Tell me about Adventure I & II [2004] from AEG

[Knightfall]

[imagel]http://www.pen-paper.net/images/rpgdb/aeg8520.jpg[/imagel][imager]http://www.pen-paper.net/images/rpgdb/aeg8521.jpg[/imager]I'm curious to see what v.3.5 fans think of "Adventure I" and "Adventure II," published by AEG in 2004.

I know the books are compilations of the Adventure Keep pamphlet adventures and they have been updated and expanded to v.3.5 but that doesn't mean the books are prime!

So, what's the tale? What makes these two books great? Or not?

Cheers!

Knightfall

 

[catsclaw227]

AEG had done a bunch of mini adventures for 3.0, a half width format, softcover. Some were good, some forgettable, but inexpensive and worth the money.

They upgraded them to 3.5 and compiled these into full adventure compendiums for Adventure I and Adventure II.

I have them both in print and PDF, from sales they ran. Super cheap, and worth every bit. Good small adventures to plop into your homebrew. Lots of different levels.

 

[Wycen]

I recall a thread here maybe from last year asking the same. I think the editor or somebody associated with the books posted.

I think the general feeling was they were better than the original pamphlets. I think they had rewritten or fixed some of the plot holes.

 

[Andre]

Pros:
Short modules - think "side treks" from the old Dungeon mag
Easy to tweak
Easy to plop into an existing campaign, or run as a one shot
Variety of levels and situations
Great for playtesting rule changes (my group used them to test various races and templates)

Cons:
Average quality - a few gems, some stinkers
Require a bit of railroading or cooperation to get the characters into the adventure
Some have significant plot holes, or situations that just don't make much sense (except in a D&D world)

Neutral:
Tend to be hack and slash, though that can be changed by a good GM

I ran a number of these, and except when playtesting, always updated the core adventure to some degree - different BBEG, different flavor, different plot hook. The nice thing is they are short enough that I could easily tweak them. In many ways these are the opposite of the AP's that seem to be so popular the past few years, and personally I found these much easier to use than AP's.

 

[Crothian]

I found the adventures to be rather hit and miss. If you can find them cheap then they are worth it.

 

[Knightfall]

I have them both in print and PDF, from sales they ran. Super cheap, and worth every bit. Good small adventures to plop into your homebrew. Lots of different levels.

Do you mind listing the adventures' names from each of the books?

 

[catsclaw227]

All the adventures are about 10-12 pages long, with very basic maps and such. Not high quality, but good ideas and as others have said, hit-or-miss.

I think I got the PDFs for $5 during a huge AEG PDF sale on RPGNow one or two years ago. The original adventures (3.0) are available on PDF for only $0.79 each right now. The Adventure and Adventure II books upgraded them to 3.5 -- with some issues, but nothing glaring.

Adventure 1
Chapter 1: Bring Him Back Alive - Lvl 1-3 - Matt Forbeck
Chapter 2: The Crypt of St. Bethesda - Lvl 1-3 - James Macduff
Chapter 3: Jerimond's Orb - Lvl 2-4 - Ree Soesbee
Chapter 4: Against the Barrow King - Lvl 3-5 - Steve Hough
Chapter 5: Castle Zadrian - Lvl 3-5 - Rich Wulf
Chapter 6: Dead Man's Cove - Lvl 3-5 - Ken Carpenter
Chapter 7: Kin and Kinsmen - Lvl 3-5 - Andrew Getting
Chapter 8: Prince, Thieves, and Goblins - Lvl 3-5 - Marcelo & Kat Figueroa
Chapter 9: The Ice Caves of Azinth - Lvl 3-5 - James Macduff
Chapter 10: The Lash of Malloc - Lvl 3-5 - Travis Heermann
Chapter 11: Honor Among Thieves - lvl 4-6 - Ree Soesbee
Chapter 12: Kerishan's Garden - lvl 4-6 - Ken Carpenter
Chapter 13: Out of Body, Out of Mind - lvl 4-6 - Patrick Kapera
Chapter 14: The Red Isle - lvl 4-6 - A.A. Acevedo
Chapter 15: Dawn of the Serpent - lvl 5-7 - Steve Hough
Chapter 16: The Last Defender - lvl 5-7 - A.A. Acevedo and J. Darby Douglas
Chapter 17: The Lost King - lvl 5-7 - Eric Steiger
Chapter 18: The Wreck of the Venerable Drake - lvl 5-7 - Douglas Sun
Chapter 19: Garadon Manor - lvl 6-8 - Patrick Kapera
Chapter 20: The Murder of the Seven Points - lvl 6-8 - Eric Yaple
Chapter 21: Sundered Faith - lvl 6-8 - Kevin Wilson
Chapter 22: The Illusionist's Daughter - lvl 7-9 - Travis Heermann
Chapter 23: Servants of the Blood Moon - lvl 9-11 - Ree Soesbee
Chapter 24: The Last Gods - lvl 10-12 - Kevin Wilson

