Quasqueton
First Post
And yet, there are plenty of examples of “old school” dungeons where the events and encounters are interconnected somehow. And there are plenty of examples of new adventures where the events and encounters are in close proximity and yet are completely unrelated.Events and encounters in an “old school” dungeon might be close in proximity and yet completely unrelated. However, I would expect that events and encounters in a “new school” model dungeon might be interconnected somehow.
Yet there are plenty of new adventures that have emphasis on exploration and combat (Forge of Fury). And there are plenty of old adventures that have plot cohesion (The Assassin’s Knot). [I don’t know what you mean by “balance” in this context.] Does this mean FoF is “old school”, and AK is “new school”?. . .“old school” adventure, I have a general idea of what he means; more emphasis on exploration and combat. Less emphasis on game balance and plot cohesion.
I could line up the current batch of adventure modules, and you’d find good and bad design. You’d find plotless dungeon crawls (Heart of Nightfang Spire) and plotted political thrillers (Speaker in Dreams). You’d find combat-filled explorations, and city-based mysteries.
I could line up the old adventure modules, and you’d find good and bad design. You’d find plotless dungeon crawls (Hidden Shrine of Tomoachan) and plotted political thrillers (The Veiled Society). You’d find combat-filled explorations, and city-based mysteries.
I could line up all the modules, both old and new, and you’d find good and bad design. You’d see similarities between the old and new and differences between new and new, and old and old.
One of the things I’m getting at with saying that officially labeling some new adventures as “old school style” is that it suggests that they are somehow removed from the modern constellation of adventures.
You could put the “old school style” marketing gimmick on The Standing Stones and people would find points in it that are “old school”. You could take the “old school style” marketing gimmick off of Aerie of the Crow God and people would point out things in it that they dislike about the “new school style”.
You could dress up Dwellers of the Forbidden City in the current format and layout styles, and folks who didn’t know it would think it a “new school” adventure.
You could dress up Lord of the Iron Fortress in the older format and layout styles, and folks who didn’t know it would think it an “old school” adventure.
Quasqueton