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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 9373542" data-attributes="member: 1210">Great thread topic.As the OP of the "Are My Standards Too High?" thread, I have to chime in. There are a lot of things that people have posted that resonate with me, and a number of things that don't. I would say, for me, a good adventure should include:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">One or more good hooks to get the pcs involved. There should be a goal- although it need not be super involved.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Cool encounters- preferably ones that feel a little unique. "Here's a fight with a giant boar" is far less compelling than "a giant boar crashes into the party's camp; two rounds later, a hunting party of goblins arrives in hot pursuit, oh and by the way, there's a cliff right there that creatures could fall off of if pushed, and a patch of tangled thorns that is difficult terrain and will do damage if you enter or move through it". Combats with cool terrain (hello 4e!), goals other than slay the enemy, noncombat encounters that are challenging, etc.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">On the topic of encounters, there should be a variety of encounters to be had. Even if it's all hobgoblins, some of them should be shamans, pacifists, or expert archers. It should be optimal to overcome some of the encounters without combat, and some of them with combat.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Good maps and/or art and/or handouts. These really punch an adventure up (for me).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It should not violate established rules or lore without an explanation and a good reason. (This is my "can't easily escape Ravenloft" gripe from the other thread.) You shouldn't have a mind flayer that eats candy instead of brains without a good reason. If you use Tiamat as a thing, she shouldn't be sweet and nice and dote on the pcs with cookies and milk (again, without a darn good reason). You shouldn't have demons and devils working together unless the adventure tells you how, why, and what they are doing.  </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It should NOT be world-threatening. "We have to save the world" is tired, tired, tired; and on top of that, as someone posted upthread, it forces the pcs to win or the campaign to end. Those aren't the stakes most groups actually want if there's a chance of failure. The stakes should matter, whether it's "we need to survive this journey through the jungle" or "we're after a super valuable gemstone and we're a greedy bunch of tomb robbers", the pcs need to care, but the rest of the world only needs to matter to the adventure sometimes. And there SHOULD be a chance of failing- and consequences for doing so, even if they aren't "the world ends" or "the evil death knight conquers the world"- it might be as simple as "well, we're still broke and now our creditors are after us" or "we couldn't find the gem and now our rivals are after it, and if they get it they will rub our noses in it".</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">There should be multiple paths through the adventure, and the pcs' choices should matter. If it plays out the same way whatever they do (hello many 2e adventures!), it's not an adventure, it's a short story with the illusion of game play wrapped around it.</li> </ul>You'll notice two things I don't think are necessary are story and a villain. I'm one of those "the story is what happened in play" kinds of guys. Stories emerge from the actions of the party and the repercussions thereof. I don't always dislike a plot in an adventure, and some adventures are well-served by such- Of Sound Mind, for instance, or Red Hand of Doom- but others don't need them. Likewise, the right adventure doesn't need a villain. Think of an adventure that is the pcs simply trying to survive a trek through the jungle, with quicksand, malaria, rotting foodstuffs and equipment, su-monsters and dinosaurs, etc. No villain needed. Or perhaps the adventure is a series of quests for the King of Birds, who wants the pcs to heal a bird's broken heart, solve a food crisis for another bunch of birds, adjudicate which of two preening birds of paradise is prettier, etc. No villain, but cool adventure.</blockquote>

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