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

[Storminator]

OK! A tally of sorts.

First let me point out that this tally is rather subjective. People say things like "This module is great!" and I get to decide if that means it's a "classic." Since being classic is in itself a rather subjective label it's not a big deal. I also didn't include author's comments on their own work, and the votes of people that never even read the adventure (which really only happened with SC and Freeport)

Some things are clear, tho.

The big winners are:
Sunless Citadel
Freeport series
Of Sound Mind
RttToEE

No one had anything in the least bit negative to say about OSM, and none of the other big vote getters can say that.

In addition, Orc and Pie got 3 votes, and I think we can all agree it is very memorable. Heartfang Spire and Standing Stone were the only one that got at least as many bad votes as good, and I'm pretty sure they aren't going in the classics pile because of it. Raiders of Galath's Roost and Dungeon of the Fire Opal were the only repeat mentions from Dungeon Mag(marked with a (D), and if you lump in all the Dungeon Mag votes together, you get 9.

So here's the breakdown, sorted by positives:
Adventure Positive Negative Review
Sunless Citadel........................................20............4...............3
Return to the Temple of LMNO Evil...........13...........4................3
Freeport series.........................................12...........2...............4
Of Sound Mind..........................................11...........0...............5
Forge of Fury..............................................9...........1...............3
Rappan Athuk.............................................7...........2...............4
NeMoran's Vault.........................................5...........0...............4
Crucible of Freya........................................4............2..............3
Fright at Tristor..........................................4
Witchfire Trilogy.........................................4............0.............~4
Banewarrens.............................................3............0...............4
Bastion of Broken Souls.............................3............0..............4
Orc and Pie................................................3
Raiders of Galath's Roost(D)......................3
Tomb of Absythor.......................................3............0..............5
Three Days to Kill.......................................3............0..............3
White Robes, Black Hearts.........................3............4..............4
Burning Plague...........................................2
Dungeon of the Fire Opal(D)......................2
Hall of the Rainbow Mage..........................2............0...............4
Heart of Nightfang Spire............................2............2...............2
The Serpent Amphora Series.....................2
Standing Stone..........................................1............2...............3


These were mentioned once, but not again. I do see a few more Dungeon Magazine entries here, which is kind of cool.

Eldest Son
If Thoughts Could Kill
Demon God's Fane
The Door from Everywhere(D)
Root of All Evil
Kalamar
Lord of the Iron Fortress
Interludes: Brief Expedition to Bluffside
The Harrowing(D)
Speaker in Dreams
Necropolis
Maiden Voyage
In the Belly of the Beast

PS

 

[Storminator]

So! I started this thread to find out what I need to get. I have most of the top vote getters (Freeport is on the way!), missing only RttToEE, Rappan Athuk, and NeMoran's Vault.

There are also a few here that I never heard or never considered, so I'll have to take a look at those again. In particular, I'll be looking for White Robes, Black Hearts and Hall of the Rainbow Mage. I have all the recent Dungeon Mags, and I've recently started gaming in the Realms, so I'll also pull out Raider of Galath's Roost.

So what will other people be looking for?

PS

 

[Psion]

One adventure that got brought up on the other thread that we overlooked that a few of us agreed we liked but that was not mentioned here: FDP's To Stand On Hallowed Ground. It's a double adventure with two great components. The Ghost Machine by James Bell inspired me, and my players always talk about that adventure. Swords Against Deception by Mike Mearls is a neat adventure requiring stealth with a really neat final confronation.

 

[Storminator]

I tacked on the review scores from the d20reviews page with the tallies.

I think the take home lesson from that is reviews of adventures are even more subjective than those of other products. Most of our destined classics didn't score particularly well. SO reviewers, make sure to have informative comments when reviewing adventures!

I think I'll also downgrade my reliance on reviews for adventures.

 

[Mistwell]

Though it is too late for the tally, I'd like to cast my vote for Golgordand's Gauntlet and any of the Challenge of the Champions adventures. These were all fantastic, and the only adventures I have seen for 3e that focus on thinking rather than smashing.

 

[WizarDru]

I tacked on the review scores from the d20reviews page with the tallies.

