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<blockquote data-quote="pming" data-source="post: 5814529" data-attributes="member: 45197"><p>Hiya.</p><p> </p><p>I'll keep this short. (...'ish... <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> )</p><p> </p><p>IMHO, BECMI and 1e AD&D modules were the best. They were the best because they had a <em>story</em>, but not a lot of <em>plot</em>.</p><p> </p><p>In other words, they each had something like <em>"The orc chieften Furdark is gathering a large force of orcs and goblins in a ruined castle in the foothills to the north. Can your party brave the ruins of Castle Kallin and face Furdark and his hoards before they march on the surrounding countryside?"</em>. That is a story that sets pretty much everything for the adventure. When you crack open the cover you see MAPS. Big ones. The module has encounter keys for various locations on these maps. At the beginning of the module is a couple of paragraphs called "Background" that sets up the general why's and wherefors of what's going on, but no specific "plots" that will/must occure. Any plots will be intruduced through play and via the players and DM.</p><p> </p><p>Right now, I'm DM'ing a 1e AD&D campaign set in my homebrew world of Eisla. I'm using an 'adventure module' that uses dungeon geomorphs. One of the readers of that site put a bunch of them together into a PDF (here it is for those interested: <a href="http://rpgcharacters.wordpress.com/maps/dysons-delve/" target="_blank">Dyson’s Delve A Character For Every Game</a> ). What's really cool about it is that each level of the dungeon, it's map and EVERY room key on it fits on a single page. So no page flipping! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /> In my game, I had an NPC fighter encounter the PC's in the first cave. The fighter was with two distraught women...it seems the fighters nephew, Billum, ran away and hid 'in the caves', but never came back that night. (plot #1: find Billum). The PC's have encountered the "Black Skull" goblins, but don't know why they are here or why they haven't been encountered outside...ever. (plot #2: mystery goblins). The dungeon itself has a 'wave and water' theme in all it's stonework. They found a sarcophagus with a prominant "saint of fishermen" in it...clutching a map that indicates some sort of lake (plot #3: where is the locaiton on the map, and why is it important?). The pont being, a good adventure gives a location, takes the time to draw out maps and write up keys, and gives you encounter tables...all that plot stuff? That's up to the DM (as it should be, IMHO).</p><p> </p><p>I'm rambling now. Sorry. Bottom line: Adventures should <em>help a DM run an interesting story for his campaign</em>, and an adventure should <u>not</u> simply <em>ristrict the DM into making sure the story is followed/played out in his campaign</em>. All IMHO, of course. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p> </p><p>^_^</p><p> </p><p>Paul L. Ming</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pming, post: 5814529, member: 45197"] Hiya. I'll keep this short. (...'ish... ;) ) IMHO, BECMI and 1e AD&D modules were the best. They were the best because they had a [I]story[/I], but not a lot of [I]plot[/I]. In other words, they each had something like [I]"The orc chieften Furdark is gathering a large force of orcs and goblins in a ruined castle in the foothills to the north. Can your party brave the ruins of Castle Kallin and face Furdark and his hoards before they march on the surrounding countryside?"[/I]. That is a story that sets pretty much everything for the adventure. When you crack open the cover you see MAPS. Big ones. The module has encounter keys for various locations on these maps. At the beginning of the module is a couple of paragraphs called "Background" that sets up the general why's and wherefors of what's going on, but no specific "plots" that will/must occure. Any plots will be intruduced through play and via the players and DM. Right now, I'm DM'ing a 1e AD&D campaign set in my homebrew world of Eisla. I'm using an 'adventure module' that uses dungeon geomorphs. One of the readers of that site put a bunch of them together into a PDF (here it is for those interested: [URL="http://rpgcharacters.wordpress.com/maps/dysons-delve/"]Dyson’s Delve A Character For Every Game[/URL] ). What's really cool about it is that each level of the dungeon, it's map and EVERY room key on it fits on a single page. So no page flipping! :D In my game, I had an NPC fighter encounter the PC's in the first cave. The fighter was with two distraught women...it seems the fighters nephew, Billum, ran away and hid 'in the caves', but never came back that night. (plot #1: find Billum). The PC's have encountered the "Black Skull" goblins, but don't know why they are here or why they haven't been encountered outside...ever. (plot #2: mystery goblins). The dungeon itself has a 'wave and water' theme in all it's stonework. They found a sarcophagus with a prominant "saint of fishermen" in it...clutching a map that indicates some sort of lake (plot #3: where is the locaiton on the map, and why is it important?). The pont being, a good adventure gives a location, takes the time to draw out maps and write up keys, and gives you encounter tables...all that plot stuff? That's up to the DM (as it should be, IMHO). I'm rambling now. Sorry. Bottom line: Adventures should [I]help a DM run an interesting story for his campaign[/I], and an adventure should [U]not[/U] simply [I]ristrict the DM into making sure the story is followed/played out in his campaign[/I]. All IMHO, of course. :) ^_^ Paul L. Ming [/QUOTE]
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