PDA

View Full Version : Best D&D Prefab Adventures Ever



AKA_Bait
2009-08-07, 08:43 AM
I'm updating some older adventures to 4e to see if they still fly. I just finished and ran a session of an updated White Plume Mountain and it seemed to go smoothly (more smoothly than when I ran the 3.5 update frankly). Next I'll try to do the Tomb of Horrors but as I hardly ever play prefab modules I'm not really sure which ones to do thereafter. Hence, I ask the playground:

What are the Best Prefabricated Adventures from 3.5 or earlier?

My list, in no particular order, so far:

1. White Plume Mountain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Plume_Mountain)
2. The Tomb of Horrors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_Horrors)
3. The Ten Thousand Days (http://www.victoriouspress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=95&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a) (shamless self promotion of a product never released I know...)
4. Queen of the Spiders (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_the_Spiders)
5. Expedition to Castle Ravenloft (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravenloft_(module))
6. The Red Hand of Doom (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hand_of_Doom)
7. The Desert of Desolation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_of_Desolation)
8. Keep on the Borderlands (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keep_on_the_Borderlands)
9. Halls of the Minotaur (http://dnd.wikia.com/wiki/Halls_of_the_Minotaur)
10.Under Illefarn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_Illefarn)
11. The Ruins of Undermountain (http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/The_Ruins_of_Undermountain)
12. The Ruins of Undermountain II: The Deep Levels (http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/The_Ruins_of_Undermountain_II:_The_Deep_Levels)
13. The Night Below (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Below:_An_Underdark_Campaign)
14. Rappan Athuk (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=763)
15. Treasure Hunt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Hunt_(D&D_module))
16. The Isle of Dread (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Dread)
17. The Legend of the Spelljammer (http://spelljammer.wikia.com/wiki/Legend_of_Spelljammer,_The)
18. The Sunless Citadel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sunless_Citadel)
19. The Lost City (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_City_(module))
20. The Bastion of Broken Souls (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/881670000)
21. The Age of Worms (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Worms)
22. Castle Whiterock (http://www.goodman-games.com/5050preview.php)
23.Against the Cult of the Reptile God (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_the_Cult_of_the_Reptile_God)
24. Dragon Mountain (http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/9/9589.phtml)
25. The Sunless Citadel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sunless_Citadel)
26.Expedition to the Barrier Peaks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expedition_to_the_Barrier_Peaks)
27. Scourge of the Slave Lords (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scourge_of_the_Slave_Lords)
28. Expedition to Castle Ravenloft (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/953937200)

So let me know what adventures rocked your socks that haven't been updated to 4e and I'll add them to the list. A link to a description would be good too.

jmbrown
2009-08-07, 08:48 AM
Among the eldest of neckbeards agree that Queen of Spiders is one of the best modules. It combines G1-G3 into a module called Against the Giants, D1-D3 + Queen of Spiders into a single module. G1-G3 are pretty average dungeon crawls but Vault of the Drow is probably one of the best D&D modules written.

It also introduced the classic race that soon turned into a joke when everyone started writing about them nonstop.

Woodsman
2009-08-07, 08:50 AM
I think Expedition to Castle Ravenloft would be fun, if you could update it.

Sipex
2009-08-07, 08:52 AM
I was very fond of the Red Hand of Death

Cyrion
2009-08-07, 08:54 AM
I thought the Desert of Desolation series was quite good:

I3- Pharoah
I4- Oasis of the White Palm
I5-Lost Tomb of Martek

AKA_Bait
2009-08-07, 08:56 AM
I was very fond of the Red Hand of Death

Do you mean the Red Hand of Doom?

ZeroNumerous
2009-08-07, 09:02 AM
City of the Spider Queen is one common one I've seen back in the day.

Either way: Tomb of Horrors doesn't fit terribly well with 4e. If you aren't killing at least 9001 PCs a minute, you're not running it right. :smalltongue:

Dristin
2009-08-07, 09:08 AM
A sequal to the Red Hand of Doom has been produced in one of the magazines for 4th edition. I believe the first 3 parts are free to download.

Mando Knight
2009-08-07, 09:14 AM
Either way: Tomb of Horrors doesn't fit terribly well with 4e. If you aren't killing at least 9001 PCs a minute, you're not running it right. :smalltongue:

You've never fought Needlefang Drake Swarms or Black Dragons, have you?

