Your Favorite 3rd Edition Dungeon Mag Adventures?

[Blasphemonkey]

Hey, I am a big fan of Dungeon Magazine (a little less so now, but please let's not get into that...there's at least 3 other threads on here that discuss it). There are many great adventures within it's pages, it's hard to pick just one. Many of them are deserving of being released as a module all by itself, and plus they are full color. (I scan the artwork, blow it up, and print it out using a photo printer, my group really enjoys the visual aid.)

Here are some of my picks without any major spoilers, complete with magazine issue and levels indicated, as well as what levels you can adapt the adventure to (I haven't run all of them...yet...but I indicate which ones I did):

CHALLENGE OF CHAMPIONS IV (Dungeon 91, any level)
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Have any geniouses in your party? This is sure to challenge all of them. There are 10 scenarios, and almost all of them have player handouts. Some of the puzzles (and predicaments - hehe) are quite tough, and they have time constraints. There were three Challenges published in earlier Dungeon Mags (hence the title), and those are pre-3.0 D&D. I have heard that the experience varies from group to group, they come up with many different ways to solve (or beat) the puzzles...often in ways completely unexpected to the DM!

DUNGEON OF THE FIRE OPAL (Dungeon 84, 3rd level, adapt 1-5)
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Classic dungeon crawl, as it says on the cover, and that's exactly what this adventure is. The map may look a little *ahem* familiar to some, but again, no spoilers here (one of you can reveal it if you want, but make sure you indicate "Spoiler for Dungeon of the Fire Opal"). I think it's well done, and yes, I have ran my group through this one. They were a little complexed by the way the tunnels ran, but I don't want to hint at too much.

PREY FOR TYRINTH (Dungeon 90, 5th level, adapt 3-15)
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Nicely done side-trek, battling a monster in it's native territory, who is probably more prepared to fight the PC's than they are to fight it. I DM'ed this one, and got many chuckles out of the perplexed and/or frustrated look on my tablemate's faces. Heheh, the monkey can be quite evil at times.

THE SEVENTH ARM (Dungeon 88, 7th level, adapt 3-11)
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I love the traps and the pick of monsters in this one. It starts out as a city adventure with a bit of intrigue and mystery. Then the second half is a dungeon crawl. I just think it was very well-written.

TEARS FOR TWILIGHT HOLLOW (Dungeon 90, 7th level, adapt 3-12)
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Woah! 47-page Monster-Size mod here. Considering that the WOTC mods are around 32 pages in length (one or two are longer I think), plus this is in color...! Great writing, real epic (not epic level, just epic) feel to this adventure. Over 10 different maps, inside and out. And hey...gotta love those doors, hehe. Shhhh, no spoiling it for the rest now.

CRADLE OF MADNESS (Dungeon 87, 6th level, adapt 3-8)
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Madness indeed...and evil! Well-written mod, set in Greyhawk, for all you poor Greyhawk fans out there who want more. For those who love the whole evil cult thing, here you go also. This one just has a really gloomy, dark feel to it. I probably am biased because that sort of flavor appeals to me, but I do think it was really well done nonetheless.

PORPHYRY HOUSE HORROR (Dungeon 95, 10th level, adapt 7-15)
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This is the adventure supporting Book of Vile Darkness. Many don't like the presence of drugs, sadism, prostitutes and torture in their games, but if you don't mind it, this one certainly has it. I think that the more evil the evil is, the more heroic the characters can be in comparison, or the more they feel compelled to be heroic...or both. The thing that really makes me think "eww" about this one is...sex with torture and stuff like that is nasty in the real world...but add D&D monsters into the mix? Total yuckiness for the PC's to turn, fireball, and hack away at.

THE LAST HUNT (Dungeon 94, 4th level, adapt 1-7)
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Not enough wilderness mods out there? Here ya go. This is either a mini-adventure or a longish side-trek, take your pick. I ran my group through this one and it took about 5 hours total to run it (one session). I think they really enjoyed it. I did my best to play up Lord Algen as a memorable, yet grouchy, PC. The party basically attempts to "babysit" this guy as he goes to hunt down this mega-nasty bear, kind of like Moby Dick in a woodland setting. Nicely done, and great fun for rangers and druids of course.

