Best purchased adventure? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Best purchased adventure? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
jfsavage
05-16-05, 12:19 PM Does anyone have a recommendation for a purchased adventure? I am looking for something with depth, roleplaying as well as combat, non-linear plot development, etc. Ideally one with pre-printed maps would be great. Cost is not an issue :D

Thanks,

Jonathan
Draco Strang
05-16-05, 12:52 PM City of the Spider Queen for Forgotten Realms is great. It starts out at 10th level, goes to about 18th. Lots of chance for RP and hack and slash. Comes with maps and everything.

I like Forge of Fury for your standard dungeon crawl. Good plot, a little RP. Mainly hack n' slash, but still a blast.
SnowbearK
05-16-05, 01:03 PM City of the Spider Queen or Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, hands-down.

Both of these have great potential, if you've got enough time on your hands and the talent to make them come alive. Otherwise, they're just giant dungeon crawls.

RttToEE has a slightly higher potential, simply due the fact that it covers a larger area and has more plotlines built-in.

CotSQ provides the DM with greater "control" over the various situations.
Asciiman
05-16-05, 01:34 PM Just so you know, trying to find Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, is right along side of impossible in a regular bookstore or game shop. Ebay sales about 2 a week sometimes less, and they all go for at least $60 US.

RttToEE is out of print, but still in huge demand.
azoun
05-16-05, 01:50 PM The Speaker in Dreams, definitely.
weasel fierce
05-16-05, 02:25 PM For newbies, "Keep on the borderlands" though its an old school module, and you'd have to replace the stats with 3.x ones
Kevtar
05-16-05, 03:50 PM White Plume Mountain (1st edition but has been converted by some folks) has always been a blast. I don't know why, other than it's just one of those kooky, old-school-makes-absolutely-no-sense-but-I-bought-into-it-hook-line-and-sinker modules. I love that module.

Also, I've had a blast running some of the free downloads from WOTC.
Sulaco
05-16-05, 04:33 PM Does anyone have a recommendation for a purchased adventure? I am looking for something with depth, roleplaying as well as combat, non-linear plot development, etc. Ideally one with pre-printed maps would be great. Cost is not an issue :D

I highly Recomend The Crystal Skull, coming this June from Necromancer Games. It is quite simply brilliant (and great maps too). :smirk:
Nalgoth
05-16-05, 05:43 PM Just so you know, trying to find Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, is right along side of impossible in a regular bookstore or game shop. Ebay sales about 2 a week sometimes less, and they all go for at least $60 US.

RttToEE is out of print, but still in huge demand.

Surprisingly, it is still available on the Canadian version of amazon, for a paltry $47 CDN.

See link:

RttToEE (http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786918438/qid%3D1116279685/702-3009082-5042459)
green_yawgmoth
05-16-05, 05:45 PM The only one I've ever played in was Bastion of Broken Souls, and it was pretty decent. Goes from 18th to 20th level, but it's a little underpowered.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/yawgmoth/kittyjig.gif
olshanski_home
05-16-05, 06:09 PM There are websites that do reviews of various titles, you should definately do a search on the internet for "reviews" + [title] before you buy.

Speaker in Dreams is universally panned as one of the worst adventures published by WoTC.

RttToEE is often praised, but also often described as too much of a dungeon crawl.

I would say that Banewarrens was very good, although it is written for 3.0 and has a few elements from the Books of Eldrich Might. It is playable without the eldrich might books.
SnowbearK
05-16-05, 11:14 PM Just so you know, trying to find Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, is right along side of impossible in a regular bookstore or game shop. Ebay sales about 2 a week sometimes less, and they all go for at least $60 US.

RttToEE is out of print, but still in huge demand.

:blink:

Reeeeaaallly? I must further investigate this matter...

I highly Recomend The Crystal Skull, coming this June from Necromancer Games. It is quite simply brilliant (and great maps too).

Flagged for self-promoting on the field. 10 yard penalty, Sulaco. :D

(or at least that's my guess...)
Asciiman
05-17-05, 05:05 AM Surprisingly, it is still available on the Canadian version of amazon, for a paltry $47 CDN.

