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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 702920" data-attributes="member: 4937">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.</blockquote>

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