What do you Want in a Module?

[NewJeffCT]

Beyond a good story, which is the most important thing:

1) I like something that is easy to adapt to most any gaming world.
2) A good reason for the BBEG of the module to do what he/she/it does.
3) As little "crunch" as possible - I have enough trouble keeping up with the regular rules, so I don't need new monsters or powers that I have to learn.
4) Realistic actions for NPCs and the bad guys
5) Some sort of flowchart and/or timeline that has actions for the bad guys that may or may not be directly related to the players : If the PCs don't find the kidnapped princess by Day 4, the bandits that kidnapped her then sell her to either drow slavers or directly to followers of the evil god of slavery. While I know every eventually cannot be covered, I do want some major actions for the BBEG that are in the works "off camera" - the BBEG should not just sitting in Room 64 at the end of the dungeon waiting for the players to come & attack.
6) A reason for any monsters/traps to be where they are.
7) Good clear maps that are well labeled with a readable font (I have one module now that is good overall and the maps are nice looking, but the fonts are very unclear a lot of the time because they blend in with the background colors at times - i.e., is that room 3B or 3D?)
8) A few places where the players can go off track (red herrings, or just some small ideas that the DM can expand upon...)
9) A few items that you can hand out to players - pictures of major NPCs are helpful to help paint a picture of them; maps, notes, a notable landmark, etc.
10) Help on scaling the encounters for larger than normal parties (or smaller)

 

[Lanefan]

Raven Crowking summed up most of the important ones in post 14, above; and I agree that handouts are something I can take or leave. Artwork, however, rocks. Good artwork rocks harder.

I read something in another thread. A DM Screen. I understand not evryone uses one. I do. I's an extended length piece of cardstock with adventure themed pictures on one side and adventure relevant information on the other. Such as special rules NPC's and if there is space for it the map. I understand if that last one is probably a no-go but the NPC's would be a nice change.

The map, whether on cardstock or paper or whatever, needs to be separate from the booklet! 0e and 1e adventures got this right.

All in all, a module is written for DMs and is used by DMs, so make it easy for DMs to use! Adventures have changed style with each edition, none have yet got it right (these are general observations, exceptions abound):

0e - the descriptions are often too thin; fine if you can figure out what was intended but a recipe for complete disaster if you can't.
1e - too many boxed descriptions that didn't account for what the party could actually see and-or what direction they enter the area from.
2e - too much story, not enough adventure. Maps not separate.
3e - monster write-ups in a block at end so you have to flip back and forth all the time. Maps not separate.
4e - too much emphasis on set-piece encounters, no fluidity to design, often very linear. No empty rooms. Maps not separate.

What can make the actual dungeon/adventure better?

Multiple entrances/exits. I realized while recently running Bone Hill that there's about 6 ways in and out of the dungeon - the party have lots of choice, and running it for different parties has a better chance of giving different DMing experiences just from this one aspect alone.

Choices on where to go once inside, including closed-loop passages (as opposed to more or less elaborate dead ends) and multiple connections between levels that sometimes bypass levels between.

Plot devices that make the players think - can include red herrings, misdirections, NPC double-cross, puzzles and traps, enemies that aren't really enemies, teleporters, etc. Not every module needs to have all of these, but every module probably needs at least one or two.

Opportunities for memorable set-piece battles/encounters, even if they don't come off in play. An example: the stairs down from level A (Orcs) to level B (trog's) in Forge of Fury turned into an epic set-piece when I played it but were almost irrelevant when I DMed it as the party went in the back cave and thus approached said stairs from below...

At least one bad guy tough enough to survive its first encounter with the party and piss 'em off in the process. This one's not always possible, particularly in an exploration-type adventure where they (and you) don't know where they are or what they'll meet; but getting beat up by someone who then runs away sure motivates a party!

Lan-"of a rambling mind today"-efan

 

[Scotley]

Okay, I hear a lot of people complain about railroading, but not all players know what to do in a sand box. Don't railroad, but do put up some obvious signs about what to do. Give the DM some suggestions for what do to when things get off track. Preferably enough detail to allow the DM to go off on tangents if that's what the players want.

Memorable opponents and situations are a must. Story that is influenced by the players actions for good or ill.

Quality is a must as others have said--minimal typos, correct stat blocks, maps that make sense and organization that works.

Several plot hooks to appeal to different types of players/characters. I don't feel every adventure needs to plug into any game, but make it clear on the outside what is involved, so I don't buy something I can't use.

Give me writing that is fun to read, but keep the 'boxed text' short and to the point. Use it to give the relevant details and a sense of the appearance and personality of npcs/monsters. Leave the rest of the detail for the DM to pick and choose as needed. Nothing spoils the climactic battle like the DM stopping to read a novella to you when you are eager to start rolling dice.