See link:

RttToEE (http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786918438/qid%3D1116279685/702-3009082-5042459)

Wow... you are so wrong it hurts. Look again.

It isn't AVAILABLE! THEY DO NOT HAVE IT.

Pardon me, they have one for sale at $115 Canadian.
Talmar
05-17-05, 07:54 AM Labrynth of Madness, 20th level module, very difficult, written for 2nd ed,

Way too cool,
Zachary The First
05-17-05, 08:51 AM I second Keep On The Borderlands. Still my favorite.
Sulaco
05-17-05, 11:23 AM Flagged for self-promoting on the field. 10 yard penalty, Sulaco. :D

(or at least that's my guess...)

I make no apologies for self-pimpage. :D
Sulaco
05-17-05, 11:28 AM I second Keep On The Borderlands. Still my favorite.

True. It is a crap module really - no story, no logic - but a classic nonetheless.

I am going to be running a game for a group of expereinced gamers but 3e newbs so I am going to return to the roots of the game and run them through KotB - I even went through the module and figured out exatly what DDM figure's I'd need for all monsters and NPCs. Should be a blast.

I also second White Plume Mountain. Again there is no logic or story to it but for some reason it always stands out as a true classic.
Quoriil
05-17-05, 11:34 AM Labrynth of Madness, 20th level module, very difficult, written for 2nd ed
Beloved by DMs with a slight masochitstic bent, roundly despised by players (who keep playing it regardless).

If I might make a suggestion for a low to mid level adventure that is excedingly non-linear and can serve as a launching point for a wide variety of mind blowing campaign arcs or be played as a stand-alone... pretty good RP as well (some of, ok all of, the NPCs are a bit on the foul side... one in particular, the Smiling Man, has made it into several of my campaigns in different forms):
The Maze of Screaming Silence
by Monkeygod Games

edit=red
Bort333
05-17-05, 12:29 PM Night Fang Spire is a great module if you love slaughtering your party wholesale.

I believe its designed for level 8 or 9 players. There are some definite fun parts the modules like -

Party is making their way across a 100 foot wide pit. The entire bottom is covered with zombies. Halfway across they get ambushed by 6 spectres, and the module is kind of enough to tell the DM to have every single one of those spectres target one PC at a time. Oh yeah and Morgs are waiting at the edge of the other side...
rob4
05-17-05, 12:56 PM And one of the Mhorgs has a necklace of fireballs. And that's just one small portion of the fun.
jfsavage
05-17-05, 05:40 PM Do any of these adventures come with preprinted 1 inch maps for use with minatures? I have used gridsmith to great effect, but it is rather more time consuming than I would like ;}
SnowbearK
05-17-05, 11:12 PM There, I think you're out of luck. I know that WorldWorksGames.com has a published adventure that uses one of their cardstock dungeon sets - wouldn't be difficult to translate to a 2D 1" grid map, but I can't speak as to the content of the adventure itself, though I do use the cardstock sets. If the quality of the adventure is as good as the models, then it's a winner.
tariff
05-18-05, 04:04 PM Speaker in Dreams: My group really enjoyed this..

Return to Temple of Elemental Evil: My group are playng this now, seems good

City of the Spider Queen: Great adventure.
nightwing
05-19-05, 04:23 PM I can recommend a few from the old days (for those who want to do the conversion work):

The Sinister Secret of Salt Marsh and its sequels are all excellent.
The original Ravenloft is awesome.
The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (sp?) is a great dungeon crawl.

On the flip side, stay away from Dwellers of the Forbidden City and Through the Crystal Cave
qstor
05-20-05, 09:57 AM The 2e Slavers module was pretty good. It's set to allow the DM to run a series of conneted adventures or a long runing campaign.

