D&D 5E I can’t seem to DM written adventures.

[rgoodbb]

I can’t DM written adventures.

Not sure why but when I get my hands on an adventure that someone else has written, it turns me off DM’ing. It’s not that I can’t understand the writing (although some could do with an editor’s clean-up), and it’s not that I haven’t bought a lot of material/adventures, but when it’s someone else’s words and style and creative imagination, I just can’t seem to do it. Something doesn’t work for me. So I’m just doing homebrew little one-shots or three-shots before another DM takes the next big adventure on. Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy to play and I just chip in sometimes when a DM needs a break.

Not complaining. It's not a problem. Just curious if I am alone here or does this chime with anyone else?

 

[aco175]

I do not think it is uncommon. I have run a couple of the campaigns Wizards has put out like Princes of the Apocalypse (PotA) and found some of the same thing. There were parts that I did not like the writing or not quite understanding the intent in other locations. Some parts I would make up more NPCs or monster types to enhance the encounters. I would also modify the items and locations to fit my campaign more and more as the levels added up.

I'm also guessing that some/most of the adventures I put on DMsGuild might be the same way when someone else buys the product. I know what I meant when writing and understand the trap or the item, but a new person might not. I feel adventures should have some modification needed to fit each specific campaign and DM, but leave enough to be able to run it without wholescale changes. I think the reason people get the pre-published stuff is to save time and making me spend the same amount of time changing it becomes not worth it anymore.

There may also be a problem with the scale of the adventures. I buy a 1 night adventure as a side quest and feel that it can be run for the most part as is. If I buy a 300 page campaign, I find the longer it goes, the more changes it needs. That can be tiresome. I vote for smaller modules of 1-2 levels but the money is in the bigger books.

 

[dave2008]

I have a similar problem. Every time I try to run a published adventure it feels ridiculous to me. However, i will also so that I can't always understand why things are the way they are and the layout often doesn't seem helpful to me.

 

[MichaelSomething]

I always wonder how adventures written by people who don't like pre written adventures would look like...

 

[iserith]

I can't run them without significant hacking because of the way they structure things. This is partciularly true of plot-based adventures which I find very weird to DM since you have to hide the plot then hope you can still somehow funnel the PCs down it. It's really not for me. I've found that OSR adventures are actually way better than WotC adventures, both in structure and presentation. So I'm more inclined to get those and convert them to D&D 5e than try to hack apart a WotC adventure built for the system. Sometimes OSR adventures have a D&D 5e version, but I find those authors don't really seem to understand the system as well, so it's clunky. I'd rather do it myself.

Otherwise, they sometimes have the odd gem of an idea, which I'm happy to steal and claim as my own.

 

[dave2008]

I can't run them without significant hacking because of the way they structure things. This is partciularly true of plot-based adventures which I find very weird to DM since you have to hide the plot then hope you can still somehow funnel the PCs down it. It's really not for me. I've found that OSR adventures are actually way better than WotC adventures, both in structure and presentation. So I'm more inclined to get those and convert them to D&D 5e than try to hack apart a WotC adventure built for the system. Sometimes OSR adventures have a D&D 5e version, but I find those authors don't really seem to understand the system as well, so it's clunky. I'd rather do it myself.

Otherwise, they sometimes have the odd gem of an idea, which I'm happy to steal and claim as my own.

What you describe seems very similar to my issues with adventure designs (any really, not just WotC or Paizo or Chaosium). How are OSR adventures formatted better so that they are easier for you to run.

 

[rgoodbb]

I must say this is indeed both comforting to hear that is not just me, but also disheartening to hear as it seems there might be a problem with the way adventures are written at their basic core.

Is this individual inelegance or an issue due to the standard set-out/set-up of what is written I wonder

 

[iserith]

What you describe seems very similar to my issues with adventure designs (any really, not just WotC or Paizo or Chaosium). How are OSR adventures formatted better so that they are easier for you to run.

Often they are written with bullet points, some that are even on the map itself, instead of long paragraphs of prose. This makes it easier to run at the table. Also they tend to be location-based, not plot-based, so it doesn't usually include a lot of assumptions about what the PCs will or must do, which players being players is never a guarantee.