Doesn't matter if it is dungeon, wilderness, city, exotic local, etc. Just put in the product description so I can pick what I want when I get ready. Give me scalability. Most groups are not one size fits all. And if you give me battle maps and tokens, give me extra tokens if I have to scale up.

Give me npcs that exist beyond the events of the adventure so I can reuse the ones players like (or hate) and locations I can use again and again are useful too. Give me some threads to build on after the events of the adventure as well.

 

[Stormonu]

First and foremost, a good story. You might as well be cherry-picking encounters and stringing them together without it.

From there, wiggle room. As others have stated, leave the PCs multiple approaches to the target. Don't assume a straight line from front to end or "one way in, one way out" adventures. While I'm perfectly fine with steering PCs towards a desired outcome, the adventure should have enough latitude that creative PCs can flex their muscles to steer things to a conclusion resulting from their actions/inactions. Sure, modules have limited word count, but the answer to everything in the module shouldn't be to fight their way through it.

I'd also say that player handouts are great, as are DM's helpers. Boxed text to read, artwork of places & NPCs, as well as player maps, props and whatnot are great additions to get both DMs and players drawn into the make-believe surrounds.

And I'll also agree with the maps being put on the adventure covers that can be detached from the module pages. When you're reading through the text, not having to flip to the map while you're examining the text is so handy.

Finally, avoid the Delve format. It's constraining (must fit two pages) and sometimes confusing (rooms material often described separately from the delve section, leading to things being missed or forgotten).

 

[Celebrim]

A full wish list might be..

1) A variaty of challenges, including several which can be dealt with in several ways. This includes things such as: diplomatic challenges, skill challenges, evasion challenges, chases, detective work/clue gathering, puzzle solving, and combat challenges with a tactical component. The skill of the player should be tested and be decisive in determining the outcome. It also includes things like ensuring that different types of characters will have moments to shine, that the types of creatures are reasonably diverse, and that the terrains and tactical situations vary - some favoring melee, others missile, others high AC, and others high mobility, etc.
2) Strict adherence to the 'three clue rule'. Successfully advancing the story should not depend on finding a single clue, or solving a problem in a single way, or cooperating with a single clue.
3) Limited railroading, or if railroading, then smart railroading. The module shouldn't make too many assumptions about likely PC behavior. That means that the story should go on if the PC's take courses of action that are unexpected, and if there is a predictable fork in the road the writer needs to mention it and give tips on how to handle it. Railroads should be invisible to the players and should only be used to safely deliver them back onto the stage. Even more annoying than making assumptions about PC behavior is making illogical assumptions about PC behavior and failing to see why the behavior is completely illogical.
4) NPC's should have clear motivations and backstories. The actions the NPC's have taken hitherto should be reasonable and believable given the NPC's goals. The plot shouldn't depend on the utter stupidity of the bad guy, and should survive inspection by "If I were an evil overlord." Major NPCs should not be static waiting around in room X with no escape plan, and have resources to proactively counter the PC's should they learn of the PC's efforts to thwart them.
5) There should be a really good map.
6) There should be short but effective descriptions of keyed locations, suitable for reading. It doesn't matter if the DM prefers to paraphrase, the basic text should be there and shouldn't need to be reworked extensively.
7) It should be generic enough fantasy to adapt to a different setting without too much hassle. When it doubt, tropes should be pulled from real world mythology, antiquity, and folk lore. Slightly unexpected twists on the character ascribed to monsters or somewhat novel cultures or settings are interesting. Completely rewriting expectations to suit your particular tastes or departing too much from convention tends to make your module useful only to a very narrow few. Keep in mind that not everyone is going to appreciate that your red dragon is an erudite scholar that sits on a oversized futon smoking a bong pipe instead of a greedy incarnation of a natural disaster, or that your orc warband is a parody of KISS, or that your vampire is sparkly and meant to be a party ally. More than one such invention per module is probably too much. In particular, gags, satire, wackiness, and the like should be kept to a minimum, and 'funny' encounters should be capable of being played straight at the DM's option. If you can actually write funny, make sure it enhances the setting rather than detracting from it.

But really, even 3 or 4 points on that list successfully met would make the module a classic.

 

[Celebrim]

Nice maps with interesting layouts. I hate the square rooms with rectangle hallways over and over. It is also nice when the rooms have interesting features to them (maybe a fountain, a waterfall/stream, statues, odd trap, etc etc).

All true, but lately - in an attempt to be distinctive (probably to editors tired of pouring over submissions) - I've seen a lot of examples push this otherwise good advice too far. While room design should be creative and avoid bare rectangular rooms, on the other hand it shouldn't provoke the players to ask, "Why in the heck would the builders of this place ever designed it like this?"

