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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 2191540" data-attributes="member: 4937">Inventiveness: The module has to look like something that I couldn't have easily done myself.  In particular, I expect it to have puzzles, traps, and unique enounters that I think would challenge the PC's and which are significantly better than what I could come up with out of my own head on any spur of the momment.Execellent Map: Particularly in professional modules, I expect the map to be a treat in and of itself.  I hold I6: Ravenloft as the standard in dungeon mapping.  It has never been excelled.  I3 Pyramid is an  example of a module that primarily hinges on a great map.  In fact, nobody ever had consistantly better maps than Hickman.  For all thier flaws (chiefly that it takes an exceptionally good DM to run them right), the Dragonlance modules are packed with great maps.  I want inventive rooms and layouts - preferably that are highly three dimensional - and yet seem to have some reality to them and not be wierd for wierdness's sake alone.   This is the one area of gaming design that I think has largely gone downhill.  Part of the appeal of 'The Sunless Citidel' that is I think overlooked is that above all, its got a great '80's style map.Varied RP Oppurtunities: The module needs a good mixture of detective work, dungeon crawling, and NPC interaction.  Since I'm probably buying the module with the idea of being able to throw together quick one off games on a repeated basis as a way of introducing people to the game, I want a module that offers lots of play value no matter what the personality of the players.Again, I3 is a good module for this.  You have NPC interaction, wilderness travel, dungeon crawling, and puzzle solving.  Run properly, even the old X1 Isle of Dread is a well put together module.A Compelling Story: The module either needs a good twist, a great villian, or a compelling set of NPC's.  Preferably, it has all three.  One of the most influential modules in my own dungeon design was CM3 Saber River by Douglas Niles.  I believe that every good module has a twist - or even a double twist - a moment in which the PC's have gotten far enough into the story that they suddenly realize that the theory that they had held until that moment was utterly and completely wrong, and that they must completely change strategies.  As a player, that to me is the big payoff in a module.  The peices of the puzzle suddenly come together and the picture is nothing like you were expecting it to be.Above all, I6 Ravenloft and S1 Tomb of Horrors are both modules with a great villian.   Strahd is the premier example of an active villian who will interact with the PC's and who isn't going to sit in the final encounter waiting to be killed.  Acererak is a premier example of a passive villian whom the PC's can come to hate (and fear) even though they've never met him, simply by being victim to his taunting and diabolic traps.  The PC's need to feel the presense of the opposition.One of the more compelling early story modules for me is UK1.  I've never had an oppurtunity to run it, but its been very influential on my design.  At its heart, its a simple fetch and return module, but its so well done that the process of fetching and returning what has been lost becomes a story.  It too has a couple of twists (nothing on the level of well run CM3 though) and lots of NPC interaction potential and puzzle solving.  I've never run it, because I think its probably also pretty flawed in play, but considering the year that it came out it was a very forward looking module and well worth the time of any young DM if he can find it.</blockquote>

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