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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 6207001" data-attributes="member: 59082"><a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?347151-My-1-hope-for-D-amp-D-Next/page6" target="_blank">This thread</a> got me thinking about the classic adventures in D&D's 40-year history - and what makes a good adventure. The short, obvious - but perhaps sometimes forgotten answer is that that, first and foremost, it should be fun. That should be the starting point - the most important quality of a good adventure - and by "fun" I mean both to play and to run as a DM. It should also evoke wonder, involve an interesting story, and be contextualized in a back story rich in myth and legend, with numerous bits of intriguing lore. For the most part it should be multi-faceted (e.g. not just combat encounter after combat encounter), or consequently if it is relatively narrow in theme, it should do it extremely well (e.g. Tomb of Horrors). And of course it should have a challenging--and interesting--adversary to defeat, and exciting treasure to be gained.I think just about any good adventure should include the above components, but there can be variations and, after the above general considerations are fulfilled, there are different directions a good adventure can take. I prefer adventures with a wide range of situations, but there could be great adventures of different types - ones that specialize in solving puzzles, or complex combat scenarios, or exploration, or political machinations, etc. But in most cases, the best adventures balanced a variety of experiences.Those are just some of my thoughts, but now make it your own. What are your all-time favorite adventures and why? Try to stick to, say, three - but don't be limited to that number if you just have to discuss a fourth, fifth, seventh, tenth...I'll start with a couple. For me the conversation has to start with Tomb of Horrors. I think I'm biased, though, as this was an adventure of my youth and I remember being totally awed by it - and horrified! The back-story was just so intriguing, and the tomb itself so mysterious and filled with interesting creatures and challenges. And, of course, the deadliness gave it an edginess.I also loved Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth for its mixture of encounters and its almost haphazard "kitchen sink" quality. It was a vast and complex dungeon, although involved a lead-up wilderness trek, a very sexy vampire (before vampires were tiresome), and some cool magic items. Finally, it isn't D&D, but I love the basic set-up of the Earthdawn box-set, Parlainth: the Forgotten City. Its a ruined city with a small adventurer's settlement attached to it called Haven from which numerous parties venture out into the ruins on "day trips." Earthdawn is one of my favorite settings so it is rich in terms of the background and lore.There are numerous others worth mention - including all the A&D classics (e.g. Dragonlance, one of the most epic campaigns, and the Giants/Drow/Demonwebs sequence among manyothers) and ten there are ones I've heard are really good (Lost City of Barakus, Red Hand of Doom, Rappan Athuk, etc) but have never tried - and would love to hear more about.Your turn!</blockquote>

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