Hiya.
@
pming - note, you're talking about 1e modules and the article about 2e. I'm not sure if that 1 month time limit applied to classic modules. Then again, lots of those classic modules were pretty forgettable too, so, it's not like everything back then was wrapped in gold. Just maybe wrapped in rosy hues.
Ok, 2e modules...not so great. Then again, there were a bajillion of them, so the ratio of good:bad may skew things a bit more. Point taken.
However, the second part, the whole alluding to "rose colour glasses"? No offense to you, but this is one thing that just really nibbles my jiblettes! Every time I read something like this, it's basically saying "Oh, you like something old? You must like it because of nostalgia...". It's like anything "old" couldn't possibly also be good, because, you know, it's
old. Everyone knows that new is better. Always. :rollseyes:
No, it's not nostalgia. It's personal preference in DM'ing style and, IMHO, a superior way to write "adventures for D&D". I'd rather pay $40 for a pristine copy of, say, I1: Dwellers of the Forbidden City... than pay $40 for a band new copy of "Hoard of the Dragon Queen". Why? I feel that I1 is a *much* better adventure module in virtually every way. I've DM'ed I1 at least a half dozen times, easy. All of those with many of the same players. You know what?
Every single time that I've DM'ed it, we've had a vastly different story, feeling, outcome and overall play experience. One time involved Horan the Wizard, and a huge aerial battle involving flying carpets, fly spells, tasloi on giant wasps and summoned air elementals. Another time was very conan-esqe, with giant apes, huge snakes and savage cannibals stalking the shadow-cloaked ruined streets of the city...all while the PC's searched for the Chief's son in order to rescue him. Another time had the bullywug's on a holy crusade throughout the city..."converting or cleansing" the non-believers and sacrificing them to the Great Lake God (the Pan Lung); and the 'good guys' were the yuan-ti, trying to stop this desecration of their ancient city. I could go on and on.
The point is: older modules were written to be used by any DM and plopped into their own campaigns, fitting into their own stories. The modules were designed to be *used as a DM aid in creating a memorable game*. Nowadays, modules have done a 180; with only lip service paid to the DM 'plopping it into his own campaign'. Today's "adventure modules" should be renamed to something like "story-line books"; they expect that the DM will run it as it is, with only minor changes to the set dressing (if that). The main story has been meticulously planned out, with all the tropes of a "good story or novel". Great! ...if we were reading a story or novel. However, we are trying to
play a game based on our own choices and imagination. Can a superior DM re-write major sections of, say, Hoard of the Dragon Queen, and have it all play out well? Certainly! My point is that the older modules made this a MUCH easier thing to do...for
all DM's, not just those with oodles and oodles of experience.
Anyway, sorry for the derail a bit there. The whole "rose-coloured nostalgia glasses make old modules seem better than they are" cr@p just chafes my chicken.
^_^
Paul L. Ming