Why are modules no longer popular

[Psion]

GURPS doesn't publish complete adventures, but they publish LOTS of crunch.

GURPS published a book (same size as their other books) called Fantasy Adventures. It was bad. It was REALLY bad. I read it and said to myself "I would never do this to my players." Some horror stories I have heard from people who play GURPS Fantasy reveals that they probably shouldn't have either.

 

[blackshirt5]

"White Wolf" Adventures.

1) Giovanni Chronicals
2) Dark Colony
3) Chaos Factor
4) Diablery in Mexico
5) Diablery: England
6) Red moon Rising

I'd name more, but I'm away from my collection.

7)The Valkenburg Foundation
8)Rite of Passage
I'd post up some more, but I never really bought too many adventures. I know they're there though.

 

[Celebrim]

Don't get me wrong, I like GURPS, and I do think that realisticly the market it targets will never be as big as D&D for the simple reason that the mechanics are much more complicated. And, I think that is the principal reason GURPS has always been a top 5 game system but never the darling of the RPG world.

But, I have always had the suspicion that especially in the early going alot of the reason GURPS failed to become quite the phenomenom of the TSR games is that GURPS failed miserably in offering packaged adventures. Compare GURPS to Star Wars, Call of Cthullu, Chill, Shadow Run, White Wolf, D&D, Gamma World, Paranoia and many other games that offered very strong very well written modules and you'll notice a marked lack of quality in the adventure writing. A module has the advantage of providing direction to a starting DM on how to write an adventure - what elements to include, what kind of problems to solve, how to describe NPC's succintly, and even how to organize it. I have always had this suspicion that most GURPS books that get sold go onto DM's shelves, get read by DMs, get flipped through by DM's, get pondered over and fantasized about by DM's, but that for the most part they remain a sort of DM's toy that they tinker with from time to time but rarely actually organize a long running campaign around. I confess that I've found it awfully hard to write a GURPS adventure, have never successfully had a long running campaign in the GURPS system, and find the principal use of the material is stealing ideas for use in other game systems.

I wonder how many GURPS books exist per actual group of players that meet weekly to play the game?

 

[TeeSeeJay]

7)The Valkenburg Foundation
8)Rite of Passage
I'd post up some more, but I never really bought too many adventures. I know they're there though.

9) Ashes to Ashes

 

[herald]

Wasn't there a Transylvania Chronical 1, 2 & 3

 

[Tiberius]

9) Ashes to Ashes

10) Rage Across Russia
11) Rage Across Appalachia
12) Loom of Fate
13) The Changeling three-parter that tied into novels whose name I forget
14) Nights of Prophecy
15) Monkeywrencher: Pentex (I think, I've never really followed the Werewolf line)
16) Storyteller's Guide to the Sabbat [2E] (I think there was an adventure buried in there)

More as I think of them.

-Tiberius

 

[jasper]

I have half a shelf of modules from 1st and 2nd. I have only used 1/2 of them.
I go to game store and see
a shelf and a half of modules from various companies. Two spinners of the 1 night, $4 adventurers. Plus the variouse d20 and other gaming source books.
Guys and gals there is a glut. And it is a golden renaissance, many styles and many flavors. Pick the ones you like and enjoy.
Plus remember back in the old days what judges guild, white wolf , tsr and the dragon.

Now dragon never publishes an adventure and a mag is deciated to this?

I just I was playing as much as I did in the army. I would probaly be buying two modules a month. And half would sit on my shelves unplayed.

 

[darklight]

The whole mini-campaign setting idea seems to be the route Necromancer is going. Vault of Larin Karr is very much a setting (with several suggested plots) the upcoming "Grey Citadel" is also supposed to be a mini campaign setting, and in their submission guidelines, this is exactly what they are asking for, so we will probably see more of this.

I like Vault of Larin Karr, but when I read it, I couldn't help thinking that this particular type of adventure is probably the easiest to write, while also being the easiest to use. To sum up my impression of VoLK, it is sort of ordinary, there is nothing that makes you think 'cool' but it's very useful. The lack of 'coolness' is probably exactly because there is no overlying plot, with a brilliant master villain, but this just makes it easy to use in different types of campaigns. In short low coolness but high utility factor.

Oh, and there was also a GURPS Space Adventures book, with three adventures, one silly slapstick, one combat heavy mercenary, and a pretty cool investigation adventure.

darklight

 

[Vaxalon]

Don't get me wrong, I like GURPS, and I do think that realisticly the market it targets will never be as big as D&D for the simple reason that the mechanics are much more complicated. And, I think that is the principal reason GURPS has always been a top 5 game system but never the darling of the RPG world.

That's probably true.

But, I have always had the suspicion that especially in the early going alot of the reason GURPS failed to become quite the phenomenom of the TSR games is that GURPS failed miserably in offering packaged adventures. ...

That's because it's basically impossible to write a pre-scripted adventure for any group in GURPS. There are SO many abilities, and SO many ways that they can be put together, that it's impossible to assume that a group of characters will have or not have any particular ability.

The only way you could do it would be to publish characters along with the adventure.

I wonder how many GURPS books exist per actual group of players that meet weekly to play the game?

In my collection, I have about forty GURPS books.

 

[Mark CMG]

Walk into the average gaming store and count the modules on the shelf. Ask how fast they're selling...

There's serious glut. My local store has taken to a 20% discount if you buy 3 or more d20 books in an effort to clear out their shelves. Some of that stuff has sat there for more than a year and a half.

They range over all the levels. No module, of any level, sells. Even if it's the only one out covering it's area or level.

You don't need to cover every level from multiple angles to have glut, you merely have to exceed the demand for product.

The reason there are so few 15th and similar level modules is that by the time you reach that level, most games are highly intwined into a themed plotline that is pulling them along. As such, any module at that level is going to be a hard sell unless it is a continuation of something from an earlier level. And much like movie sequels, each suceeding part gets less eyeballs.

So there are nearly no modules for this level, as the demand is so small as to be insignifigant. At this level of demand one module is enough to fill the market, two makes for glut.

We'll have to disagree though I think the successes of FDP and SSS also indicate that there is no actual glut. It may be that your individual store experience has other factors to contend with.