Adventures--Do you run them or cannabalize them?

[Desdichado]

Hardly ever run adventures as is--I think a one shot Dark•Matter game using "Exit 23" is the only one, as a matter of fact.

Not that I wouldn't--just for whatever reason I haven't. I'd actually really like to run the puppets and shadows module (can't remember the exact title) in the Delta Green book someday. In the past I've largely ignored modules entirely, but lately I've come to appreciate them more, and I'd even consider picking up a subscription to Dungeon.

But yeah; I'd mostly cannibalize rather than use outright.

 

[Howling Coyote]

I either run them slightly modified, use them as material for another project, or just lose them somewhere among my stuff and never use them for anything.

 

[Psion]

These days, I pretty much strip 'em for parts.

I find that even a relatively brief adventure I can find constraining, and often find that I have to carve out bits of the adventure to fit my campaign assumptions and immediate needs.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

I find that even a relatively brief adventure I can find constraining, and often find that I have to carve out bits of the adventure to fit my campaign assumptions and immediate needs.

You pillage campaign settings and cannibilize adventures ... geeze ... are there bodies of game designers strewed about your back lawn or something man?

 

[Psion]

You pillage campaign settings and cannibilize adventures ... geeze ... are there bodies of game designers strewed about your back lawn or something man?

Maybe I'm taking the "kill them and take their stuff" principle too far...

 

[Miln]

put me in the 'pick em clean' column

 

[eris404]

You know, I love the idea of being able to run something directly out of a book or Dungeon, but I've only been able to do so once or twice (changing place and NPC names doesn't count to me). I love the idea of just having to read something, doing a little tactical work and then being completely prepared to game.

But my tastes are pretty fickle. I'll read an adventure, get excited about the premise and then get turned off by something really simple, such as, right now I'm sick of undead, demons and devils. So, I end up changing quite a bit just to suit my current tastes more than to fit into my campaign world or any metaplot I may have going.

 

[scadgrad]

Like most DMs I do buy a lot of mods just for the read. I run a lot of modules and only design my own when I have tons of time on my hands. In the Old Days (i.e. before wife, family, and career), I had far more time to devote to writing my own adventures.

These days, it's pretty much change the names of PCs and placenames, maybe swap a critter or two out (for campaign consistancy), and off we go. Of course I run modules from all different editions and have more potential adventure sites than I could easily count. That allows me to drop rumors, leads, placenames, etc. and when the PCs investigate or follow up, I'm ready to go. Saves me tons of time and helps give the PCs the sense that "they can go anywhere and do anything" that they wish rather than "oh, T's running Tomb of Absythor right now so I guess we're stuck here 'til we finish."

Really guys, I know it's fun and very satisfying to create your own stuff, but I encourage you to have a go w/ some of the "3.X Classics." I'd be really surprised if you and your group would not really enjoy romping through some of the better modules.

Modules I've Ran in the Past Year
NeMoren's Vault (as good as advertised A++)
The Mysterious Tower (Goodman Games)
Aerie of the Crow God (Goodman Games_A very enjoyable mod that I'm running in my long-distance campaign)
Tomb of Absythor (Necromancer_Perhaps their best and I'm currently running this one for a 2nd time)
Lost City of Barrakus (Necromancer A++)
I6 Ravenloft (TSR_A classic, if you've never played it you should)
Queen With Burning Eyes (A++ Eberron Mod from Dungeon, very easy tweak to any setting, ran it twice actually)

 

[JoeGKushner]

Depends.

Sometimes I do both.

Others run straight 'homebrew' of adventures using setting sourcematerial.

Others straight 'adventure' campaign.

 

[Mark Chance]

Like the title says, when you pick up an adventure for 3e, are you actually interested in running the adventure or are you more interested in what it can provide your already creative mind (i.e. ready-made NPCs, maps, etc)? I'm of the latter camp and not afraid to admit it. How about you?

Lately I've been using a lot of previously published material, but always modified to one extent or another, if for no other reason than I've got a group of nine characters to account for. Not too many published scenarios are designed for such a large party.