You Don’t Have To Leave Wolfy Behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' Your Companions Level Up With You!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Akrasia" data-source="post: 2515223" data-attributes="member: 23012">Some of my favourite published products for D&D include the old B2 (Keep on the Borderlands) and L1 (Secret of Bone Hill) modules. One of the things that I really like about those modules is that they essentially give the DM a relatively compact setting with plenty of interesting adventure locations -- plus room to add your own ideas. Adventures using those modules do not need to involve any 'plot', or the 'plot' that does emerge can be created by the DM and/or her/his players as they play through the module. Similarly, I also really love ICE's classic 'Middle-earth' campaign guides from the 1980s and early 1990s (Arnor, Angmar, Mirkwood, etc.). Those campaign guides, in addition to including the most beautiful maps ever produced for FRPGs, provide the GM with an overview of the main towns, fortresses, ruins, etc. of the region in question. They also include a few adventure ideas, plus lots of NPC stats. However, what actually happens is up to the GM and his/her players. Current products that have similar qualities include Necromancer's 'Lost City of Barrakus' and, I believe, Gygax's upcoming 'Castle Zagyg', as well as the new 'Wilderlands' box set from Judges' Guild. In contrast to these 'setting-based' modules and campaign books, I rather dislike the original Dragonlance series produced by TSR. Those modules were all heavily plot-driven, and seem terribly 'railroady' as a consequence. Similarly, I've been reading through the new 'Ashes of the Damned' series for WFRP 2e (the sample adventure in the core book, as well as the 'Ashes of Middenheim' book), and am starting to think that I will not run it. I really love WFRP 2e, but this series strikes me as a railroad (at least so far). So, in my experience, it seems hard for 'plot-driven' adventures to avoid being 'railroads' -- i.e. adventures that require the DM to 'push' her/his players down a specific, pre-established path. At least I cannot think of any plot-driven module or campaign product that avoids this quality. Maybe I simply prefer products that let me, as GM, come up with the plots on my own -- or improvise in response to the players' actions -- but give me the resources to do so (i.e. provide me with an interesting setting, stats, maps, etc.).What are other people's views on this? Are there examples of 'plot-driven' adventures that avoid the 'railroad trap'? If so, what are they? Thanks! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f60e.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":cool:" title="Cool    :cool:"  data-smilie="6"data-shortname=":cool:" /></blockquote>

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