I think the take home lesson from that is reviews of adventures are even more subjective than those of other products. Most of our destined classics didn't score particularly well. SO reviewers, make sure to have informative comments when reviewing adventures!

I think I'll also downgrade my reliance on reviews for adventures.

Actually, the lesson you should take is that being a classic is only partially reliant on the individual quality of the module, and that most of the people who've played the module don't post reviews on it. Further, people with agendas tend to post reviews with ratings for the sole purpose of 'fixing' a percieved incorrect number from overly-positive or overl-negative reviewers.

Much like movie-reviews, you need to find a critic who mirrors your tastes and sensibilities, and then follow their reviews. When Alan reviews a module, I always check out what he has to say, even if I don't always agree with him - because I trust his judgement, generally speaking.

I also don't give nearly as much credence to folks who haven't actually run the module. A module like 'Heart of Nightfang Spire' was an excellent read, but in practice, it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. Further, players have a skewed vision of the module, I give their opinions a lesser impact than a DM. Since a player experiences the module through a filter, a good DM can make up for the inadequacies of a flawed adventure, and a poor DM can louse up a well-written one.

For example: Sunless Citadel is not a terribly creative or original module...but it is a good, solid dungeon-crawl, perfect for reintroducing players and DMs to D&D. It was first, it was well-done for what it was, and most returning gamers jumped right into it. While everyone may disagree about it's overall quality, no one can deny it was the first 'real' module, right when folks wanted one. It allows for a good deal of diversity in execution, with a little something for every character class. Not too shabby, IMHO.

In ten years time, everyone will still remember 'The Sunless Citadel', and that's one of the marks of a classic.

 

[Storminator]

Yes, but the review ratings (can you hear Psion in the background screaming "don't look at the number, read the review?" ) are generally less tightly clustered for the modules than they are for other products. This is due to the wide disparity in what people like in games, IMO.

That's all I was trying to say. And I agree you need to listen to reviewers you trust.

PS

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

U1-U3: 'Danger At Dunwater' Series. Essentially the first attempt at a real story in module creation, with the first example I'm aware of of the 'plot twist' in a published module. Yes, the UK got there first.

I just ran my kids through this series. They loved it, and it was a lot of fun to DM. I think it would be even better with more experienced players. I love it when creative players do something I hadn't anticipated!

My memory may be faulty, but one big difference between 1e and 3e, is that 3e had a couple of major dungeon crawl modules early on. Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil came out just 10 months after 3e premiered, and even before then we had the start of Rappan Athuk. How long was 1e out before the mega dungeon-crawls started appearing? T1-4 didn't come out until, what, 1985--six+ years after 1e started. (Note: I don't consider GDQ or A1-4 dungeon crawls. Don't know why, I just don't. Maybe the multiple locations? Maybe just too many happy memories of killing players?)

I think that both of the 3e dungeon crawls I mentioned will eventually be considered 3e classics. Maybe part of that is "got their first" but they do seem to have broad appeal. I wonder what the sales figures are for those modules, compared to others by the same companies. Someday, someone may publish a 3e dungeon crawl that outstrips the popularity of RA and RttToEE (heck, maybe somebody already has, and I've just missed it!), but for now their place of Kings of the 3e Dungeon Crawls has started them on the road to "classic" status.

 

[apegod]

Forge of Fury and Heart of Nightfang Spire are going to be the 3E classic dungeon crawls. Bruce Cordell's modules are outstanding in general. Loved RTTOEE, but have not DM'd it yet.

 

[WizarDru]

Yes, but the review ratings (can you hear Psion in the background screaming "don't look at the number, read the review?" ) are generally less tightly clustered for the modules than they are for other products. This is due to the wide disparity in what people like in games, IMO.

That's all I was trying to say. And I agree you need to listen to reviewers you trust.

PS

Well, I looked at 'The Standing Stone', and saw multiple 5 stars, multiple 3 stars, and a few 2s and a 1. And the 1 was from dinkeldog, who's opinion carries more weight with me than many of the 5-star reviewers. And when I read the module and felt a 1 was appropriate, 2 was generous...well, it told me that almost all of the reviews on d20reviews were worth avoiding, based on the two cases where I've gone there, and seen wildly skewed reviews.