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Help me make WotC adventures better.
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<blockquote data-quote="Stormonu" data-source="post: 5108141" data-attributes="member: 52734"><p>You've set yourself up for quite a tall order from us.</p><p></p><p>I think a good adventure is like the old statement about porn - "I know it when I see it". It's hard to put what makes a great adventure into words. Personally, I don't think WotC did a horrible job back in 3E, so much as it didn't attempt to put it best foot forward in presenting and promoting them. WotC seemed to make it clear that "adventures weren't their business". On the other hand, I've only played "Keep on the Shadowfell" for 4E, but that has been enough to turn me away from looking at any other 4E adventures at all. So I can't really comment on 4E's adventures much themselves.</p><p></p><p>I can only go by own experiences of what I think is a good adventure. One of my favorite is the old I6 - Ravenloft. But I'm not much of a fan of the "Expedition to Castle Ravenloft". Why? One of the big reasons was that old Ravenloft felt like a hunt for Strahd. Somewhere in this mysterious castle Strahd was lurking, luring the PCs slowly to their doom. You never knew what was around the next corner. The place felt desolate, off-kilter - a place you couldn't let your guard down in. There were odd things to encounter, but the focus was on hunting down Strahd and putting an end to him. </p><p></p><p>Expedition, on the other had too many encounters. They distracted from the hunt for Strahd with side encounters that were put too front-and-center. Every time you threw open a door, you had your weapon at the ready because you knew something was behind it. A lot of times, it felt gratuitous and forced. Sometimes an empty room needs to be an empty room. If the DM running it doesn't agree, he can slap something into it.</p><p></p><p>Also, another aspect seems to be "everything and the kitchen sink" syndrome. Occasional, unusual encounters are nice, but often - as in the case of Expedition - too much "cool" is attempted to be interjected into an adventure. Each new encounter seems to attempt to one-up the last. Instead, I'd rather see adventures that present a steady diet of lightly themed encounters set at logical story points. Excessive encounters, or encounters that try to be "cool for cool's sake" need not apply. Seemingly mundane encounters can produce enough spice simply by having different types of foes than the last encounter and smart use of the surrounding (normal) terrain. Save the really "wow" encounters for the end of story arc encounters or endboss fights, and say no more than one or two an adventure.</p><p></p><p>The one thing I would advise is to never lose sight of the fact that modules are essentially canned episodes made to make a DM's life easier. They should present a themed, consistent story that requires as little beyond the DM doing a read-through to present it (Expedition to the Demonwebs was so convoluted I still don't follow the whole mess, and has given me little incentive to run it). They also should make a DM feel like it was money well-invested in that it isn't something the DM feels he could have come up with after a few minutes of thinking - the adventure should be inspiring.</p><p></p><p>Finally, I'll say I find the delve format extremely annoying. Back in 3E, I bought a lot of Goodman's DCC classics because of their simple-yet-elegant presentation. I didn't need map reprints of every single room and a full page rehash of every encounter. Give me some boxed text, an overview of the room and either the stat blocks or where I can find them in the MM, and I'm good. The delve format is overkill, and in a bad way.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Stormonu, post: 5108141, member: 52734"] You've set yourself up for quite a tall order from us. I think a good adventure is like the old statement about porn - "I know it when I see it". It's hard to put what makes a great adventure into words. Personally, I don't think WotC did a horrible job back in 3E, so much as it didn't attempt to put it best foot forward in presenting and promoting them. WotC seemed to make it clear that "adventures weren't their business". On the other hand, I've only played "Keep on the Shadowfell" for 4E, but that has been enough to turn me away from looking at any other 4E adventures at all. So I can't really comment on 4E's adventures much themselves. I can only go by own experiences of what I think is a good adventure. One of my favorite is the old I6 - Ravenloft. But I'm not much of a fan of the "Expedition to Castle Ravenloft". Why? One of the big reasons was that old Ravenloft felt like a hunt for Strahd. Somewhere in this mysterious castle Strahd was lurking, luring the PCs slowly to their doom. You never knew what was around the next corner. The place felt desolate, off-kilter - a place you couldn't let your guard down in. There were odd things to encounter, but the focus was on hunting down Strahd and putting an end to him. Expedition, on the other had too many encounters. They distracted from the hunt for Strahd with side encounters that were put too front-and-center. Every time you threw open a door, you had your weapon at the ready because you knew something was behind it. A lot of times, it felt gratuitous and forced. Sometimes an empty room needs to be an empty room. If the DM running it doesn't agree, he can slap something into it. Also, another aspect seems to be "everything and the kitchen sink" syndrome. Occasional, unusual encounters are nice, but often - as in the case of Expedition - too much "cool" is attempted to be interjected into an adventure. Each new encounter seems to attempt to one-up the last. Instead, I'd rather see adventures that present a steady diet of lightly themed encounters set at logical story points. Excessive encounters, or encounters that try to be "cool for cool's sake" need not apply. Seemingly mundane encounters can produce enough spice simply by having different types of foes than the last encounter and smart use of the surrounding (normal) terrain. Save the really "wow" encounters for the end of story arc encounters or endboss fights, and say no more than one or two an adventure. The one thing I would advise is to never lose sight of the fact that modules are essentially canned episodes made to make a DM's life easier. They should present a themed, consistent story that requires as little beyond the DM doing a read-through to present it (Expedition to the Demonwebs was so convoluted I still don't follow the whole mess, and has given me little incentive to run it). They also should make a DM feel like it was money well-invested in that it isn't something the DM feels he could have come up with after a few minutes of thinking - the adventure should be inspiring. Finally, I'll say I find the delve format extremely annoying. Back in 3E, I bought a lot of Goodman's DCC classics because of their simple-yet-elegant presentation. I didn't need map reprints of every single room and a full page rehash of every encounter. Give me some boxed text, an overview of the room and either the stat blocks or where I can find them in the MM, and I'm good. The delve format is overkill, and in a bad way. [/QUOTE]
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