What are the important ingredients of a good adventure?

[Liolel]

You know what there is only one element that is constant in good adventures (and wether a adventure is a good adventure varies depending on who you ask)

This one element is that the adventure a good match to your group. I'm not going to explain what makes it a good match because that is very different for different groups.) For any adventure there is almost certainly a group who would hate it (a heavy on the roleplaying group, for tomb of horrors) and unless the adventure is horrible there is almost certainly a group who would enjoy it a lot.

 

[rounser]

1) It makes sense from the PC's perspective as well as the DM's. Way too many adventures (Dungeon magazine is particularly prone to it) explain a pile of background events to the DM which set up the excuses for the adventure existing, and then never reveal these to the players, making the entire expedition seem arbitrary and devoid of context (i.e. the story is unresolved, or not really a story without that information). The villain's exposition speech may be a cliche, but it's there for a reason, and a DM's Background section or secret campaign notes don't alleviate the need for it or it's equivalent...at least, not all the time.

2) It should involve at least some meaningful player choice. Some amount of railroading can be a good thing...but at least keeping up an illusion of occasional meaningful choices from the players, with repercussions for those choices and resulting impact on the world, should be a priority. Without this, the campaign is more or less just an exercise in level gaining, not an opportunity to interact with the setting or develop character (note how almost the only way characters in novels develop is from making hard decisions and living with the results).

3) Opportunity for exploration. Perhaps one of the most overlooked and yet rewarding areas of D&D is to present an area loaded with opportunities for adventure and set the PCs loose in it to discover them (think Khare: Cityport of Traps for instance). Classically this is only done with a dungeon environment, but should perhaps be extended to urban and wilderness areas...not just whitewashed with a wandering encounter table (hex maps might be an aid for populating exploration areas that lack walls to hem PCs in, most obviously wilderness).

 

[bweenie]

foreshadowing and dreams

I'm really into both of these...
I like dreams to bring about exposition about the adventure (messages from gods, subconscious 'puzzles' being solved, moral quandries being played out). Dreams are neat because they give you a chance to mess with the players and break the rules (make them fight some ridiculous monster, just to prove a point).

Fore shadowing is great, if you can do it right...bringing something back that the players thought was insignificant is great.

 

[DragonLancer]

1) It makes sense from the PC's perspective as well as the DM's. Way too many adventures (Dungeon magazine is particularly prone to it) explain a pile of background events to the DM which set up the excuses for the adventure existing, and then never reveal these to the players, making the entire expedition seem arbitrary and devoid of context (i.e. the story is unresolved, or not really a story without that information).

But for the most part, unless the characters have the ability to learn of it, either from spells or research, then they probably wouldn't ever learn the real background anyway. I don't see a problem with that.

3) Opportunity for exploration. Perhaps one of the most overlooked and yet rewarding areas of D&D is to present an area loaded with opportunities for adventure and set the PCs loose in it to discover them (think Khare: Cityport of Traps for instance). Classically this is only done with a dungeon environment, but should perhaps be extended to urban and wilderness areas...not just whitewashed with a wandering encounter table (hex maps might be an aid for populating exploration areas that lack walls to hem PCs in, most obviously wilderness).

Myriador have the D20 conversion of Sorcery 2: Khare - Cityport of Traps coming out this month I believe. From what they have said on their boards, it will be very much like you describe here.

 

[Janx]

All good points above. I especially like the short lists, very to the point.

1. no railroading
2. tasty bait on plot-hooks
3. balanced encounters for the party level
4. balanced treasure for the party level
5. encounter variety
6. interesting settings for scenes (fighting on a cliff face, hanging from ropes)
7. odds seem stacked against players, but they pull through by using their wits

Those are the types of things that make an adventure good.

 

[nikolai]

Thanks for the responses. It's all really interesting and useful!

It has to stir the imagination - and have some "high concept" bit to it that is memorable.

Could you expand on what you mean by "high concept"? And perhaps give some examples. I think I know what you mean in theory, but am unsure what it equals in practice.

I also have a Fantasy version of this article around here, somewhere... I'll see if I can find it, if there's any interest...?

I, for one, would love to see it.

 

[Scotley]

What are the important ingredients of a good adventure? Of the best of the "classic" adventures out there, what makes them so good. I'm interested because we often get long threads recomending good modules, but little is said about what sets them apart from the crowd.

I think we are over looking the importance of memorable villans in this discussion. Does anyone who survived to the end of Tomb of Horrors not remember the Demi-Lich? Drow have become ubiquitous in the game, but they started out as the bad guys in the D and Q series modules. What about Strad in Ravenloft? Going off to slay a dragon has become a bit passe over the years, but we don't call it Dungeons and Dragons for nothing. The villans make the worlds interesting--the cult of the dragon, the Zental keep bunch, the scarlet brotherhood, and so many more.

Scotley

 

[JoeGKushner]

Modules and adventure design are two different things.

For me, I rarely use modules. Far too many of them take place in some hick town that a 7th level character could really care less about. (Sorry, personal rant and opinion. Get out of the sticks!)

Customization to your characters is perhaps the biggest element that should be taken into account. This happens mainly through the use of NPCs.

For example, a character is a barbarian. He comes from a savage tribe. He leaves. He receives word that his people need his help and that they have items of power that they can provide to those who prove their valor.

Personal hooks are almost always the way to go for good motiviation.

For other types, I always try and let the players lead me where they want to go. For example, one player hunted down a dragon slaying sword (from one of those Ancient Artifact books) that was for mages. He took the feat to use a two-handed sword, spent off-time studying and looking for lore, had a personal hatred of evil dragons, and so on.

About 6th-7th level, he finally got the sword and was able to go into the PrC.

Other examples include the characters having a standard encounter and taking it personal. Rob a character in a humilating way and trust me, they will hunt down that SoB!

 

[JoeGKushner]

All good points above. I especially like the short lists, very to the point.

1. no railroading
2. tasty bait on plot-hooks
3. balanced encounters for the party level
4. balanced treasure for the party level
5. encounter variety
6. interesting settings for scenes (fighting on a cliff face, hanging from ropes)
7. odds seem stacked against players, but they pull through by using their wits

Those are the types of things that make an adventure good.

I don't necessarily agree with 3 and 4. In a realistic setting, you have no control over what you may encounter. If the map states "Here be Giants" and your 2nd level characters head there, they deserve to be splatted. On the other hand, if your 2nd level characters have to sneak into that area in order to retrieve a powerful bow of giant slaying with giant slaying arrows and get caught on the way out by 1 small giant, that's intense.

 

[Liquidsabre]

1. Multiple paths of completion for the module must exist for the PCs to explore.

2. There must be enough interesting encounters/NPCs for the PCs to miss a few due to the path they chose and still allow for interesting happenings/interactions.

3. Memorable combat scenes (i.e. unusual but simple enviornment that adds to excitement of the battle such as a bucking deck of a ship, howling winds and shifting sands, a burning forest, or an underground waterfall that suddenly surges from the stormwaters on the surface, etc.)

4. Every NPC needs to have a small story, not just a face and some hokey lines, and short personality guide (these need to be no more than 2 sentences).

5. A good unforseen twist that is exciting and catches the PCs attention. Possibly multiple ones so that the DM may select which twist to include for flexibility, plausibility, and to pick one the PCs didn't see coming (as groups can be quite different in perceptions and thought).

And lastly...

6. Little personalizable plot bits such as: a love interest, a person from a PC's past, a family member (not always in trouble and needs help either), an item that was destined for a PC to find, etc. But there should possibly be multiple of these and the DM should be able to pick and select which ones to include in the module.