AKA_Bait
2009-08-07, 09:14 AM
Either way: Tomb of Horrors doesn't fit terribly well with 4e. If you aren't killing at least 9001 PCs a minute, you're not running it right. :smalltongue:

Ah but you see that is the challenge! I'm really curious to see if I can get it to be as deadly in 4e. White Plume managed to stay pretty darn dangerous when I converted it.

LibraryOgre
2009-08-07, 09:18 AM
In no particular order:

B2 Keep on the Borderlands
T1 The Village of Hommlet.
N5 Under Illefarn
Undermountain and Undermountain II
The Night Below

Sipex
2009-08-07, 09:21 AM
Do you mean the Red Hand of Doom?

Yes yes, Red Hand of Doom, sorry. We just called it RHoD so I kind of mixed it up.

Either way it's still an awesome campaign.

AKA_Bait
2009-08-07, 09:39 AM
In no particular order:

B2 Keep on the Borderlands
T1 The Village of Hommlet.
N5 Under Illefarn
Undermountain and Undermountain II
The Night Below

Big FR Fan Mr. Hall?

I've added everything so far to the list. I Listed Village of Hommlet under The Temple of Elemental Evil since it is also the first installment of that adventure series.

Zergrusheddie
2009-08-07, 09:40 AM
Tomb of Horrors.

Once you begin to realize that Acererak is just an utter asshat and his whole goal with the Tomb of Horrors is to kill as many adventurers as possible, it gets to be really funny in an extremely sick and twisted sort of way. And the fact that killing the final boss is neigh impossible and the reward is some stupid items which basically amount to a "I survived the Tomb of Horrors and all I got was this t-shirt" is just awesome.

When I ran through it, the DM stated that this place is terrible and that "It is totally Gygaxian; if you wished for your balls to reach the floor your legs would fall off."

Best of luck
-Eddie

LibraryOgre
2009-08-07, 12:14 PM
Big FR Fan Mr. Hall?

I love FR; I played it through high school and into college. I wish Wizards would put out a 4th edition FR so I could start buying their products again.


I've added everything so far to the list. I Listed Village of Hommlet under The Temple of Elemental Evil since it is also the first installment of that adventure series.

See, most of ToEE is just a long slog to me... but T1 is great.

ZeroNumerous
2009-08-07, 12:18 PM
I wish Wizards would put out a 4th edition FR so I could start buying their products again.

Wait.. Isn't the FR campaign book already out? Indeed it is (http://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Realms-Campaign-Guide-4th/dp/0786949244).

AKA_Bait
2009-08-07, 12:21 PM
I love FR; I played it through high school and into college. I wish Wizards would put out a 4th edition FR so I could start buying their products again.

Ah yes, now I remember that thread...


See, most of ToEE is just a long slog to me... but T1 is great.

I've never read or played it and since you are the only one who mentioned it I'll cut it back down then.

Edit: Actually, upon further review, it appears that there is a 4e version of this that was released. I'm just going to pull it from the list... nuts.

Surfing HalfOrc
2009-08-07, 12:24 PM
Lets try this agin, but without hitting the big red X up in the corner!

Halls of the Minotaur, Goodman Games
Rappan Athuk, Necromancer Games
N4 Treasure Hunt

Technically Adventures, but really just adventure locations:
X1 Isle of Dread
Legend of the Spelljammer

And of course most of the ones already listed. :smallbiggrin:

RagnaroksChosen
2009-08-07, 12:29 PM
2 words


Sunless citedel.


I thought it was a great adventure for newer players... when ever i have a group of newbies to d20 i run them through that. Its a classic.

LibraryOgre
2009-08-07, 12:32 PM
Wait.. Isn't the FR campaign book already out? Indeed it is (http://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Realms-Campaign-Guide-4th/dp/0786949244).

That is not an FR book.

Umael
2009-08-07, 12:41 PM
Most of the good ones have already been mentioned.

But I want to add one:

B4 - The Lost City (I believe).

I'm not sure why, but I liked that module. Maybe because it was one of the first ones I ever owned... and in the long years between then and now I have lost it...

The New Bruceski
2009-08-07, 12:46 PM
I think Expedition to Castle Ravenloft would be fun, if you could update it.

Are you saying it can't be updated, or just that you/someone else hasn't done so yet? It seems like it'd be fairly easy to move to 4e, and adding some zombie minions who get back up once or twice would keep with the flavor and be neat.

AKA_Bait
2009-08-07, 12:59 PM
Are you saying it can't be updated, or just that you/someone else hasn't done so yet? It seems like it'd be fairly easy to move to 4e, and adding some zombie minions who get back up once or twice would keep with the flavor and be neat.

