D&D 4E 4E "Return to" adventures

[Soel]

They had worked on one of the classic towns to originally have been included in the 4e dmg, didn't they? That would be a decent sized chunk of work already done for one adventure.

I've never played any of these modules, and only ran one (heavily re-built Borderlands,) so I'd be interested in a few of them, namely Against the Giants, White Plume Mountain, and Desert of Desolation.

 

[nick012000]

Rot grubs would be totally nerfed if they showed up in 4e. Their nasty tendency to strike by surprise and horribly kill your PC would totally clash with 4e's design philosophy.

 

[synboy]

Please don't take this the wrong way....I'm REALLY looking forward to 4th ed, but the first thing that popped into my mind (and I'm surprised that no smart-a** has posted this yet)....

Return to DND 3.5

 

[Steely Dan]

Return to the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil

Part II: The Revenge?

 

[synboy]

and my serious reply.....

Egg of the Phoenix, redux.

 

[ferratus]

Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, and I would like to see it as a launch for a Far Realm or D&D Science Fiction campaign ruleset.

Scourge of the Slave Lords - With 4e giving you a chance at surviving through several encounters, this might be a good module to start a campaign with. Escaping from a slaver's holding pen is definately a good way to get a party to bond with each other. My players with the characters that got along the best escaped together from a Thayan enclave.

B4: "The Lost City" - playing through it right now as a 2e game. I would really like to see it done in 4e... though a redesign of the pyramid is necessary. The dungeon design makes no damn sense at all.

 

[Lord Xtheth]

Another Night Below
Undermountain for Dummies
Ravenloft 8: Ravenloft Takes Manhattan

 

[Kwalish Kid]

Well, how about I point you, instead, to James Wyatt's Dungeons of Greenbriar Chasm article? http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dudc/20080213a

You'll note how, since he used an old map, he had to combine multiple rooms into a single encounter area. This is because of 4E's greater focus on A) multiple foes and B) far greater mobility.

Now, in converting a lot of the old dungeons, you can often do what he did--combine multiple rooms into one encounter. But that's not always going to work. In some instances, you're going to need to at least tweak the maps to bring rooms together, or to make some of the encounter areas a lot larger than they are, to allow for the sorts of movement 4E encourages.

This is what I've come to realize as I prepare for my summer 4E game.

Specifically:
1) There has to be more room so PCs and monsters can use their abilities.
2) There really has to be cover much more often, so strikers can be dynamic in play (and to allow rangers a reason to use one of their abilities).
3) There have to be pits, set traps, and other elements of terrain to promote the use of PC and monster powers that move enemies around the board.

One can still use the old, tiny rooms of prior editions, but there really isn't much point. The drama of these fights will be much less. They can be used if they provide points where PCs are attacked on multiple fronts. (I can see a fighter using Tide of Iron [or a strength vs. fort def] to close a door while a Wizard holds her action to close the door once the enemy is out of the way. Wow, the mechanic for that is so obvious.)

Let's consider The Temple of Elemental Evil as an example

• I might just double the size of every room in the dungeons below the temple. Some individual rooms might be converted into barracks.
• I would add more columns and statues in the rooms and the hallways.
• The theme of the temple allows for huge vats of the appropriate elements to be sitting out in places enemies can fall into them or where they can be knocked over to flow along the ground.
• The huge room in the temple never made sense to have a fight in before, now it's the perfect room for a fight that might start at one end of the temple and end up in the other.
• The idea of a temple full of evil clerics and mages gathering an army of brigands and monsters allows for a great variety in encounters. There's an excuse there to put together creatures and humanoids that would otherwise not be found together.

 

[EATherrian]

Well, how about I point you, instead, to James Wyatt's Dungeons of Greenbriar Chasm article? http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dudc/20080213a

You'll note how, since he used an old map, he had to combine multiple rooms into a single encounter area. This is because of 4E's greater focus on A) multiple foes and B) far greater mobility.

Now, in converting a lot of the old dungeons, you can often do what he did--combine multiple rooms into one encounter. But that's not always going to work. In some instances, you're going to need to at least tweak the maps to bring rooms together, or to make some of the encounter areas a lot larger than they are, to allow for the sorts of movement 4E encourages.

Now I remember what I really didn't like about the new edition. I really, really don't like how this delve system. It makes me think of set piece battles, with the only randomization written in: on a 6 there are reinforcements. I think this is the thing people mean when they say the game is turning into a boardgame. Maybe not Monopoly, but the delves do look a lot like ASL scenarios to me. As an aside, are there still random encounters or is that impossible under the new encounter design paradigm?

 

[hamishspence]

The Gates of Firestorm Peak

A sequel: Return to Firestorm Peak?