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Message: <blockquote data-quote="SiderisAnon" data-source="post: 3508973" data-attributes="member: 44949">You are most definitely not alone in these concerns. I tend to find reading a lot of modules, particularly those which claim to have an "old school" flavor, to be a combination of very humorous and very painful. While this certainly does not apply to all modules, I have seen a lot of ridiculous item placements in module. What always boggles my mind is when a module is otherwise very well written and creative, but then it seems that the Crazy Treasure Fairy came through and sprinkled random items through the area.I was recently reading a module from a set I had purchased where there were in a house that was the main adventure area, there was some powerful magic item like a Helm of Telepathy or something equally silly in a closet and a set of magical thieves tools in the study or den. In another adventure, random farmer #6 had a 50 gp gem in his pocket while he was out in the field.On the other hand, some modules find ways to put treasure in logically. I recently purchased "Castle Zadrian" from AEG. The treasures they placed there are generally  possessions of the encounters in the area, or have a logical reason for being around. (I don't want to give details because it would be spoilers.)Personally, I think the video game mentality is part of why some of these modules are written that way. Players get used to the idea that when you kill a monster, there is treasure in the room, even if it has nothing to do with the monster. Plus, anything that isn't nailed down belongs to the PCs. (I just recently had to break a new player of that mentality. The party had caught a grave robber and recovered some items that came from the graves. The PC started pocketing everything. I and the other players had to point out that the treasure was actually evidence. It took us a couple of encounters like this for the player to finally realize that the stuff that "drops" when a creature dies isn't always the reward -- in the above case it was the coin the local lord paid the party for recovering the items, plus reward money from one of the wealthy families whose crypts were robbed.)Now, within video games, that's how I like it. When I play Neverwinter, that's how things work and it's probably how things should work. It just doesn't translate well into pen and paper gaming.In all honesty, this is one of the biggest problems I have with most modules. I hate paying $10 or $15 for a night or maybe two of usefulness. Plus, since I tend to play with the same people over and over, once I've used a module, I'm unlikely to ever have a chance to use it again -- at least not for years to come. I'd rather put that money into ink for my printer for handouts I create or into buying miniatures I can use over and over.I think the only paper module I've bought in the past five years is "The Transmuter's Last Touch" from Goodman Games, which is designed to get you to try their modules and is priced at only $2.00. (I found it to be a really amusing adventure, too.) It's also available for that price in PDF.Where I have found value is in PDF modules. There are older modules that are either priced well below the original cover price or go on sale. I don't mind spending $4 for a module. I also buy collections. When you can get 10 modules for $20 or something similar, there's greater value.I probably wouldn't ever buy modules except that I've been gaming with some of my friends for too many years and they find they can predict me. I buy a module, use the core of it for the adventure, and then wing the rest. (Though that's probably wandering off topic.)</blockquote>

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