What are the classic adventure modules of 3E? (with a tally!)

[Nightfall]

Then lets not forget my company's September 2002 printed release of White Robes, Black Hearts: Enigma of the Arcanexus (the pdf did pretty well with the critics. You should look up the ratings it received).

Trust me Darrin. I definately enjoyed it and so did my players.

 

[Balrog]

I have to say i think that Nemorens Vault was very good, and so too was the Crucible of Freya. My players had a lot of fun with the latter, as well as the introductory tie-in, the Wizards Amulet. I dont know if they are classic, but time will tell.

I have to say I was originally disappointed with the Freeport series, but I dont think the adventure was at fault. Our group was. We were all new to 3rd Edition, and on top of that we let a player without much DMing experience run it. (dont ask why) In retrospect, I would like to return to it soon, because of the numerous accolades i hear from you good people.

I DMed Sunless Citadel and Forge of Fury when they came out and everyone seemed to enjoy them. Like i said before , i dont know if that makes em a classic, but from our perspective i think they were. The Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil was OK, but lasted too long for me. I didnt DM it, but i did enjoy it as a player. It just seemed a tad too long for me, or maybe it was the fact that some of our party members hacked everything that moved!! Diplomacy and Charisma were wasted in that one, at least IOC.

 

[Tharkun]

What makes a mod a classic anyway? And are you counting official conversions from older editions?

 

[DPGDarrin]

Trust me Darrin. I definately enjoyed it and so did my players.

Thanks for the kind words Nightfall

As far as what defines a classic... In D&D terms, I think its something that you will remember in 10 years, and something that transcends what edition you are playing. Examples from the past, regardless of which edition, for me would be:

The Temple of Elemental Evil
The Tomb of Horrors
Return to the Tomb of Horrors
Desert of Desolation
Ravenloft
Ruins of Adventure (Pool of Radiance)
Curse of the Azure Bonds.

 

[Olive]

I think Of Sound Mind has a shot once it's out a little longer. Great module with some interesting unique bits. It can handle many levels too, so it should get used more.

doesn't it use psionics? that should keep it out of the true classic category, cos too many people don't use psionics

 

[Agamon]

My favs from 1st edition:

The Slavers series
Secret of Bone Hill
Ravenloft
The Sentinal/Gauntlet series
Against the Cult of the Reptile God
Tomb of the Lizard King

1E mods that are over-rated, IMO

GDQ - Pretty dull. The premise is good, and if it were fleshed out and some color added, it might not be too bad. The Queen of Spiders reprint did a bit to help, but not enough, IMO.

Keep on the Borderlands - I have fond memories of this adventure, who of us that were around back then doesn't? But, geez, it really is quite lame...

The DL series - Afraid I have to disagree with the poster that liked the DL mods. They were the precursor to all those really bad choo-choo train 2E mods that tried to tell a story while the PCs were pulled through by the nose to witness it. Blah. The books were a great read, though. All the other 1E/2E mods based on books or gold box PC games all pretty much sucked, too, IMO.

Tomb of Horrors - I had, and still have, a problem with deathtraps. Maybe it was fine for a one-nighter side adventure with PCs you don't give a hoot about, but I don't like playing that way. And to put a PC you've built up from 1st level into something like that is crazy.

3E? Well, from the sounds of it, I need to check out Freeport.

I liked Sunless Citidel (I don't play often, but I got to play through that, and it was fun). Haven't played, or even read all the way through, any of the other Adventure Path mods, even though I have most of them. They don't fit well into my campaign. Even with a bunch of work, they wouldn't fit very well, unlike numerous Dungeon adventures I've run from recent issues.

RttToEE isn't really my cup of tea, though it looks well put together, I just don't have the patience to run a single adventure that pretty much lasts the party's entire career. Dungeon crawls can be okay, as long as they don't drag on forever.

 

[Selganor]

I started a thread in my favorite (german) Webhangout GroFaFo with some recommendations for d20 adventures and must admit that all three I mentioned so far are going to my "classics"-list:

- NeMoren's Vault (as it got me "hooked" to Fiery Dragon's colorful background... check out the deities on their new website to see what I mean)

- Crucible of Freya (I spent about 6-8 sessions with my group on this adventure and it's surroundings)

- Of Sound Mind (Does a GREAT job to introduce Psionics, but if your group doesn't like it, you might just drop it alltogether after the adventure is done...)

Can't remember any other d20 adventures so far without at least SOME negative thoughts...

 

[Plane Sailing]

doesn't it use psionics? that should keep it out of the true classic category, cos too many people don't use psionics

Comes with an easy guide for converting it to use without psionics should you so desire.

I think it deserves to become a classic, but I expect that it won't get the exposure, which is a shame.

I imagine that most of the WotC "adventure path" modules will be considered to be the classics in ten years time!

 

[Numion]

I have all the WotC modules, and I think that Cordells work might be worth the status:

The Sunless Citadell
The Heart of Nightfang Spire
The Bastion of Broken Souls

Especially Nightfang Spire seems to pack the punch for a classic. Nowadays though lethality can't be the only claim to fame, since CRs and ELs are make it easy to classify modules. (In theory if not practice )

I was a bit surprised that Cordell was that much better than other designers in these modules, or am I just playing favorites?

Meepo the kobold celebrity.. maybe someone should start a thread about all the celebrity NPCs from modules. Which ones are the most memorable ?

 

[Psion]

I was a bit surprised that Cordell was that much better than other designers in these modules, or am I just playing favorites?

Cordell is a rockin' D&D author with a fertile imagination. What else need be said?