Do you think there's any adventures from the last 18 years that are as good as the best D&D adventures from the original old-school era?
This could include 3e or 5e adventures if you think any measure up.
Good as? Hmmm...I'd probably need to go through a lot of stuff to actually make a real determination. "Pretty good", I really like Rappan Athuk and The Caverns of Archaia. Probably the best single publisher of adventures is New Big Dragon; all his stuff is old school in flavor, and approaches the quality as well.
Comedy option Dwimmermount
Mike Curtis' STONEHELL DUNGEONS are pretty good. I'd have to think a while to make a list of products to consider. Maybe SUNLESS CITADEL?
Greetings!
I can't remember their exact names at the moment, but I would say there's at least two dozen adventures that were written up over the years in Dungeon Magazine that were just outstanding. Easy and flexible adventure flow; well-described and interesting villains; numerous interesting side characters, NPC's and allies, and nicely done scenario environments. Some also had very interesting magic items included, and overall, which is something I especially enjoyed, such excellent adventures just *leaped* out at you to find some way to include the locations somewhere in your campaign; furthermore, most of the adventure's I'm thinking of also *blasted* you with numerous ideas for side-quests, and expanded adventures, quite beyond what was specifically presented in the adventure. While often short, or somewhere in the 20 to 80 page range, as I recall, they were simply brilliant and lots of fun.
Truth be told, I recall being far more pleased and impressed with the creative content of some of these excellent adventures than is oftentimes found within larger, "published" adventure modules.
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
I think Reavers of Harkenwold could have approached classic status if not for the 4e re-boot stigma. It is a good enough frame that I consider converting it.
There are a few DCC modules: people of the pit, emerald enchanter.....
I will go with Stonehell Dungeon. The amount of quality material packed into the two books is amazing.
Official WOTC? Not that I've seen.
From 3rd parties? There are at least 10-15 a year that are AT LEAST as good as the pre-83 stuff, and generally better.
Nostalgia clouds the mind.
I think a lot of the DCC modules are right up there.
Quote from: bryce0lynch;1067296Official WOTC? Not that I've seen.
From 3rd parties? There are at least 10-15 a year that are AT LEAST as good as the pre-83 stuff, and generally better.
Nostalgia clouds the mind.
There have been a handful of WotC adventures that are pretty good, mostly written by Rich Baker. Red Hand of Doom, Forge of Fury, and Lost Mines of Phandelver all come to mind.
Quote from: SP23;1067400There have been a handful of WotC adventures that are pretty good, mostly written by Rich Baker. Red Hand of Doom, Forge of Fury, and Lost Mines of Phandelver all come to mind.
I thought Red hand of Doom was incredible, a revolutionary module, when it first came out. I had a great time running it. I think it was the fore-runner to all of those pathfinder "adventure paths," as well as the 5th edition hardback adventure campaigns. It's not my favorite play style now, but at the time it was like a complete campaign without the headache of creativity or thinking. It's actually quite a railroad, but I think it is a good solution for busy, time-crunched gamers.
Pre-5e cant think of anything. In fact I do not think I have ever seen a 3-4e module.
Out of the 5e ones so far what I have liked are Hoard of the Dragon Queen, warts typos, ommissions, and all. It is a pretty good module and does well to wean players off the hack-n-slash MMO mentality. It gives the PCs a surprising amount of freedom in how they get from point A to point B. Or even the ability to bypass B to go straight to C. Rise of Tiamat was less fun to DM. But with some tweaking was not bad really. This one brings in some political intrigue. Little too locked down in one or two places but a DM can open those up easily.
I have DMed it three times now and played in it twice.
Curse of Strahd I have not yet had a chance to DM. Looks good so far and I want to DM this one soon.
Tomb of Annihilation is the one I am looking forward to DMing.
Does red & pleasant land count?
I also liked some of the Achtung Cthulhu stuff, I managed to hack it into D&D shape
Jesus, man ... this thread ...
I guess it's just the natural lifecycle of an internet discussion forum.
Quote from: spon;1067420Does red & pleasant land count?
No because it's garbage.
Quote from: Brad;1067471No because it's garbage.
Without commenting on R&PL, virtually everything mentioned in this thread is garbage.
I haven't run an official adventure since the original I6-Ravenloft. And it was (and remains still) excellent.
Red Hand of Doom
Rappan Athuk
Tomb of Abysthor
Ancient Kingdoms: Mesopotamia
Madness at Gardmore Abbey
I honestly haven't found any 5E adventures yet that rise above mediocre.
Quote from: bryce0lynch;1067470Jesus, man ... this thread ...
I guess it's just the natural lifecycle of an internet discussion forum.
Then elevate it. Give us some of your favourites.
Quote from: bryce0lynch;1067474Without commenting on R&PL, virtually everything mentioned in this thread is garbage.
Funny, I mentioned Rappan Athuk which is on your own site as a favorite: http://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?page_id=844
So, are you being intentionally persnickety?
