the Jester
Legend
Didn't Mearls have a hand in H2 Thunderspire Labyrinth? That's not all bad!
Hey, I'm running that (for 5e) right now, or at least an abandoned-dwarven-thanehold adaptation of it.
Didn't Mearls have a hand in H2 Thunderspire Labyrinth? That's not all bad!
In that case, I commend to you the modifications I made and linked to just a few posts upthread!Hey, I'm running that (for 5e) right now, or at least an abandoned-dwarven-thanehold adaptation of it.
I also have to suggest the HPE series as among the worst adventures ever published. While H2 and P2 were at least decent, they were major contributors to 4e's poor reception and terrible showcases for the edition's strengths. They didn't even follow the DMG's own advice.
I've used H2, P2 and E1 (for some value of "used").Bruce was already on my "beware" list because of Bastion of Broken Souls, and Heart of Nightfang Spire.
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Of the bunch I believe Demon Queen's Enclave is probably the best because it does assume that there will be serious roleplaying considerations rather than just combat assumptions
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These adventures are better used as lose frameworks to play. I have heavily adapted most of them at one point or another for use in my campaign.
Linearity, repetition, and just being plain boring is what stands out about most of them.
I also have to suggest the HPE series as among the worst adventures ever published. While H2 and P2 were at least decent, they were major contributors to 4e's poor reception and terrible showcases for the edition's strengths. They didn't even follow the DMG's own advice.
Each of them has to be looked at individually and assessed that way. All of them had some great ideas within, but were poorly executed, or not executed at all. Some of them have some of the most boring execution and linearity of all (Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress). After these adventures, I was so disappointed with Mike Mearls and Bruce Cordell, though Bruce was already on my "beware" list because of Bastion of Broken Souls, and Heart of Nightfang Spire. Which was really disappointing because Cordell was one of my favorite adventure writers with the Illithiad trilogy, and Sunless Citadel as part of his credits. (snip)
(snip) Of the bunch I believe Demon Queen's Enclave is probably the best because it does assume that there will be serious roleplaying considerations rather than just combat assumptions, which is not surprising coming from Noonan and Sims.
These adventures are better used as lose frameworks to play. I have heavily adapted most of them at one point or another for use in my campaign.
Linearity, repetition, and just being plain boring is what stands out about most of them.
Yep, I would agree whole-heartedly. Thunderspire, too, had a lot of potential for campaign play. Funny how those are tied together, too, isn't it?
Now if only the first adventures for 4e were more like Zeitgeist...
Yeah. 4e works better with fewer, but important and well designed, encounters. Much like ... well, Zeitgeist.
I think of the rest, H1, H3, and P1 are at least maybe salvageable. With work. H1 in particular starts out pretty well until you hit the actual Keep. P3 was a wreck. H3 needs some sort of civilization or town or something inside the pyramid and a better idea of what the bad guy is doing. P1 has a subtext of wildness vs. civilization that could have been better explored.
(snip) From E1 I used the poster map ... (snip)
I have a solution: Let's write our own encounters!
14. The Winter Wolf. As the party enters the clearing, they see a pile of apples. Read the description below:
The apples have no secret compartments. As the party approaches the apples, they hear a howl. A local winter wolf (AC 5; MV 18"; HD 5+1; hp 27 each; #AT 1; Dmg 1-8 [bite]; SA Surprise on 1-4, cold breath; SD immune to cold) has been collecting all the apples in the forest in order to lure prey to the clearing. If anyone takes an apple or gets too close or avoids the apples, the wolf leaps out of the pile and attacks. Roll 1d6 to determine surprise: 1-2: the party is surprised, 3-3, nobody is surprised, 3-5 the party is surprised, 6 the apples are surprised. The wolf once drank a potion of sleep, but is awake now because it is not near a pavilion. It will attempt to use its cold breath on anyone near the apples, or anyone not near the apples. After two rounds of combat wererats (AC 6; MV 12"; HD 3+1; hp 16 each; #AT 1; Dmg 1-8 [sword]; SA Surprise on 1-4; SD Hit only by silver or +1 or better magic weapons) will leap out of the secret door. Roll 1d6 for the sleep spells target.
After the party kills the wolf, they can take the apples and the golden statue of the dragon as well.
In the distance, the PCs hear the sounds of voices in the forest. When the party approaches they see two men, one clearly dressed as a fighter and the other as a rogue, having an argument.
The rogue [4 HD, 9 hp, -8 AC (leather), Attack +3 (dagger), dmg 1d4 + 1] waves his hands animatedly as he says, "I don't give a flying wererat's behind what you think, Bob, I'm going to use my bow in our next fight whether you like it or not!"
The fighter [4 HD, 16 hp, 9 AC (full plate) Attack +6 (short sword), dmg 1d6 + 3] shakes his head sadly and replies, "Then I guess you're doomed to be suboptimal forever, Pete."
If asked, Bob and Pete will reveal that they are acrobats---poor, lost, circus performers looking for a village nearby.
"I really just wanted a katana anyway," the paladin states, as it shuffles off into the dungeon. "Come on, Bob and Pete!"