Mike
Zachary The First
05-20-05, 12:07 PM I also liked Skullport.
nightwing
05-20-05, 01:31 PM More from the old days:

"The Gauntlet" and "The Sentinel" are super.
Shemeska the Marauder
05-20-05, 09:13 PM Either 'Dead Gods' or 'Faction War', both of them 2e Planescape modules which I had a PC in, in a 3e campaign. Very easy to convert to 3e since it was so crunch light in the first place. A good Lord, the depth, puts recent stuff to shame.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
jfsavage 05-16-05, 12:19 PM	Does anyone have a recommendation for a purchased adventure? I am looking for something with depth, roleplaying as well as combat, non-linear plot development, etc. Ideally one with pre-printed maps would be great. Cost is not an issue :D Thanks, Jonathan
Draco Strang 05-16-05, 12:52 PM	City of the Spider Queen for Forgotten Realms is great. It starts out at 10th level, goes to about 18th. Lots of chance for RP and hack and slash. Comes with maps and everything. I like Forge of Fury for your standard dungeon crawl. Good plot, a little RP. Mainly hack n' slash, but still a blast.
SnowbearK 05-16-05, 01:03 PM	City of the Spider Queen or Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, hands-down. Both of these have great potential, if you've got enough time on your hands and the talent to make them come alive. Otherwise, they're just giant dungeon crawls. RttToEE has a slightly higher potential, simply due the fact that it covers a larger area and has more plotlines built-in. CotSQ provides the DM with greater "control" over the various situations.
Asciiman 05-16-05, 01:34 PM	Just so you know, trying to find Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, is right along side of impossible in a regular bookstore or game shop. Ebay sales about 2 a week sometimes less, and they all go for at least $60 US. RttToEE is out of print, but still in huge demand.
azoun 05-16-05, 01:50 PM	The Speaker in Dreams, definitely.
weasel fierce 05-16-05, 02:25 PM	For newbies, "Keep on the borderlands" though its an old school module, and you'd have to replace the stats with 3.x ones
Kevtar 05-16-05, 03:50 PM	White Plume Mountain (1st edition but has been converted by some folks) has always been a blast. I don't know why, other than it's just one of those kooky, old-school-makes-absolutely-no-sense-but-I-bought-into-it-hook-line-and-sinker modules. I love that module. Also, I've had a blast running some of the free downloads from WOTC.
Sulaco 05-16-05, 04:33 PM	Does anyone have a recommendation for a purchased adventure? I am looking for something with depth, roleplaying as well as combat, non-linear plot development, etc. Ideally one with pre-printed maps would be great. Cost is not an issue :D I highly Recomend The Crystal Skull, coming this June from Necromancer Games. It is quite simply brilliant (and great maps too). :smirk:
Nalgoth 05-16-05, 05:43 PM	Just so you know, trying to find Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, is right along side of impossible in a regular bookstore or game shop. Ebay sales about 2 a week sometimes less, and they all go for at least $60 US. RttToEE is out of print, but still in huge demand. Surprisingly, it is still available on the Canadian version of amazon, for a paltry $47 CDN. See link: RttToEE (http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786918438/qid%3D1116279685/702-3009082-5042459)
green_yawgmoth 05-16-05, 05:45 PM	The only one I've ever played in was Bastion of Broken Souls, and it was pretty decent. Goes from 18th to 20th level, but it's a little underpowered. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v91/yawgmoth/kittyjig.gif
olshanski_home 05-16-05, 06:09 PM	There are websites that do reviews of various titles, you should definately do a search on the internet for "reviews" + [title] before you buy. Speaker in Dreams is universally panned as one of the worst adventures published by WoTC. RttToEE is often praised, but also often described as too much of a dungeon crawl. I would say that Banewarrens was very good, although it is written for 3.0 and has a few elements from the Books of Eldrich Might. It is playable without the eldrich might books.
SnowbearK 05-16-05, 11:14 PM	Just so you know, trying to find Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, is right along side of impossible in a regular bookstore or game shop. Ebay sales about 2 a week sometimes less, and they all go for at least $60 US. RttToEE is out of print, but still in huge demand. :blink: Reeeeaaallly? I must further investigate this matter... I highly Recomend The Crystal Skull, coming this June from Necromancer Games. It is quite simply brilliant (and great maps too). Flagged for self-promoting on the field. 10 yard penalty, Sulaco. :D (or at least that's my guess...)
