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Message: <blockquote data-quote="moticon" data-source="post: 1687545" data-attributes="member: 20701">This is a great thread. I've enjoyed reading it because I've been doing a lot of thinking about this same problem lately.  I think I'm a decent DM, I design adventures that have been enjoyed by all and the game sessions are fun and amicable, with lots of challenges. However, I have felt recently that I'd like to find a way to balance my desire to be well prepared against the natural result that you tend to need the PC's to go to where you're ready for them to go.So I decided on a compromise of sorts. It will take more work, but in the end I think it will be worth it. The current campaign is the basic "find multiple peices to a make something that will accomplish a goal." Originally I had planned out the entire thing, but now what I'm doing is more compartmentalized :1 ) I'm mapping out where each item is, and roughly what the surrounding characters, environs, and motiviations are for that part of the puzzle.  The PC's can choose how they learn about the different peices they need, and then through divination, luck, information, or research figure out where they want to go.  I'm trying to determine if I'll balance on teh fly, or let them walk into a seriously bad (for them) situation hoping they'll run when it gets too tough.2) I added significant political elements throughout the realm that are moving in reaction to the change in overall power structure should the PC's accomplish their goal.  For each of these groups I had to build out NPC's, associates, motivations, and I planned a timetable into the next 3 months (world time) for what they might be doing. I've developed a calendar structure with key dates and actions that will be taken. Of course, the PC's may or may not affect/change these actions. And if they are in the right/wrong place at the right/wrong time it could get very interesting. It will add a significant element of the importance of them staying on task or letting things get out of hand. It will also add some interesting choices for them to try and figure out what's what, and how they'll react.  3) They will probably figure out the BBEG they need to confront sooner than I would have let them learn it my old way, but now the choice will be theirs when they go confront him/her. And of course, thanks to his own spies and actions, he may or may not be ready as well.It's going to be alot more fun for all of us, and a lot more work up front for me, but I think it will be worth it.With all this in mind, my response to the original question is that pre-written dungeons/adventures still have a place for many reasons so it's not a problem for me to use them.  But the creme-de-la-creme will be when someone writes an epic adventure with all these plot elements and significant freedom for the PC's. It would probably be 200-300 pages though, and I don't know about the economics of it for publishers. Mine is only about 25% finished and with maps and writeups (no statblocks) it's already over 75 pages long.Moticon.</blockquote>

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