You've got 168 hours to game. What do you do?

[broghammerj]

I'm getting together with my old gaming buddies (best friends ever) over the summer. We've all moved away and see each other about once per year. Life has taken a professional turn. The group consists of 3 doctors, a teacher, photojournalist, and a new father. We're planning a 1 week super gaming session, hence the 168 hours trying to relive the days of our youth. The question I have is what DND adventure do we play? I need your help.

Several factors will fall into play. We'll be using new characters. Level doesn't matter. Game world doesn't matter, although I don't want to buy a ton of sourcebooks to play. I'd like to run something that encompasses all the great aspects of the game....memorable combat, roleplaying, great plot, politics/puzzle solving, battling a supervillian. An epic adventure or series if you will. The players are versitile and well rounded. No specific roleplayers or powergamers. A big point will also be the ability to complete the adventure in a week of 8-10 hours of gaming/day. The plan is to lock ourselves away from the world and submerge ourselves into the game like we used to do as kids.

Does this adventure exist? Have you played it?

I was thinking about something like the Freeport series or other game along those lines. What has become the new "classics" like the Slavers Series or Against The Giants. Let me know what you think and thanks in advance.

 

[GnomeWorks]

Hmm... I don't know if you could do it in such a small timespan, but RttToEE might be appropriate...

 

[ShadowX]

Banewarrens, RttToEE, Freeport series, and maybe Witchfire are all good from what I have heard. CotSQ has been given some bad reviews, so you may want to stay away from it.

 

[broghammerj]

?

Hmm... I don't know if you could do it in such a small timespan, but RttToEE might be appropriate...

Our group actually attempted this adventure very breifly before we moved and didn't get very far into it (easily could be restarted). I found it similar Pool of Radiance in that the adventure is very linear (at least the part we played). Does this vary in later portions?

 

[GnomeWorks]

Our group actually attempted this adventure very breifly before we moved and didn't get very far into it (easily could be restarted). I found it similar Pool of Radiance in that the adventure is very linear (at least the part we played). Does this vary in later portions?

From what I've read - and YMMV, and not only that, but I've never run or played the module myself - it would appear that it gets a little less linear, but doesn't get too open-ended. Again, I can't make a very clear judgement on it, but that's what it looked like to me.

 

[Henry]

If you are looking for an old-fashioned dungeon crawl, Rappan Athuk (R1 R2 and R3 from Necromancer Games) has First Edition Feel oozing out of its slimy green pores. I have this mad dream in the back of my head of playing ALL 15 levels of that one start to finish one year.

However, you would have to work a little to insert an engaging plot into it, other than, "clear out this blight upon the earth." But it has memorable combats, puzzle solving, and epic feel out the wazoo.



If you are looking for something a little more varied, the two new classics seem to be Freeport, and the Adventure Path modules (Sunless Citadel, Forge of Fury, Speaker in dreams, Standing Stone, etc.) It's got something to offer everyone!

Good Luck, and I envy you (at least, until I go to Gencon, that is.)

 

[Henry]

OOPS!

Almost forgot - someone gave me some great advice recently: If you decide to run Return to the TOEE again, soak up every ounce of knowledge from www.montecook.com 's forum on that very module. It's got errata, people's takes on fleshing out the storyline to a less linear format, people's ideas on the ecosystems, etc. It's the indispensible reference for this mega-adventure.

http://pub58.ezboard.com/fokayyourturnfrm17

 

[Enkhidu]

First, I am very - very jealous. I really wish I could get this for my group from 10 years ago.

Second - if you'd like, look in the ENWorld conversion archives - tons of 1st and 2nd ed modules have been converted to 3rd ed! If you have one that you'd like to dust off, grab it, grab the conversion, and go!

By the way, if you do with a conversion, look for The Night Below - I had a ball with that one when it first came out, and its one of those you might get through in a week of straight gaming.

Good luck!

 

[Morpheus]

168 total hours - 14 hours for sleep - 7 hours for eating = 147 hours for gaming! I'd love to recommend RttToEE, but I don't know if even that is enough time. Banewarrens might work or, despite it's faults, The Lost City of Gaxmoor has some fun imbedded in it. Have fun no matter what you choose...

 

[Protean]

Well I agree with the suggestions posted above, for true versatility in form I suggest creating your own adventures for that time period, tailored to the individual group and its players. It would require a huge amount of preparation on your part, but I believe the chance for an incredibly successful campaign could be crafted in this time you guys will have together. I'd try doing some meddling here to make some detailed NPCs and playing a game ina pretty fast and loose method. With all this time in game players should be able to really bond as an adventuring group, something I personally know can be hard for me to establish when using someone else's adventures. Then again, I am a homebrew junkie.

If you have it and feel like your up to the change in direction, I could imagine a new campaign using the M&M rules for Fantasy characters with different abilities would be an incredibly fun idea.