I'm currently running a 3.5e campaign based off early '80s Classic D&D modules (Rahasia, Horror on The Hill, The Lost City, etc) - these seem to be around 4-5 5 hour sessions each, which at 2 games/month suits me well. When I ran 3.5e Lost City of Barakus though it took nearly two years (February 2005-December 2006), around 40 sessions I think, and that was way too long for a single dungeon crawl. I like the old White Dwarf magazine adventures, around 5-6 pages and usually completable in a single session. I think if I were only playing once a month I'd definitely prefer one-offs completable in a session, with the occasional epic two-parter as a "season climax" type event.
Are Published Adventures Too Long?
- Thread starter Weregrognard
- Start date
I have to go in with the "too much combat" crowd. For my players, combat is not itself a major reason to play the game, and I'd prefer a published adventure that has more non-combat encounter stuff in it.
The thing is, anyone can produce a combat encounter, and expect that it'll at least be appropriate to a large number of groups. Producing encounters that depend on, say, social interactions and still fit to many groups is somewhat more difficult.
The thing is, anyone can produce a combat encounter, and expect that it'll at least be appropriate to a large number of groups. Producing encounters that depend on, say, social interactions and still fit to many groups is somewhat more difficult.
Does anyone produce plot hooks books? Shadowrun had entire books of those sourcebooks descirbing a major event, with a lot of small bits that basically outlined an adventure each without any details - perfect to adapt to any group.
Mustrum_Ridcully
Legend
In a way, combat encounters become the padding between "story". There are only so many "story things" (exposition, role-playing, other events) available for each encounter, so the rest is padded with combat, to lenghten the story.
Maybe a good "homework" for module writers is to ensure that most combat encounter also serves as a way to propel the plot. If you can't make it really relevant to say something about the world, the characters or the plot of your adventure/campaign, consider throwing it out.
But likewise, players might also want to make each encounter being more then just some "killing monsters and take their stuff". A wilderness encounter during travels or a dungeon exploration might serve as a "bonding experience" (be it between PCs or between PC and NPCs).
Of course, if there are too many encounters, neither can be possible.
Mustrum_Ridcully
Legend
It seems rare for D&D. Though I think Malhavoc press had a few "plot hook" books - When the Sky Falls, Cry Havoc and Requiem for a God should be along that lines.
And the setting books typically contain a few adventure ideas.
As far as combat goes, I'm finding my current adventure Rahasia has rather less than I like! And players get bored with too many empty rooms. Plus the first two encounters on Saturday were resolved peacefully (bandits - one of them was a PC's lost brother. Orcs - the half-orc cleric of Gruumsh awed them with the splendour of He Who Never Sleeps). So I've been frantically rolling the random encounter die...
ExploderWizard
Hero
Its actually kind of funny but I remember a great roleplaying adventure for 3E called "In the Belly of the Beast" from Penumbria written by none other than Mr. Mike Mearls. I really liked that adventure. It had good roleplaying conflicts, a little combat, urban exploration opportunities and a taste of the dungeon.
vagabundo
Adventurer
Short Answer: Oh God Yes...
My group is slow and we usually on get a about 1.5-2 hours of gaming a week, sometimes with multi-week breaks. So the adventures drag and I dont get my dnd fix. Plus they constantly go Off Topic - although I give them a OT break avery hour to chat.
So we get maybe two encounters done and some exploration or maybe level up. They are pretty casual players. Still I think I will need to cut down on the combats in the adventures and start doing some 1e-2e quick, battle-matless encounters to get a sense of movement and keep the battle mats for the interesting stuff.
I think the adventure writers should have less combat encounters and put more polish into the ones they include.
I'm going to experiment with some new playstyles over the next few months to see if I can get some greater movement in my stories. I get a little bored by my players sloooow pace - although it is probably my fault.
NOTE: I just told them last week I was not giving out XP anymore, I was going to track it and tell them when to level up. I am going to increase the rate of advancement.
My group is slow and we usually on get a about 1.5-2 hours of gaming a week, sometimes with multi-week breaks. So the adventures drag and I dont get my dnd fix. Plus they constantly go Off Topic - although I give them a OT break avery hour to chat.
So we get maybe two encounters done and some exploration or maybe level up. They are pretty casual players. Still I think I will need to cut down on the combats in the adventures and start doing some 1e-2e quick, battle-matless encounters to get a sense of movement and keep the battle mats for the interesting stuff.
I think the adventure writers should have less combat encounters and put more polish into the ones they include.
I'm going to experiment with some new playstyles over the next few months to see if I can get some greater movement in my stories. I get a little bored by my players sloooow pace - although it is probably my fault.
NOTE: I just told them last week I was not giving out XP anymore, I was going to track it and tell them when to level up. I am going to increase the rate of advancement.
Yeah, I have some of that Shadowrun material. Good books.
However, those aren't quite what I'm referring to. I'm thinking that churning through monsters may make for good war stories about individual battles, but after you are done, they don't look much like a story plot. I would prefer to have adventures that have more skill and social challenges, and less plain combat-for-the-sake-of-combat.
My players and I would like our adventures to resemble a novel - after the fact, when you tell the story, it isn't just about how you killed things.
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