Favorite adventure???

Joe · Post by **Joe** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 8:22 am

What's your favorite adventure?

What's your favorite "extended adventure"?

TheNewGuy · Post by **TheNewGuy** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 12:31 pm

For general rpg play?

The Chamax Plague (Classic Traveller -- Aliens done uniquely and well before there even _was_ an Aliens movie. Hail! Mighty Keith Brothers!)

For general fantasy rpg play?

Much tougher call. As a player, I would have to say the original "Against the Giants" series.

For C&C?

I haven't actually found a favorite yet. Still looking ...

TheNewGuy
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Relaxo · Post by **Relaxo** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 12:31 pm

Expedition to the barrier peaks will always hold a special place in my heart.

IN 2nd ed there was a thing, I think called "A hero's tale" that was 10 or so adventures each for higher level than the one before, meant to be slipped in between other adventures that made up a larger story, I thought that was really neat, though I never had a chance to really run or play it.

Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 12:23 am

For me it is I6 Ravenloft. I still have a blast running it.
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Omote · Post by **Omote** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 12:50 pm

Hmm, like another recent thread I'm going to have to go with...

Crucible of Freya ~ Fantasy

-O

[Edit: Because I forgot this was the d20 board)
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serleran · Post by **serleran** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 2:59 pm

Seeing as this is the d20 forum, I would have to say my favorite d20 module comes down to two options:

Rappan Athuk (not the reloaded version as I do not own it)

Hall of Many Panes

Omote · Post by **Omote** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 3:19 pm

serleran wrote:
Rappan Athuk (not the reloaded version as I do not own it)

Oh man, the first 3 books were pretty grand, but if you can, get Rappan Athuk Reloaded. IMO RARe really kicked it up a notch, corrected some issues and took the adventure to the next level. Even for the .pdf it would be worthy.

-O
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serleran · Post by **serleran** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 5:18 pm

RA:Re is the only module that has tempted me to buy a pdf.

Omote · Post by **Omote** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 6:20 pm

serleran wrote:
RA:Re is the only module that has tempted me to buy a pdf.

In the middle of running RARe right now and the box set / module has not let me or the players down. It is indeed a grand dungeon crawl. It doesn't need to be the biggest, but Rappan Athuk (and Rappan Athuk Reloaded) really gives you a d20 dungeon crawl done right.

-O
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TheNewGuy · Post by **TheNewGuy** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 7:08 pm

Augh! I totally missed what sub-forum forum this was posted in!

Favorite d20 adventure? Hmmmmm.

Everybody likes to metaphorically urinate on this series, but my players and I had a lot of fun with the first two D&D 3.0 modules The Sunless Citadel and The Forge of Fury.
The Forge of Fury was particularly enjoyed, even though it took a lot longer than anyone expected. I guess it was a combination of two things that expanded the play-time: curious players who liked to explore every last nook and cranny of the Dwarven ruins, and one straight wackadoo rogue (and/or his player) who never met a crisis he couldn't start ...

We meant to do the whole run of that series (minus Deep Horizon, which had no business being in the story-sequence, and fairly screamed "inappropriate filler" to me), but players moved (myself included), and so forth, and we never got past the Forge.

Beyond these, I'll have to think a while, and come back here if I can think of any other personal d20 " greatest hits".

As for Rappan Athuk -- I had the original trilogy of parts R1, R2, and R3.

I liked them well enough -- although they had a bit too much of the "old skool senselessness" about them at times, for my tastes (best not to think too hard about the "why" of any given encounter, as in "why is this here?").

Still, the Rappan Athuk modules had an audacity and a ferocity not often seen in modern D&D, and personality makes up for a lot when it comes to adventures.

I never ran the series though -- because my players would have lynched me!

I can't say why without spoilering (and I won't) but RA can take a long time to run through in real-time, and it's a rough dungeon. Expect not to finish with any of the initial characters who go in.

That said, the original ending as written for Rappan Athuk is, shall we say ... unique.

If I spent, say, a year of Saturdays putting my players through the fierce grinder of that trilogy, and then capped it off with that ending sequence-- seriously, at least one player would've launched themselves across the game table at me, grabbed me by the neck, and uttered wild-eyed threats of pain and death in my face.

And I honestly can't say as I'd blame them, either.

If you want a grinder dungeon that's a little less likely to get you hospitalized, take a look at Crypt of the Devil Lich from Goodman Games. It even comes with pre-generated victims -- I mean characters -- and you can run it tournament-style for your players.

TheNewGuy -- will not risk death to run an rpg adventure
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Gleemax Jr · Post by **Gleemax Jr** » Tue Apr 29, 2008 10:57 pm

i have enjoyed blood bayou the most as well as the lost city of gaxmoor. i was disappointed with the official offerings from Daddy.

seskis281 · Post by **seskis281** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:29 am

I want to second the "Sunless Citadel" and "Forge of Fury" - those were two very good 3e mods that were a lot of fun, and if WotC had continued producing non-setting specific mods like those two instead of going for rules supplements... well, would've maybe kept me interested longer.

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TheNewGuy · Post by **TheNewGuy** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:20 pm

seskis281 wrote:
I want to second the "Sunless Citadel" and "Forge of Fury" - those were two very good 3e mods that were a lot of fun, and if WotC had continued producing non-setting specific mods like those two instead of going for rules supplements... well, would've maybe kept me interested longer.