I'm guilty of that last one a little bit myself. There is a fine line between being creative and being impractical. However repurposed the structure may be, it should have originally served it's purpose quite well.

 

[amnuxoll]

Here's how I tell a good module: When I'm done reading it, I have an intense urge to put a group of players together and run it for them as soon as possible.

 

[Lanefan]

All true, but lately - in an attempt to be distinctive (probably to editors tired of pouring over submissions) - I've seen a lot of examples push this otherwise good advice too far. While room design should be creative and avoid bare rectangular rooms, on the other hand it shouldn't provoke the players to ask, "Why in the heck would the builders of this place ever designed it like this?"

I'm guilty of that last one a little bit myself. There is a fine line between being creative and being impractical. However repurposed the structure may be, it should have originally served it's purpose quite well.

Also, from a strict design standpoint, keep in mind that whatever you dream up is what the players are going to have to try to map - which, if the design is too complex, can repeatedly grind things to a halt.

Lan-"why am I always lost"-efan

 

[Wik]

Hm. My list of what I want:

1) Cool, memorable scenes that can have multiple resolutions. It's cool if the PCs can have a weird dinner party with those friendly islander natives. It's cooler if the PCs can run fleeing from the village when you tick off said natives at a dinner party. And it's REALLY cool if poor playing/bad rolling can lead to your PCs fleeing a burning village and a horde of spear-chucking natives after you really screwed up during that dinner party!

2) A logical set-up, and one that is more well thought-out than the usual homebrewed D&D adventure. I really, really hate pre-pubbed adventures where, five minutes in, a player asks a perfectly logical question that destroys the entire adventure. I have no idea why they'd want to build a second bridge crossing that river when the first one works just fine. Um. Hm. Lemme think about that.

3) Adaptibility. I like adventures where I can easily add rooms and encounters, tinker with what's there, and play around with it a bit. I am notorious for cutting out entire sections of adventures, merging two (or three) pre-pubbed adventures into one, or even changing the entire setting of the dungeon. Super tight, unmodifiable adventures rarely get used at my table.

4) Setting. If the module lacks a strong, interesting setting, I'll gloss over it. If it's just an unexplained dungeon underneath the city against thieves, there better be things that make it stand out among a sewer thief fortress I can put together myself. Paizo is pretty much the go-to guys for this sort of thing - their adventures are almost always set in an interesting locale.

5) Brevity. I hate long histories in the introduction. If it takes more than two or three paragraphs, I'm gonna skip over it. If there are more than half a dozen important NPCs, I don't wanna run it. And if there are large chunks of boxed text, I'm probably gonna avoid the product. This, unfortunately, is why I avoid Paizo adventures as a rule - it takes me too much work and too many read-throughs to feel comfortable running it.

6) Room for Winging It: A lot of chances for me to just play by the seat of my pants. I love things like random encounters that are sparsely described (the sparser, the better!). A dead body in a room that has a description of "this was an adventurer killed by an arrow trap. He has a few coins in his pocket". and leave it at that. This stuff really gets me pumped about an adventure, for some reason.

Lately, my favourite adventures have all been dungeon delves - while they are specific encounters, I like to link them on the fly, letting me engage myself with winging it during play while also adapting the entire thing as I go. I really like using the delve as a bare-bones framework and then swapping things out to suit my needs - usually on the fly.

This is an old habit of mine - I remember in the mid nineties, my favourite adventures were actually the old 1e Book of Lairs and Book of Lairs II. These books, for those that are unaware, were basically collections of adventures divided by terrain type - and each adventure consisted of a few encounters and were contained on a single page. They practically required the GM to wing it for it to work. Loved 'em

 

[pemerton]

Okay, I hear a lot of people complain about railroading, but not all players know what to do in a sand box. Don't railroad, but do put up some obvious signs about what to do.

My preferred way of going here is not to shift from sandbox to (quasi)railroad, but to have a range of encounters each of which is compelling in relation to the others even if the PCs handle the earlier encounters in different ways.

Bastion of Broken Souls provides an example of this (provided that you completely ignore the actual text in the module suggesting how to run the encounters):

*SPOILERS BELOW*

There are encounters with a hag who collects information from the dreams of others, an angel who is the living key to a prison, and a banished god inside that prison. Whether the PCs kill or bargain with the hag, assuming that they are invested at all in the scenario they will want to find the prison. Whether they then kill or bargain with the angel, they will want to meet the god inside. And they can get the artefact from him that they need whether they kill him or bargain with him.

This contrasts, for example, with Expedition to the Demonweb Pits, which has (in my view) far too many encounters, none of which is related to the previous one in any sort of thematic or story-related way unless the players just ride the rails from one to the other. An extremely disappointing module that I was really looking forward to, but have sadly got almost no use out of because of its overwhelmingly railroading tendencies.