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View Full Version : What makes the best D&D module ever?



GoblinGilmartin
2012-02-07, 09:23 PM
The title says it all. I'm looking for player input on what makes a good module. You can suggest anything you want, specific monsters, traps, story hooks, themes, NPC types, anything, just keep it relatively clean.

Any elements that when you see them in a game, you think "Holy balls! I wanna play this!"

Yitzi
2012-02-07, 11:15 PM
For me, puzzles are always good. So is anything where metagaming (out-of-game thinking) is far less useful than in-game thinking.

Steward
2012-02-07, 11:40 PM
Expedition to Castle Ravenloft is very popular, I think in large part due to its darkly charismatic, larger-than-life villain, whose motivations essentially drive the story. I think it's often a good idea to have a villain like that. Ravenloft gets you to care about the vampire's motives, and they're complex enough to be a puzzle in and of themselves. It also contains a rich, vivid setting, and the plot uses every bit of it. The players get to visit gypsy camps, underground crypts, haunted swamps, etc and it all feels natural rather than just a leisurely afternoon jaunt. Since the villain seems all-powerful and omniscient, there's also a sense of urgency, since he seems strong enough to crush you like a bug and you need to defeat him before he does.

Strormer
2012-02-08, 12:40 AM
I have often found that variety is the spice of modules, as it were. I tend to play skill monkeys and tricksy combatants more than anything else so modules which allow all sorts of characters to shine are generally best. Mages shouldn't be the key to everything, nor should paladins, or druids, or any other one class. There should be nice heavy combat, puzzles, social interaction, etc. That being said, a game should also remember that variety is important, but a game that feels so all over the place that players can't invest in anything is a drag. You have to have both coherency and internal continuity while still offering a variety of challenges. Master balancing these traits and you'll have mastered module design. Then it's all about being a good storyteller.

W3bDragon
2012-02-08, 05:14 AM
There we several good points made already. To add to that, I'd say that, if you're writing a module for your players, then you're already 10 steps ahead of any normal module writer in that you know your target audience very well. This allows you to create a module that suits your players' style without having to guess at what prospective players would do at key points during the module, which makes writing much simpler for you.

General Tone and Pacing:

Maybe you want your module to start at a leisurely pace, then quickly turn frantic, then slow down to a careful, measured pace towards the end. Or maybe you want your module to start off urgent and only get more so as the story progresses. The point is, you need to decide on this beforehand and keep it in mind while writing the module. Some of the best modules handle their pacing well, while some modules that on the surface seem to have a lot of potential, fail to keep the interest of the players because the pacing is mishandled.


Puzzles:

When it comes to situations that the players have to puzzle their way out of, not necessarily just puzzles, you'll want to either have several possible solutions, or one or two very broad ones that the DM can work with.

To give an example from a recent module I've been working on. Let's say that the PCs are outlaws, and the guards are about to come and arrest them at the inn they're hanging out at.

A bad module would say: The only open avenue of escape is running out of the kitchen back door. Any other method of escape will be covered by the guards and they'll be captured.

A good module would say: If they try to escape from the front door, X will happen. If they try the back door, Y will happen. From X and Y, the DM can extrapolate what would reasonably happen if the PCs try any other solution, for example, running upstairs and climbing out a window on the 2nd floor.

NPC motivations:

A good module would provide the DM with NPC motivations. These often tend to be overlooked, but are a crucial part of any module. If you put any NPC in the module, you need to explain what his agenda is. Tying these agendas together can create a very lively world.

For example, the PCs are heading towards an old abandoned mine, so you decide to place a random encounter with 10 kobolds at a mountain pass along the way. Without a bit of NPC motivation for the kobolds, you could be leaving the potential DM in a tight spot if the PCs attempt to parlay, or if they overpower the kobolds and capture some and try to find out what their story is. However, you can add a simple one line agenda saying: "The kobolds have been kicked out of the abandoned mine when the ogres moved in. The kobolds are trying to get valuables using any means possible to try and bribe the boss ogre, named Grosh, to let them back in."

This now allows the DM to handle the kobolds simply and smoothly no matter what the PCs do, because he knows why they're there and what they want.

This also makes the world feel more alive as the PCs get to see the consequences of the story they're following.

Efficiency:

Of course, you could have the other side of the spectrum, where every NPC in the module has a two or three paragraph biography. That might be fun to write, but is really tiresome for the DM to read. There are some cases where a deep back story is required, for main NPCs for example, but the minor NPCs don't really need a three paragraph story, since its highly probable that the PCs will never know about it. Be efficient about how much you write. This applies not only to NPC motivations, but other aspects of the module as well.