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

[The_Gneech]

If by "classic" you mean what modules will everybody remember down the road, I will have to add my votes for Sunless Citadel, Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, and Freeport. (I haven't played Freeport, but I keep hearing about it ... same way I never played ToEE, Against the Giants, Tomb of Horrors, etc., but know all about them as well.)

I suspect that there are still classics yet to be published ... but with the sheer volume of stuff coming out these days, it'll take a lot of time to separate the wheat from the chaff.

-The Gneech ("Does ANYBODY besides me remember 'Evil Ruins' published by Role Aids?")

 

[FDP Mike]

Truly?

There are no classic 3E modules yet. I suspect The Heart of Nightfang Spire, and Iron Fortress will be considered classic eventually. As for the Freeport modules, and other OGL modules, they will never be considered classics because they were not made my WOTC. They dont really count IMHO.

Thus, the entire "cottage industry" of 3rd-party d20 publishers is effectively worthless to you? Is this just in terms of quality, or an opinion that only WotC puts out "official" products?

My apologies, greymarch, but I think that you are taking a rather limited and unfortunate view of non-WotC publishers and their products -- and I'm not sure why. Do your local gaming stores not carry d20 publishers? Did you have a bad experience or two with some d20 products?

Well, don't worry, I won't try convincing you to give FDP adventures a look. I'm just curious if more people feel as you do: i.e., "If it's not WotC, then it doesn't exist."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Thanks to everyone who has mentioned an FDP adventure as a favourite! (I think NeMoren's Vault and Of Sound Mind are the two that keep showing up.) Aye, it warms our hearts like a bottle of fine whiskey and a roaring fire on a cold winter's night up here in the snowy lands of Canada!

Oh yeah . . . . Kulp, you ROCK!

 

[Psion]

Re: Truly?

Well, don't worry, I won't try convincing you to give FDP adventures a look. I'm just curious if more people feel as you do: i.e., "If it's not WotC, then it doesn't exist."

I would like to point the astute reader to the number of WotC adventures nominated for an ENnie this year.

Thanks to everyone who has mentioned an FDP adventure as a favourite! (I think NeMoren's Vault and Of Sound Mind are the two that keep showing up.)

Funny, that. Just got done running NeMoren's Vault and Quest for Amelia. Running OSM next week.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I guess I'll weigh in on this.

* I think most of WotC's modules for 3e will be looked at more kindly in the future. Two or three stand out to me - Sunless Citadel and Bastion of Broken Souls, for example.

* NeMoren's Vault - it's fortunate such a truly good module showed up so early in d20's history. It really set a standard.

* Hall of the Rainbow Mage - I think this one will also become better-thought-of as time goes by.

* Rappan Athuk - the entire trilogy together comprises d20's first super-dungeon. I like it a lot.

* Interludes - Brief Expeditions to Bluffside. This one could become some groups' "Keep On The Borderlands."

* The Harrowing and Dungeon of the Fire Opal from Dungeon.

* Of Sound Mind - While I think this is deserving of the term future classic, I think the fact that it is psionics-related will ultimately limit its appeal. I think a lot of people use psionics in their games, but not in the numbers that would get this one as widely used as some of the others. Still, it deserves to be a classic.

I'm sure I'll think of others soon after I post this.

 

[Storminator]

Re: Truly?

Thanks to everyone who has mentioned an FDP adventure as a favourite! (I think NeMoren's Vault and Of Sound Mind are the two that keep showing up.) Aye, it warms our hearts like a bottle of fine whiskey and a roaring fire on a cold winter's night up here in the snowy lands of Canada!

Oh yeah . . . . Kulp, you ROCK!

I started this thread because of OSM, actually. I had heard many good things about it, and the stock of them in my FLGS has been steadily dwindling. A while back one of the FDPers (James?) mentioned that once it's gone, it's gone forever, likely no reprints. That got me thinking, what else is out there that I might never get a chance to get?

So I bought OSM (picked up the PsiHB as well), and ordered the first two Freeport mods. The first is OOP, but GR has some dinged up copies for sale. I've got a couple others on my list now.

Rumor is Piratecat will be DMing at my FLGS in the distant future! Looking forward to that.

PS

 

[ColonelHardisson]

There were a few late-2e modules that really should have been held for 3e, in my opinion. Had they been released for 3e, I think they would have had a good shot at classic status:

* The Shattered Circle - a very good low-level module. One of the last 2e modules.

* Axe of the Dwarvish Lords - the last of the 2e "Tomes" adventures, and the last big adventure for 2e. I love this module, and I'm about a third of the way through a conversion for it.

* Return to the Tomb of Horrors - a truly scary module/boxed set. My favorite Bruce Cordell work.

* A Paladin In Hell - lost in the shuffle of TSR's collapse/WotC's resurrection of D&D/the impending release of 3e, this is a great high-level module, and has an "Odyssey" feel to it.

 

[Nyarlathotep]

I have to admit that I am a little surprised by all the acolades for the Freeport series (well, the first series). I, personally didn't like the first two adventures, they seemed "incomplete" and cliched to me. Of course, I'm a huge CoC fan, so when Ejil or whatever his name was, started telling us about Lucious, all I could think was "Shadow out of Time". That said, I think the third adventure of the series was very well done and worthy of the title of classic. I also think that Hell in Freeport was good too, but as I haven't played it yet, I can't say if it's a classic or not.

Otherwise I'd have to say the only two other future classics are Return to Temple of Elemental Evil and The Sunless Citadel, RtToEE because it's as well done as the original and the Sunless Citadel because everyone is playing it and all things considered it's a pretty good introductory adventure.

 

[mmadsen]

I think that classic status in 1e had more to do with how many people played the module than how good it was.

Or rather, how many people played the module and enjoyed it -- which is strongly influenced by how many people played it and somewhat influenced by how good it was (for the time).

Many of the third party modules are great, but it's hard to say how known/played they are in your average D&D circle (not composed of EN World/d20 junkies).

I can't imagine most people have bought or played many non-WotC module at all, except maybe a few of the early low-level modules that came out when 3E was young.

Crucible of Freya is excellent as a campaign pack with the free downloads but the main (printed) adventure is not as memorable by itself.

Agreed.

 

[Numion]

Re: Truly?

Well, don't worry, I won't try convincing you to give FDP adventures a look. I'm just curious if more people feel as you do: i.e., "If it's not WotC, then it doesn't exist."

Well, I think almost like that. If it's not WotC or Malhavoc, it doesn't exist. Somehow I just haven't bought any other d20 stuff than wotc's or Malhavoc Press'. Tome of Horrors and the OGC spellbooks I've considered, so I might be getting over this

 

[Glyfair]

The reason their aren't more 3rd party "Classic Adventure Modules" for D&D prior to 3E is because there was a very limited number of modules produced. All of them were also in the early years before TSR yanked Judges Guild license.

Personally, I think there are at least two classic D&D products from Judges Guild. Tegel Manor (an adventure - best map for years) and City State of the Invincible Overlord (campaign setting).

I'm sure there will be classic Adventure Modules by d20 publishers eventually (by that I mean once the time passes where you can actually call something "classic"). I think WOTC will have a higher percentage of them based on what they release. However, they are now at the point where they've almost washed their hands of the adventure module market. A couple of large adventures per year, the free ones online (which are coming less frequently) and a few adventures thrown into other books (the adventures in the Forgotten Realms setting book) and that's about it.

Glyfair of Glamis