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D&D 4E Favorite 4E Module
- Thread starter Momeeche
- Start date
delericho
Legend
I've only read through three 4e modules, two from WotC and one from Goodman. Of these, only the Goodman module, "Forges of the Mountain King" was intended for use in the heroic tier.
Truth be told, "Forges..." wasn't a particularly great module. It was okay, but it was very early on in the life of the edition, and as happened with 3e, it took people a bit of time to get to grips with the system. So, "Forges..." is a bit lacking.
Of the two WotC modules I have read, "King of the Trollhaunt Warrens" is the better. Frankly, though, it's pretty poor. Basically, it's a linear sequence of encounters, with almost no opportunity for going off track. Roleplaying opportunities are basically limited to what the players bring with them.
Finally, there's "Tomb of Horrors". The first chapter of this one is amazing. Genuinely a great adventure. After that, it goes to pieces. The second chapter is poor. The third chapter is a sad parody of the original Tomb. And the fourth chapter... oh dear. I'm not sure who thought it was a good idea to
, but it really wasn't.
My group are currently playing through "The Sceptre Tower of Spellgard". However, we're only one session in, so I don't have a lot of comment on this. Thus far, it's okay, but it just doesn't have the same life that our DM was able to bring to his homebrew games.
Truth be told, "Forges..." wasn't a particularly great module. It was okay, but it was very early on in the life of the edition, and as happened with 3e, it took people a bit of time to get to grips with the system. So, "Forges..." is a bit lacking.
Of the two WotC modules I have read, "King of the Trollhaunt Warrens" is the better. Frankly, though, it's pretty poor. Basically, it's a linear sequence of encounters, with almost no opportunity for going off track. Roleplaying opportunities are basically limited to what the players bring with them.
Finally, there's "Tomb of Horrors". The first chapter of this one is amazing. Genuinely a great adventure. After that, it goes to pieces. The second chapter is poor. The third chapter is a sad parody of the original Tomb. And the fourth chapter... oh dear. I'm not sure who thought it was a good idea to
give Acererack a battlesuit, like some Transformer from the Headmasters era
My group are currently playing through "The Sceptre Tower of Spellgard". However, we're only one session in, so I don't have a lot of comment on this. Thus far, it's okay, but it just doesn't have the same life that our DM was able to bring to his homebrew games.
!
OchreJelly
First Post
I have GM'ed every WOTC module up to E1, with the exception of H3. In general they are pretty poor from a roleplay standpoint. H2 (Thunderspire) and P2 (Demon Queen's Enclave) are the best from a non-linear standpoint, since they both have a good mix of exploration and goals that can be approached at different times or via different routes. P1, while it's second and third acts are basically a long crawl, was pretty entertaining nonetheless. It had some memorable set pieces and encounters.
What I'm finding especially with the later modules is that they are really poor from a mechanical standpoint. Consider when these adventures were printed. They all have the low power curve monster entries using MM1's monster formula. I have consistently needed to beef up basic attack damage just to make them not laughable in epic tier.
What I'm finding especially with the later modules is that they are really poor from a mechanical standpoint. Consider when these adventures were printed. They all have the low power curve monster entries using MM1's monster formula. I have consistently needed to beef up basic attack damage just to make them not laughable in epic tier.
I really like the 4E titles from Open Design, but as a patron who participated in their creation I am probably biased. Courts of the Shadow Fey is the only one widely available at the moment. In a few months The Lost City will be released. Both are excellent paragon tier adventures.
Hmm, perhaps the next project should be for heroic tier.
Hmm, perhaps the next project should be for heroic tier.
Siege of Bordrin's Watch is pretty good, albeit a tad linear in nature. It still has some great encounters and there are a number of possibilities for a DM to work with in the city of Overlook. Although its part of the Scales of War path, it can be popped into just about any campaign with little difficulty.
Additionally, in the same path, is the Temple Between which is also really good (at least based on a read through -- have yet to get my group there).
Finally, I've heard good things about Reavers of Harkenwold in the DM's Kit but my group (where I am a player) has only gotten one session in, so can't say much more about it.
Additionally, in the same path, is the Temple Between which is also really good (at least based on a read through -- have yet to get my group there).
Finally, I've heard good things about Reavers of Harkenwold in the DM's Kit but my group (where I am a player) has only gotten one session in, so can't say much more about it.
