Why do you buy published adventures?
- Thread starter ReeboKesh
- Start date
I primarily buy them for the same reason that people perform in plays they didn't write themselves or read books that they didn't write themselves: Bringing outside material into your creative process and enjoying creative material created by other people are both enriching activities.
Lanefan
Victoria Rules
Two other reasons that occasionally spur me to buy modules, that are not listed above:
1. I am too lazy to write my own; or know that at some point in the future I will be too lazy at the point where I find I need an adventure because the party just left-turned on me and I've nothing prepared.
2. Collectibility and completion-ism. I'm slowly trying to build a complete set of the TSR 1e modules and may next branch into trying to get all the Judges' Guild 1e-era stuff. Or not, if it gets too costly.
That said, by no means do I run every module I buy; so I voted for the "mine them for ideas" option.
Lan-"anyone want to buy stocks in an idea mine?"-efan
1. I am too lazy to write my own; or know that at some point in the future I will be too lazy at the point where I find I need an adventure because the party just left-turned on me and I've nothing prepared.
2. Collectibility and completion-ism. I'm slowly trying to build a complete set of the TSR 1e modules and may next branch into trying to get all the Judges' Guild 1e-era stuff. Or not, if it gets too costly.
That said, by no means do I run every module I buy; so I voted for the "mine them for ideas" option.
Lan-"anyone want to buy stocks in an idea mine?"-efan
Jan van Leyden
Adventurer
I buy them because I'm too busy to write my own ... or something like that.
I run adventures like I'm using recipes in cooking: I start out with the written text, modifying and changing it as I go to suite my own taste. Every now and then I look at the written text and re-calibrate the process.
The last close to complete adventure I had written was five or six years ago. It had a consistent plot, cool villains, surprises which had the players lauding the villain's way of operation, a climactic fight in the end, and the villain's escape with a lot of story threads for the players to follow up.
The problem is that I spent an ungodly amount of time writing and re-writing the beast. At some time in the process, it turned from being cool to being a chore, and I realised that I modified my adventure at least as much as I did with bought ones. But while I tend to improvise my modifications with pre-written stuff, perhaps adding a sticky note, I changed the text of my own creation every so often and made sure that the whole text remained consistent.
I may repeat this ordeal, but only if I'm convinced that the idea is worth it.
I run adventures like I'm using recipes in cooking: I start out with the written text, modifying and changing it as I go to suite my own taste. Every now and then I look at the written text and re-calibrate the process.
The last close to complete adventure I had written was five or six years ago. It had a consistent plot, cool villains, surprises which had the players lauding the villain's way of operation, a climactic fight in the end, and the villain's escape with a lot of story threads for the players to follow up.
The problem is that I spent an ungodly amount of time writing and re-writing the beast. At some time in the process, it turned from being cool to being a chore, and I realised that I modified my adventure at least as much as I did with bought ones. But while I tend to improvise my modifications with pre-written stuff, perhaps adding a sticky note, I changed the text of my own creation every so often and made sure that the whole text remained consistent.
I may repeat this ordeal, but only if I'm convinced that the idea is worth it.
ReeboKesh
First Post
Hey everyone, thanks for replying. I understand polls a little better now - have ever possible choice available 
Seriously though if anything it confirms my hope that people still buy adventures for whatever reason and that's good enough for me.
I'll admit lately I have been buying random adventures to study their structure and see what works and what doesn't.
Thanks everyone
Reebo
P.S. Lanefan, I envy you. I wish I still had my collection of AD&D modules which included the truly awesome Baltron's Beacon - man I loved that module.
Seriously though if anything it confirms my hope that people still buy adventures for whatever reason and that's good enough for me.
I'll admit lately I have been buying random adventures to study their structure and see what works and what doesn't.
Thanks everyone
Reebo
P.S. Lanefan, I envy you. I wish I still had my collection of AD&D modules which included the truly awesome Baltron's Beacon - man I loved that module.
I buy them because I am too busy to write my own.
Which turns out to be a lie, as I then re-write and/or add in encounters plucked from other bought scenarios or elsewhere. I use maptools to game so there's also some nice encounter style maps that I can make use of.
Cheers PR
Which turns out to be a lie, as I then re-write and/or add in encounters plucked from other bought scenarios or elsewhere. I use maptools to game so there's also some nice encounter style maps that I can make use of.
