GreyLord
Legend
Many have heard of White Plume Mountain, or the Keep on the Borderlands...adventures/modules from the old school...but what about the New?
By New I mean that material created by WotC after TSR. Hence anything with the D20 system (more specifically, 3e and after), 4e, and I'm going to include Pathfinder.
These would have to be STANDOUT adventures, things that really stand out from everything else they put out adventure wise. Things people will want to be nostalgic about and remake in another 20 years for whatever game system is alive and kicking then.
Sort of how they did Tomb of Horrors for 4e, or Undermountain for both 3e and 4e.
One of the ideas I have is that of connection. If a module is monster enough, and has the connection to an older classic module, by default it becomes a classic in and of itself. Not always, but many times. For example, the Undermountain adventures.
Anyways, my take on some of the big classic adventures
In my opinion the following would fall under these auspices...
Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil - As you can tell, it already is mentioning a classic on it's own. It's a nice sized module and pretty monstrous in it's own bit.
The Expedition series - I think everyone of them will be remembered as the best of the best, or the 3.5 classics. I'll list them below, but they are all monstrously big, and all are connected to older classic modules in and of themselves.
Expedition to Undermountain - Yet another Undermountain adventure...just adding to the pile
Expedition to Castle Ravenloft - This one has enough to play for weeks and months, basically a campaign almost in and of itself!
Expedition to Castle GreyHawk - Castle Greyhawk is a place of notoriety and fame amongst D&D players. Sometimes it's treatment hasn't reached what I would call the classic treatment, but this is one which I'll say IS in the classic adventures.
Expedition to the Demonweb Pits - In my opinion this is the weakest of the Expedition modules and the one most likely to NOT be considered one of the greats of 3.5 edition. Sure it meets most of my criteria, but I think it may be lacking in some players opinions.
The best one for 3.X that is original and yet will be a great classic, perhaps the greatest one of the entire time 3.X was out is
Red Hand of Doom - This is original, and I think almost any who have played it have come away thinking...WOW...now that was an adventure!
With other 3e games...MAYBE
The Shackled City Adventure Path - which I think set up some precedents for future items to come...
In 4e....
Tomb of Horrors - I think disjointed as it is, it still has enough to offer to become a great adventure...though a little shakier then most of the 3e greats I listed.
Revenge of the Giants - This is the only one I'd say is solidly in classic grounds for nostalgia and reconnecting in a score of years.
Gardmore Abbey and Halls of Undermountain while nice, just don't seem to match up for the super adventures published (Gardmore Abbey was innovative, but I'm not certain it had that lasting appeal, and Halls of Undermountain deviated from their classic approach enough that I didn't feel the love. They left out most of the monster stats and referred you to their Monster Vault instead with page numbers...done in some Paizo modules and adventures at times...but not something I'm too fond of).
Pathfinder -
Rise of the Runelords - Why? That's why...well...more to the point, it's the first. It set Paizo on the path, and pathfinder is truly seen as a realization/born here I think...in my opinion. How much more classic can you get then the initial steps into the unknown!
Kingmaker - I constantly hear about how people love this adventure path...this one seems to almost be one of the greats in the making.
Jade Regent - Not really what I'd normally call a great...EXCEPT it deals with a part of the world that ALWAYS seems to have fans. That alone will make it one of the most memorable and nostalgic for those players...and they tend to be loud about it too meaning the rest of us will remember along with them.
So those are my picks. What are yours and why?
Or if you like my choices, what do you feel about them, perhaps you have a far different viewpoint on why those same adventures will become the classics two decades down the line.
Hopefully this can become a listing of great adventures and WHY people feel they stand out above the rest.
By New I mean that material created by WotC after TSR. Hence anything with the D20 system (more specifically, 3e and after), 4e, and I'm going to include Pathfinder.
These would have to be STANDOUT adventures, things that really stand out from everything else they put out adventure wise. Things people will want to be nostalgic about and remake in another 20 years for whatever game system is alive and kicking then.
Sort of how they did Tomb of Horrors for 4e, or Undermountain for both 3e and 4e.
One of the ideas I have is that of connection. If a module is monster enough, and has the connection to an older classic module, by default it becomes a classic in and of itself. Not always, but many times. For example, the Undermountain adventures.
Anyways, my take on some of the big classic adventures
In my opinion the following would fall under these auspices...
Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil - As you can tell, it already is mentioning a classic on it's own. It's a nice sized module and pretty monstrous in it's own bit.
The Expedition series - I think everyone of them will be remembered as the best of the best, or the 3.5 classics. I'll list them below, but they are all monstrously big, and all are connected to older classic modules in and of themselves.
Expedition to Undermountain - Yet another Undermountain adventure...just adding to the pile
Expedition to Castle Ravenloft - This one has enough to play for weeks and months, basically a campaign almost in and of itself!
Expedition to Castle GreyHawk - Castle Greyhawk is a place of notoriety and fame amongst D&D players. Sometimes it's treatment hasn't reached what I would call the classic treatment, but this is one which I'll say IS in the classic adventures.
Expedition to the Demonweb Pits - In my opinion this is the weakest of the Expedition modules and the one most likely to NOT be considered one of the greats of 3.5 edition. Sure it meets most of my criteria, but I think it may be lacking in some players opinions.
The best one for 3.X that is original and yet will be a great classic, perhaps the greatest one of the entire time 3.X was out is
Red Hand of Doom - This is original, and I think almost any who have played it have come away thinking...WOW...now that was an adventure!
With other 3e games...MAYBE
The Shackled City Adventure Path - which I think set up some precedents for future items to come...
In 4e....
Tomb of Horrors - I think disjointed as it is, it still has enough to offer to become a great adventure...though a little shakier then most of the 3e greats I listed.
Revenge of the Giants - This is the only one I'd say is solidly in classic grounds for nostalgia and reconnecting in a score of years.
Gardmore Abbey and Halls of Undermountain while nice, just don't seem to match up for the super adventures published (Gardmore Abbey was innovative, but I'm not certain it had that lasting appeal, and Halls of Undermountain deviated from their classic approach enough that I didn't feel the love. They left out most of the monster stats and referred you to their Monster Vault instead with page numbers...done in some Paizo modules and adventures at times...but not something I'm too fond of).
Pathfinder -
Rise of the Runelords - Why? That's why...well...more to the point, it's the first. It set Paizo on the path, and pathfinder is truly seen as a realization/born here I think...in my opinion. How much more classic can you get then the initial steps into the unknown!
Kingmaker - I constantly hear about how people love this adventure path...this one seems to almost be one of the greats in the making.
Jade Regent - Not really what I'd normally call a great...EXCEPT it deals with a part of the world that ALWAYS seems to have fans. That alone will make it one of the most memorable and nostalgic for those players...and they tend to be loud about it too meaning the rest of us will remember along with them.
So those are my picks. What are yours and why?
Or if you like my choices, what do you feel about them, perhaps you have a far different viewpoint on why those same adventures will become the classics two decades down the line.
Hopefully this can become a listing of great adventures and WHY people feel they stand out above the rest.
