Movies like The Godfather, The Lord of the Rings, Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Gladiator, Goodfellas… the list is inexhaustible. Movies that are “must-see” movies, classics that are nearly required viewing. Many published adventures, like Curse of Strahd, Storm King’s Thunder, Dragonlance, The Keep on the Borderlands, Against the Cult of the Reptile God, Tomb of Annihilation… they’re classic adventures that you want to experience, just like a classic movie.

So what do you do if your players want to experience one of these “classic movies” and you’ve been running all homebrewed worlds? In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down to answer a listener question about what their top tips are for approaching running a published adventure for the first time.

3:45 Tip #1: Know the general plot of the adventure – the “elevator pitch.”

4:50 Tip #2: Think of the adventure more like a sourcebook, rather than the gospel.

8:10 Tip #3: How to manage a giant adventure? One session at a time.

10:40 Tip #4: Focus on the plots in the adventure that will be fun for your players.

13:00 Tip #5: Lean on your fellow internet DMs… every published adventure has tons of hacks.

15:00 Tip #6: Approach these longform adventures as multiple adventures in your overarching campaign.

22:30 Tip #7: Make sure your initial hook is solid. Often, the published adventure hooks are “ehhh.”

26:06 PSA: Stop listening to “Tough Guy” DMs who use Railroad as an insult. Do what makes you and your table have fun.

36:40 Final Thoughts.