D&D 5E What constitutes "DM Friendly" adventure / module in your opinion?

[delericho]

I think these two things go hand in hand...

They certainly can do, as you describe here. However, I was also referring to things like, "what if the PCs sneak into the enemy camp?", "what if they negotiate?", "what if they bypass this encounter entirely?", or even "what if the PCs lose?"

A lot of adventures tend not to address a lot of these things, and they have an awful lot of "the monsters fight to the death". One of the things I really like about "Lost Mine" is that there are several different approaches offered. (And that's also one of the things I really like about "Hoard of the Dragon Queen", despite considering it a fairly poor adventure overall.)

 

[toucanbuzz]

First, a rant about DM unfriendly adventures. I hate, hate, hate when a module simply says there's Green Slime or a Poison Dart Trap from Chapter so and so in the DMG. It's a PAIN to pause and cross reference not only finding the chapter, but the specific entry (or search the back), or to have to prep in advance on something that simply could have been a page reference or incorporated in a 1-liner. Curse of Strahd, which I'm prepping and is fairly well designed, is guilty of this, and other easily curable references (e.g. in the random encounters, there's Strahd Zombies. Instead of saying "see Appendix D," they could have said "page 240.")

It's all about ease and organization. I purchase a module to lessen the time I spend prepping. Whether the adventure is good or bad, that's my DM friendly standard.

 

[Anthony Pacheco]

Thanks everyone for the replies. That was awesome. Here's my take:

Book Mechanics: Clear maps that can be used in a Virtual Table Top (VTT) program by having the map key in the module text rather than on the map. PDFs even for people who buy the print version. Quality hardcover book printed in color on thick paper you can write on. Module text dedicated to describing dynamic monsters and NPCs that could change tactics based on their overall motives and PC actions. Good stat blocks that are easy to read. Proper developmental editing from an experienced RPG-savvy editor and comprehensive, not token, play-testing.

Prioritized Lore: Lore that directly impacts the PCs has priority over descriptive text that has no consequence to the current adventure but may be beneficial to the DM in other ways (such as modifying their own game world). The Dame with a lore-based secret isn’t as interesting as the Dame with a lore-based secret that motivates her to help or hinder the PCs based on what they do and say.

Prioritized Setting: Related, setting the PCs most likely will be interested in has priority with description and narrative (and maps!).

Impactful Encounters: A big time suck: re-writing encounters. DM friendly encounters aren't just clear and concise, they are all impactful and have weight. There are no fluffy-bunny fro-fro encounters of attrition shoved into the module either as filler to get the PCs experience points so they can challenge the Big Bad the module writers are over-enamored with to the exclusion of the journey to get to the Big Bad. I don't want encounters that make some narrative point rather than the PCs making the narrative points, pad the page count or other dubious reasons not having anything to do with adventures DMs want to run. Most combat encounter should have the capability of dropping heroes to the ground, and if the players don’t combined arms, death or TPK. DMs should not be spending the time making the encounter harder; there should simply be an option to make it easier.

Dynamic Plot and Villains based on PC Actions: Another time sink for DMs running a campaign. The PCs do things, and it impacts the world in “real-time.” They do more on their day-to-day interactions than change the life of a stable-boy tipped 100 GP. PCs can influence, and be influenced by, the story’s movers and shakers because they themselves are movers and shakers. Good plot and good villains in a living, breathing game are dynamic based on motives. If the players wanted static quest givers with explanation points over their heads, they would play a MMO designed in the early 2000’s.

Cohesive Adventuring in an Adventure Path: An adventure path should take a character from Level 1 to Level 20 (or several levels beyond) with a distinctive end. Doing that without putting PCs (or, just admit it, your players) on rails is no easy task, but it is possible with hard work and play testing. The adventure should provide a foundation for the next in a manner that seems organic and plausible. Modules that come next should anticipate several major possibilities of the prior adventure and dedicate text to help the DM transition his or her players into the next part of the game world without negating their prior hard-won efforts.

Thanks guys. I'm thrilled that 5E is so vibrant now (as compared to 4E). It's inspiring.

Later,
Anthony (www.griffonloregames.com)

 

[pming]

Hiya!

I'll make my list short'ish here.

I like a general "Story Foundation" to the adventure to be explained in about half a page. If the whole adventure can be summed up in two or three sentences, that's perfect. (ex: read the 'blurb' on the cover of just about any 1e AD&D adventure module).

I like simplified stat block, and, this is important, a note of what book and page to find the creature! I'm almost equally happy with just a name followed by the book/page to find the creature on. If we are shooting for perfection...then how Kenzer & Co., did their Hackmaster 4th Ed modules. Here's a direct link to the "Battle Sheet" for "Quest for the Unknown": http://www.kenzerco.com/Orpg/hackmaster/downloads/product_pdfs/quest_battlesheets.pdf

IMNSHO, this is sort of how I wrote my own adventures and adventure 'notes' back in '83 or so...although mine had primarily just HP's and maybe a note about something unusual. But man! When I saw the Battle Sheets for "Little Keep on the Borderland" I was sold. You can DL a PDF Battle Sheet of every HM4 module they produced. Free. They are also in the back of the actual module.

Ok. Other than a story foundation and a Battle Sheet, I also want an adventure to mostly be written with virtually no acknowledgement that PC's will be involved to 'stop' the bad guys. Nothing annoys me more than seeing a page and a half of "tactics, motivations, and what-if's" for some NPC or monster! (sorry for those that love 'em! ). I don't need to know all that. I need "Grovhol is hoping to curry favour with his 'owner', Mistress Renna. Grovhol will risk his life to protect her secret". That's it. I don't need to know the particulars of why he wants to get on her good side, nor do I need to know what lengths he will go to in order to keep her secret safe. I'm the DM, I can role-play that on my own.

Maps that favour UTILITY and READABILITY over "Artistry". Give me an old blue-map of ye good ol' days! Easier on the eyes, easier to modify if needed, and easier to print out (ink-usage wise).

Random Encounter Charts? YES PLEASE! I just love 'em! They really make the game feel like it's a living, breathing, "setting". I'd say about a third of all my memorable play moments come from Random Encounter tables. They are 'unexpected' for both me and my players. They give us all a bit of that wonder and surprise that we all can just ad-lib and let the joint creative juices flow! Mmmmm.....

Lastly, I want it to NOT be in "colourful book" format. I want it to be in the old detached cover and booklet format like the original Basic D&D and 1e AD&D modules (B2, B3, L2, S4, etc). Oh, and on non-glossy pages! I absolutely *loathe* 'colour glossy pages' for anything that I'm expected to read and be staring at for 4 to 6 hours.

^_^

Paul L. Ming