Modules or Not

DangerDwarf · Post by **DangerDwarf** » Fri May 22, 2009 12:04 am

On the topic of modules, do you use them a lot or do your own thing more often?

For years and years I never really ran modules. I'd pick them up but always preferred doing my own thing on the adventure front. Maybe nab a few ideas from a module but that was it.

These days though? Modules are a huge boon for me. Between wife, kids, a very demanding job and countless other things...I run almost exclusively modules now.

serleran · Post by **serleran** » Fri May 22, 2009 12:10 am

I read them, sometimes, and others I flip through them, to get a general idea of what it is, but then decide to do my own thing. I have ever only ran three modules (well, two if you don't count the one I tried but stopped) as written, and in full. I just don't get enjoyment from the fantasy of someone else... it might inspire me, sure, and I think that was their intent.
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Sir Osis of Liver · Post by **Sir Osis of Liver** » Fri May 22, 2009 12:13 am

serleran wrote:
I just don't get enjoyment from the fantasy of someone else... it might inspire me, sure, and I think that was their intent.

Second.

Lord Dynel · Post by **Lord Dynel** » Fri May 22, 2009 12:20 am

DangerDwarf wrote:
These days though? Modules are a huge boon for me. Between wife, kids, a very demanding job and countless other things...I run almost exclusively modules now.

Right there with ya, hoss.

I'd love to do my own adventures, my own campaign world, all 100% my own. I've found for the effort you put in to your own campaign world(I've had probably the equivalent of 700 pages of campaign material at one point and pages of maps), the rewards are just not worth it - my experience only. I work with modules and adventures and tweak them to my liking...just how I do campaign settings.
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DangerDwarf · Post by **DangerDwarf** » Fri May 22, 2009 12:26 am

Yeah LD. For a number of us I imagine its not a lack of desire to do our own thing. It's lack of time.

Damn adulthood keeps getting in the way of my cool.

Lord Dynel · Post by **Lord Dynel** » Fri May 22, 2009 12:34 am

DangerDwarf wrote:
Yeah LD. For a number of us I imagine its not a lack of desire to do our own thing. It's lack of time.

Damn adulthood keeps getting in the way of my cool.

I heard that, bro. I heard that there's still a group of guys in my area that still get together 2-3 nights a week and game and have been doing so for years (since the 1st Ed. days). Dudes around my age, or a litttle older (mid to late 30s and up). But I also found out a couple are divorced, a couple (three, maybe) have never married, and one is married but he and the wife both are in the group and they have no kids.

In a weird way, I envy them.
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DangerDwarf · Post by **DangerDwarf** » Fri May 22, 2009 12:36 am

Lord Dynel wrote:
In a weird way, I envy them.

Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Fri May 22, 2009 1:38 am

I use modules. But they are usually just guide lines. I rarely find a module that I want to run pretty much as is. So most of the time, if I like the over all idea, I run it, using the maps, etc... but doing things largely as determined by the players and my whims at the time.

So I get a lot of prep time saved, but run things loosely enough I still am doing a lot of my own thing. So I feel like I get the best of both worlds. Plus the modules are often around ideas I would probably have never thought of, so thats another big bonus for using them in my book.

One mind can be pretty darn creative, but dozens, and hundreds, are far more creative.
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Lord Dynel · Post by **Lord Dynel** » Fri May 22, 2009 2:41 am

DangerDwarf wrote:

Congrats on 5000 posts, hoss!
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Lord Dynel · Post by **Lord Dynel** » Fri May 22, 2009 2:42 am

Treebore wrote:
I use modules. But they are usually just guide lines. I rarely find a module that I want to run pretty much as is. So most of the time, if I like the over all idea, I run it, using the maps, etc... but doing things largely as determined by the players and my whims at the time.

So I get a lot of prep time saved, but run things loosely enough I still am doing a lot of my own thing. So I feel like I get the best of both worlds. Plus the modules are often around ideas I would probably have never thought of, so thats another big bonus for using them in my book.

One mind can be pretty darn creative, but dozens, and hundreds, are far more creative.

That's pretty much how I do it, sir, and it's worked pretty good for me, too!
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Go0gleplex · Post by **Go0gleplex** » Fri May 22, 2009 2:50 am

I do my own stuff 95% of the time, using modules to fill in when I don't have time to write.

The other half uses modules almost all the time...
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DangerDwarf · Post by **DangerDwarf** » Fri May 22, 2009 9:08 am

Lord Dynel wrote:
Congrats on 5000 posts, hoss!

Thanks LD.

to give proper credit though. I'd probably still be hovering around 3,000 or so if it weren't for our back and forth threads.

marcuspeddle · Post by **marcuspeddle** » Fri May 22, 2009 10:03 am

I think the only modules I ever completed with a group were the beginning adventure that came with the red box Dungeons and Dragons Basic Set (I remember a carrion crawler being the first monster the party met) and The Village of Hommlet. What was the Inn's name? Homely Wench? Welcome Wench? Home of the Welcome Wench, maybe. I'd like to get that one again for village ideas.

I don't use modules any more but I like reading through them for interesting ideas.

Relaxo · Post by **Relaxo** » Fri May 22, 2009 10:08 am

I used to make up almost everything, but cherry pick bits from many many modules and other suppliments.

Plaag · Post by **Plaag** » Fri May 22, 2009 10:08 am

I've used modules ever since I started DMing. Mostly then it was as is, later on some slight changes. Much more my own creations until I moved and could find little chance to play/DM. I'd definitely still use modules, though tweaked to fit the campaign.

ShaneG.