I'm only listing ones that have not yet been updated, to at least ones that haven't been updated to my knowledge. I know there were plans to update Ravenloft come to think of it. Does anyone know if they actually did and/or did this adventure specifically?

Eldariel
2009-08-07, 01:14 PM
Bastion of Broken Souls (3e). Seriously, it's been the only high-level adventure I've played that feels like it properly takes into account the capabilities and has many memorable fights and paths and overall, well, just kicks ass.

It's also relatively open for the players to do what they will. And even the deities' actions are rationalized - basically, you have the whole package and everything has a reason. It just kicks ass.


Other than that, Age of Worms (the whole adventure path) definitely requires mentioning.

jmbrown
2009-08-07, 01:26 PM
I'm only listing ones that have not yet been updated, to at least ones that haven't been updated to my knowledge. I know there were plans to update Ravenloft come to think of it. Does anyone know if they actually did and/or did this adventure specifically?

Strahd von whatever is statted out in Open Grave but that's about it.

Castle Whiterock is a very long and old school dungeon crawler. I found it pretty enjoyable.

Keep on the Borderlands is one of the better level 1 introductory modules as it tosses you straight into the action (although Gary Gygax had a very weird definition of appropriate challenges as your party of level 1 guys are going up against instant-death rats, ogres, and bugbears).

Against the Cult of the Reptile God is a 1E module I've converted to 3.5. The players appear to enjoy it as there are some interesting characters most of whom are jerks so unlike the standard mystery trope of "obvious guy, not-so-obvious-but-turns-out-to-be-the-villain guy" you're suspecting everyone. AtCotRG has some cool set pieces for a level 1 adventure and even has a little blurb describing how to continue play if you join/fake joining the cult.

The New Bruceski
2009-08-07, 01:32 PM
I'm only listing ones that have not yet been updated, to at least ones that haven't been updated to my knowledge. I know there were plans to update Ravenloft come to think of it. Does anyone know if they actually did and/or did this adventure specifically?

My apologies, I had missed that you were updating them, and so took Woodsman's comment in an unintended manner. I read "if you could update it" as an implication that one couldn't do so, so I was confused why.

Mordar
2009-08-07, 02:08 PM
Hi all -

I have many times turned a loving eye towards my stacks and stacks of AD&D modules, thinking "Hey, this'd be fun! I should totally run this!" The work required in many cases to transit to 4e shouldn't be to egregious...but the difficulty for me is that I have no group at the moment.

Ignoring that, several of my favorites have already been mentioned:

White Plume, a mishmash of monster fun all nicely dressed up;
Giants-Underdark-Demonweb Pits, even though I personally know of no group to have actually completed all 7/8 modules, I'm sure now that I'm much older I could find a crew to do so;
The Desert of Desolation, probably the slickest production values of any AD&D product not named "Ravenloft", these were great reads and I loved the break from the ordinary;
Ravenloft, simply the coolest, best, most engaging, wondrous, fun (etc.) module ever produced, period.

Okay, now to something useful besides wandering down memory lane.

Against the Slavers (A1-A4) would make a very enjoyable set for 4e, I think. Plenty of tradition, good range of mook opponents, a highly-customizable final adversary (group), and the improvisation required to complete the set (on the part of the players in the caves) should make for good fun.

Expedition to the Barrier Peaks wouldn't require a whole lot of conversion, as I recall, and the fact that Gamma World is mostly a dusty memory means that the "figure out what this darn gizmo is and how it works" should be very novel for most players.

Those are the two that I absolutely remember that haven't been added yet...but I recall a couple more (though I'm afraid of mixing up the names). Ghost Tower of Inverness, I think, and a couple more.

Anyway...my 2 cents!

- M

expirement10K14
2009-08-07, 02:32 PM
I thought Expedition to Castle Ravenloft (3.5) was great, as is the Sunless citadel.

LibraryOgre
2009-08-07, 02:43 PM
Keep on the Borderlands is one of the better level 1 introductory modules as it tosses you straight into the action (although Gary Gygax had a very weird definition of appropriate challenges as your party of level 1 guys are going up against instant-death rats, ogres, and bugbears).

One of the level-appropriate challenges for low-level characters in AD&D was when to say "This is not a level-appropriate challenge, and I am now going to run away." With Keep on the Borderlands, there was enough to keep you occupied until those bugbears and ogres were level-appropriate challenges.

jmbrown
2009-08-07, 02:48 PM
One of the level-appropriate challenges for low-level characters in AD&D was when to say "This is not a level-appropriate challenge, and I am now going to run away." With Keep on the Borderlands, there was enough to keep you occupied until those bugbears and ogres were level-appropriate challenges.

