How often have any of you all reused a campaign module?

[MarkVIIIMarc]

I'm working one group through "The Sunless Citadel" and really enjoy it. What I'm thinking is I have a couple other groups who might enjoy it if I can avoid overlapping players.

How many of you all have run a module multiple times? Does it get better or worse? Is it boring?

If you all do have a favorite to run which one and why?

[Sigreid]

I have. It can go smoother each time as your more familiar with the material. It shouldn't get boring as the players are the wild card each time.

[Unoriginal]

I'm working one group through "The Sunless Citadel" and really enjoy it. What I'm thinking is I have a couple other groups who might enjoy it if I can avoid overlapping players.

How many of you all have run a module multiple times? Does it get better or worse? Is it boring?

If you all do have a favorite to run which one and why?

I've never run a whole module several times, but there is a scenario I've run more than one.

The game wasn't D&D, but it was the first proper session I've run. I've mostly used it as beginner one-shot for kids as part of a "RPG discovery" holiday activity my town organized with the local RPG club.

Honestly, it didn't diminish my love for the scenario one bit. Each different player and each different PC bring something to the table that will lead to new situations, and that's without counting the things that hinges on random dice rolls or your own alterations. Even getting trolls as players can make the whole thing more memorable (though not more enjoyable).

It's just me, though, and it's something pretty short. I'm not sure it'll work the same for you, but I sure hope it does.

[Gryndle]

I've reused material several times. However, I don't think I have ever once in my lifetime as a DM ran an adventure exactly as it was written. I take what is written and then alter in to fit in with my game world, which sometimes makes the adventure quite different.

For example, right now I am running my group through the "Against the Giants" update in Tales from the Yawning Portal. I have the original AD&D/1st ED versions of those modules, and I have ran some variation of through every edition of the game. Often with some of the same players and aside form certain similarities they have only rarely caught on when I am "recycling" material

[rooneg]

I've run a number of Adventurers League adventures more than once (for different tables of players). I get much better at them the second or third time through ;-)

[Armored Walrus]

The only module I've run more than once so far was Lost Mine of Phandelver. What was said above is true, the changing players change the module enough to keep it fun. Although I only made it all the way through once. The other games have either been put on hiatus or ended for various reasons.

I'm very likely to repeat a module with a pbp group that I previously ran live. I suspect that will be plenty fun, since PbP puts its own mark on the whole experience.

[Falcon X]

I find re-using old material to be very enjoyable. So far, I've mostly done it 4 times with a homebrew Dwarven Mining camp, Twice with the opening to Out of the Abyss, and twice with Episode 6 of HotDQ.

As a DM, you get fairly comfortable with the setup and have little anxiety over not knowing the setting. However, the players always bring different things to the table, so you find yourself exploring more and more aspects of the setting. For a world builder, it's glorious :)

I have a friend who runs the same Shadowrun module over and over again every time he can find a new set of people. They all love it because he is good at it, but he loves it because, without fail, every group does it differently and still surprises him.

BTW, I haven't run Sunless Citadel, but I recently read it and it seems like the perfect intro game. Lots of traps, terrain features, findables, potential politics. It really shows off what the game is capable of in an exploratory way. Deadly too.
I'd be interested to hear your review of it and if it matches my perceptions.

[Beelzebubba]

I've run Tomb of Horrors a few times and that was enough.

[Chugger]

Re-running modules is very common in AL. It can be hard playing one you've already played (with a new character) because you know what's coming (but you have to try to meta and "not know" - which is hard to impossible to really do).

In AL DMs can change (and should) - in fact it would be funny to alter an encounter so that it works the _opposite_ of how it does in the printed module! :smallbiggrin:

[hymer]

I have. It can go smoother each time as your more familiar with the material. It shouldn't get boring as the players are the wild card each time.
This. I also use a lot of random tables, so when NPCs and factions get introduced to the PCs is likewise rather unpredictable.
It's interesting to watch different players go through the same material, and see just how differently they handle things.

[poolio]

I guess it would have t depend on the module, I work part time at a shop that runs adventures league every week and I've run almost every module at least twice, some three or more times, and i have a module from 3.5 I've re-balanced for 5e that I've probably ran a half dozen times for different new players, it's one of my favorites cause it has a little bit of everything in it so there's a chance to show what d&d is like for all the different classes and play styles,

And it's pretty much always fun, like some have said, it actually gets a little more fun doing the same module cause you get more familiar with the material, the only times i don't enjoy dming is because of players, some are just a pain to deal with.

[MarkVIIIMarc]

I find re-using old material to be very enjoyable. So far, I've mostly done it 4 times with a homebrew Dwarven Mining camp, Twice with the opening to Out of the Abyss, and twice with Episode 6 of HotDQ.

As a DM, you get fairly comfortable with the setup and have little anxiety over not knowing the setting. However, the players always bring different things to the table, so you find yourself exploring more and more aspects of the setting. For a world builder, it's glorious :)

I have a friend who runs the same Shadowrun module over and over again every time he can find a new set of people. They all love it because he is good at it, but he loves it because, without fail, every group does it differently and still surprises him.

BTW, I haven't run Sunless Citadel, but I recently read it and it seems like the perfect intro game. Lots of traps, terrain features, findables, potential politics. It really shows off what the game is capable of in an exploratory way. Deadly too.
I'd be interested to hear your review of it and if it matches my perceptions.

Tha ks for the advice guys. I'll not be shy about giving it a go.

In my reviewing Sunless Citadel understand I'm not an expert but I really like it. It does have the chance to be deadly for low level characters which its designed for. There is a bit of politics to play and all also plus a couple ways it can be "solved".

For a newb anyways I noticed at least one of the magical items needs a little home brewing to figure out. Still not bad at all and I'm enjoying DMing it.

[Skelechicken]

I am working my way through Princes of the Apocalypse a second time now.

I will mostly echo what some people have said. Like anything else running something again means you are well practiced, and better able to anticipate some of the pitfalls that you may have to face. Your players will have very different motivations and ideas so it will stay pretty fresh for you.

One major point of advice if you intend to do this; listen to your players. They will want different things than the first group wanted. Their interests will be different. Don't get too caught up in how the module "should go" based on your first group. There will be similarities, and unless the group is completely different your villains and NPCs should by and large have the same motivations, but the players and their inputs will be different and the world needs to react to how it is now, not how it was the first time. This takes more practice and planning than you'd think. I can't tell you how many times I've had to sit there and remind myself, "this NPC was only grouchy the first time because the players let his house burn down. He is not a generally grouchy person."

[Knaight]

I don't use published modules, but I do have a few one shot adventures which went so well that I decided to reuse the situation with a new group of people. One of them I've used three times in two different systems, and plan to do a fourth time in a third system.