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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Azgulor" data-source="post: 5651618" data-attributes="member: 14291">Short version: Yes, they did it better.Long version:While I think that modules like Ravenloft and the Desert of Desolation series showed that the US could do good story-driven adventures in interesting settings with interesting characters, the UK series did it first (or at least I was exposed to them first).U-Series  Saltmarsh is classic.  It's probably my favorite 1st-level module of all time.  The others in the series are also good, however, they were different than U1 or the traditional dungeon-crawl fare being produced at the time.  U2 had a wide range of outcomes depending on whether it was run as a simple monster lair or run as a community of beings defending their home (civilization vs. displaced natives).  U3 introduces the challenge of underwater considerations and, IMO, has yet to be beat for handling it (no gimmicky pseudo-submarine crap or other nonsense).  The only times U2 & U3 didn't shine are the times that I ran it poorly.The Alderweg series.[/B]  Great adventures taken separately & an excellent pair taken together.  Iconic for having to storm a castle and then defend it.  Also iconic for showing my inexperienced DM eyes how to approach giants as an intelligent force and the first in-game example of the Fantasy Bad Guy Army.When a Star Falls.  Probably my favorite adventure locale.  The Tower of the Heavens just seemed (and still does) so iconic -- the settlement of oracles that people travel to in search of wisdom, power, enlightenment, etc.  The history and dynamics of the place just rock.  Even if the adventure in total doesn't appear, the Tower of the Heavens has made an appearance in every campaign I've run since I first ran this module.Eye of the Serpent.  Compared to the ones above, I considered it a so-so module.  However, I dusted it off, updated it to PF, and ran it for my kids as their intro adventure.  I was impressed by home much detail it had and it held up remarkably well.If I had to boil it down to one reason why the UK authors did it better, it's because they challenged me as a DM. The backstory, characters, plot all combined in a way that every adventure was memorable if I treated it as more than a dungeon crawl.  I think I would have arrived at that eventually, but these modules were like an express lane for an inexperienced DM.  It benefited my players, as well as myself.  Great, great stuff.</blockquote>

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