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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Skyscraper" data-source="post: 5247709" data-attributes="member: 48518">Hey Jhaelen, thanks for your relevant comments.I don't know if I'm optimistic or unrealistic, but I'm hoping for something that you can read once and review in-game, and then wing it based on the maps, stats and storyline presented in the module. I admit that it's probably more preparation than linear modules that you can simply follow point-by-point, but by that much? I don't know.What if you present the DM with an NPC storyline? Something that's clear enough. You're simply not pushing the PCs into predetermined encounters. You let them determine where they'll go.Of the three modules you discuss, I've only read The Slaying Stone and indeed, it is quite open-ended. One thing that bugs me with that module is that it still provides specific encounter locations, say one corridor segment with two rooms, where encounters are to be run. So for example while your PCs are exploring ruins, you need at one point to lay down a map and tell them that they entered this corridor segment, when in fact they might have opted for something quite different if they had been presented with the big picture, i.e. the entire map. Give the Slaying Stone area maps, location maps (full temple map, ...), and a more detailed NPC storyline and evolving set of events, and you have what I'm looking for.But otherwise, I'm thrilled that WotC tried this new format and I'm very happy about the result. I opted to run something else (the first module of War of the Burning Sky, namely) in the end, but I'm keeping The Slaying Stone for future use for sure. It is the closest module to the format that I'm hoping to see that I've seen published in the last several years, though there may be others I'm not aware of, of course. I'm not looking for a sandbox approach. I'm hoping for an innovative format, a bit like the Slaying Stone is, but pushing it further. Something where improvisation rules, but where you have a support structure and safety nets that prevent the game from simply falling apart if the DM and players aren't comfortable enough with the free-form.I'm also hoping that we can see different types or formats of modules that might appeal to a different audience. I know one person who likes railroad adventures; fair enough. However, I find it's too bad many publishers have been making that type of module almost exclusively. I think making a module is an art and art shouldn't be confined to a single approach. There is no right or wrong answer to module design and I think that product variety should reflect that in format and structure, not only in storyline and encounter configuration.Sky</blockquote>

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