third party adventure modules. what's worth buying?

[s.j. bagley]

i've been impressed with the stuff from goodman games, so far but i'm curious as to what's out there that's worth looking into for a dm and collector.
any suggestions?
(printed only, please.)

 

[jdrakeh]

Some of the HackMaster stuff is surprisingly good (even if it requires some conversion to use with D&D3x). I quite enjoyed Slaughterhouse Indigo and Little Keep on the Borderlands, myself. As for actual third-party D&D modules, the initial lot of In the Belly of the Beast, Thieves in the Forest, and Three Days to Kill (all published by Atlas Games) are quite good. And Ascension of the Magdalene from Atlas (a crossover Unknown Armies/D&D module) is very clever. Then you have the mega-modules of Rappan Athuk Reloaded and The World's Largest Dungeon (both very cool). Other than that (and a handful of DCC modules that you probably already own), I'm drawing a blank.

 

[howandwhy99]

You mention Goodman Games. Necromancer and Paizo, of course, are the two other popular adventure publishers. Necromancer's Judges' Guild material is top notch.

Kalamar's adventures can be hit or miss, but the amount of material in each one is higher than any other publisher in the 3E era. Lots of appendices, maps, and show-the-players pictures in each one.

The Hackmaster stuff, though it would need a little conversion, is really overlooked for the quality of adventure material within.

If you can mod adventure without too much difficulty, I suggest going back and looking at what the previous 30 years of RPGs offers. There are more excellent modules pre-2000 than post. As someone who owns about 300 published d20 adventures (more including Dungeon mag), take my word for it.

 

[s.j. bagley]

that's two votes for the 'hackmaster' stuff, which surprises me a bit.
i'd always ignored them due to just how incredibly goofy the cover art and back text are.
i'll look into them, though.
'I suggest going back and looking at what the previous 30 years of RPGs offers. There are more excellent modules pre-2000 than post.'
indeed! i have a pretty decent collection of modules from earlier editions (i didn't really start collecting third party 3.0/3.5 until pretty recently) and i'm just wondering what's flown under my radar in the past few years.

 

[diaglo]

Of Sound Mind 2

the return of the goodness.

due out... well... when Kevin Kulp gets off his phat arse.

 

[Voadam]

Necromancer
Kenzer Co.
Atlas
Malhavok
Fiery Dragon
Mystic Eye Games
Paizo
Green Ronin

Those are companies whose adventures I'd check out.

 

[Alzrius]

Another vote for Necromancer Games. Seriously, those guys produce top-notch adventures. I pretty much judge all other mega-dungeons by the yardstick of Rappan Athuk Reloaded.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

i've been impressed with the stuff from goodman games, so far but i'm curious as to what's out there that's worth looking into for a dm and collector.
any suggestions?
(printed only, please.)

Caverns of Thracia (Judges Guild/Necromancer)
Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor (Judges Guild/Goodman)
Rappan Athuk (Necromancer)
Demons & Devils (Necromancer) - probably hard to find
Lost City of Barakus (Necromancer)
Coils of Set (Necromancer)
Tomb of Abysthor (Necromancer) - probably hard to find
Tower of Jhedophar (Necromancer)
Gary Gygax's Necropolis (Necromancer)
Pod Caverns of the Sinister Shroom (XRP) [OSRIC]
Cairn of the Skeleton King (Pied Piper) [1E]
Tower of Blood (Pied Piper) [1E]

 

[GAAAHHH]

Doom of Listonshire from Necromancer Games. This is a very cool adventure.

Any of the Dungeon Crawl Classics from Goodman games. My currently planned adventure path is
Idylls of the Rat King
Legacy of the Savage Kings
The Sunless Garden
The Blackguard's Revenge
Assault on Stormbringer Castle
Crypt of the Devil Lich
with Dungeon Interludes in between adventures. Of course, I have enough adventures to change this if the party doesn't want to go this way.

 

[amethal]

I like the Penumbra ones (Atlas Games?)

They have a lot of good writers, like Mike Mearls and Keith Baker.

I've been looking for a chance to run The Ebon Mirror for ages.