Why are modules no longer popular

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I don't buy new mods becuase I have tons of classic Gygax written Greyhawk mods to run the group through. S1, S4, & Isle of the Ape are all on the table when they finish the current mod. They haven't played them yet and I feel they need to.

 

[Waylander the Slayer]

I disagree that there is a lack of modules coming out per se. Comparitavely, there are a lot more modules for 3e than there are for prior editions within the prior editions.

The greatest weakness, as pointed out earlier, is that most campaigns that last, take a life of their own and require personalization; modules rarely give you that (especially if the game is not a dungeon crawl).

But the strength of a good module is that as a GM, if you read it, you get so excited that you work your campaign around the module because it is just sooo coool. The Witchfire trilogy, not exactly the most portable of modules, did this for me. It was just such a very cool plotline that I had to work it in and i did and my group totally LOVED it!

Some other good modules which i will probably never run but are pretty good are the Freeport series (Green Ronin),The Last Dance (Penumbra) Edge of Dreams(monkey God) and What Evil Lurks (Nec).
Also there is the fact that there is usually 1 GM for six players (about to go off on a rant about the gazillion splat books)...

 

[blackshirt5]

I like modules, but I don't have enough of a chance to run em. Like Flexor, I've got a bunch of old modules that I got off of SVgames.com that I'm still gonna run(Go Ruins of Greyhawk!)

 

[nikolai]

2) It is simply very difficult to write up a full length modern style module in 32-64 pages...
...So much flavor has to get cut for space that even a good professional module has a hard time appealing to a DM who is himself probably a pretty decent writer. Modules just don't inspire DM's the way they did in the early '80's and noone had seen anything like this before.

I think the dearth of decent 32 page adventure modules is a great loss (though there are exceptions: like the Forge of Fury). Done properly they can be really enjoyable. There is also work to be done in designing complex dungeon complexes, stating interesting opponents etc. which is hard for DMs to do really well unless they devote a lot of time to it.

I think it is just that it's very hard to do modules (particularly short modules) well - even for very good designers - that it's more or less been abandoned. I don't think that this is just WotC either. The new Ravenloft line, for example, has totally turned its back on adventure modules. They used to be the main type of Ravenloft product and it was a 32 page module that started the whole campaign setting. The line now consists entirely of source books.

nikolai.

 

[King_Stannis]

I think there are some outstanding companies making modules/adventures, and I'll give an example of two that are doing it a different way.

1) Necromancer Games. Great slogan..."3rd Edition Rules, 1st Edition feel". And, for the most part, they've used that as their driving force - making modules that hearken back to the early days, but ones that have been getting progressively better and more ambitious. Add to that the fact that Clark and Bill have a strong online presence and have almost a cult-like following, and they are one of the ones to point to and say "see, it can be done and done correctly". Of course, having WW backing your publishing doesn't hurt, too.

2) Auran. Some of you may or may not have heard of them. But I was astounded at all the goodies you get with their adventures. Full color maps and middle insert drawings. Outstanding artwork. Full blown character sheets for their key NPC's. But best of all is a CD-Rom that has a soundtrack for the adventure, 3-D drawings of some of the key areas that you can show your players, and an entire PDF version of the adventure that you can use to print off player handouts, maps that you want to markup, etc. Their adventures are a tad pricier than most, $20 for a standard 1-2 session adventure. But you know what, the adventures I have, especially "Sanctuary", are damn well worth it in my opinion.

To me this is a riskier but fairly inventive approach that has been dabbled in by other companies in the past, but has not been stuck with. Every D20 Auran adventure that I've seen has these CD's and this outstanding design quality, so they seem committed to this approach. And I say "bravo"! So long as the adventures are entertaining, and so far they have been, I will support them. I encourage everyone to take a good look at "Sanctuary" and see if you agree with me.


Dungeon is an excellent source for adventures, "Rana Mor" is still one of my ALL-TIME favorites of any adventure. But there are other companies producing good stuff, too.

 

[blackshirt5]

Agree with King Stannis, Necro is awesome. Rappan Athuk ranks as one of the best dungeon crawls, IMO. And I love Dungeon Crawls.

Where can I find stuff from Auran?

 

[tf360]

Although fairly easy to produce and rarely as long as rules supplements, modules basically appeal only to DM's not players. Players really have very little reason to purchase modules, therefore, if they're going to spend their money on any gaming product, they're going to spend it on something that enhances their character, such as one of the splat books or something that improves their gaming experience, i.e. miniatures, dice etc. Assuming that the average gaming group consists of five individuals, four players and a DM, modules generally target only 20% of the gaming consumers, while more generic products target the entire group.

Although I don't know the exact price of Dungeon magazine these days, approximately $5-6 purchases four to six different adventures as opposed to spending $8-10 for a single, albeit often longer adventure. In addition, free adventures are readily available from a sizeable number of third party publishers, so unless you have a recognizable name authoring or publishing the module, it's a tough sell with limited profitability.

 

[King_Stannis]

http://www.auran.com/d20/default.htm

I think that'll get you there, Blackshirt.

 

[Garmorn]

One other reason for a decline in the number sold is that when a edition first comes out lots of DMs use modules to help teach them and the players the new edition. This effect was greater for D&D 3d then for previous editions. It takes time to learn how the changes effect the blance and feel of monsters, settings, ect.

 

[Celebrim]

nikolai: I too mourn the loss of the great 32, 48, and 64 page adventures. I do think that while it may not be all that profitable, good modules represent to me the pinacle of gaming craftsmanship in its written form. Good modules sell a setting for me. I don't care how detailed your world book is, or how original your world is, if you can't demonstrate a good module for the setting then it isn't a setting worth playing.

One problem is there seems to be very very little agreement over what constitutes a well written module. For instance, Rapan Athuk gets alot of praise, but I honestly feel that any decent and motivated DM can turn out a Rapan Athuk quality module EVERY MONTH from here to the end of eternity. There is nothing at all compelling or inspiring to me about Rapan Athuk - though I suppose it may fall into such a category for you if you've never seen a large lethal dungeon before.

Anytime we have a poll on what are the finest modules of all time, we get all manner of opinions. Some look at B2 as the finest module ever written. Others find it among the worst. Some look at S1 as among the finest modules ever written. Some find it the worst.

For my part, I judge a module based on how difficult I would find it to produce an original equivalent of such a module, or, equivalently, how 'mature' I was before I was able to write a module of the same quality. I feel I was able to produce B2 quality modules as early as age 12. I was rewritting the module to a higher standard by age 15. On the other hand, I think I would only with some difficulty produce a module like S1 even today. Any number of B2 like modules have come and gone, but as a reading of RttToH reveals, even a top designer has a hard time creating new challenges of the same type and quality as the original S1. RttToH relied much more heavily on combat challenges and unavoidable obstacles than S1 ever did, which is not a knock against RttToH because it is itself an original and well done module that continues to inspire ideas, but it does point just how remarkable and unique design S1 is.

Of course, part of that may be DM perspective vs. player perspective. Just because I find the design mature and sophisticated, doesn't mean it makes a better gaming experience. S1 and B2 both offer unique challenges when trying to run them 'well', but B2 (or at least B2 like) Orc-N-Pie modules are probably alot more intuitive gaming experiences for most gamers.