What turns you off in a purchased adventure?

[Thornir Alekeg]

My biggest peeve is the cascading railroad: Party is hired to acquire item X. To get item X, they discover that they will need to get item Y. While questing for item Y, they encounter creature who will help them get Y if they in return get rid of creature Z...and so on...

 

[DragonLancer]

I dislike poor artwork and maps, a sense of cheapness, and overcomplicated plots.

So far I've really liked Necromancer Games modules (although Necropolis is rather railroady), and the WotC adventure path series. Those are modules that show have adventures should be done.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

I hate silly or anachronistic NPCs. E.g., Black Flags over Freeport has an NPC named Billy Bones, who is basically a psychotic Old West gunfighter. Makes me nuts. How are players supposed to take a villain seriously if the villain is nothing but a caricature?

I dislike the use of demi-human NPCs (in human-dominated lands) when a human or half-human NPCs can fill the role just as well. It helps if there're at least a couple of lines on why the NPC is in human lands, but it still bugs me. In my world, seeing an Elf in a human city is a relatively rare occurrence ... it's not just a matter of deciding the local baker is Elven.

 

[Ranes]

All of the above.

 

[Iuz]

Things that turn me off:

1. Ego from the author as to how the module is used. This was quiet common in 1st edition. (Gygax was notorious for telling you what you were allowed to do with HIS module)

2. Plot that is so dependant on things (places, events, NPCs) that make it near impossible to import into a different game world.

3. Every little henchman having different stats. (I find it just annoying when the 20 goblins that are meant to do nothing but die on the PCs' swords each have different stats; realism be damned, its just a pain for the DM)

4. High powered monsters that have no logical reason for being the adventure.

5. No plot summary at the start. (1st and 2nd edition modules were horrible for this; it can make it very hard to DM)

 

[diaglo]

4. High powered monsters that have no logical reason for being the adventure.

I10 had this...

why the evil high powered monsters in one room don't just kill the simple humans in the next room doesn't make any sense.

 

[Malar's Cow]

1. Real-world sounding names.
2. Railroading.
3. Supplemental sourcebooks needed to run the adventure. I love Necromancer Games adventures, but Tomb of Abysthor requires the use of Relics and Rituals to run it. I don't have that sourcebook, so a lot of re-writing is needed if I'm to run the adventure.

 

[Psion]

1. Lack of PC motivation
2. Lack of a clear, concise summary of the adventure.
3. Hidden important information. (One module I had to dig though pages of text to find out how the PCs entered the dungeon.)
4. Robbing PCs of their advantages (they should get some credit.)
5. Plot bottlenecks (a single clue or skill roll is the key to the adventure. This is why I think the much lauded What Evil Lurks is overrated.
6. Witnessed events that are assumed the PCs can't alter
7. Witnessed events that, despite being random, assume a specific outcome.
8. Being nothing more than a dungeon.
9. Event based adventures that don't provide multiple paths or ways for PCs to overcome the challenges. (I see VERY few d20 event based adventures that do this right.)
10. Puns and other silliness.

 

[jester47]

Campaign setting information and a plots that require surgery to remove. Or replace. Its twice as bad if the plot is so tied to the campaign setting that the module is tied to that if you remove the plot and the CS you have no module left.

Aaron.

 

[Brandigan]

I guess my biggest peeve is lack of details. Because, like most of you, I buy modules because I don't have the time to make my own. I need this module to run without massive work on my part. And I wish they included the seperate little map/picture booklet that came with some modules.