What turns you off in a purchased adventure?

[der_kluge]

Stupid NPC names. My players will make fun of any name if it sounds like anything. Heck, I do it, too.

My last DM had an NPC named Thymestra, and I called her "Thigh Master"

 

[Gothmog]

Gothmog said:

Hehe...I guess that depends on where you are from. In Denmark or Sweden Bjorn Grondahl (with a slash on the "o"s) could easily be mistaken for a human name. Now if that dwarf was instead a human viking

darklight

Whoops! You're right. I knew Bjorn was a real name (and one I always loved for dwarves), but I made up Grondahl! Maybe he's a dwarven viking?

 

[MerakSpielman]

Poor editing and inconsistency. For instance, one paragraph says there are 5 goblins in the room, and then later it says "Monsters: Goblins (3)." Well which is it?

Also, little mistakes like "This bugbear wields a scythe and wears leather armor," and then I flip to the statblocks in the back and all there is is a block for a bugbear wielding a morningstar in a chain shirt. I mean, c'mon! Adventures are supposed to be designed so that even rookie or total newbie DMs can figure out what's going on.

 

[Psion]

Could you elaborate on this?

Lack of PC motivation = adventure gives the PCs no compelling reason to get involved. A particular example that comes to mind is part of the Planescape anothology The Great Modron March, after several adventures in which the PCs learn that the Modrons are a menace, the author tries to entice them with an adventure about Modrons being abused.

A good adventure will typically provide 3 or 4 different hooks. Preferably flexible ones that allow you to change details like who sent you, etc.

 

[RFisher]

10. Ridiculous scales. Even in the modern world I don't run into ten foot wide corridors very often. Why do they seem so prevalent among dungeons?
9. Too much detail, description, background, &c. I don't have a lot of time to devote to gaming these days. I'd like, therefore, to use more modules, but most require a bigger time investment than making up something myself. I don't have time to read through a huge tome & pick out the good bits. Give me just the good bits, thank you.
8. Ridiculous names. Don't give me fancy, silly, &/or unpronouncable names. Give me simple, straightforward names.
7. Overdone PC motivation. My PCs will find their own motivation. The more your module depends upon using one of the motivations you present (or worse, the one you present), the more work I have to do.
6. Plot. I run a PC driven game. The PCs make their own plot.
5. Big, run-on stat blocks. If you're going to give me monster stats, lay them out in a table or something so that they're quick & easy for me to reference during play. Maybe leave some space for me to mark damage & make other notes.
4. Pretty maps & diagrams. Anything on a map or diagram that doesn't convey important information is in the way. Ideally it should be easy to photocopy & easy to mark up. Unless its a map or diagram that's meant to be shown to the players, but then it really falls into the category of artwork...
3. Artwork that can't be shown to players. I don't need artwork within the body of the module, but artwork designed for & placed where it can be shown to players is always welcome.
2. Info in the wrong place. e.g. The door between rooms A & B is unusual. Room A has multiple exits. Room B has no other exits. Do not describe the door in room B's description! Describe it in room A's description. Include a note about it in room B's description referring the reader to room A's description.

...and the number one...

1. "d4 abandoned farm houses"

 

[Joshua Randall]

My pet peeve is adventures that require more than three paragraphs of introduction. If you can't explain the set-up and get me into the numbered encounters succinctly, then don't bother. Also, the longer the set-up, the more likely I will have to make significant changes to fit my campaign world. So just don't waste my time (and yours).

 

[kenobi65]

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.

Here, here.

I'll add:
Maps that don't correlate to the text. I *hate* it when the text says "Area A4", and there *is* no area A4 (or, area A4 on the map looks nothing like how it's described in the text.) Sloppy, sloppy editing.

 

[DragonLancer]

Thanx for explaining that. I don't mind names like that myself, but different people different views.

Yes, they are typical, but they are also extremely silly. The problem is, they ARE human-sounding names. Moonshadow? Axebreaker? If the elves and dwarves were going to go through the trouble of having different sounding first names that don't translate into human tongues, then why do their last names? They are those silly multi-word compound names that have been beaten to death. The first names I threw out weren't so bad, perhaps a little cliche, but workable. Gnomes and halflings also suffer mightily from this problem with names like Gnamril Nimblefingers (gnome), or Borgo Fiddlefaddle (halfling).

A better sounding elven name might be Fanari Iactalius (this was a PC in a campaign I ran where elves had a decadent Roman-like empire falling into decline). Or perhaps a dwarf named Bjorn Grondahl. Those names evoke something of the culture, while also sounding different enough to not be mistaken easily for human names.

I have seen modules in old issues of DUNGEON that had really silly names. I remember one where two important NPC's were Gert Poodlon and Oddly Grincakes. I didn't notice really till I was running the adventure and noticed the players laughing themselves silly.

 

[Sir Elton]

Thanx for explaining that. I don't mind names like that myself, but different people different views.



I have seen modules in old issues of DUNGEON that had really silly names. I remember one where two important NPC's were Gert Poodlon and Oddly Grincakes. I didn't notice really till I was running the adventure and noticed the players laughing themselves silly.

You know, the perfect Adventure is pretty much unattainable. Unless you want to make it bland. And even then, somebody would be peeved about it.

Awe well.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

I dont know why a lot of people seem to dislike real world names. I agree that they would seem a bit strange on an Elf or Dwarf. But I do not mind if they are used for Humans.