The shared experience of D&D adventures

[MerricB]

I have a suspicion we're moving into a new era of shared-experience D&D adventures, with the success of the Adventure Paths of Dungeon Magazine, and with Wizards publishing new, and some surprisingly good, adventures.

I think that having these adventures that many people have played is very important to the D&D community. It gives us something to share beyond just playing the game.

My picks for the top shared-experience D&D adventures at the present time:

* Red Hand of Doom - an adventure that got it right, was the first major adventure from Wizards in some time, and that has the advantage of Wizards distribution

* Age of Worms Adventure Path - people were more aware of the AP idea by now, and so it's there. (STAP is not yet on the list due to its newness)

* World's Largest Dungeon - don't have it, don't want it, but it still generates buzz. Not in the league of the first two, but worth mentioning.

* Shackled City Adventure Path - see AoW notes.

Should there be more on the list? Almost certainly. From the 3e era, we sort of have Rapan Athuk, Sunless Citadel, Forge of Fury and Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. More? Hmm...

Cheers!

 

[Theron]

Years ago, I can remember going to a party Hero Games threw for subscribers to their magazine, "Adventurer's Club." Back then, there was no unified "Champions Universe" or really any setting to speak of for the Champions game. That was part of the joy, really. What we did have was a series of sourcebooks of pre-generated supervillains. And those villains were really the touchstone for the conversations shared amongst Champions players from all over the country. "How do you use Mechanon?" "What do you mean your players killed Foxbat?" And so on.

I think that's one thing that folks who don't use published adventures miss out on, the sense of a wider community of gamers playing the same stuff. Lately I've been re-reading the original Temple of Elemental Evil and I'm struck by how many little notes of what happened in the original campaign are included, and then I remember how back in the early days, we wanted to know what was happening in Gary's campaign.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this exactly. I guess it's a long "me too" post.

 

[replicant2]

Hey Merric,

I haven't played these modules and don't own any, save for a few Age of Worms paths from Dungeon. I will probably at some point pick up Red Hand of Doom due to the good press it continually receives.

But I do agree with your overall point. In my opinion, a large part of AD&D 1E's continued resonanace and loyal underground following is the quality of its adventures. There's definitely a shared community among those who have played such classics as The Village of Hommlet, Against the Giants, Descent into the Depths of the Earth, and White Plume Mountain, to name a few. You can talk to fellow 1E'rs and reminisce about fighting in Snurre's Hall, or losing that PC to Lareth the Beautiful in the old moathouse.

3E, for all its wonderful rules, has been missing that shared experience. I hope the modules you mentioned remedy that.

 

[DeadlyUematsu]

I used to avoid using prepared adventure material but then I realized that by using it, I would improve my enjoyment of the game by both easing preperation and being able to share and compare experiences with other people. So far, doing so has been very enjoyable. So I definitely agree that adventure modules and adventure paths like the ones listed above are very important to the game and I'd like to see many more in the future.

 

[Nonlethal Force]

I have never used an AP. Her's the question I have, though:

If you are playing in a game that is using the AP, do you typically read the AP and end up reading spoilers? [Or, probably more likely ... what if you play in one group and DM in another group. You DM your group through the AP and about 6 months later the group that you play in decides to do the AP. What then?]

Also, are APs diverse enough play through multiple times? Or are they one and done kind of things? [That's my main frustration with Computer RPGs. I don't like to spend money on one-and-done adventures]

 

[MerricB]

Also, are APs diverse enough play through multiple times? Or are they one and done kind of things? [That's my main frustration with Computer RPGs. I don't like to spend money on one-and-done adventures]

Well... as a DM, I could use the AP adventures many times with different groups. I wouldn't run it again with the same group. However, what I learn about adventure construction from using the AP helps me with my self-created game.

Cheers!

 

[DeadlyUematsu]

Well... as a DM, I could use the AP adventures many times with different groups. I wouldn't run it again with the same group. However, what I learn about adventure construction from using the AP helps me with my self-created game.

Cheers!

What in particular was helpful?

 

[Agamon]

In the good adventures in the APs:

*many of the encounters can be resolved in several different ways
*there is a good mix of combat, RP and problem solving
*the environment is richly described
*there is often a plot twist of some sort
*encounters are meaningful and don't feel redundant

I'd say RttToEE deserves to be on the list, as does Sunless Citidel. And though it's also new, I think Expedition to Castle Ravenloft will be a prime candidate (as the other Expedition adventures will likely also be).

 

[Agamon]

If you are playing in a game that is using the AP, do you typically read the AP and end up reading spoilers? [Or, probably more likely ... what if you play in one group and DM in another group. You DM your group through the AP and about 6 months later the group that you play in decides to do the AP. What then?]

I'm running AoW and playing in STAP. I have no interest in reading any of the STAP adventures, even though the Dungeon mags sit on my shelf. I prefer the not knowing to pretending I don't know.

Also, are APs diverse enough play through multiple times? Or are they one and done kind of things? [That's my main frustration with Computer RPGs. I don't like to spend money on one-and-done adventures]

Well, once a player has played it, it's done for him. A lot of the enjoyment of playing an AP is to figure out what exactly is going on and who's behind it (like watching a season of 24) But that "one-and-done" will take many months to play. And if you have more than one group, running it a second time for different players would probably be just as fun (maybe moreso) for the DM.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I'd say that there are more "shared experience adventures now thanks to the internet. Messageboards such as EN World and the WotC boards, have allowed D&D players from all over the globe to come together and share their experiences.

Previously you could only talk to people in your gaming group, club or those at a convention about the adventures you have played through and the experience that you had. Now I can tell a guy in the USA, Finland, and Brazil.

There are many adventures I have run that I probably wouldn't have looked at if it wasn't for the positive comments I had heard about them on these messageboards.

Olaf the Stout