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SilverClawShift
2008-03-25, 08:01 PM
For a while now, my group has been creating, testing, tinkering, and playing with homebrew material. It's something we enjoy doing for a lot of reasons, not the least of which being the oft used phrase "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". We like D&D enough that we feel compelled to not only expand upon it, but to expand upon it in a way that is similar enough in style and quality that our results can be set side by side with official published material with a nod.
We're not perfect mind you, that's just our stated goal when working on new stuff. Well, one of the things we've always wanted to make is a real, honest, sit-down-and-play-it, ready campaign.

We're thinking seven chapters, roughly four levels per chapter (yes, the story DOES end in epic levels. That's actually out of necessity for the storyline itself, it simply becomes something that can only be addressed as "epic" in D&D terms). Each chapter would have an overall themeatic feel that differentiated it from the rest, but with ties that made it clear they were all part of the same adventure, featuring the same groups.
Our primary creative goal is to treat the whole thing as "Officially-unofficial". We're not professional designers or publishers, we're players with a vision. Our DM wants things to be laid out and explained the way he would lay things out preparing a game for us. Sort of a By-Gamers, For-Gamers mentality.

I could rattle on and on about what we're setting up here, but that's not the point of the post. The real point here is a small list of questions, the most important being: What do you look for in a published adventure?
Is it the story itself that interests you? The villains? The NPCs? The locations? Do you want the occasional new monster or class, or new twists on old stuff?

I know not everyone like pre-made adventures. We haven't used many, because we're too busy playing our own. Most players and DMs are the same way. That said, our DM is a guy who knows what he's doing when it comes to hosting a game, and people interested in learning how to run things more smoothly often turn to ready-to-play adventures, so we're still planning on working on this.

Does anyone have any insight on this?

Proven_Paradox
2008-03-25, 08:27 PM
Is it the story itself that interests you? The villains? The NPCs? The locations? Do you want the occasional new monster or class, or new twists on old stuff?

Yes.

Okay, so maybe not classes--that's a lot to learn for a pre-fabricated adventure, but the rest, absolutely.

As a DM, I have used several different modules. I cut my DMing teeth on pre-made modules. My first one was the Burning Plague, I think. I then started by modifying existing modules to my tastes (or the tastes of my players, as the case may be). My most successful attempt at this was A Question of Ethics, adding a bit more combat for my semi-new players who were wanting a taste of mid-high level, but were good enough at roleplaying that they maneuvered through the titular ethical issues without resorting to stabbing things (and the guy who usually played evil decided to try a change of pace). Both of those are downloadable on Wizards' site here. (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20030530b)

Keep it tight enough that you don't have a lot of time to get lost, but loose enough that the DM can add his own touch. Keep it vague enough that the DM can modify the world to fit his image of it, but add in a few important touches where they're needed. It's a difficult balance to achieve. One thing that is very important to keep in mind is that you're writing for a DM, not for players. I haven't taken a stab at publishing or sharing any of my original adventures/modules, but I imagine this is a very easy thing to forget.

Chronicled
2008-03-25, 08:41 PM
I could rattle on and on about what we're setting up here, but that's not the point of the post. The real point here is a small list of questions, the most important being: What do you look for in a published adventure?
Is it the story itself that interests you? The villains? The NPCs? The locations? Do you want the occasional new monster or class, or new twists on old stuff?

I am another who started my DMing learning with modules. I used a mix of the free ones on the Wizard's website, and a couple untested ones supplied by a chemistry professor at my university who writes for Living Greyhawk (they weren't enjoyed much by the group).

A good yet flexible plot (often, I work modules into a campaign; I've also strung modules together into a campaign) is the most important part, I think. New monsters are very nice, for players that know all the tricks for MM critters. Believable NPCs are very important. Villains/locations aren't anything I look for first. New classes aren't helpful, but twists on them aren't bad.

Edit: Also, being able to easily scale encounters up or down depending on party level is a huge plus. One of the nicer things I saw in a module was 3 versions of each encounter, depending on the average party level at the time--one for level 2, one for level 4, one for level 6 (the party was supposed to be 4). It helped me keep things moving (no need for me to try and convert anything), and made it much easier to insert it into my campaign.

TheCountAlucard
2008-03-25, 09:42 PM
The very first adventure I had run was one that I had created all by myself; I had never seen a published adventure before that time. The adventure involved a magically-mutated Dretch, 10d10 squirrels, and several missing villagers. My players had a kick out of it, or so I believe.

However, published adventures are just as fun. You've just gotta make 'em fit your campaign. That's what I look for most in the adventures I look through: stuff that'll fit into what I'm doing without too much change. I might even peruse published materials to simply find an idea that I am intrigued by.

Venerable
2008-03-25, 11:44 PM
How about this as a rule of thumb: "the further X is from standard rules, the rarer X should be." Twists on existing monsters? Okay as long as you don't overdo it. New monsters? Depending on the length of the module, maybe 1-3. (Players shouldn't be facing a new monster every session/encounter.) An entire new class? No. That would be too much overhead for the poor DM who uses modules because she doesn't have time to write one herself. Save a new class for a campaign setting.

Ivius
2008-03-25, 11:53 PM
I hardly ever DM. When I do, I hardly ever make my own adventures. An entire premade campaign, especially one with enough wiggle room to be able to change some fluff or add new encounters without breaking it, would be awesome.