Asciiman 05-17-05, 05:05 AM	Surprisingly, it is still available on the Canadian version of amazon, for a paltry $47 CDN. See link: RttToEE (http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786918438/qid%3D1116279685/702-3009082-5042459) Wow... you are so wrong it hurts. Look again. It isn't AVAILABLE! THEY DO NOT HAVE IT. Pardon me, they have one for sale at $115 Canadian.
Talmar 05-17-05, 07:54 AM	Labrynth of Madness, 20th level module, very difficult, written for 2nd ed, Way too cool,
Zachary The First 05-17-05, 08:51 AM	I second Keep On The Borderlands. Still my favorite.
Sulaco 05-17-05, 11:23 AM	Flagged for self-promoting on the field. 10 yard penalty, Sulaco. :D (or at least that's my guess...) I make no apologies for self-pimpage. :D
Sulaco 05-17-05, 11:28 AM	I second Keep On The Borderlands. Still my favorite. True. It is a crap module really - no story, no logic - but a classic nonetheless. I am going to be running a game for a group of expereinced gamers but 3e newbs so I am going to return to the roots of the game and run them through KotB - I even went through the module and figured out exatly what DDM figure's I'd need for all monsters and NPCs. Should be a blast. I also second White Plume Mountain. Again there is no logic or story to it but for some reason it always stands out as a true classic.
Quoriil 05-17-05, 11:34 AM	Labrynth of Madness, 20th level module, very difficult, written for 2nd ed Beloved by DMs with a slight masochitstic bent, roundly despised by players (who keep playing it regardless). If I might make a suggestion for a low to mid level adventure that is excedingly non-linear and can serve as a launching point for a wide variety of mind blowing campaign arcs or be played as a stand-alone... pretty good RP as well (some of, ok all of, the NPCs are a bit on the foul side... one in particular, the Smiling Man, has made it into several of my campaigns in different forms): The Maze of Screaming Silence by Monkeygod Games edit=red
Bort333 05-17-05, 12:29 PM	Night Fang Spire is a great module if you love slaughtering your party wholesale. I believe its designed for level 8 or 9 players. There are some definite fun parts the modules like - Party is making their way across a 100 foot wide pit. The entire bottom is covered with zombies. Halfway across they get ambushed by 6 spectres, and the module is kind of enough to tell the DM to have every single one of those spectres target one PC at a time. Oh yeah and Morgs are waiting at the edge of the other side...
rob4 05-17-05, 12:56 PM	And one of the Mhorgs has a necklace of fireballs. And that's just one small portion of the fun.
jfsavage 05-17-05, 05:40 PM	Do any of these adventures come with preprinted 1 inch maps for use with minatures? I have used gridsmith to great effect, but it is rather more time consuming than I would like ;}
SnowbearK 05-17-05, 11:12 PM	There, I think you're out of luck. I know that WorldWorksGames.com has a published adventure that uses one of their cardstock dungeon sets - wouldn't be difficult to translate to a 2D 1" grid map, but I can't speak as to the content of the adventure itself, though I do use the cardstock sets. If the quality of the adventure is as good as the models, then it's a winner.
tariff 05-18-05, 04:04 PM	Speaker in Dreams: My group really enjoyed this.. Return to Temple of Elemental Evil: My group are playng this now, seems good City of the Spider Queen: Great adventure.
nightwing 05-19-05, 04:23 PM	I can recommend a few from the old days (for those who want to do the conversion work): The Sinister Secret of Salt Marsh and its sequels are all excellent. The original Ravenloft is awesome. The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (sp?) is a great dungeon crawl. On the flip side, stay away from Dwellers of the Forbidden City and Through the Crystal Cave
qstor 05-20-05, 09:57 AM	The 2e Slavers module was pretty good. It's set to allow the DM to run a series of conneted adventures or a long runing campaign. Mike
Zachary The First 05-20-05, 12:07 PM	I also liked Skullport.
nightwing 05-20-05, 01:31 PM	More from the old days: "The Gauntlet" and "The Sentinel" are super.
Shemeska the Marauder 05-20-05, 09:13 PM	Either 'Dead Gods' or 'Faction War', both of them 2e Planescape modules which I had a PC in, in a 3e campaign. Very easy to convert to 3e since it was so crunch light in the first place. A good Lord, the depth, puts recent stuff to shame.