Your thoughts on Adventures for 3rd Ed

[Keith Robinson]

I'm a bit of a sucker for adventures, so the recent glut of releases from WotC has kept me busy. I buy the generic and FR adventures, but not the Eberron ones. So I was wondering what other people here thought of the general quality of the adventures being released for 3.5? And by quality, I don't mean editing, etc, I mean the plot, the NPCs, the ideas. How do they stand up against adventures from previous editions in your opinion?

I'm presently running the Red Hand of Doom and I think it is an excellent adventure. The players are being challenged and are required to be resourceful and the plot is epic and memorable. I think it stands up well against the adventures of any previous edition. But I haven't had a chance to check the others out yet... so what are your opinions? How many do you think will be remembered as classics in years to come?

 

[Arnwyn]

I, too, love adventures. I've got the entire run of Dungeon, have all the WotC adventures, and all the Necromancer Games adventures too. (I also have a bunch of Goodman's DCCs, but consider them to be only barely mediocre.)

My opinion? Up and down. I think that - overall - the adventures for 3e are very much comparable, if not a little better than past editions (well, 1e). 1e does indeed have tons of gems that are still awesome today (since I have converted them and play them to this day - the whole "nostalgia" comment is reserved for idiots). 2e, OTOH, outside of Dungeon magazine is universally terrible (again, I've converted all those to 3e as well. If it wasn't in Dungeon magazine, it was a painful experience. Dungeon magazine, though, continued to be great all through it's run. (In fact, we're currently going through the 2e Dungeon magazine adventure "Legerdemain" in Dungeon #39. right now.)

However, some of the additions to 3e adventures - notably in Dungeon mag - are really appreciated. That would mainly be the "Adventure Synopsis" section, which is absolutely wonderful and very much appreciated by me.

I've discovered that, overall, the "delve" format does very little for me. There are too many problems for the benefits the format does offer (and there are some benefits), and I don't think these adventures will be remembered as classics in any way (my totally wild made-up guess). They're too short and limited, which may cause problems. I also think that recent adventures that use WotC's seeming policy of "use only monsters that are currently available as minis" will also result in unfocused adventures that can't hope to gain classic status. Again... wild guesses here.

Really, though, I have no idea what 'the masses' will think are classics - I certainly have no market research available to me (and, to be honest, I don't particularly care what the D&D masses think, either). I can tell you what I think will become classics for me:

- Red Hand of Doom: what you said, above. Epic plot, great maps, and lots of things to do.
- Sunless Citadel: it helps being the first. But it's also a decent size, and has a good map with interesting locations.
- Lost City of Barakus (Necromancer Games): will only be considered a classic by a select group of people, simply because of distribution, and coming out right at the 3.0 to 3.5 switch-over. Big, great maps, and tons of things to do. Lots of variety and has enough information to still allow DMs to add whatever they want.
- Shackled City: the hardcover is one of the first of its kind - a mega-module going from 1st to 20th
- Age of Worms AP: as above, even though it's serialized in a magazine. Going against

Spoiler

Kyuss

? Really? Cool!
- Savage Tide AP: as above again. Seafaring, pirates, jungle islands, and demons. And Demogorgon. Destined to be a classic.

I think that's it. There's loads of other good adventures out there, and probably more than a few from Dungeon mag may gain "classic" status (I hear Mad God's Key mentioned fairly often, for example).

 

[Jhaelen]

Red Hand of Doom is brilliant. But I get the feeling it's an exception, rather than the rule.
I was particularly unimpressed by the first set of Eberron adventures. They had some nice scenes but also several plot-holes and logical errors. I'd compare them to the majority of action-movies: they can be entertaining as long as you don't think too much about them...

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

WotC's 3.5 stuff -- that I've seen -- doesn't measure up to Goodman Games' DCCs, but that's partially a matter of subjective taste, since they're both very different sorts of adventures.

That said, I think RHoD will be the big remembered classic from WotC's 3.5 adventures.

Rappan Athuk Revolutions, Crypt of the Devil Lich and several other 3rd party adventures will likewise by the fondly remembered ones in future years, along with the Sunless Citadel from 3.0.

 

[Voadam]

I enjoyed the parts of Savage Tide and Expedition to Ravenloft that I've been through as a player.

I've bought a bunch of Necromancer, Goodman, and War of the Burning Sky, but I've only gone through a little bit of one of the goodman ones which I'm currently using now and a couple other goodman ones I considered using but that ended up not fitting my campaign.

The goodman one I'm using is good, but I don't think it is an iconic classic for 3.5.

I expect Red Hand of Doom, Savage Tide, Age of Worms to top the list for 3.5 adventure classics many remember, mostly because they are the best known and generally well regarded WotC and Dungeon adventures for 3.5 so far.

 

[johnnype]

From Dungeon the only AP that really stands out to me is Age of Worms. Shackled City was a bit jarring in parts and I'm really not that interested in pirates so Savage Tides doesn't hold my attention although recent segments have dropped the Pirate theme a bit.

I think that Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave is definitely worth mentioning. I'm a big fan of the plane of shadow and this adventure has plenty of that so it's not surprising that I'd like it. Great antagonists with a couple interesting templates. I can't wait to see how it progresses.

Others will disagree with me on this one but I'm also fond of City of the Spider Queen. Many thought it as nothing more than a dungeon delve and it they're right but I think it can be a lot more with the right DM. It also gives you the chance to play underdark races including, but not limited to Drow and Duergar. Dungeon Magazine had an interesting full length sidequest that you could add on to make that much more epic. Also with a little work you could add on the recent Wotc web enhancement for Dragons of Faerun that details the City of Wyrmshadows.

Oops, I just realized that you're asking about 3.5 adventures so City of the Spider Queen is out.

 

[caudor]

I might be in the minority, but I really enjoyed the FR adventure called The Twilight Tomb. My players really enjoyed that one too, but I don't see it becoming a classic.

I love adventures, so if they keep them coming, I'll be happy.

 

[RangerWickett]

Are we talking only WotC adventures?

 

[MerricB]

The Sunless Citadel is a classic in the great old-school manner. My group had a lot of fun with this one.

Red Hand of Doom I have mixed feelings about - I don't like the end encounters that much (too many of them) - but it's got some great moments.

Expedition to Castle Ravenloft looks like a true classic, and Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde has a lot going for it.

Cheers!

 

[Crothian]

Ring of Thieves. I doubt many people know of this Game Mechanic module but it is a great city based low level one. It has some tough situations and the PCs can get in over their heads or do something stupid and get a TPK. It is a great investigation with much more role playing then combat. Rodney Thompson wrote it!!