 

[Shadowdweller00]

I don't know if it helps at all, but at least as long as you're not trying to run Adventurer's League or something similar, you're entirely free to introduce your own NPCs, plots, subplots, and the like on top of the published material. You can substitute or replace stuff with your own homebrew variants if you like, substitute adventure locations for other stuff, move things around however you personally see fit.

 

[iserith]

I must say this is indeed both comforting to hear that is not just me, but also disheartening to hear as it seems there might be a problem with the way adventures are written at their basic core.

Is this individual inelegance or an issue due to the standard set-out/set-up of what is written I wonder

Personally I suspect it's because if you're selling a product to DMs, it needs to be interesting to read and fill up a certain page count. In general, I would say WotC adventures are more interesting to read than some of the more simplified OSR modules. But to me, the play experience is the thing, not the time I spend on the toilet reading the module, so the latter are going to be my preference.

 

[Oofta]

You're not alone. I did AL for quite a while, I've tried a couple of published adventures and it just doesn't work for me. I just want to go off script way too often for one thing. Unless you have everything memorized you don't know what you're going to screw up.

I'd rather do my own sandbox campaign. It works better and, frankly, it's a ton less work for me.

 

[rgoodbb]

I don't know if it helps at all, but at least as long as you're not trying to run Adventurer's League or something similar, you're entirely free to introduce your own NPCs, plots, subplots, and the like on top of the published material. You can substitute or replace stuff with your own homebrew variants if you like, substitute adventure locations for other stuff, move things around however you personally see fit.

Appreciate that mate. I get excited by an adventure, buy it, start reading and then find myself puffing my cheeks out with the occasional head-scratch wondering why I bothered really. I think this just tells me to stop buying a lot of other's stuff apart from just reference and inspiration that will aid me in homebrew.

 

[dave2008]

Often they are written with bullet points, some that are even on the map itself, instead of long paragraphs of prose. This makes it easier to run at the table. Also they tend to be location-based, not plot-based, so it doesn't usually include a lot of assumptions about what the PCs will or must do, which players being players is never a guarantee.

Ok, that is very helpful and sounds like it might fit my style better. Thank you! Any good OSR adventure suggestions I could check out to see this style in action?

 

[dave2008]

Appreciate that mate. I get excited by an adventure, buy it, start reading and then find myself puffing my cheeks out with the occasional head-scratch wondering why I bothered really. I think this just tells me to stop buying a lot of other's stuff apart from just reference and inspiration that will aid me in homebrew.

I don't know if you read post #8, but what @iserith describes seems like it might help me and possible you. I think I will check one out and take a look to see if it makes more sense to me.

 

[OB1]

Though I don't run them very often (I typically buy them to read and get ideas from), when I do I tend to use them more as jumping off points than try to follow them exactly. Some adventures (like CoS and LoX) are easier to do this with than others. I also make sure that the players really buy into the adventure hook in session 0 and create characters who will want to follow the path till the end.

 

[rgoodbb]

I don't know if you read post #8, but what @iserith describes seems like it might help me and possible you. I think I will check one out and take a look to see if it makes more sense to me.

Thanks Guys. Do you know if the OSR's require a lot of conversion?

 

[iserith]

Ok, that is very helpful and sounds like it might fit my style better. Thank you! Any good OSR adventure suggestions I could check out to see this style in action?

There's a bunch, but check out Hot Springs Island, Neverland, or even smaller adventures like Winter's Daughter. If you watch the Questing Beast YouTube channel, he does reviews of a ton of adventures and you can see which ones you prefer.

 

[Arilyn]

Often they are written with bullet points, some that are even on the map itself, instead of long paragraphs of prose. This makes it easier to run at the table. Also they tend to be location-based, not plot-based, so it doesn't usually include a lot of assumptions about what the PCs will or must do, which players being players is never a guarantee.

There is also a lot of really imaginative stuff coming out of the OSR. I didn't think I cared about the OSR but I was wrong.

 

[iserith]

Thanks Guys. Do you know if the OSR's require a lot of conversion?

Very easy in my experience. Just sub in monster stat blocks and you're good to go.

 

[Arilyn]

Thanks Guys. Do you know if the OSR's require a lot of conversion?

Neverland is actually a 5e product, written in the OSR style and there is a 5e version of Winter's Daughter, converted by Gavin himself.