TSR Example from the worst TSR adventure module(s) ever published

[Chris Danielson]

I agree it was lacking - it was the weakest of the otherwise excellent UK series, and U1, N1 and T1 are all better starting adventures, but it was better than much of the dross that followed in the mid-late 80s.

That reminds me of I13, Adventure Pack I, from 1987 (did TSR ever make an Adventure Pack II?). It had one really great adventure (To Kill a Kraken), some really bad ones both in plot and editing (like Reign of Triumph), and some that were good plot ideas but marred by editing errors (The Circus of Gandolfo). The editing staff was just awful then; I don't know how much of it had to do with Gygax's departure from the company and the resulting Williams era.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

This is overdue to be shared again.

And don't forget to check out what happens when EN World tries to match the Forest Oracle!

 

[Schmoe]

So, I agree that looking back at this with a seasoned eye, the adventure is pretty cringeworthy and outright hilarious in places.

That being said, I remember running it as a young teenager, and we all had fun. I was already used to not being able to understand all the rules in the 1e DMG, so when I didn't understand something in the module, I just made it up! I think I decided that the nymph had been cursed to watch her lover sleep for years, and part of the curse was that she couldn't interfere. Waking the woodsman broke the curse. Easy fix, and still a fun RP encounter which was a big part of making me realize that non-combat encounters could be fun! I handwaved the whole sleep thing for the wererat ambush, because I was worried it would TPK my group of totally casual and non-optimized friends, and then I flat out ignored the part about the innkeeper knowing that they were actually wererats. "What, it was them!? I thought they were up to no good! Thank the gods ye weren't too hurt. Here, have an ale on the house." It wasn't even that hard or something that I agonized over. As it came up, if it didn't make sense I just sort of changed it.

In the end, I've always looked back fondly on this adventure as one that we had a lot of fun with. So I guess three cheers for bad adventures! They can still be a great time.

 

[Parmandur]

So, I agree that looking back at this with a seasoned eye, the adventure is pretty cringeworthy and outright hilarious in places.

That being said, I remember running it as a young teenager, and we all had fun. I was already used to not being able to understand all the rules in the 1e DMG, so when I didn't understand something in the module, I just made it up! I think I decided that the nymph had been cursed to watch her lover sleep for years, and part of the curse was that she couldn't interfere. Waking the woodsman broke the curse. Easy fix, and still a fun RP encounter which was a big part of making me realize that non-combat encounters could be fun! I handwaved the whole sleep thing for the wererat ambush, because I was worried it would TPK my group of totally casual and non-optimized friends, and then I flat out ignored the part about the innkeeper knowing that they were actually wererats. "What, it was them!? I thought they were up to no good! Thank the gods ye weren't too hurt. Here, have an ale on the house." It wasn't even that hard or something that I agonized over. As it came up, if it didn't make sense I just sort of changed it.

In the end, I've always looked back fondly on this adventure as one that we had a lot of fun with. So I guess three cheers for bad adventures! They can still be a great time.

Whelp, that's how adventure products work: toolsets, not novels.

 

[JonnyP71]

.... but when you pay for a complete set of tools, and all you get is a pretty box, the tools themselves being cheap and fragile, and only fit for the bin, there is a problem....

A few more iffy adventures - C3 - Lost Island of Castanamir. Wordy, badly edited, and messy. Woefully short for the effort required from the DM in trying to understand the damn thing.

And, a little bit of heresy maybe - I5, The Lost Tomb of Martek. A disappointing finale to a great series, should have been fleshed out to 64 pages and given a decent editor. Hickman ran rough-shod over too many rules. My players really enjoyed it, I didn't have the same pleasure while running it.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I wouldn't put Martek as a "worst" but certainly it could have used more fleshing out.

The frozen-in-time tesseract dungeon was a great piece there.

 

[JonnyP71]

The whole thing just needed more detail and more meat to it - it was a jumble of great ideas shoehorned into 32 pages. The Abyss with the shifting time and magical effects was another wonderful idea, sadly it ended up being little more than a sprint to the end with maybe a few random encounters.

Clearly Martek is far from the worst, it's not a total turkey like the Forest Oracle, but it was disappointing in its execution.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Live again, thread! LIVE!

 

[Wystan]

UNDEAD Thread!!!

 

[Ancalagon]

Best necro ever!

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