Quote from: Brad;1067490Funny, I mentioned Rappan Athuk which is on your own site as a favorite: http://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?page_id=844
So, are you being intentionally persnickety?
It's the greatest draw of therpgsite, the ability to be an asshole without repercussions ;)
Quote from: SP23;1067503It's the greatest draw of therpgsite, the ability to be an asshole without repercussions ;)
Greetings!
LOL! Yeah, Brad went ahead and *destroyed* him...the link Brad supplied to his own website shows a big list of game modules he thinks are fantastic...including Rappan Athuk. :)
Ah...yeah...lets just be abrasive on purpose...for the fuck of it...geesus. :)
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
Greetings!
Did anyone like The City of Brass, by Necromancer Games?
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
Quote from: SHARK;1067506Greetings!
Did anyone like The City of Brass, by Necromancer Games?
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
I've only skimmed it years ago, so I can't really say.
Quote from: SP23;1067508I've only skimmed it years ago, so I can't really say.
Greetings!
Whoa! You still have that module-book? As I recall, it was a boxed set. It was huge, though. It looked beautiful when I saw it, though I think it missed out on really having an impact because it came out...I think just a few months before the arrival of 4E.
My friend, you should go through that whole thing, and do a detailed review of it here!:)
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
Which of the seventy-three different versions of Rappan Athuk are we all talking about here?
I kid, but there are what, five versions? R1/2/3, Reloaded, Pathfinder, S&W, 5E? I have R1/2/3 and Reloaded.
The shit monster was a very memorable encounter.
Quote from: SHARK;1067506Greetings!
Did anyone like The City of Brass, by Necromancer Games?
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
If you want a city of brass, I think this one is the best I've seen yet:
https://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?keyWords=city+of+brass+huso&type=
Quote from: SHARK;1067525Greetings!
Whoa! You still have that module-book? As I recall, it was a boxed set. It was huge, though. It looked beautiful when I saw it, though I think it missed out on really having an impact because it came out...I think just a few months before the arrival of 4E.
My friend, you should go through that whole thing, and do a detailed review of it here!:)
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
Nah, I purged 99.9% of my collection when I moved, gave away something close to 500 RPG books to friends. It's not worth dragging hundreds of lbs. of books half way across the country, when it's so easy to get digital copies.
Quote from: Haffrung;1067479Ancient Kingdoms: Mesopotamia
What about Ancient Kingdoms: Mesopotamia in particular? Mine is the one-star review at DTRPG. I had *such* hopes for it, and still want to run a fertile crescent or levantine late-bronze/early-iron fantasy campaign some day, but I don't think the book moves with me again. There are good ideas in the adventure, but I felt like I'd have to reimplement it completely from scratch.
QuoteQuite the disappointment. I'd heard good things about this as a setting, but it's only 1/4th poorly-edited setting material, with its game rules not power-balanced anywhere near where a sensible or typical 3.5 campaign would be (in my view). One canonically bad edit: the map doesn't contain half the cities described, and half the cities on the map aren't described. Two regions are given random encounter tables - but why? Again, one of them isn't even labeled on the map, although its general vicinity is alluded to in the text. Why those regions and not any of the many others? The book is heinously inconsistent; in just three paragraphs about the legal systems of Mesopotamia it manages to completely contradict itself. Editing matters!
The remaining 3/4ths is an adventure which at least tries to lay out a sandbox. It fails for classical 3e statblock bloat reasons. For example, the nominal homebase gets one page of description. The faction most commonly met there, who presumably will be the source of most social interactions, still has more space allocated to statblocks and combat statistics than description and hooks. The next faction, the Brotherhood of Kalab, gets three pages: half a page of art, a third of a page of description, a quarter-page of adventure hooks, and 2 pages of detailed combat statistics.
Any setting influenced by the real world that doesn't provide a bibliography or suggested readings loses a star in my book, dropping this from POOR to outright BAD. They allude to so many things in their setting, but leave me to start from scratch when I want to better understand the history to bring them into my campaign.
Quote from: Naburimannu;1067599What about Ancient Kingdoms: Mesopotamia in particular? Mine is the one-star review at DTRPG. I had *such* hopes for it, and still want to run a fertile crescent or levantine late-bronze/early-iron fantasy campaign some day, but I don't think the book moves with me again. There are good ideas in the adventure, but I felt like I'd have to reimplement it completely from scratch.
I didn't use it as a historical sourcebook. In fact, I think Necromancer really bungled AK:M by marketing it as such.
It's the best sword and sorcery sandbox campaign that I've seen. The ruined cities, temples, cults, etc. are outstanding. Exotic, creepy, dark, and weird. Presented with enough detail to run a campaign from levels 4-10 with very little work. You have the geography, the detailed dungeons, all the foes and factions you need. And there's even a summary on how to run it as an adventure path if you're not into open-ended sandboxes.