BEAST OF BURDEN (Dungeon 100, 6th level, adapt 4-8)
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Really interesting site for a dungeon, if you want to call it that...on top of a huge stinkin' lizard thing! More info at this link, but there are spoilers there...beware!

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=56066

Honorable mention goes to a bunch of side treks that J. Bradley Schell has been doing, all named after the seven deadly sins. So far there have been: Sloth (messy house with things being thrown out the windows, what lurks inside? I think my group enjoyed investigating what went wrong there), Lust (really just an encounter, my group trashed this one, heh), Vanity (they are running through it now - but there's a surprise end to it, hehe), Rage (have yet to run, nice barbarian NPC in it though), & Gluttony (prepared this one for play, it also has an unexpected end, unless your players are very clever). Two sins to go. I look forward to seeing what Mr. Schell comes out with for envy and greed.

Everyone please feel free to post your faves, or comment on the ones I picked...or better yet, both! You can always find plenty of comments and reviews on the published mods out there now, but it's just not so with the mods in Dungeon Magazine. So I really look forward to hearing what all of you have to say. Post away!

Monkey out.

 

[BlackMoria]

For me, it is toss up between 'Headless' (don't recall which issue of Dungeon) and the Lich Queens's Beloved (Dungeon 100). for the best.

A close second would be 'Tears for Twilight Hollow'

IMO, of course.

 

[Alzrius]

Poryphyry House of Horrors was great, IMHO.

I also really liked "Heart of the Iron God". The idea of mobile bases that themselves are powerful weapons has always struck a cord in me, like how back when I was a kid we'd make forts for ourselves out of boxes or cushions or whatever. The premise of this adventure just intruiged me. For me, the fact that they not only included layouts for the place as a map, but also statistics for the giant golem as a creature by itself just made my day. That and, like I said, how much of a self-sufficient mobile battle-base just made me grin. Big thumbs up to that one.

 

[Blasphemonkey]

It's funny, Alzrius, that Beast of Burden is very similar. The main difference between the two is that BoB is a gigantic dinosaur type of creature...like a Tarrasque Jr. or something.

Yours was the first to be published, so one could argue that BoB is some kind of rip off, but I do prefer it over Heart of the Iron God. Maybe it's because I'm more partial to dinosaurs and lizards, than to machines and robots. And they do taste much better also.

Anyone else have any favorites? Any criticisms on my picks? Don't hold back now.

 

[Numion]

Dungeon #84: The Harrowing, by Monte Cook

Excellent mega-adventure from the maestro himself. Best art I've seen in any adventure. Good epic feel for high levels. This is the best IMO. Glacial Season comes as a good second. Don't recall what mag it was in.

 

[talinthas]

Anvil of time all the way =)
one of the best published dragonlance adventures ever.

 

[The_Gneech]

RANA MOR is, for all intents and purposes, perfect.

There are other good ones too ... but not AS good.

For any edition.

I'd date RANA MOR if such a thing is possible. It's _that_ good.

-The Gneech

 

[Derulbaskul]

I'm running both Porphyry House Horror and Raiders of Galath's Roost at the moment, the former in Oathbound and the latter in Forgotten Realms. They're both very good adventures better, IMO, than the adventure path modules that cost me more than the magazine.

Cheers
D

 

[Teflon Billy]

I think Dungeon of the Fire Opal is the high point of Dungeon's run (since 3E) thus far.

I was also pretty fond of Wyrmclaw I think it was called, in the same issue until I actually played it at a con. What a disaster...one encounter with an improved invis, flying wizard witha wand of lightning. none of us could dispel magic or see invis...we were screwed. It was just a mopping up.

 

[Darrin Drader]

I ran Cradle of Madness with a small group and my younger brother and it was pretty awesome. There have been a lot of adventures I've liked, but as a big Flame fan, I have to give props to Andy Collins for Old Embers Never Die. Speaking of which, I'll be running it over the next day or two.