar with the game and it's mechanics - but neither complex or lengthy so as not to bore the established players - it limits things severely. So these are more tasks than adventures, but can include just enough activity to give new players the gist of things. You would have to add some skill checks, perhaps a mini-journey (1 travel check/hr with very minor opponents [things that normally would be narrative]). I realize this isn't accurate, but the idea here is to give them a quick run-through of the game mechanics and general feel for the game. I figure that character generation is done mostly online (Azrapse) with final approval and then this adventure task during the first session. Hopefully the whole thing would be done by the end of the session. You could also do this as a one-off session for the new players before the fully group meets.

So here are some adventure seeds:

1. A Bitter Cold Day: Lake-town citizens are worried because it is getting cold (start of winter, mid-Spring?) but the charcoal maker has not come into town for some time. The charcoal maker could be operating along the edge of the forest or the marsh. Living alone, the man has been seriously injured (broken leg?) and cannot make it into town to sell his goods. Perhaps the characters are sent to find the charcoal maker and then are asked to bring him and his goods by wagon into the city?
2. A Beautiful Bouquet: A man has an arguement with his lover and the party is there to witness some part of the fiasco. The woman can issue an ultimatum that he "prove his love" or the man may decide on his own. Either way the man enlists the aid of the party to help him gather the flowers along the edge of both the marsh and the forest. The personalities and exact reasoning for the fight is up to you.
3. Errand Boy: Particularly good for a Hobbit! Have one of the snobbish upper-class citizens assume that one of the Hobbits is a human child and send him off on an errand of some kind. Maybe she is paying off a money-lender who has heard one too many excuses and wants to accost the messenger. Or its cold or bad weather outside and she tells the Hobbit to run the errand (whatever it is) while she stays warm and dry at an inn.
4. The Dwarf Lord: Any reasonably affluent dwarf might be pestered by the local children for information, coins and toys from the "Dwarf Lord" in their midst. Keep in mind that unless the dwarven character has made a point of saying he's poor, the children will assume he's rich beyond belief.
5. Dinner Delivery: As the party enters a tavern or inn, have one of the waitstaff, who is obviously extremely busy, thrust food into a party member's hands. All the while talking incessantly (very "one thing drives out another") asking if they're the delivery person, take this, and this, and this, and hurry and deliver it - the food won't stay warm for long, what are you doing standing there flapping your lips, get going. Basically never give the characters a chance to respond to any comments and never let the waitstaff finish answering any questions they might ask. Then shove the mistaken delivery person out the door. (This could be interesting if the party is hungry or includes any Hobbits.)
6. Moving Men: As they pass some docks, a harried merchant or trader offers to pay them as day laborers if they will help (un?)load his ship. Maybe both. Maybe the merchant has different goods shipped depending on the port. So he arrives with one good and leaves with another. Maybe a competing merchant, waiting to get to market, will try to slip his boat in while the original merchant is distracted. A shouting match ensues and confusion amongst the goods.

You've had some great posts on here Garn, but this is one of my fav to date.

You write some intriguing stories & have a knack for merging what might otherwise be considered the mundane (the charcoal burner or errand boy scenarios for example) with some cutting edge ideas

Thank you.

I thought of a few more...

