Are adventures/modules more important than system?

[Kingreaper]

The system decides how the game will actually play.

The adventures decide how the game will be perceived.


If you want to pull people in, you need the adventures. Even people who don't use them will often judge it based on them, directly or indirectly.

If you want to keep people, and have the game last long term, the system is more important than the first released adventures.

But there's no point in one without the other for 5th IMO. If they don't have the good adventures, people will assume it's only playable in the boring way the adventures work. And if they don't have a good system people will know that due to the playtest, and won't bother staying with it when it's released.

 

[Caster]

Yes, I believe they are and here's why:

Simply put, it is backwards to do it the other way around and restricts DM's to tailor making stories around pre-existing "hard coded" rules.

Ideally, WOTC would collectively create a previz of what their ideal adventure module should look like at a given level (or tier) focusing on the "D&D Experience" they are hoping to achieve. Once THAT is locked down they should then go off and build the engine and rules that make that play experience possible. Playtest it with rules in place. Tweak as needed.

Rinse, lather, and repeat building the ruleset as you go.

Thoughts?

 

[dkyle]

Adventure modules are required for play.

They are?

 

[howandwhy99]

I find that the stories I'm doing are worlds better in the absence of any kind of adventure.

That's cool. We focus on strategic game play rather than storytelling though, so our games are not quite the same as yours. Your phrasing about stories without adventure and modules that are not stories kind of throws me, but, you know, different strokes for different folks.

EDIT:
[MENTION=70707]dkyle[/MENTION] Yeah, it's the same way rules are required to play a game. The adventure modules are the structured content to the rules structured play.

 

[Ahnehnois]

That's cool. We focus on strategic game play rather than storytelling though, so our games are not quite the same as yours. Your phrasing about stories without adventure and modules that are not stories kind of throws me, but, you know, different strokes for different folks.

I often just write a few monsters and NPCs and have some basic setting info on hand before a session. So I don't use published adventures, but I was trying to communicate that I don't write any such material on my own either. I do a lot of improvisation. The result is usually pretty adventurous.

But different strokes is right.

 

[jshaft37]

D&D is about individuals creating their own story. Some people might benefit from having a seed to start them off, or might be unable or unwilling to produce their own material.

In 2012, it seems like more and more players (especially players who play the game 2 times a month and don't think about it much otherwise) expect to be led by DMs or modules.

Anecdotal example, after we recently finished an adventure the PCs exited the crypt and I told them that they are very near a goblin stronghold which had been harassing local caravans or they could head back to town with the information from the crypt. The players just sat silently, looking to me to make a decision for them. I've even literally asked them what their players want to do, and typically get answers like "whatever pays us" or "what needs to be done". The are a great group once they get into some exploration, but getting them to create their own story is nearly impossible. They expect me to create the story for them.

On the other hand, I run another group that practically designs all the adventures themselves. They are very vocal about their interests and theories, so its easy to incorporate their input into quests, encounters and exploration.

 

[grimslade]

Adventure mods create the culture around an edition of D&D. I didn't run KotS because it was rubbish. I never played or ran Sunless Citadel but I know about Meepo. I never ran Planescape but I picked up some Cant, berk. The settings and adventures give life to a ruleset beyond your own table. They are cultural glue, even if you never read or run them, you trip over them in discussions with other players.
Are adventures more important than system? You can't have one without the other, so no and yes? Published adventures take a secondary role to published rules but not far back.

 

[Ahnehnois]

In 2012, it seems like more and more players (especially players who play the game 2 times a month and don't think about it much otherwise) expect to be led by DMs or modules.

I don't know about that (in the truest sense, I really don't know).

It sounds like you're equating personal investment in a game with the ability to homebrew and improvise.

I hope that's not the case.

 

[jshaft37]

I don't know about that (in the truest sense, I really don't know).

It sounds like you're equating personal investment in a game with the ability to homebrew and improvise.

I hope that's not the case.

I think they are at least somewhat related, after all a player is running a PC. I'm not saying that the player has to go home and eat, sleep, or breathe the game, but should have some idea of what their character's wants, interests, or motivations are when they sit down at the table.

I think that several of those players expect the DM to weave their story, instead of facilitating them weaving their own.

At least part of what I'm talking about is discussed at length here: GROGNARDIA: How Dragonlance Ruined Everything

 

[Tortoise]

As a selling point to generate excitement and talk from those who enjoyed playing, to those who haven't, especially potential new gamers, heck yeah.

It was what I heard from friends that got me into the game. They weren't talking about system, they were talking about the adventures.

Hearing about exploring a ruined castle tower and having goblins sneak out from a secret door to attack the party went a long way to getting me interested. If they had only talked about hit points or other elements I'm not sure I would have been as anxious to try it out.

Yes, make sure the system is solid, but for the sake of the game's future, provide interesting adventures that can help draw new gamers to the table.