D&D 3E/3.5 the worst thing about 4e is the best thing about 3e...

[Mistwell]

Older edition adventures are a goldmine for running 4e. The most time-consuming part of fleshing out an adventure was always (to me) statting out the combat encounters. With access to the online compendium and the ease of adjusting creatures, 4e reduces that time investment substantially.

While I don't expect wotc will publish 4e stats for all their 5e adventures like they are with the Sundering campaign, I still feel they will be a valuable resource for the 4e DM.

For me, the biggest problem I ran into with adapting older adventurers to 4e was the small rooms and corridors. 4e powers assume a lot more room to maneuver than older editions, and I found many old adventures and modules simply didn't work great with those powers. Which is OK, but it also meant that newer good adventures were more in demand. And, that was rare. I mean this site right here made some great adventures for 4e, but aside from EnWorld, third party support was not strong, and WOTC's own published adventures were not particularly strong on average either.

 

[Mistwell]

Really? I haven't tried, but 5e characters seem much stronger (at least 1-10). You run into any problems?

They're really not, since you're using the 5e monster stats instead of the 1e/2e stats as well. This is why WOTC put out conversion notes for many 1e modules - it was pretty easy to do.

 

[Warbringer]

They're really not, since you're using the 5e monster stats instead of the 1e/2e stats as well. This is why WOTC put out conversion notes for many 1e modules - it was pretty easy to do.

Doh .... yeah, makes sense.

 

[Blackbrrd]

In my opinion the adventures are really important when it comes to "selling" the system The adventures shows how you can run a game. If the adventures are bad, they only show you how to run a bad game. I really hope they spend some time on the first adventures for 5e showing how it can be used.

3e had some good and bad adventures. I remember running Return to the Temple of whatever and realizing I just don't like adventures like that. I also ran Red Hand of Doom which was part of the best campaign I have run.

4e's first adventures were pretty mediocre and didn't show how to run the new skill challenges and were a big disappointment to me. I also ran the first module of War of the Burning Sky which I really enjoyed which among other things had skill challenges that ran much better than I thought they would. I am going to try to run two of the later modules, Madness at Gardmoore Abbey and Reavers of Harkenworld and I think they will be at least good.

Anyway, I agree with the OP, adventure support in 4e hasn't impressed me at all. I hope 5e does a much better job and I think it will be crucial to it's success.

 

[Wicht]

WotC is unlikely to release anything for free. Although it may be "free" to DDI subscribers.

As to the original topic, I don't think Pathfinder would have been anywhere near as successful without the incredible adventure support - mainly from Paizo, but also from FGG and others. (For me personally, I find FGG's adventures to be the cream of the crop.)

I initially went with Pathfinder, not just because I disliked most of what I was seeing from 4e, but because Paizo won me over with their initial AP. So yes, Pathfinder's success can be partially attributed to adventures.

 

[CM]

For me, the biggest problem I ran into with adapting older adventurers to 4e was the small rooms and corridors. 4e powers assume a lot more room to maneuver than older editions, and I found many old adventures and modules simply didn't work great with those powers.

True, one thing I hadn't considered since I usually redraw maps on-the-fly when setting the table for an encounter anyway (if it's indoor). Drawing them at double scale helps too.

 

[Jester David]

BTW,what is the Chaos Scar?

The Chaos Scar was the follow-up adventure series to Scales of War started by Steve Winter when he took over as Editor-in-Chief ofthe magazines.

It was meant to be a giant sandbox, similar to the Caves of Chaos. There was a map with a number of locations posted and the idea was people would submit short adventures, encounters, or scenes for the various caves and locales. So players could just look at the map and say "let's go there" and the DM could flip to that adventure and play.

However, shortly after it's launch the D&D Brand refocused as Mearls took over and the work on 5e silently began. They decided to focus on "story" and small little sandbox encounters didn't mesh with that new vision. The content petered out, and the few remaining adventures started having hooks and stories on rails.
It was also an ambitious project that required constant attention and communication with the fans and freelancers to coordinate who was doing what and what was open for pitches. I believe at this time WotC also changed their procedure regarding pitching to the magazine from "anytime" to "twice a year" which made the Chaos Scar a little more forgettable when thinking of bi-annual pitches.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

They're really not, since you're using the 5e monster stats instead of the 1e/2e stats as well. This is why WOTC put out conversion notes for many 1e modules - it was pretty easy to do.

How comprehensive is the roster? I'm running 2E's Ruins of Greyhawk now and think ahead to monsters such as the jermlaine that weren't carried forward into 3E or 4E. Are some of the more obscure monsters included?

 

[Echohawk]

[...] think ahead to monsters such as the jermlaine that weren't carried forward into 3E or 4E.

The jermlaine appears on page 131 of the 3e Monster Manual II. It doesn't seem to have appeared in 4E though.

 

[innerdude]

But I have a family, and prep and game time is minimal. I love having the ability to quickly find a good pre-made adventure and PLAY, NOT PREP.

With D&D NEXT, this is biggest hurdle for me to adopt the system. Quality adventure support and ease of running off the cuff is a must.

Looks pointedly at [MENTION=26651]amerigoV[/MENTION] --- What is this "lack of prep time" you allude to? Having to spend large amounts of time converting material? Difficulty running "off the cuff?"

Let me help you out with that, JeffB --- The Answer to Your Problems