Lord Dynel · Post by **Lord Dynel** » Fri May 22, 2009 10:24 am

DangerDwarf wrote:
Thanks LD.

to give proper credit though. I'd probably still be hovering around 3,000 or so if it weren't for our back and forth threads.

Indeed, we've had some good ones, that's for sure!
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CharlieRock · Post by **CharlieRock** » Fri May 22, 2009 11:06 am

I use modules more often then not.
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Deogolf · Post by **Deogolf** » Fri May 22, 2009 12:16 pm

I've done both. I'm not conceited enough to say that I could always do better. There are some really good ones out there!!
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Dagger · Post by **Dagger** » Fri May 22, 2009 1:20 pm

I generally don't use modules that have a storyline. I do use modules that are locations to be explored like the Haunted Highlands, the stuff out of the Yggsburgh book, etc...
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moriarty777 · Post by **moriarty777** » Fri May 22, 2009 1:55 pm

When I started out playing AD&D twenty years ago, I ran a couple of published mods but I was more likely to run something I created myself. Then again, those where the days when I was in High School and ended up playing 2-3 times per week on average (usually Friday nights, Saturdays, and Sundays).

When I got into C&C, it also coincided with me getting into gaming in a big way. I never left it but I didn't really run anything anymore and just occasionally played. With C&C, I wanted to run games and campaigns again like I used to but, like a few others here have already stated, time was the issue.

With various responsibilities and such, a series of published modules is what I use but I tend to tie these together if I see a theme or opportunity.

M
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slimykuotoan · Post by **slimykuotoan** » Fri May 22, 2009 2:48 pm

I tend to use published adventures, simply because it's nice to be entertained as a CK in a similar manner that the players are.
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seskis281 · Post by **seskis281** » Fri May 22, 2009 3:08 pm

I've always enjoyed modules and adapt, take sections, rewrite and remold into my own campaigns. The story and and much of what I do is my own, with those sections dropped in.

A1 and A2 were about 60-70% when I adapted them into my Aihrde campaign.

Rarely, tho, have I run a mod completely "as is," the exception being:

"Mortality of Green"

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gideon_thorne · Post by **gideon_thorne** » Fri May 22, 2009 3:10 pm

Not so much. I've relied on my own home brew 99% of the time. I've not actually run more than 3 modules in 30 years of gaming.
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Buttmonkey · Post by **Buttmonkey** » Fri May 22, 2009 3:14 pm

Generally, I much prefer to run my own stuff. I took a stab at running Castle Zagyg last year and it just wasn't that much fun. My main objection is that it usually takes me more time to prepare to run a module than it does my own material. Going forward, I expect to harvest ideas and sections from modules if/when I find them interesting, but otherwise just run my own stuff. It's more fun, it's easier to remember the details, and it provides the players with a unique experience. The only modules I have read through that I would be interested in running as-is now would be S2 (White Plume Mountain) and R2 (To the Aid of Falx). I love those modules and it would be easy to keep the details in my head.

Greg Ellis · Post by **Greg Ellis** » Fri May 22, 2009 3:14 pm

I love modules - I love reading them, and I love running them.

Some are frustrating, because they're just not very well thought out, and require a lot of re-jiggering and filling in of blanks. I'm not too fond of that experience.

But then there are others which are just glowing beacons of gaming goodness, little saddle-stitched masterpieces that I will always treasure. The old B5 - Horror on the Hill springs to mind. Thanks for sending me that, John.

nwelte1 · Post by **nwelte1** » Fri May 22, 2009 3:27 pm

I use modules, but I mix in my own stuff. I have to. My online group went from slaying goblins in A1 to storming the keep in A4 and then suddenly decided to go to the Slag Heap in A2.....

So the story is rewriting itself as we play and as a result locations stay the same but the contents and encounters change. ie. A big ogre becomes a nasty Ogre mage that kills the party druid and suddenly cocktrices appear in the woods and make the gnome a..... well a garden gnome.

serleran · Post by **serleran** » Fri May 22, 2009 3:32 pm

Noooo! Too many of my brethren have fallen to the grisly cuckoo of the foul fowl!

I am going to fund an expedition to root the nest of these disgusting egg-layers and finally put a stop to their maddening statuary fetish.

Gnomes and dwarfs invited, encouraged, even.
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danbuter · Post by **danbuter** » Fri May 22, 2009 4:00 pm

I generally steal maps and NPCs from them. I almost never run them as written.
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Deogolf · Post by **Deogolf** » Fri May 22, 2009 4:24 pm

Greg Ellis wrote:
I love modules - I love reading them, and I love running them.

Some are frustrating, because they're just not very well thought out, and require a lot of re-jiggering and filling in of blanks. I'm not too fond of that experience.

But then there are others which are just glowing beacons of gaming goodness, little saddle-stitched masterpieces that I will always treasure. The old B5 - Horror on the Hill springs to mind. Thanks for sending me that, John.

Always a pleasure, Greg!!
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CharlieRock · Post by **CharlieRock** » Fri May 22, 2009 10:21 pm

When I first started playing D&D (back in late 80s) we played a few modules like Isle of Dread and Castle Amber. But I drifted away from them and then from D&D itself to other RPGs ( ). When I played the other games systems I rarely used a pre-made adventure. Less then one a year.

When I got back into D&D (about '04) I didnt use modules. But then I got one of Goodmans' and pretty much used modules since then everytime. Not all GGames' modules, now. I even ran a TLG d20 module or two.

Now the two games I pretty much play are C&C and GURPS. With C&C we use modules all the time (or Towers of A). With GURPS, never.
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