Module Recommendations

ExploderWizard · Nov 4, 2008

Nikosandros said:
At what level would you expect characters to come out of the combined WG4-S4? I'm wondering if continuing with the giant series might be feasible.

I would say it depends on if they were minimum or higher level when starting them and also how much "off the beaten path" adventuring they do. These modules have a good share of wilderness encounters that are not closely tied to the dungeon.

A large factor involved is how close to the RAW do you determine XP? For example do you award XP only for treasure successfully returned to a base of operations or for treasure discovered or won?

thedungeondelver · Nov 5, 2008

Nikosandros said:
At what level would you expect characters to come out of the combined WG4-S4? I'm wondering if continuing with the giant series might be feasible.

I think it's entirely feasible to go to G1 after completing S4. Indeed you may find it necessary to turn G1 up to 11 to make it a challenge...!

Ultimately though, it depends on how you do XP, where replacement characters start in terms of level, what level they are going in, how many characters in total you have, and so forth. Lots of variables.

Again, in general I'd think they'd be ready for G1 after WG4 and S4. A final thought: "recommended level" should be mentally expanded by the DM to embrace not only the number on the paper, but the skill of the players involved as well. Skilled (very skilled) players of 6th level or so could make it through S1 for example. Unskilled players could be given a 12th level character each and not make it through the entry hall!

Badly played characters will almost always do poorly, regardless of the level.

Chainsaw · Nov 5, 2008

brunswick said:
At the risk of repeating what others have said earlier in the thread, I'd heartily recommend the "A" (Slavers) series of modules. I ran those adventures for two separate groups and the groups in question both said that they were the best series of adventures they played. I converted some of the place names in the adventures to Forgotten Realms locations - plenty of scope for role-play, exploration and combat!

Awesome man, I will check that out. I bought the 1983 Greyhawk box on Ebay (well, winning bid now at least), ToEE, KoTBL and an old AD&D 1E DM's Screen. Searching for a good Slavers' is next on my list.

Silver Moon · Nov 5, 2008

The two that we have gotten the most mileage out of are:

B2: The Keep on the Borderlands &
I1: Dwellers of the Forbidden City

That said, there is one recent module that was a hell of a lot of fun for my 1st Edition group, namely "Beast of Burden" from Dungeon #100. It was written for 3rd Edition but was very easily adaptable for 1E play.

roguerouge · Nov 5, 2008

Plane Sailing said:
Some of the best modules that I've owned run are in the I series

I3 Pharaoh levels 5–7

I4 Oasis of the White Palm levels 6–8

I5 Lost Tomb of Martek levels 7–9

and in the UK series

UK2 The Sentinel levels 2–5
Adlerweg Part 1, set in Greyhawk

UK3 The Gauntlet levels 3–6
Adlerweg Part 2, set in Greyhawk

UK4 When a Star Falls levels 3–5

UK7 Dark Clouds Gather levels 7–9

Cheers

Why? What's the appeal of these?

Mythmere1 · Nov 5, 2008

Leif said:
You definitely have a point. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the idea of going through a dungeon written by the original founder of D&D. Or maybe it's the prospect of trying to OUTWIT the original founder of D&D by actually surviving the dungeon! Or maybe it's all the cool traps and the thousands of cool ways to have your character die?

I'm currently playing in Scotley's 3.5 ToH, and we've almost made it inside the dungeon and we've ONLY had to have two characters resurrected already! hehehe

I'm a dyed-in-the-wool oldschooler, and I wouldn't run TOH using anything but pre-gen characters. It's got to be approached with the attitude of: "this is the ultimate death-trap module, it's incredibly well designed as such, and it's really fun to play ... as long as you don't give a darn about the character dying."

Leif · Nov 5, 2008

Mythmere1 said:
I'm a dyed-in-the-wool oldschooler, and I wouldn't run TOH using anything but pre-gen characters. It's got to be approached with the attitude of: "this is the ultimate death-trap module, it's incredibly well designed as such, and it's really fun to play ... as long as you don't give a darn about the character dying."

This is the only attitude to have about ToH. Unless you just WANT to be angry/upset. The whole party in Scotley's ToH is characters that were created specifically for this one dungeon. I was a late-comer to the adventure, recruited because the player of the party's cleric dropped out of the game. So my investment in the character is precisely ZERO. I'm just in it to have fun and watch horrible things happen to us all!

Links to that thread:
IC: http://www.enworld.org/forum/playing-game/222238-scotleys-tomb-horrors-3-5-a.html

RG: http://www.enworld.org/forum/plots-places/222036-rg-scotleys-tomb-horrors-3-5-a.html

Nikosandros · Nov 5, 2008

thedungeondelver said:
I think it's entirely feasible to go to G1 after completing S4. Indeed you may find it necessary to turn G1 up to 11 to make it a challenge...!

By feasible, I meant the opposite. I was considering whether the PC would be of too high a level for G1.

A for the XP, in the past I used mostly an "ad hoc" system, but while running B2 recently I went more or less by the book. I haven't yet decided if I'll keep doing it this way.

thedungeondelver · Nov 6, 2008

Nikosandros said:
By feasible, I meant the opposite. I was considering whether the PC would be of too high a level for G1.

A for the XP, in the past I used mostly an "ad hoc" system, but while running B2 recently I went more or less by the book. I haven't yet decided if I'll keep doing it this way.

Ah, gotcha now. Yes, G1 would be sort of a walk through for veterans of S4 and WG4. Of course who's to say that the Drow responsible for the shenanigans of the whole G-D-Q series aren't more firmly entrenched at Nosnra's steading?

Plane Sailing · Nov 6, 2008

roguerouge said:
Why? What's the appeal of these?

The "I" series pharoah modules were great because of great encounters, a splendid them running through them, some wonderful plot/story "gotcha's" and excellent desert/egyptian atmosphere.

The "Adlerweg" pair had brilliant locations, a really nice overarching theme of the Sentinel and the Gauntlet, several encounters which are not following a straight line through but have interesting side-treks etc.

UK4 "When a star falls" had the best introduction I've seen to any module ever, which really drew everyone into the adventure. Some excellent set-pieces, the 'tower' where most of the stuff happens seemed really well grounded. I actually fleshed out a whole section of my campaign world just based around the information from this module!

UK7. Cloud castles and flying monkeys. Need I say more?

Cheers