I've DMed quite a lot of Heroic Tier stuff, of those I enjoyed-
WOTC-
HS1 The Slaying Stone, non-linear available, plenty of player choice and some good NPCs (here and there) to chat with- see my sig.
Dungeon Magazine-
Several of the Chaos Scar adventures are worth a look, mostly delve short but they often come with an interesting bad guy attached.
Storm Tower- a bit obvious but a nice mix of bad guys and traps with a puzzle trap midway through.
Finding Dreus- as Storm Tower, short but worth a look.
Heathen- a chase over quite a distance, nice bad guys here and there, infiltrate the bad guys and a delve to end- from memory, but that was a long time to go.
Heart of the Forbidden Forge- an interesting concept (Eberron) with some interesting bad guys- robots! Which I adapted to suit one of my PCs, we had a ball, nice NPC and big bad guy.
Essentials
Harkenwold adventures- very doable, nice plot, not grindy- I adapted it and added to it but an excellent starting point.
Goodman Games-
Sellswords of Punjar (and the other two Sellswords modules), I particularly enjoyed running this series, the first one (Sellswords) is fairly linear but a good plot, lots of different and strange bad guys which can be as easily talked round as fought and has a nice ending. The seond one (Scions) is a little linear again (particulrly the bad guys lair), but again the bad guys are good flavour and the story is good. The last one (Thrones) makes for a nice ending, lots of RP available and in our game resulted with one of the players sleeping with a shape-changing Aboleth, alas their union was blessed.
Forges of the Mountain King- I actually liked this, an old skool dungeon but full of deadly and flavour here and there- it was released before Goodman got the hang of 4e so it needs a little attention here and there.
Isle of the Sea Drake- I really enjoyed but it took some doing, as above needs a little attention before play. The final encounter saw a three way combat with a huge Sea Monster, a bunch of Pirates with a Mad Wizard and the PCs. My PCs had assembled a small army of followers by this point having accomplished several other tasks for one of the tribes on the islands, it was just a fantastic climax. It halped that the average age of the players was approx 12 they loved it.
There are probably more but that's all I can think of right now.
Goonalan.
WOTC-
HS1 The Slaying Stone, non-linear available, plenty of player choice and some good NPCs (here and there) to chat with- see my sig.
Dungeon Magazine-
Several of the Chaos Scar adventures are worth a look, mostly delve short but they often come with an interesting bad guy attached.
Storm Tower- a bit obvious but a nice mix of bad guys and traps with a puzzle trap midway through.
Finding Dreus- as Storm Tower, short but worth a look.
Heathen- a chase over quite a distance, nice bad guys here and there, infiltrate the bad guys and a delve to end- from memory, but that was a long time to go.
Heart of the Forbidden Forge- an interesting concept (Eberron) with some interesting bad guys- robots! Which I adapted to suit one of my PCs, we had a ball, nice NPC and big bad guy.
Essentials
Harkenwold adventures- very doable, nice plot, not grindy- I adapted it and added to it but an excellent starting point.
Goodman Games-
Sellswords of Punjar (and the other two Sellswords modules), I particularly enjoyed running this series, the first one (Sellswords) is fairly linear but a good plot, lots of different and strange bad guys which can be as easily talked round as fought and has a nice ending. The seond one (Scions) is a little linear again (particulrly the bad guys lair), but again the bad guys are good flavour and the story is good. The last one (Thrones) makes for a nice ending, lots of RP available and in our game resulted with one of the players sleeping with a shape-changing Aboleth, alas their union was blessed.
Forges of the Mountain King- I actually liked this, an old skool dungeon but full of deadly and flavour here and there- it was released before Goodman got the hang of 4e so it needs a little attention here and there.
Isle of the Sea Drake- I really enjoyed but it took some doing, as above needs a little attention before play. The final encounter saw a three way combat with a huge Sea Monster, a bunch of Pirates with a Mad Wizard and the PCs. My PCs had assembled a small army of followers by this point having accomplished several other tasks for one of the tribes on the islands, it was just a fantastic climax. It halped that the average age of the players was approx 12 they loved it.
There are probably more but that's all I can think of right now.
Goonalan.
As I understand it, Forges was actually written for 3.5e before 4e was published and then converted to 4e as preview editions appeared. That process obviously allows some problems to creep in and there are some big ones in there. That said, it's an enjoyable adventure module with a good old-school feel to it and we enjoyed it. More to the point, we played it as our first full experience of the 4e game and it didn't put us right off the whole thing!
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