What modules have triggered an emotional reaction in you?
- Thread starter Krug
- Start date
There were a few for me, but only as a player. (I haven't GM'ed a whole lot, so I haven't been able to instill that kind of emotion into players as of yet.)
The first was a Vampire: TM game I played in. The GM had a pretty well-thought-out story into which we PC's got involved. After investing an entire year into this adventure. (It was a weekly game and we managed to play pretty close to every week.) Despite having the story be essentially be about the struggle between 3 ancient vampires (we chose the side of one of them) the GM was able to make us feel like we were an important part of the overall story. The last game was pretty emotional to say the least. Of course, partially it was about the game ending, but it didn't help that we had to watch Seattle (which, in game, was our home for that entire year) get nuked, and not be able to do anything about it. (Long story)
The second was a D&D game. A pretty major side plot to this game was that this guy accidentally killed the favored priest of the FR goddess of disease (forgot her name), when the ship he owned (filled with gun powder) blew up. The disease goddess, angry about this, decided it was time for a major plague. So, she diseased him in such a way that he was highly contagious, but could not die.
This plague was basically a rotting disease, and the guy obviously was infected (he looked rotted). So, he would be burned alive with everyone else who had the disease. Unfortunately, he felt the pain, but wouldn't die. Another effect of this disease is that if you came within a certain distance of him, you had the disease, but if you stayed within that distance, it wouldn't advance. (It was harder to contract the disease from someone else.)
So, we kept him around for some time, and went off to investigate ways to stop the plague. We discovered that near Silverymoon was a Moon Pool which was, of course, dedicated to the Moon Goddess Selune. We went there, and discovered that the pool was in the hands of a group of undead which we had to destroy. Then we went into the pool and got the disease removed. However, we found out that the guy (Fallon is his name, I believe) couldn't have it removed. Selune could not stop that aspect of the curse...she could, however, make it so he could die, and therefore stop the disease. We sat there depressed while Fallon went off with one of his black powder pistols and...well...you can figure out the rest. Very sad.
The first was a Vampire: TM game I played in. The GM had a pretty well-thought-out story into which we PC's got involved. After investing an entire year into this adventure. (It was a weekly game and we managed to play pretty close to every week.) Despite having the story be essentially be about the struggle between 3 ancient vampires (we chose the side of one of them) the GM was able to make us feel like we were an important part of the overall story. The last game was pretty emotional to say the least. Of course, partially it was about the game ending, but it didn't help that we had to watch Seattle (which, in game, was our home for that entire year) get nuked, and not be able to do anything about it. (Long story)
The second was a D&D game. A pretty major side plot to this game was that this guy accidentally killed the favored priest of the FR goddess of disease (forgot her name), when the ship he owned (filled with gun powder) blew up. The disease goddess, angry about this, decided it was time for a major plague. So, she diseased him in such a way that he was highly contagious, but could not die.
This plague was basically a rotting disease, and the guy obviously was infected (he looked rotted). So, he would be burned alive with everyone else who had the disease. Unfortunately, he felt the pain, but wouldn't die. Another effect of this disease is that if you came within a certain distance of him, you had the disease, but if you stayed within that distance, it wouldn't advance. (It was harder to contract the disease from someone else.)
So, we kept him around for some time, and went off to investigate ways to stop the plague. We discovered that near Silverymoon was a Moon Pool which was, of course, dedicated to the Moon Goddess Selune. We went there, and discovered that the pool was in the hands of a group of undead which we had to destroy. Then we went into the pool and got the disease removed. However, we found out that the guy (Fallon is his name, I believe) couldn't have it removed. Selune could not stop that aspect of the curse...she could, however, make it so he could die, and therefore stop the disease. We sat there depressed while Fallon went off with one of his black powder pistols and...well...you can figure out the rest. Very sad.
VorpalBunny
Explorer
The two that really stand out in my mind:
D3 Vault of the Drow/Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits. I ran these back in the early 80's and those games still stand out to this day. Drow were still a mystery, Lolth was a badass, and planar travel wasn't as commonplace as today. The players were really traveling into unknown territory and it was great - the tension the "unknown" added to the game was just amazing.
A Doomsday Like Any Other for FASA's Star Trek RPG. The Doomsday Machine is one of my all time favorite TOS episodes, so I was really pumped up playing through this adventure.
D3 Vault of the Drow/Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits. I ran these back in the early 80's and those games still stand out to this day. Drow were still a mystery, Lolth was a badass, and planar travel wasn't as commonplace as today. The players were really traveling into unknown territory and it was great - the tension the "unknown" added to the game was just amazing.
A Doomsday Like Any Other for FASA's Star Trek RPG. The Doomsday Machine is one of my all time favorite TOS episodes, so I was really pumped up playing through this adventure.
Wulf Ratbane
Adventurer
Necrobeer said:
He couldn't have been that much of a power gamer if he wouldn't let your paladin have a nuke. Spoilsport.
I get the biggest emotional response from adventures I feel like I missed out on. I never played Temple of Elemental Evil. It's this colossal mythological thing that I never even saw or heard of at the time.
Anyhow, just for pure nostalgia, it would be Keep on the Borderlands. It's not the module that moved me (I don't think any ever have) but I like to look fondly back on the good old days when the game was completely new and exciting.
It's different now, spending so much time "under the hood," immersed in rules. I've even given over to thinking about player behavior and response in terms of a set of "rules." Which I guess is sort of what the fellow in the article is trying to do...
Wulf
Jehosephat
First Post
Being as it was the first dungeon I ever entered, B1: In Search of the Unknown.
Joshua Randall
Legend
The most emotional investment I have ever had in a game was Star Control 2. It's a computer game, not a D&D adventure, but man! Great writing, epic story, quirky NPCs whom you actually come to care about, really evil villains who elicit sympathy towards the end (but must nonetheless be wiped out for the greater good) -- just a phenomenal journey.
Back to D&D... I will echo the comments about Of Sound Mind. My players (not just their PCs) were actually freaked out by that module. However, they didn't have much emotional attachment to any of the NPCs - possibly my fault for underplaying them.
Most of my other emotional responses to D&D have come in home-brews, which I won't bore you with. [Dogbert] Research has shown that nothing is more boring than hearing other people's (D&D stories). [/Dogbert]
Back to D&D... I will echo the comments about Of Sound Mind. My players (not just their PCs) were actually freaked out by that module. However, they didn't have much emotional attachment to any of the NPCs - possibly my fault for underplaying them.
Most of my other emotional responses to D&D have come in home-brews, which I won't bore you with. [Dogbert] Research has shown that nothing is more boring than hearing other people's (D&D stories). [/Dogbert]
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