The other ones in that series are pretty solid too, seskis (at least on paper!). Just be sure to swap out Deep Horizon for something else; it really is a clinker that feels like it was a generic module inserted into the storyline at the last minute.

For those who don't know the sequence of this first, initial 3.0 "adventure path" (before they were even called such), here's the sequence, with PDF links to RPGNow:

1. The Sunless Citadel by Bruce R. Cordell (1st to 3rd level)

2. The Forge of Fury by Richard Baker (3 to 5)

3. The Speaker in Dreams by James Wyatt (5-7)

4. The Standing Stone by John D. Rateliff (7-9)

5. Heart of Nightfang Spire by Bruce R. Cordell (10-13)

6. Deep Horizon by Skip Williams (13-15) NOT RECOMMENDED

7. Lord of the Iron Fortress by Andy Collins (15-17)

8. Bastion of Broken Souls by Bruce R. Cordell (18th to 20th level)

Enjoy!

TheNewGuy
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Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 4:49 pm

I do want to make one comment about your opinion of Rappan Athuk. Your right that it does not spell out for the CK why creatures are where they are. However, when I thought about it, thought about the clerics and other NPC's, it became very easy for me to see ways that explained why the various creatures were there.

As for the final encounter, it is winnable, but the PC's had all better be above 18th level in their primary class and willing to pull out all the stops up front in order to win. They are taking on an "aspect" of a very powerful demonic god after all. Plus minions. So yes, if the group isn't very good at playing their characters, and have a solid grasp of what their spells, weapons, items, and abilities do, they are likely to get slaughtered. If they are good players (IE know how to best utilize their characters resources) they have a good chance of winning, as long as the dice don't screw them.
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tacojohn4547 · Post by **tacojohn4547** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:47 pm

TheNewGuy wrote:
The other ones in that series are pretty solid too, seskis (at least on paper!). Just be sure to swap out Deep Horizon for something else; it really is a clinker that feels like it was a generic module inserted into the storyline at the last minute.

For those who don't know the sequence of this first, initial 3.0 "adventure path" (before they were even called such), here's the sequence, with PDF links to RPGNow:

1. The Sunless Citadel by Bruce R. Cordell (1st to 3rd level)

2. The Forge of Fury by Richard Baker (3 to 5)

3. The Speaker in Dreams by James Wyatt (5-7)

4. The Standing Stone by John D. Rateliff (7-9)

5. Heart of Nightfang Spire by Bruce R. Cordell (10-13)

6. Deep Horizon by Skip Williams (13-15) NOT RECOMMENDED

7. Lord of the Iron Fortress by Andy Collins (15-17)

8. Bastion of Broken Souls by Bruce R. Cordell (18th to 20th level)

Enjoy!

TheNewGuy

I don't have a lot of exposure to this series of 3E WotC adventures, but I've had the pleasure of playing through The Sunless Citadel with a group of newbies. It was a fun adventure, though perhaps a bit unremarkable. But it certainly delivered several (2 or 3) fun gaming sessions.

However, number 7 of this series, the Lord of the Iron Fortress, was a pretty weak installment for my gaming dollar. I bought it to get a feel for developiing high level encounters/adventures. I have to say that it was a resounding disappointment.

LotIF is short and came across very one dimensional. IIRC, the BBEG is supposed to be this inter-planar or plane hopping warlord that has designs on constructing a dooms day weapon and unleashing it and his assembled legions upon the prime material. But his home base, the Iron Fortress of the adventure's title, is this spartan little dump of a keep that has a couple of levels and a couple of dungeon levels. Very under-whelming for what is supposed to be the personal keep of an uber-bad BBEG.

The NPCs themselves aren't bad, and the encounters are probably useful on some level, but I personally couldn't get over how small in scope this adventure was, given the premise and potential of the frame-up.

Of course, YMMV.

tacojohn4547

tacojohn4547 · Post by **tacojohn4547** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:54 pm

Oh, yeah, and my favorite d20 adventure is Necromancer Games' release of the Caverns of Thracia.

My favorite extended d20 adventure is Necromancer Games' City of Brass boxed set. Hands down, one of the defining products of the d20 era. Quite possibly one of the defining products of D&D, regardless of era or version.

tacojohn4547

Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 10:21 pm

tacojohn4547 wrote:
My favorite extended d20 adventure is Necromancer Games' City of Brass boxed set. Hands down, one of the defining products of the d20 era. Quite possibly one of the defining products of D&D, regardless of era or version.

tacojohn4547

I totally agree. A great instant classic that future gamers will only wish they could have bought now.
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concobar · Post by **concobar** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 11:35 pm

B2 keep on the borderlands.

I have converted and ran this module for every version of D&D/AD&D, 3.x and C&C and it is never disappointing. I can't really explain why but the composition and layout of this module just really appeals to me.

TheNewGuy · Post by **TheNewGuy** » Thu May 01, 2008 2:06 am

Treebore wrote:
I totally agree. A great instant classic that future gamers will only wish they could have bought now.

RPGNow still has The City of Brass as a 56 MB PDF download -- for $49 US!!!

That's a bit rich for my blood, but I link it HERE for those who may really want it.

TheNewGuy
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Omote · Post by **Omote** » Thu May 01, 2008 11:44 am

The City of Brass from Necromancer Games (by Casey Christofferson, of C&C Haunted Highlands fame) is the shiznit. It is really that good and a shame that it didn't get more attention then it deserves. Very thurough with tons of room to expand. For that price though, you may want to pick up the JAM-PACKED box set at retail price of $69.

-O
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