PDA

View Full Version : 4e adventures



Adeptus
2009-07-05, 04:01 PM
I wonder how many here have run the new 4e D&D adventures from the H1..2 and P1..3 series?

I don't use D&D as a game engine, but I'm amusing my players by running Pyramid of Shadows for them. D&D world, straight out of the box adventure, but with a different gamesystem (I dislike D&D).

I'm curious to hear what other GMs and players think about the adventure series. Pyramid of Shadows and the ones that follow.

Kurald Galain
2009-07-05, 04:52 PM
I've played KOTS and the ADAP series from LFR, does that help? I found them all not very impressive; although with the right DM you will certainly have a good time, this is mostly because of the DM and not the adventure.

Gralamin
2009-07-05, 05:03 PM
I wonder how many here have run the new 4e D&D adventures from the H1..2 and P1..3 series?

I don't use D&D as a game engine, but I'm amusing my players by running Pyramid of Shadows for them. D&D world, straight out of the box adventure, but with a different gamesystem (I dislike D&D).

I'm curious to hear what other GMs and players think about the adventure series. Pyramid of Shadows and the ones that follow.

I've sent players through H1 to H3. They aren't very good, but the DM can make it pretty good.

Adeptus
2009-07-05, 05:18 PM
I've sent players through H1 to H3. They aren't very good, but the DM can make it pretty good.
I think H3 has an amusing consept. It reminds me a lot of the movie Cube.

Belobog
2009-07-05, 05:24 PM
A few okay ideas, but as others have said, they don't stand up very well by themselves. The quality of the experience depends highly on the skill of the DM. If you're looking for some modules to draw inspiration from, the older edition ones tend to be more memorable. There's a reason modules like The Red Hand of Doom get the conversion treatment every now and again.

Adeptus
2009-07-05, 07:31 PM
I'm already committed to H3 of course, but I'm interested in hearing about experiences with P1 "King of the Trollhaunt Warrens". If this D&D project stays amusing, I'll want to continue into that module... if it's a worth running.

Colmarr
2009-07-05, 10:34 PM
A few okay ideas, but as others have said, they don't stand up very well by themselves. The quality of the experience depends highly on the skill of the DM.

QFT.

Not sure that I agree with the underlined text. Not because it's incorrect, but because I'm yet to see an adventure that did stand up very well by itself. DM involvement is always a major factor.

Edit: Didn't realise it italicises the whole quote :smalleek:

Panda-s1
2009-07-06, 01:18 AM
A few okay ideas, but as others have said, they don't stand up very well by themselves. The quality of the experience depends highly on the skill of the DM. If you're looking for some modules to draw inspiration from, the older edition ones tend to be more memorable. There's a reason modules like The Red Hand of Doom get the conversion treatment every now and again.

In all fairness, most of the official modules from 3.x kinda went by unnoticed. Red Hand of Doom seems to be an exception. In fact the modules I always hear about are from 1st ed. days.

Hzurr
2009-07-06, 02:28 PM
My group got about halfway through H3 before we took a break for the summer (I think the intent is to pick it back up once everyone is back in town, but there's no telling)

H1: Pretty boring. It's a good intro into 4E combat, but not an overly compelling story or anything like that

H2: Not bad. Thunderspire is a cool place. Lots of potential plot hooks, and with a good DM, this place can be awesome. The prepared encounters for H2 aren't bad, but they aren't ridiculous. My group went through about 50% of thunderspire before we side-trecked into more PC related plot (which still took them through the Well of Demons encounters, just not at the actual well of demons. I'm not good at creating encounters, so I just re-fluffed everything, and they went through it at an alternate location.

H3: It's been interesting. There are some fun combats here, and if you (and your PCs) are creative, interesting things can happen. My PCs made a deal with the arborans, eventually figured out that the arborans were using them, and the next time these two groups run into each other, things will be...interesting. The relationship between the party and the head-in-a-sphere artifact (I can't remember her name off the top of my head) had also been pretty amusing.

So...yeah, I'd echo what other people said. It depends on the DM. With a good, creative DM these modules can be really fun (My players enjoyed it, and I only consider myself to have done a mediocre job). There's a lot more to these modules than first meets the eye. Take advantage of them (you could easily have the PCs stay in Thunderspire from levels 4 - 10, and still come up with stuff for them to do. It's a great location that has plothooks with lots of potential).

-Cor-
2009-07-06, 02:45 PM
My players are about to finish up H1. We will most likely press on to H2 afterwards.

I think they've really enjoyed themselves with H1... (4e being pretty new to all of us).

I took a lot of liberties with the combats and changed around some flavor while preserving the overall story and so far I've got almost nothing but positive feedback from my players. Changing the Keep from being devoted to Bahamut to Ioun helped and made some of the hooks work better. Also made Valthrun a little easier to play and incorporate. I toned down some of the combats (Irontooth, Balgron), and beefed up some others (Burial Site, Excavation, Deathjump Spider), and one combat I put completely out of suggested order (Ninarin... who I also beefed up) in order to facilitate the players going to the Keep.

Still, like I said... a lot of positive feedback. It's kinda railroady, but I've got my players operating very openly out of Fallcrest to which they'll most likely return if they survive the Keep and probably move on to H2 for which I've dropped quite a few clues and hooks.