All of the early modules also recommend upwards to 9 characters plus you had hirelings. Sure, half the party is expected to be wiped out, but even 18 death-disease carrying rats and the flippin' minotaur that's just lounging around can't possibly go up against all of them at once.

RandomNPC
2009-08-07, 05:55 PM
how did Dragon mountain not make the list? Seriously a mountain hollowed out by dwarves, taken by kobolds, with a gnashy red dragon at the end? Dwarven security kobold traps, and a mountain that teleports away with the party if they stay inside more than 2 weeks? epic. and only 9th level or there abouts.

It runs decently converted to 3.5

AKA_Bait
2009-08-08, 07:28 AM
List updated.

Grommen
2009-08-08, 09:16 AM
Tomb of the Lizard King man. How can that one not be mentioned.

It's nasty, tuff, 3 levels of dungeon, some of the most well thought out traps of it's time.

And then their is Sakatha the great Lizard King.

I just love it myself.

The Temple of Elemental Evil has to be one of the Best Modules as well. Though you have to work some of the side plots out to make it really good.

Bloodstone Lands (H1-H4) are excellent, but their is a lot of conversion work because of very large scale battles (Wars really) that you would have to do off camera or just have the players be part of. I busted out the Battle System books and we went at it, but it did not work out so good. Also 3 and I'll assume 4th edition level up faster so to keep pace I had to really jack up the monsters in the 4th module (Throne of Bloodstone) Lucky it takes place in the abyss and against demon lords, so making them much more evil took time but was not hard to do.

Hope this helps.

Hand of Mystra
2009-08-08, 09:27 AM
Here is a link to review of a Dungeon article on the thirty best adventures of all time *but only by TSR, WotC and Dungeon)http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2008/09/30-greatest-d-adventures-of-all-time.html
There is a guy who is converting the first Pathfinder AP, Rise of the Runelords, to 4E: http://rustydragon.blogspot.com/

AslanCross
2009-08-08, 09:47 AM
I only own 3 adventures, though I've downloaded some of the free adventures on wizards.com.

I have Lord of the Iron Fortress, Eyes of the Lich Queen, and Red Hand of Doom.

I haven't touched Lord of the Iron Fortress; it looks interesting since it's a planar adventure, but I find the format used in newer adventures far more workable than the old 3.0 paragraph statblocks. Urgh.

Eberron's Eyes of the Lich Queen has interesting premises and runs the levels 5-10 sweet spot, but unfortunately it has some really awfully-edited parts.

I've also run the free adventure Eberron Hell's Heart, it's the third in the Viktor St. Demain trilogy and does horror quite well even if it's D&D.

I've played in the free adventure Prisoner of the Castle Perilous. My experience with it wasn't too good as the DM kind of overclocked the grunt encounters too much.

Red Hand of Doom is hands down the best one I've run; see my campaign journal for why.

Deliverance
2009-08-08, 11:10 AM
If Dungeon magazine adventures qualified, which I suspect they do not, I would add the adventure A Rose for Talakara from Dungeon #25.

Eldan
2009-08-08, 12:03 PM
I'm very fond of planescape adventures myself:

Harbinger House is just plain epic when done right. The Great Modron March, when followed up by Dead Gods makes for an awesome campaign, but requires quite some work from the DM because not all parts are really all that good, even though the story is enormously epic. And finally, though it's not really an official adventure, Planewalker's Desire & the Dead is great. I've run it... 2 times to it's end so far and had to abandon it twice more in PhB because of lack of player posting. Currently, I'm starting two new rounds of it.

ken-do-nim
2009-08-08, 06:52 PM
Poor old Judges Guild, the forgotten gaming company when it comes to these polls. All of the adventures they wrote for 0E/1E that were later converted to 3.5 were amazing. They are:

Caverns of Thracia
Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor
Citadel of Fire
Dark Tower

There's also City State of the Invincible Overlord, but I haven't read through it so I can't vouch for it.

kjones
2009-08-08, 11:08 PM
Are we only counting Wizards/TSR modules? I'm not familiar enough with the stuff already listed to know who published them.

Regardless, I'll throw in my 2p for Red Hand of Doom, of course... but I'm not particularly fond of The Sunless Citadel. I think it's too combat-heavy for a module for 1st-level characters, and some of the combats towards the end (I'm looking at you, saprolings right before the druid) really started to drag. It's a good idea, but it's too much of a dungeon crawl, and in this context I don't mean that as a compliment.