At my local FLGS this afternoon and the owner mentioned that he was always looking for more DM's. I expressed an interest in running 5e and he guaranteed he could drum a table full in short order.

Now I'm reasonably familiar with 5e, but I've never run it. I have the Forgotten Realms guidebook, Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, and Legacy of the Crystal Shard. Of these which would you guys recommend as a first campaign in the system with a group of randoms?

I'm honestly open to any of them, though I dig the look of Out of the Abyss. I've also heard some pretty serious organizational complaints about all of these books.

I've thought about just using the Forgotten Realms book and hombrewing up a sandbox based in the realms but since I've bought all these campaign books I figure I ought to at least attempt to use them.

Princes of the Apocalypse is a more open sandboxy sort of module. Though later in the game it has some issues with how things are resolved. Easy enough to tweak as deemed.

Out of the Abyss is a good mix of both open and more focused areas. It can be a little, or alot odd to DM, especially near the end.

Go with what interests you more as you will be stuck with that for at least a session.

Lost Mines of Phandelver is excellent and can serve as a lead into Princes of the Apocalypse.

Legacy if the Crystal Shard is superb too but you need to convert from Next.

You might also ask the game store owner if he wants to participate in the Adventurer's League. It gives the store a bit of prestige as he can advertise an AL event, but it also puts some restrictions on you as the GM such as which modules you could run. It also grants the store access to a number of one-shot adventures which can be a lot of fun to run. The store owner may have made certain assumptions when he talked to you, and ones that you might not have realized he was making.

I found the Hoard of the Dragon Queen to be an excellent adventure arc if you decide to buy another module. Otherwise, I like Skywalker's idea of a Lost Mines of Phandelver and Princes of the Apocalypse sequence.

Quote from: Skywalker;888244Legacy if the Crystal Shard is superb too but you need to convert from Next.

I thought 'Next' was what 5e was called before it was published. Are there significant differences?

Mines of Phandelver is very good.  It should last for a number of sessions (at least 6, I would think).

Quote from: Akrasia;888607I thought 'Next' was what 5e was called before it was published. Are there significant differences?

The core mechanics are similar but the numbers and abilities significantly changed in the playtest. There is quite a bit of effort required to use Next material in 5e.

Quote from: Akrasia;888607I thought 'Next' was what 5e was called before it was published. Are there significant differences?

Next has differences from 5e. If I recall correctly Legacy of the Crystal Shard was for 3e. The Next playtest packets I got came with conversion notes to Next.

But those may well diffter from 5e on some respects.

Example: the Air Elemental.
In Next it has AC 13, and 45 HP. +4(5 in the packet) hit and average 9 damage with Whirlsind.
In 5e it has AC 15 and 90 HP. +8 to hit and average 14 damage with Whirlwind.

And that is just one quick example.

Quote from: Omega;888669Next has differences from 5e. If I recall correctly Legacy of the Crystal Shard was for 3e. The Next playtest packets I got came with conversion notes to Next.

It came with 3.5, 4e and Next stats and was for all three systems.

http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/legacy-crystal-shard

Legacy of the Crystal Shard should work fine with level 1-3 5e PCs using the Next stats. If you use official 5e stats the PCs may struggle.

On the other hand, my players are used to the OD&D notion that encounters don't need to be "balanced" and so if the monsters are tougher maybe that's not a bad thing. Players just have to be aware of the fact that running away may be a good option if things seem to be going badly...

I'm a fan of Out of The Abyss' chapter 2, actually. You can run pretty much an entire campaign with just rolling and expanding on what's available there.

Quote from: finarvyn;888785On the other hand, my players are used to the OD&D notion that encounters don't need to be "balanced" and so if the monsters are tougher maybe that's not a bad thing. Players just have to be aware of the fact that running away may be a good option if things seem to be going badly...

I think that's fine for level 2+. 5e Level 1 is really brutal - moreso than 1e/2e/3e - because PCs are so fragile and even weak monsters hit reliably - so if you're keeping them at 1st awhile then weakened monsters may be best.

Grab whatever Forgotten Realms "The North" supplement you can find. (1e is the best).  Get what's going on in the North in the back of your head.

Start with Mines of Phandelver.  If the mines get opened, now you have multiple factions who are going to want in, orcs on the other side of the mountains, a green dragon in the forest, and a competing town right up the road.  You're good to go.

Treat the official campaign books like HIV/Ebola infested Otyugh crack whores.  Your campaign will thank you.