Module recommendations

[cbarchuk]

What's a good place to start for a 4 man party of level 3-4? Several adventures will say a party of 4-6 characters of level 2-5. Does that mean the whole party can be level 5 and the party would still have a good time as well as a challenge? Is rolling only with 4 peeps I assume increase the difficulty? Haven't gotten a true feel of the difficulty range of BFRPG yet I guess. Anyways I appreciate the feedback.

[orobouros]

Difficulty is a question for the GM. The modules make suggestions as guidelines. You can look at an enemy party and assume everybody just goes for hack-and-slash, and see who wins in the end. If that math gives you a TPK most of the time, chances are the characters are too low a level. If it means the party completely wrecks every enemy they encounter, the characters are too high a level.

A GM will want to know before spending an hour pouring over a module if it's at all suitable for his party. Sending an overpowered party into an adventure results in a lot of "okay, I'll just roll to kill, it works most of the time." Though it should be said that the spirit of OSR is to set things up without too much consideration if it's fair. The players better figure that out themselves.

As for party size, that's a bit adjustable. If you have a party of four but the module recommends six, you can reduce the number of enemies or allow the party to bring NPC retainers with (who get their own XP, mind you). If you have two players, consider letting them have two PCs each.

Four PCs at level 3 or 4 can probably go into Morgansfort's Olde Island Fortress. It may be a bit easy on them but you can always up the random encounter table or take out a few healing items. Dyson's Delve may be just right; they can probably plow right through the first few levels, only to find some serious challenges once they get a bit deeper down... and used up a lot of their resources.

[chiisu81]

When in doubt use fewer monsters and even lower HP than what's shown if you think it'll be too much for your PCs. As you run more games you'll get a better feel for what works, and every adventure should/needs to be adjusted for each table. Besides number of enemies and their HP, don't forget accounting for monster morale, and if PCs need hirelings to help out.

[Hywaywolf]

BFRPG, and old school in general, is brutally lethal to a foolhardy party. As Chiisu81 said, if in doubt, and you aren't trying to teach lessons in caution, lessen the lethality of the encounters until you get a feel for what you want.

[GM Parseth]

I've found playing it by ear works wonders. If the party just had trouble fighting 5 goblins, 6 kobolds isn't going to probably be any easier. However, I find that many players begin to learn while playing (and burning through characters) that combat shouldn't be an option 100% of the time.

As for a module for your party of four at levels 3 to 4, I suggest either Fortress, Tomb and Tower or one of the adventures from Castle by the Sea.