How often does your GG "break" modules?

[Kheti sa-Menik]

I think some of it has to do with the preparation of the GM/DM.

I have Red Hand of Doom and have read through various arts of it a couple times. If I were to run it, I'd highlight and reread multiple times so I knew various important NPCs' actions at specific points. Most modules are only as railroady as the DM chooses to make them. If the DM knows the module inside and out, he can nudge the PCs or allow them free reign to accomplish the goal.
Red Hand of Doom: The bridge has to come down. It doesn't matter how many creatures you kill or how you do it, as long as the bridge is not useable by the enemy. If the PCs come up with a creative way to bring it down and don't kill a single creature, they still have accomplished their goal and I would give XP accordingly. It doesn't break the module.

Breaking modules is not something I really see.. besides preparation, DMs can also have an idea of the module's context against the backdrop of the campaign.
If I were to run RHoD, and the PCs did something really wacky, like abandon the quest to defeat the RHoD altogether, then the enemy wins, conquering the Elsir Vale. You can bet other parts of the campaign world will be affected by this. The RH will eventually want to sweep beyond the Vale and into other civilized lands. The PCs' actions have repercussions.

In a module with less grand a scope then RHoD, say Idylls of the Rat King by Goodman Games (one of the modules in their Dungeon Crawl Classics line), it's a fairly straightforward dungeon crawl. I took the silver mine, dropped it into a desert mountainous region, threw some thri-kreen in, and that's all that was needed. But I gave it context within the campaign. If you don't stop the raiders, the mining town you are constables of will fail, resulting in financial ruin for a few folks, and a bad reputation for the players. I know what the impact of the players will be in all outcomes, even if they try to do something module-breaking.

Module breaking is preventable by good preparation and a focus on campaign context.

 

[Crothian]

I run moduels all the time and I've never seen it happen. Running modules is an art and takes more work then some people realize or want to put it.

 

[hammerlily]

What do you mean exactly by "break" them? Do they stroll through them without a challenge? Do they point out any plot holes that might be in the module? Do they solve the problem in a way that the module writer didn't intend?

Olaf the Stout

I was thinking of "pre-written" adventures. We "break" them a lot of ways...
- solve problems in untraditional manners
- level 1 or 2 characters beating or successfully completing level 4, 5, 6 adventures
- find other stuff more interesting than the pre-written story line

Even when we roleplay characters well-suited to the adventure, our roleplaying actions & own story sometimes overtakes that included in the module... and our characters naturally choose actions that would take the storyline in another direction. This occurs with characters that are only a few games old... as well as characters that have been played for years...

 

[hammerlily]

My group always breaks them.. either through beligerant questioning of things which have nothing to do with the story, or through 'creative' thinking.

Sounds like us!

That and two of them stole the item they were supposed to recover because they figured they could sell it for a much higher price than they were being offered to retrieve it.

Mmmmm.. hmmm!

 

[Crothian]

I was thinking of "pre-written" adventures. We "break" them a lot of ways...
- solve problems in untraditional manners
- level 1 or 2 characters beating or successfully completing level 4, 5, 6 adventures
- find other stuff more interesting than the pre-written story line

How is any of that breaking a module? I rarely see a module that assumes the players complete it in a certain way. If low level characters are having that easy a time with mid level modules then I think the DM isn't challenging you enough or using the abiulitied of the opponents properly. And if a DM wants to get the players involved in a pre writen story line that bores the players, again the DM is at fault. If the DM can't present a plot line in a way that interests the players then perhaps he is just choosing the wrong modules for those players or something.

 

[hammerlily]

IME, Players break modules far less often than DMs.

From your comments on the various modules, you must have a fair knowledge of them... Why would a DM "break" a module?
- Not thinking fast enough on their feet
- thinking in 2d space vs. 3d space (battlemap movement vs. movement in a room)
- allowing players too much latitude or allowing players to bully them into it... etc

I think some of it has to do with the preparation of the GM/DM.

I have Red Hand of Doom and have read through various arts of it a couple times. If I were to run it, I'd highlight and reread multiple times so I knew various important NPCs' actions at specific points. Most modules are only as railroady as the DM chooses to make them. If the DM knows the module inside and out, he can nudge the PCs or allow them free reign to accomplish the goal.

I've heard some GMs have a mental decision tree... kind of if this... then this or this... option 2... then this.... has any one ever seen a module that has this laid out visually as a short hand view of the adventure? I'm a very visual person.

In a module with less grand a scope then RHoD, say Idylls of the Rat King by Goodman Games (one of the modules in their Dungeon Crawl Classics line), it's a fairly straightforward dungeon crawl. I took the silver mine, dropped it into a desert mountainous region, threw some thri-kreen in, and that's all that was needed.

Does having to "remake" a module bug you then?

...I gave it context within the campaign. If you don't stop the raiders, the mining town you are constables of will fail, resulting in financial ruin for a few folks, and a bad reputation for the players. I know what the impact of the players will be in all outcomes, even if they try to do something module-breaking.

Good thought! I think fitting the context of the campaign iis a key to gaining that player buy-in and helps minimize wholesale storyline changes... kind of like damage control in advance.

 

[hammerlily]

I run moduels all the time and I've never seen it happen. Running modules is an art and takes more work then some people realize or want to put it.

Ooohhhh Crothian... sounds like we need to play a game!

 

[Crothian]

Ooohhhh Crothian... sounds like we need to play a game!

It's never just that simple. One has to know the group and their play style and then find a module that mataches that. I imagine some people are trying to play tennis with baseball equipment. The wrong module with the wrong group has to be like that.

 

[werk]

Running modules is an art and takes more work then some people realize or want to put it.

I heartily agree with that statement.

 

[hammerlily]

How is any of that breaking a module? I rarely see a module that assumes the players complete it in a certain way. If low level characters are having that easy a time with mid level modules then I think the DM isn't challenging you enough or using the abiulitied of the opponents properly. And if a DM wants to get the players involved in a pre writen story line that bores the players, again the DM is at fault. If the DM can't present a plot line in a way that interests the players then perhaps he is just choosing the wrong modules for those players or something.

I guess I'm not thinking wholesale breakdown.. can't complete the module because we ruined something in the beginning that we needed at the end type of thing... But breaking in that we don't seem to do what the module anticipates that the characters will do... given the set of circumstances given.

Re: low level characters & DM not challenging enough...
Our DMs challenge us aplenty... we are often outdiced and outgunned. They know the NPCs and Monsters better than we do. Where we seem to make up the ground is through team work & using the abilities of our team members well.

Our characters don't roleplay because they are bored.. but because they enjoy it. It adds to our fun, and our DMs reward that kind of initiative.

I think the observations others have made about really knowing the module well before hand & modifying it for campaign context are keys. Still, I think the phenomenon of module breaking comes about in part because of sloppy writing...

For example, does the writer of the module "put words & actions" in the characters mouths that are uncharacteristic of an individual thrust into such a setting? Does the writer assume some foreknowledge of key events? Is the plot contrived... and hard to move forward without the GM interjecting a lot of commentary?