Module Hunting

[Bjarkmundur]

This is probably a pretty common question, so I'm hoping there will be some quick and ready answers for me.

Do you have any short modules, or a collection of encounters, that might work well for my purposes?

I'm starting my campaign with some outpost-hopping, So each adventure is relatively short and includes a town or an outpost.

[Bjarkmundur]

Creating details is easy, but the work some modules put into an overarching theme, an underlying mystery, and then tieing it all in with everything else, is insane. Not having to do that for each town is a huge timesaver.

I'm currently content-mining "The Lost Kenku". I'm redoing the majority of the details. But the dynamic is something I would never have come up with myself.

[Man_Over_Game]

Holy crap, Bjark! You're not dead! Good to see you! How you been?

The only module I got that might fit into that is Sunless Citadel, and it doesn't really have anything to do with the town. Something something rumors of powerful magic, something something vampire tree. It does serve well to add excellent, generic content to an existing town that you want to add to, since the dungeon itself has a ton of different styles of encounters, from negotiating, to gathering clues, dealing with an overpowered opposition, all in a package that's designed for level 1-3 characters.

[Unoriginal]

This is probably a pretty common question, so I'm hoping there will be some quick and ready answers for me.

Do you have any short modules, or a collection of encounters, that might work well for my purposes?

I'm starting my campaign with some outpost-hopping, So each adventure is relatively short and includes a town or an outpost.

Tales of the Yawning Portal, Ghosts of Saltmarsh and Candlekeep Mysteries could easily be adapted so that each of their adventure is tied to a different outpost.

Rime of the Frostmaiden's first chapter is several small towns and outposts in the same region, each tied to their own 1-2 adventures.

[dafrca]

@Bjarkmundur;

I do not know if this will help, but when reading the post this is what it made me think of....

https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/micro-map-pack-towns

[Zuras]

The Adventurers League season 5 Tier 1 modules all revolve around helping a single small town named Parnast. For a stand-alone, DDAL 05-03 Uninvited Guests is pretty solid.

[Stygofthedump]

Not to hijack post but I too am looking for modules to run after storm kings thunder. I have some ideas but a short high level module would be great.

[J-H]

You may want to try Matt Colville's Adventure Lookup (https://www.adventurelookup.com/adventures) tool. Filter for what you're trying to find.

[Brookshw]

Consider Tales of the Old Margreve (https://koboldpress.com/kpstore/product/tales-of-the-old-margreve-for-5th-edition/), old, sorta evil forest, tons of character.

[Bjarkmundur]

Haha, nope, not dead! We're finally playing again! Through all of covid I think we did maybe three sessions, but now I'm back behind the screen and things are as they should be :)


For those interested, I also found "A Potent Brew", "The Wolves of Welton" and "The Wererat Den". Each module is maybe 12 pages long, which is absolutely perfect.


The Lost Kenku I felt largely missed the mark. It's an interesting concept, but there's no real story there. Fine as a backdrop to add more detail to.


I found "Out of the Box" by Nerdarchy. The encounters there aren't much, but they really get your brain going. It's great for wilderness encounters!

I really love getting everything in small modules, and then piecing things together. Our current town is just 4 things, and then we move on to the next:

1. In the town there's an Alchemist who's sends our adventurers out to kill monsters for materials. There's a new monster every two sessions.

2. In the tavern there is a a Barmaid who's concerned that the local blacksmith has lost his spirits, and no longer feels motivated to become an adventurer. She asks the adventures to talk to him, and help him find the heart to follow his dreams. This is just a short roleplay bit.

3. The party doesn't learn this until the very end, but near the town there's a mysterious magical location that troubles the emotional stability of humanoids in the area. The locals are protected from this effect through their rituals, culture and customs, which as evolved to ward of this magic, although that fact has been lost to time. They figure this out after they've completed the main quest here.

4. The main event is the local power struggle between Lords. A Lord of a nearby land finds the local Lord weak, and believes he is unable to protect the land. He intends to use the upcoming gathering of lords to show that the local Lord should not rule, and that he should inherit these lands instead. Luckily, the local Lord suspects something, and invites the heroes to this feast. When the powerhungry Lord challenges the local lords rule, the adventurers take part in some competition of strength and cunning to prove that these lands are protected. The powerhungry Lord loses his cool because of the magical effect, and tries to assassinate our heroes later. This all happens while the party is also struggling to fight against the magic of the area.

[Bjarkmundur]

@Bjarkmundur;

I do not know if this will help, but when reading the post this is what it made me think of....

https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/micro-map-pack-towns


I need this in my life!!!! This is my entire DMing style as a standalone product! :0 :0 :0

[dafrca]

@Bjarkmundur;

I do not know if this will help, but when reading the post this is what it made me think of....

https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/micro-map-pack-towns

I need this in my life!!!! This is my entire DMing style as a standalone product! :0 :0 :0

Then I am glad I suggested it. I have been watching to see if they do other sets as the ones they have done are nice. :smallsmile:

[Man_Over_Game]

The Adventurers League season 5 Tier 1 modules all revolve around helping a single small town named Parnast. For a stand-alone, DDAL 05-03 Uninvited Guests is pretty solid.

On this note, do you know where folks could find reviews of modules? I want to do more research, but I have no idea where to look for critical information on them other than forum posts.