Best non-linear adventure modules / mini-campaigns

[Jorunkun]

Some modules tell a great story, but at the expense of player choice (railroad-plots). Others give the players almost complete freedom, but don’t offer much overarching dramatic structure (Wilderlands-style sandboxes).

Some might say that story and free player choice are actually irreconcilable opposites. Well, I’m looking for recommendations - or critical discussions - of modules or mini-campaigns that at least try to do just that.

What are commercially available matrix or sandbox formats that bring forth great stories as well? An example for what I have in mind are the venerable OD&D B10 “Night’s Dark Terror”, Paizo’s W1 “Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale” or even (arguably) “Keep in the Borderlands”.

Besides wanting to gank bits and pieces for my new 4e sandbox campaign, I’m curious how other designers organise and present their settings and ensure that dramatic stories arise no matter what the player’s choices are. All suggestions welcome - doesn't have to be D20 fantasy.

THX - J.

 

[S'mon]

Man, I wish I had B10 - better check Ebay again.

One thing you might like to check out is "Irillian" in "Best of White Dwarf Scenarios III", often available on Ebay. It's a complete detailed city - a sort of medieval English version of an Italian city state - combined with an epic scenario. The scenario can be played rather linearly, but because the whole city is detailed it also offers the chance for PCs going wherever they wish.

On a larger scale I think most good traditional dungeons like B2 tend towards matrix design, with multiple interlocking areas and plots. A couple that come to mind are X2 Castle Amber and Caverns of Thracia - the latter is on such a large scale it's similar to a wilderness adventure. The Necromancer conversion of that is a good 3e version of what you're looking for. I've mentioned Lost City of Barakus on the previous thread, again I think that fits although it's closer to Open/Sandbox than to Matrix design in most respects, it takes a bit of work to make it really dynamic.

 

[Frostmarrow]

Red Hand of Doom.

Granted the adventurers are in a hurry to stop an invasion but only if you actually use the invasion. If you don't RHoD features a great sandbox, The Elsir Vale, with lots of interesting locations such as villages, bridges, standing stones, full fledged cities, dungeons, wilderness, and more.
In fact a lot of the module is wasted if you run it as an invasion scenario.

Thunder Rift is also cool.

 

[Psion]

The much overlooked planescape adventure/anthology Tales of the Infinite Staircase. It's a series of adventures with an over-arching plot that can be tackled in any order. The adventure locations and content varies widely, spanning many worlds.

 

[RangerWickett]

I've tried my damnedest for War of the Burning Sky to keep the adventures as flexible as possible while still having a structure. There's a war on, so you have objectives and missions, but you can go about those missions in a lot of ways, and even if you fail the campaign goes on; you're just going to have a harder time in the future.

For instance, the first adventure has the heroes meet a spy, get some military plans from him, and then try to escape a city that is under attack. We suggest what the most likely order of action is, but the city is fairly fleshed out, and there are a lot of ways to achieve your goals.

In the second adventure, once you're out of the city, you've been given the means to avoid the enemy army by taking a perilous route through the mountains. This is probably the railroad-y-est part of the campaign saga, because you end up being trapped by a hostile force in a forest, and have to find a way to appease your enemies in order to escape, all while agents of the invading army pursue you to get the military plans back.

In the third adventure, you get to the refugee camp that is slowly becoming the base of the Resistance. A lot of forces assail it, big and small, and how much effort you put into helping the people there can make a huge difference in the long run. There's one slightly railroad-y bit where you're invited to a performance that will be the scene of an assassination attempt, but I think the scene is cool enough that your players won't begrudge if you nudge them to go.

The fourth adventure has you helping a nation undergoing political turmoil. You've got to get things under control and stop a civil war so you can enlist them as allies before the main enemy armies roll in and conquer the place. This is probably the most open and freeform adventure of the entire series -- an amazing feat, since it was written by three different people, one of whom was on strong painkillers at the time.

Beyond there, generally the campaign revolves around you having a mission to accomplish, and there being bad-guys who you need to defeat. You're being proactive, and the challenges are generally designed as "Step 1. Figure out how to get to wherever the badguys are, fighting your way through their defenses or tracking them to their hiding place. Do this however you want. Step 2. Have a cool set piece encounter."

We designed the adventures so you can run jump in or out at the 4th and 8th adventures. The narrative arc works even if you just run 1-4, or 4-8, or 8-12 (or 1-8, or 4-12). Heck, the last three adventures can even go in different orders. Depending on which of the power groups in the war your PCs hate the most, you can put the adventure devoted to them last.

I think it's pretty flexible.

 

[mhensley]

Necormancer's The Lost City of Barakus and The Vault of Larin Karr are both really good for this sort of thing.

 

[GlassJaw]

Necormancer's The Lost City of Barakus and The Vault of Larin Karr are both really good for this sort of thing.

+1 on both.

 

[S'mon]

+1 on both.

+2.

 

[joela]

WotBS

I've tried my damnedest for War of the Burning Sky to keep the adventures as flexible as possible while still having a structure.

Damn. That's hot. When/if being released as a compendium?

 

[RangerWickett]

Damn. That's hot. When/if being released as a compendium?

In 4th edition.

Actually, I'd love to put out a compilation for 3rd edition, but a) the adventures are going to be too long to all fit into a single book, probably, unless we cut a lot of background material, and b) sales are down. We're not sure whether it would be worth the cost to compile them for 3e.

We might do it for 4e, though, or for 3e if sales pick up. We hit a slump after the 4e announcement back in August.