1. Word on the Street: While entering the city, the party performs some action (anything really) that is mis-construed by inhabitants passing by. Suddenly the party finds itself involved in an arguement over an issue they don't understand because it really does not involve them. But now they have to get involved in order to clear the false impression the city inhabitants have of them.
2. Broken Bread: Walking through the city on their own errands, the party come upon a strange scene. A bake-shop door opens and the baker escorts an apprentice baker out, haranguing him to be careful, but quick, to deliver the bread to the customer (a person or business as fits your needs). As you're a few steps back from this scene and have a wider perspective, you can see that there are a couple of shady looking people peeking around the corner. As the apprentice heads out to complete his transaction, the shady people move in. What happens next depends on who the shady people are: destitute citizens, immigrants to the city, thugs, or my favorite - family members bullying (or stealing from) the apprentice. To make it a bit more interesting, perhaps the apprentice isn't clutzy, but trying to save his cousins from the law by staying silent and claiming responsibility for there bullying/stealing.
3. Dragon Bones: Someone claiming to have magical abilities claims that they have crafted, and are attempting to sell, a pair of dice crafted from Smaug's bones. The dragon's innate greed still exists inherently within the dice themselves. With a small charm to direct that greed, this mage says the dice will consistantly win (mechanic: roll dice normally, three times, using the best of three throws!). Particularly if used against dwarves. Of course, they win so frequently that claims of fraud are common and without the enchanted dice the player cannot win as often. These dice can be used in any of a number of ways. Turning the mage in for disturbing the remains. Buying the bones and putting them to personal use. Reselling the dice, perhaps to a greedy dwarf?
4. Something Fishy...: The <insert fish name here> are running! The Long Marshes provide an excellent breeding ground for the <fish>, but at this time of the year (whatever season works for your timeline) the fish are rushing out of the marshes and into Long Lake in order to mate. Everyone in the city (well, mostly, there are always a few hold outs) goes out to help with the catch as it portends the start of a holiday/festival once the fish have been caught, dressed and stored. However, this year, something is wrong. Maybe the Necromancer has introduced a normal aquatic predator from the Sea of Rhun into Long Lake (river dolphin, croc/gator, snapping turtle) and they are eating the <fish>? Perhaps in preparation for the war, Easterlings have quietly settled on the eastern shore and are harvesting the fish to deny the Free Peoples and help themselves? Maybe something has been dumped into the Lake which the fish don't like so they're staying in the Marshes? (This one could even be a semi-natural effect like run-off from the smelting at Erebor, or the growth of a particular mold.)

Thank you Garn, just the kind of stuff I was hoping for. Now to merge them into an interesting couple of hours gaming.

I still don't know what kind of characters the new people are going to go with, but I'm going to steer them towards the eastern cultures (as that's where the other characters are at the moment.

You've certainly helped get my brain firing again, thanks.

Great stuff Garn! I loved the Dragon-bone dice idea and will use it in the next session for a new player's introduction to the game before continuing our usual Tales adventures! If a player keeps the dice I will make it so that each time they roll the dice they must pass a shadow test. But I didn't quite understand what did you mean by rolling three times and keeping best three?

Sorry about the delayed response.

Poosticks7,
I'm glad you found an idea or two of use to you. Post an update with what & how you used the idea(s). I would find it interesting to know.


farinal,
Assuming the mage really has magical powers, he has enchanted the dice to focus the inherent greed in the bones to constantly try to acquire gold (ie, win). Basically, these are loaded dice. They produce the best outcome for the game played - high, low, specific number, pattern, whatever. The user does not need to do anything special; just pick up the dice and throw. Alternately, if the dice are shared, use an activation word/phrase or gesture/movement. (Oh! Think of the fun you can have if some other PC/NPC manages to mimic the activation movement!)

To mimic this greed within game terms, as a sort of mini-game the PCs/NPCs are playing, the user rolls and takes the "best of 3" outcomes (best of 2 might not be greedy enough). So this is an active, but improvised, scene somewhat based on the result of the dice rolls, rather than being completely narrative. Based on the frequency of wins, cheating should be strongly suggested. Leaving the mechanism and proof to be determined by the other players in the dice game. Regardless, their will be hard feelings and repercussions for anyone making use of the dice.

For example: Two hobbits having breakfast every morning, each have 2 of 5 (max pan capacity) sausages. But that last sausage... So they roll for it and every morning Smeagol eats 3 sausages, Deagol only 2. Sooner or later, Deagol is going to take umbrage at Smeagol's constant luck. Some morning, perhaps one quite soon, Deagol is going to eat all five sausages.