When I started seeding the idea of them actively playing a game, I realized that this would be a perfect way for me to build a game setting, one dungeon at a time. All I needed was the perfect adventure to get them started, nothing to fancy or involved, but one that I could easily plug into a longer storyline if they got hooked. So the search began.
Early on I realized now was not the time to start writing my own modules, and all my old standby classics were a little to heavy for this kickoff, so I jumped on my trusty Mac Book Pro and headed into the wild blue yonder (internet, yay!). I had been prowling around the Dragonsfoot site for a few months up to then, so I perused the module section and lo and behold the almost perfect solution was set there before me.
The Haunted Tower seemed to be the way to go for an eight year old and her mom to get dumped into some cool slaying action. It was written for a single female character perspective, so I did some rewrites to include a backstory to fit my campaign and beefed up some of the encounters to suit three to four first level characters.The plan was this, start my two PCs off accepting a cleanup job at an old tower/estate a few miles out of town. The local militia was busy handling some pesky orc raiders to the south, so adventurer types were of short supply in their small rural town. There would be a decent reward once the tower and surrounding land was thoroughly inspected. This should be a piece of cake for a thief and elf to handle (cue malicious DM laughter...).
After accepting their assignment, the pair of newly minted adventurers visited the local tavern to celebrate. Unfortunately, their celebration was cut short by a raving lunatic trying to warn them of the perils of visiting the tower and what lies in store for them. This was when the DM gets to do his roleplaying. Man, I love this part...