Just my two copper pieces.

Colmarr
2009-07-06, 06:25 PM
H2: Not bad. Thunderspire is a cool place. Lots of potential plot hooks, and with a good DM, this place can be awesome. The prepared encounters for H2 aren't bad, but they aren't ridiculous.

My group is 2/3 of the way through the Horned Hold at the moment (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104388). My main issue with TL is that there is no clear BBEG for the PCs to deal with. Each of the "arcs" (eg. Blood Reavers, Duergar) seem quite separate.

KotS wasn't the best module ever written, but Kalarel was a constant "presence", and the PCs knew that they would eventually have to face him. Finally getting to battle him and close the portal made for an exciting climax. I fear that when we finish TL, we'll be left unsatisfied.

-Cor-
2009-07-06, 06:30 PM
KotS wasn't the best module ever written, but Kalarel was a constant "presence", and the PCs knew that they would eventually have to face him. Finally getting to battle him and close the portal made for an exciting climax. I fear that when we finish TL, we'll be left unsatisfied.

This is something I fear as well having only skimmed through the module. I haven't started preparing it for my players yet as I have some time between finishing H1 and the start of H2 (we're doing a couple one-offs for a break), but I'm thinking I might have to change a few things around to give them the BBEG they've come to love and expect.

Also, whereas H1 was very railroady, H2 seems almost too wide open... have you noticed this as well?

Colmarr
2009-07-06, 07:07 PM
Also, whereas H1 was very railroady, H2 seems almost too wide open... have you noticed this as well?

Not so much.

Our DM is using the "rescue the slaves" adventure hook (including having one of the slaves be a PC's mother), so it was a fairly clear path to the Blood Reavers for us. When we found that the blood reavers had already onsold the slaves to the Grimmerzhul, that was obviously our next step.

I'm not privvy to what the DM will place in front of us next, but I am (and have long been) of the opinion that most groups like a carrot to chase. Unless you have one of those rare groups that like to have a complete sandbox to play in, I'd pick one area to go first, one to go last, and then leave the other two to go in the middle in whatever order your players choose.

Adeptus
2009-07-08, 07:41 AM
H3 is definitely a sandbox.

It's a cross between Hellraiser and Cube (movies, look them up). Interestingly my group also made a deal with the Aboreals, after a fairly massive and deadly fight when they were first encountered.

Deal has been good for the Aboreals so far, and the characters have gotten a safe(ish) place to rest in, and even some healing.

I'm not going to run things 100% with the described "any allies will always betray you... sooner or later" bent, as I find it a rather stupid. The leader of the Aboreals may even start rewarding them if they keep up the good work.

Ninetail
2009-07-08, 02:02 PM
The official modules I've seen from WotC are mostly pretty bad. That's true for 3.5e as well as 4e. There are a couple of standouts, but not many.

But when I use modules, it's mostly as a source of ideas. I think the last one I ran straight was GDQ 1-7, so... yeah. Long time. Some of those modules do pretty well for ideas.

Keep on the Shadowfell, even revised, is mostly a combat slog. Makes a decent intro to 4e mechanics, I guess, but nothing special.

Thunderspire Labyrinth does better with plot and roleplaying hooks. It's a plot that sort of leaves me cold, though. Maybe because of memories of not liking the old A series modules, which had some similarities. I'd say H2 is decent, but not for me.

Pyramid of Shadows is a very cool idea. I enjoyed playing through it, and it was good enough that I'm considering purchasing it and seeing what I can get out of it for my own game. It feels pretty open.

King of the Trollhaunt Warrens, I've flipped through. It seems to have a pretty strong plot, and there's some influence from Celtic folklore (a favorite of mine). There are various enemy factions who can be manipulated against each other, lots of roleplaying potential... From what I've seen, it might be the best of the official modules.

Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress has an interesting premise (although it's roughly the same as that of Bastion of Broken Souls). I've heard that the execution is lacking, though: lots of combat, not much else. I can't really speak to that; I've refrained from flipping through it because one of my group is planning to GM in in the near future.

Starsinger
2009-07-08, 05:08 PM
I've sent players through H1 to H3. They aren't very good, but the DM can make it pretty good.

Isn't H3 the labyrinth of suicidal levels of boring?

Kurald Galain
2009-07-08, 05:16 PM
Isn't H3 the labyrinth of suicidal levels of boring?

Labyrinth of Suicidal Levels of Boring? Oh, I just have to steal that title :smallbiggrin:

Gralamin
2009-07-08, 05:18 PM
Isn't H3 the labyrinth of suicidal levels of boring?

Your out soon! :smalltongue:

Adeptus
2009-07-09, 08:29 AM
Isn't H3 the labyrinth of suicidal levels of boring?
H3 is a sandbox where you can't get out until you solve things (with a liberal dose of the good old ultra violence).

Another good comparison is the computer game Ultima Underworld.

XiaoTie
2009-07-09, 08:46 AM
Your out soon! :smalltongue:

Not soon enough :smallfrown:

Also, on-topic:
To be honest, I liked the KotS module, even without the DM's mod I think it would have been a fun module to play, 'cept for Irontooth's fight and Kalalrel's long-as-something-really-really-long fight.