If it had been called something like Necromancers of the Red Wastes, or Desert of the Ghoul Queen, it would be a lot better known and higher regarded than it is. And you wouldn't have the unfortunate misalignment of expectations that you experienced.
I really enjoy the Marlinko quadrology from the Hydra Cooperative (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/7124/Hydra-Cooperative). WOTC's own offerings are somewhat average, and - IMO - often need one of the additional note compendiums from Dungeon Masters Guild to fully realize its/their full potential.
I think the "classic" D&D adventures are iconic because they are firsts, they are the originals, the innovators. I mean, there are lots of great guitar players in the world, but there will only ever be one Jimi Hendrix and no-one will ever quite live up to that mantle. There are lots of great modern adventures, but they will always be in the shadows of Keep on the Borderlands and Tomb of Horrors, always.
Quote from: Haffrung;1067648I didn't use it as a historical sourcebook. In fact, I think Necromancer really bungled AK:M by marketing it as such.
It's the best sword and sorcery sandbox campaign that I've seen. The ruined cities, temples, cults, etc. are outstanding. Exotic, creepy, dark, and weird. Presented with enough detail to run a campaign from levels 4-10 with very little work. You have the geography, the detailed dungeons, all the foes and factions you need. And there's even a summary on how to run it as an adventure path if you're not into open-ended sandboxes.
If it had been called something like Necromancers of the Red Wastes, or Desert of the Ghoul Queen, it would be a lot better known and higher regarded than it is. And you wouldn't have the unfortunate misalignment of expectations that you experienced.
Greetings!
Hello Haffrung! I have the Mesopotamia book. *sigh* I would say that the book is ok. I'm a historian, trained in ancient & medieval history, with a focus on ancient Greece and Rome, so in my studies, I of course became well-acquainted with the culture and history of the Middle East as well. I realize most people may not be all that interested in ancient cultural and regional history, so my own particular interests may bias me. I don't expect a super-academic level of expertise in a game module, but damn, while elements of Mesopotamia sparkled with promise, it seemed like a half-researched glob thrown together. I felt like it was definitely more of a "teaser" module. It leaped and painted a brief picture for you, and then just ended. As I recall, it was only 96 pages? I remember it being in my view too brief. To do the module justice they really needed to put more work into it, to supply more "meat" you know? I liked it, and I wanted to really like it, but it seemed far too minimalist. I spent a week or two going over a dozen or so books in my library, and honestly gained far more research, ideas, wars, and cool ideas. For a commercial module covering a somewhat obscure region and history, I have to say that they could have done much better. I think an extra solid three months of research, writing, and editing, would have produced an outstanding product, instead of a mediocre module that hinted at so much more coolness.
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
Quote from: Madprofessor;1067653I think the "classic" D&D adventures are iconic because they are firsts, they are the originals, the innovators. I mean, there are lots of great guitar players in the world, but there will only ever be one Jimi Hendrix and no-one will ever quite live up to that mantle. There are lots of great modern adventures, but they will always be in the shadows of Keep on the Borderlands and Tomb of Horrors, always.
More to do with "what percentage of current D&D players have played Keep on the Borderlands" vs. "what percentage of current D&D players have played your favorite module that came out in the last 10 years." There are so many OSR adventures these days that very very few of them get the critical mass of eyeballs to be something people can have a conversation about with random strangers.
Quote from: Daztur;1067699More to do with "what percentage of current D&D players have played Keep on the Borderlands" vs. "what percentage of current D&D players have played your favorite module that came out in the last 10 years." There are so many OSR adventures these days that very very few of them get the critical mass of eyeballs to be something people can have a conversation about with random strangers.
Pretty much this. We shouldn't underestimate the appeal of shared experience. It's why Paizo have been so successful with their adventure paths, and I suspect why WotC is publishing so few adventures - they want to foster those shared experiences in the hobby.
Quote from: Daztur;1067699More to do with "what percentage of current D&D players have played Keep on the Borderlands" vs. "what percentage of current D&D players have played your favorite module that came out in the last 10 years." There are so many OSR adventures these days that very very few of them get the critical mass of eyeballs to be something people can have a conversation about with random strangers.
Excellent point! There are, for example, many DCC modules that I think are as good if not better than the TSR classics, but I can't go to my local store and have a conversation about them. They haven't become part of the culture and lexicon of the community. Also there are so many "new" adventures that great quality is submersed or washed out by the sheer volume of publications. A thread like this is a good idea to help lift some of the better adventures above the mix, but even in a specialized forum such as this it seems hard to get more than one or two people talking about the same title.
Quote from: Haffrung;1067742Pretty much this. We shouldn't underestimate the appeal of shared experience. It's why Paizo have been so successful with their adventure paths, and I suspect why WotC is publishing so few adventures - they want to foster those shared experiences in the hobby.
Good point, although I think WotC would do well to publish a couple of short high quality adventures, something that is more accessible then a grand campaign hardback book.