D&D (2024) WoTc and TSR... what is D&D

[James Gasik]

I joke with people about that being a major offense... but I skip from encounter at far point to tasha's death, to season 3 myself so no stones to throw. (I know in there is an Okay Romulan episode and a GOD awful planet Africa/polyamory episode...but I can't remember much else)

Star Trek is a strange beast. TNG took awhile to find it's stride. DS9 hit the ground running (but it's first season is still criminally underrated), and Voyager...I won't say anything in case we have some VOY fans in the house.

Then you get Enterprise, which also struggled to find it's stride, and got cancelled the instant they did.

Also, the God awful episode you're referring to is "Code of Honor" and that's not even the worst one. How about the planet that has to kill Wesley because he walked on the grass?

 

[Stormonu]

The 16-32 page self-contained adventures are all on DM's Guild under the "Adventurer's League" tag. That's where the adventures that would have gone into Dungeon back in the day are being published now.

Wow, that's quite a lot.

How well do these play for non-League casual home play? Some of the comments I see have me concerned about how competition-minded they may be.

 

[Parmandur]

Wow, that's quite a lot.

How well do these play for non-League casual home play? Some of the comments I see have me concerned about how competition-minded they may be.

Pssst, check this out, from WotC during peak pandemic times:

Downloadable Adventures & Resources | Dungeons & Dragons

Get started with downloadable PDF adventures and resources from the lastest edition of Dungeons & Dragons.

dnd.wizards.com

As to quality or utility, about the same as anything from Dungeon/Dragon back in the day, bit of a mix.

 

[teitan]

They put out whole books of 16-32 page Adventures every year...sometimes they pretend there is a unifying plot to them, sometimes not (like witht he upco.ing Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel).

2 in 8 years, 3 in 10, isn’t every year 4 if you really want to count Saltmarsh.

 

[teitan]

For those looking for shorter adventures, Kobold Press has a Patreon where they put out shorter adventures monthly and a journal as well with new subclasses, spells and other bits. Most are Midgard but easily adapted to other settings.

 

[Jer]

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Wow, that's quite a lot.

How well do these play for non-League casual home play? Some of the comments I see have me concerned about how competition-minded they may be.

They vary as you'd expect - kind of like how Dungeon adventures varied. I've only used a few and they've been fine for at-home play - I wouldn't really call them "competitive". They might mean that the AL adventures are clearly kind of geared to fit into a fixed time slot, which is one way the AL adventures are a bit different from the kind of thing you'd see in Dungeon back in the day.

 

[Parmandur]

2 in 8 years, 3 in 10, isn’t every year 4 if you really want to count Saltmarsh.

They started with Hoard of the Dragon Queen in 2014, and just put out Call of the Netherdeep.

All of the 5E Adventure books have chapters that are "coincidently" about 16-32 pages long. When Perkins was on Dragon Talk for the Tyranny of Dragons reprint he was pretty open about how they design the books as bundles of modules with removable veneer of story that can be mixed and matched.

 

[Retreater]

All of the 5E Adventure books have chapters that are "coincidently" about 16-32 pages long. When Perkins was on Dragon Talk for the Tyranny of Dragons reprint he was pretty open about how they design the books as bundles of modules with removable veneer of story that can be mixed and matched.

I'll have to disagree with Perkins that these are individually satisfying adventure locations like traditional modules. Looking at something like Rime of the Frostmaiden, you have numerous locations that are 2-3 rooms in a dungeon with 1-2 encounters in it. Compare that to something like The Sunless Citadel, which has traps, monsters, factions, story, multiple levels, a memorable boss fight, etc. This was the stuff that we used to get in previous editions as a 32 page adventure.
Not only is The Sunless Citadel better than any of the side locations in Rime of the Frostmaiden, I'd go so far as to say (in my opinion), it's a better adventure than the climax of Rime, which essentially had one encounter worth fighting in the whole darned castle.
And I'm not trying to promote Sunless Citadel as the pinnacle of adventure design. It's merely above average, but compared to most of 5e's adventure design it's a masterpiece.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

All of the 5E Adventure books have chapters that are "coincidently" about 16-32 pages long. When Perkins was on Dragon Talk for the Tyranny of Dragons reprint he was pretty open about how they design the books as bundles of modules with removable veneer of story that can be mixed and matched.

that is intresting. I am going to reread Curse of Strahd and RIme of the Frost Maiden and Strixhaven with that in mind

 

[Sacrosanct]

that is intresting. I am going to reread Curse of Strahd and RIme of the Frost Maiden and Strixhaven with that in mind

Curse of Strahd was totally a short introductory adventure within the overall campaign. At least for me. I died at level 1 in the haunted house. Let's say a level 1 fighter didn't last long against a shambling mound when it rose up. Didn't even last until my initiative as I got ripped in half.