New ghosts of saltmarsh campaign

[Kangaroorex]

I am putting the final touches on a saltmarsh campaign set in the Razor 

Coast setting and it occurred to me that there were probably a number of people here who had run or played one or the other.  Since this is my first time with the 5e system (though I have at least played all the others and it strikes me as very similar to AD&D with some improvements) I would like to see if there are mistakes I can avoid...

 

The group looka like it will be 7 if everyone shows up, three of them in their mid teens and I want to make sure they have fun while getting a taste of adventures that are not all hack and slash.  

 

My reason for them to be there together at the adventure start is that they have recently completed their training/ finished their apprenticeship/ or finished with the service and this is the graduating task they have been given basically: comlete the secrets of sinister saltmarsh if you want the right to practice your trade in the name of your guild.  I am hoping to avoid the first 2-3 sessions of 'I hate you all' and 'I'm better then you' garbage that seems to happen so often with the classic met in a tavern opening.

 

The planned adventure path will use the saltmarsh modules but I also want to work in

The sunless Citidel

The temple of Posidon (an old ADnD module that I personally love even though it's a killer from stage 1)

2 or 3 other dungeon crawls from old dragon magazines 

I also want them to have access to the Razor coast adventures as optional adventures (I've started a table of swap outs that allow me to replace sections of saltmarsh if they take that option.

 

Finally, I have ship minis and I want to use them!  So I am planning some naval encounters that they can run into

 

With all of this I am I am planning a slow progression allowing greater numbers in people to make the adventures a little easier but requiring more of them rather than increasing the cr of the encounters in the dungeon.  As some of these adventures are killers I'm really not worried about the characters feeling unthreatened but some of the players are new and I don't want to clobber them Tomb of Horrors style (when I played temple of Posidon the first time we went in with 8 8th level characters and cam out with 3...) but I may need to explain the slow progression.

 

Two things I want to implement are:

 

a change to feats and multiclassing;  I want to allow it but only if they find someone in game to teach it to them.

Race limitations.all the basic races are fine but race discrimination is a chunk of the plot and things will go very bad very quickly if one of the players is an aquatic race...

 

So with that said does anyone have recommendations for:

 

Dungeoncrawlers - I would love to throw in a few classic crawlers with classic monsters.  I also have all my dwarven forge goodies I want to use!

 

Ship combat dos and donts particularly around cannon and boarding actions and piracy 

 

Pointers for dealing with teens, they're good kids but can be rambunctious and distractable

 

An I trying too much on them?  Ist possible for them to be embroiled in multiple plotlines and it could confuse them.

 

So with that, anyone want to lend an ear and make suggestions?

 

Roo

[haldir]

We have a teen (15) in our groups. He can be a bit rambunctious at times but we have one player, a older person (52) that keeps him in line by just giving him a stern but fair warning. I'm glad to have Jerry in my group as he tends to keep the group focused & such.

 

It really depends on the group. What I'd do is play a few sessions & see if they can handle multi-plot lines, if not then back off it for a bit. We are limited due to the AL schedule & store schedule but overall my group are good at being immersed in the game & such.

 

Good luck & have fun!

[Kangaroorex]

Thanks!  Fortunately the younger set come with a 35 year old handler (they're uncle) so I don't have to do any direct discipline if they get out of hand but I appreciate the experience notes on having a controller in the group.

[LittleBluberry]

One nice thing about gaming with kids is that hopefully school has taught them how to sit at a table in a group and listen to an adult.    You might want to spend a few minutes at the start explaining what table manners are expected and how they make the game more fun for everyone.  Clear expectations up front always help, regardless of age.  

 

Personally I've found that having the initiative order written out where players can see it really helps with keeping people engaged. Other than that I agree with Haldir--it really depends on the group.  

[Kangaroorex]

I invited them to my annual Christmas dinner so we can get to know each other a little better and get some ground rules set first.  Fortunately this also isn't their first game they have been playing for about 6 months but this is the first time they are being exposed to a long campaign with continuity requirements and death consequences so it should be interesting.  I'm actually happy to have new players.  There is nothing like the expression of someone meeting a bulette for the first time...

[Kangaroorex]

The game starts up on Saturday.  Should be entertaining.  I even have a soundtrack for it thanks to Syrnscape.  sending the group in from the mainland as a set of newly commissioned apprentices.  If they want their license to practice in the old world they will have to complete the mission.  I am hoping this will prevent some of members who think its funny to hate the rest of the group in character and not want to work together.  Teaching can be a chore and i am hoping to teach some of them that it can be fun to actually cooperate and work together.