Cheers PR
A
amerigoV
Guest
1. Shared experience - nothing like saying "Moathouse" and poeple know what you are talking about.
2. Time - Modules take care of the heavily lifting - maps, NPCs, populating areas. I like doing those things as well, but it takes away from working on the plot. I spend my time adjusting the plot to my liking and integrating it into the campaign world. ALso, it is nice to have an "off the self" option to fill in between other campaign events.
3. It stretches my DM skills. Someone else wrote it, which means they will have approaches I would not have come up with on my own in certain circumstances. It gives me a chance to add to my DMing toolbox.
4. Best 4 words for a DM, "It's in the Module." I don't know how many PC deaths I could just blame on Monte Cook. Muhahahaha!
2. Time - Modules take care of the heavily lifting - maps, NPCs, populating areas. I like doing those things as well, but it takes away from working on the plot. I spend my time adjusting the plot to my liking and integrating it into the campaign world. ALso, it is nice to have an "off the self" option to fill in between other campaign events.
3. It stretches my DM skills. Someone else wrote it, which means they will have approaches I would not have come up with on my own in certain circumstances. It gives me a chance to add to my DMing toolbox.
4. Best 4 words for a DM, "It's in the Module." I don't know how many PC deaths I could just blame on Monte Cook. Muhahahaha!
wedgeski
Adventurer
I like to mine them for ideas, and I'm too busy to write my own. Adventures for me are big baskets of maps, encounters, NPC's and ideas in general. On occasion I'll run a module that particularly appeals to me, with minimal changes just to socket the thing into my campaign world; most of the time though, I'll rip locations or quests out, thoroughly re-dress them with the trappings of my own campaign, and drop them in on-demand.
During the AD&D period I ran almost entirely my own material (and missed out on a lot of classics in the process), but I bought several modules in the early days of both 3E and 4E so I could see the game "in action", and therefore understand what the designers thought a DM should have to worry about (and not have to worry about). This was very educational in-and-of-itself.
During the AD&D period I ran almost entirely my own material (and missed out on a lot of classics in the process), but I bought several modules in the early days of both 3E and 4E so I could see the game "in action", and therefore understand what the designers thought a DM should have to worry about (and not have to worry about). This was very educational in-and-of-itself.
I have run the "Return to the temple of Elemental Evil" and got so fed up with dungeon crawls that I won't be running one again. (I thought).
The next module I ran was "Red hand of Doom" that is relatively free-form and we had a great time. It kind of fizzled as one guy had to go to the army for a year and I didn't like the end of it (dungeon, too nasty end encounter).
I ran the-whatever-non-memorable first 4e module from wizards, "Keep on the Shadowfell" to get a feeling for 4e. It was quite ok. I still don't like dungeon crawls.
I became a community supporter on Enworld to get a view of "War of the Burning Sky" and I was pleasantly surprised. I have started the first module and I love it.
Red Hand of Doom and War of the Burning Sky are modules of better quality than I could have made myself. Customizing them some more would probably have made them even better, but I ran them about as written. This is mostly due to the fact that I don't have enough time to customize too much. I run most encounters, but might skip on a skill challenge in favour of free-form role playing or modify a combat encounter to make it more interesting.
"War of the Burning Sky" is quite deep compared to a lot of modules and it takes some time getting used to the style. There is something important in nearly every encounter. I must say - I really love it. Hard to DM but really rewarding. It's a campaign I would love to DM 2-3 times so I could run it without looking in my notes so often.
The next module I ran was "Red hand of Doom" that is relatively free-form and we had a great time. It kind of fizzled as one guy had to go to the army for a year and I didn't like the end of it (dungeon, too nasty end encounter).
I ran the-whatever-non-memorable first 4e module from wizards, "Keep on the Shadowfell" to get a feeling for 4e. It was quite ok. I still don't like dungeon crawls.
I became a community supporter on Enworld to get a view of "War of the Burning Sky" and I was pleasantly surprised. I have started the first module and I love it.
Red Hand of Doom and War of the Burning Sky are modules of better quality than I could have made myself. Customizing them some more would probably have made them even better, but I ran them about as written. This is mostly due to the fact that I don't have enough time to customize too much. I run most encounters, but might skip on a skill challenge in favour of free-form role playing or modify a combat encounter to make it more interesting.
"War of the Burning Sky" is quite deep compared to a lot of modules and it takes some time getting used to the style. There is something important in nearly every encounter. I must say - I really love it. Hard to DM but really rewarding. It's a campaign I would love to DM 2-3 times so I could run it without looking in my notes so often.
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