Adventure II
City Adventures (levels 1-20 - Locations, base of operations)
Chapter 1: The Caravan City of Azul - Douglas Sun
Chapter 2: The Dark Elf City of Hosuth - Ree Soesbee
Chapter 3: The Ogre City of Drahk'Sul - Travis Heerman
Chapter 4: The Prison City of Hell's Deep - Mike Mearls

Dragon Adventures
Chapter 5: Bitter Waters - lvl 1-3 - Andrew Getting
Chapter 6: In Cold Blood - lvl 6-8 Chris Hussey
Chapter 7: Legacy of Madness - lvl 7-8 - Eric Steiger
Chapter 8: The Harbinger - lvl 9-11 - Ree Soesbee

Evil Adventures
Chapter 9: The Gauntlet - lvl 2-4 - A.A. Acevedo & Jim Pinto
Chapter 10: Folnar's Dagger - lvl 5-7 - Mike Mearls
Chapter 11: Fall From Grace - lvl 6-8 - Andrew Getting
Chapter 12: No Mercy - lvl 7-9 - Ree Soesbee

Oriental Adventures
Chapter 13: The Daisho and the Ninja - lvl 1-3 - Travis Heerman
Chapter 14: Treachery's Reward - lvl 1-3 - Rich Wulf
Chapter 15: Blood on White Petals - lvl 2-4 - Ree Soesbee
Chapter 16: Unspoken Shame - lvl 3-5 - Andrew Getting

Tomb Adventures
Chapter 17: Tomb of the Overseers - lvl 3-5 - Ken Villars & John Zinser
Chapter 18: The Temple of Eternal Flame - lvl 6-8 - Scott Fitzsimmons & Jim Pinto
Chapter 19: Temple of the Iron Codex - lvl 8-10 - Ree Soesbee
Chapter 20: The Heart of Amun Khonshu - lvl 9-11 - Kat & Marcelo Figueroa

Undead Adventures
Chapter 21: That Which Does Not Die - lvl 3-5 - Eric Steiger
Chapter 22: Covenent Hill - lvl 5-7 - Ree Soesbee
Chapter 23: The Flesh is Weak - lvl 6-8 - Travis Heerman
Chapter 24: Gottheit - lvl 9-11 - Douglas Sun

 

[Knightfall]

Thanks a lot!

 

[roguerouge]

I've run three of these: Wreck of the Venerable Drake (solid ocean voyage mystery), Jerimond's Orb (solid mystery in a starter village, new monster's a bit powerful for its level), and Bring Him Back Alive (meh.)

 

[DM_Jeff]

I recall a thread here maybe from last year asking the same. I think the editor or somebody associated with the books posted.

Ah, the memories. Yes, that was me. I'm the one who did the work on these books, restatting them, reworking the text and updating them all.

The best part is AEG really let me have free reign with little constraints, except word count (and even that was relaxed here and there). When I knew some were terribly railroady I tried easing that up, and when some had plot holes or inconsistencies I filled those in. It was a lot of fun, because I literally ran 90% of these (sometimes more than once) for my game groups back then and had personal investment in the work.

Any questions, and I'll gladly answer.

-DM Jeff