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<blockquote data-quote="Wik" data-source="post: 5367476" data-attributes="member: 40177">Thanks Buddhafrog, and everyone else who's commented on this.&nbsp; A few thoughts on why this may be:First, D&amp;D is one of the few companies out there that actually release an &quot;introductory&quot; adventure with their main product.&nbsp; Most companies do not include an adventure in their product - of the games on my shelf, only two contain an adventure (Savage World and Warhammer Fantasy 2e) and I would call neither of them &quot;introductory&quot;.&nbsp; I believe this is partly due to page count - D&amp;D often has three books forming a &quot;core&quot; while most other RPGs are expected to contain everything in one core book (often with additional splats that expand upon the content).&nbsp; This means that it is harder to find space for an adventure - especially because many non-D&amp;D RPGs are implicitly aimed towards experienced gamers.&nbsp; A lot of non D&amp;D RPGs instead put some page space towards introductory fiction (Shadowrun, Earthdawn, and WFRP2E all spring to mind), which is perhaps a better way to introduce experienced gamers to the key concepts of your setting.&nbsp; D&amp;D, however, has the space for an introductory adventure.&nbsp; Yet I believe there is a culture among the designers that perhaps the introductory adventure is a low priority - after all, the game line is large enough that there will be a &quot;Starter Set&quot; released with the main game that will serve as a better introduction for neophyte players.Couple this with the fact that the ruleset is still probably being tweaked and redesigned while the adventure is being written, and you wind up with something that is inevitably cobbled together.&nbsp; I wouldn't be surprised to learn that whoever wrote the introductory adventure for 4e did it on a time crunch and fully intended for it to serve as a few simple combat encounters, and not as an &quot;adventure&quot; per se.&nbsp; Many non D&amp;D games seem to release their introductory adventure with the GM screen.&nbsp; While I'm not sure this is a good practice either (how do newbie GMs know to pick up the screen?) I suppose it's an okay compromise.&nbsp; And, from what I've seen of them, these intro adventures are actually pretty good at what they set out to do - much more so than TSR/WOTC equivalents.For what it's worth, the only D&amp;D intro adventure I think was any good was the one in the 1e DMG.&nbsp; And the 2e DMG's intent of being just a rulebook (with all adventures and advice being found in Dungeon and Dragon mags) was a bad, if understandable, call.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Wik, post: 5367476, member: 40177"] Thanks Buddhafrog, and everyone else who's commented on this. A few thoughts on why this may be: First, D&D is one of the few companies out there that actually release an "introductory" adventure with their main product. Most companies do not include an adventure in their product - of the games on my shelf, only two contain an adventure (Savage World and Warhammer Fantasy 2e) and I would call neither of them "introductory". I believe this is partly due to page count - D&D often has three books forming a "core" while most other RPGs are expected to contain everything in one core book (often with additional splats that expand upon the content). This means that it is harder to find space for an adventure - especially because many non-D&D RPGs are implicitly aimed towards experienced gamers. A lot of non D&D RPGs instead put some page space towards introductory fiction (Shadowrun, Earthdawn, and WFRP2E all spring to mind), which is perhaps a better way to introduce experienced gamers to the key concepts of your setting. D&D, however, has the space for an introductory adventure. Yet I believe there is a culture among the designers that perhaps the introductory adventure is a low priority - after all, the game line is large enough that there will be a "Starter Set" released with the main game that will serve as a better introduction for neophyte players. Couple this with the fact that the ruleset is still probably being tweaked and redesigned while the adventure is being written, and you wind up with something that is inevitably cobbled together. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that whoever wrote the introductory adventure for 4e did it on a time crunch and fully intended for it to serve as a few simple combat encounters, and not as an "adventure" per se. Many non D&D games seem to release their introductory adventure with the GM screen. While I'm not sure this is a good practice either (how do newbie GMs know to pick up the screen?) I suppose it's an okay compromise. And, from what I've seen of them, these intro adventures are actually pretty good at what they set out to do - much more so than TSR/WOTC equivalents. For what it's worth, the only D&D intro adventure I think was any good was the one in the 1e DMG. And the 2e DMG's intent of being just a rulebook (with all adventures and advice being found in Dungeon and Dragon mags) was a bad, if understandable, call. [/QUOTE]

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