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<blockquote data-quote="WbtE" data-source="post: 6232434" data-attributes="member: 6762107">Standards differ depending on whether you're talking about a site- or story-based adventure.For a site-based adventure, my first concern is the map.&nbsp; It has to be clear, informative, and preferably non-linear (unless it's fairly small).&nbsp; Even if everything else is awful, a good map can be re-purposed.&nbsp; Past that, I'd like the designer to have considered how the encounters fit together and what this means for the tempo of the adventure - too often monsters are right beside each other and either don't react to nearby fights or snowball into an almighty brawl.&nbsp; It's a bonus if the adventure has some interesting gimmicks.&nbsp; My last concern is a good reason for the party to be there - I can sort that out for myself.Story-based adventures are much more difficult, especially if the designer is aiming to bring out certain themes.&nbsp; It's not so bad to present ticking clock scenarios and leave the party to sort out their response, although some might argue that this is not much of a story.&nbsp; I suppose my main concern in this type of adventure is the character of the antagonist(s): giving them a strong identity, again, allows for re-purposing the content and lets the referee consider the scenario more as an interaction of intentions than a series of events to drag the players through.Note that there's also the art of designing for the beginner, which requires a lot more hand-holding and explanation in the text.&nbsp; Unfortunately, most modules these days seem to be aimed at the &quot;begi-pert&quot; - a creature who knows exactly what they're doing except when they don't - leading to very uneven levels of explanation.&nbsp; It would be good for the hobby if designers started labeling their creations as &quot;A module for beginning DMs&quot; and so forth.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="WbtE, post: 6232434, member: 6762107"] Standards differ depending on whether you're talking about a site- or story-based adventure. For a site-based adventure, my first concern is the map. It has to be clear, informative, and preferably non-linear (unless it's fairly small). Even if everything else is awful, a good map can be re-purposed. Past that, I'd like the designer to have considered how the encounters fit together and what this means for the tempo of the adventure - too often monsters are right beside each other and either don't react to nearby fights or snowball into an almighty brawl. It's a bonus if the adventure has some interesting gimmicks. My last concern is a good reason for the party to be there - I can sort that out for myself. Story-based adventures are much more difficult, especially if the designer is aiming to bring out certain themes. It's not so bad to present ticking clock scenarios and leave the party to sort out their response, although some might argue that this is not much of a story. I suppose my main concern in this type of adventure is the character of the antagonist(s): giving them a strong identity, again, allows for re-purposing the content and lets the referee consider the scenario more as an interaction of intentions than a series of events to drag the players through. Note that there's also the art of designing for the beginner, which requires a lot more hand-holding and explanation in the text. Unfortunately, most modules these days seem to be aimed at the "begi-pert" - a creature who knows exactly what they're doing except when they don't - leading to very uneven levels of explanation. It would be good for the hobby if designers started labeling their creations as "A module for beginning DMs" and so forth. [/QUOTE]

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