(3.5) Looking to run one of these modules - which is your favorite?

[Ozreth]

Looking for some advice from people who have played these:

1. Expedition to Undermountain
2. Cormyr: The Tearing of the Seal
3. Sons of Gruumsh
4. The Twilight Tomb
5. Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk

Currently leaning towards Greyhawk.

Thoughts? Advice? Warnings? Thanks : )

[CapnVan]

They're mostly very different, in terms of environment, goals, style, etc. Anything you're looking for?

[Thurbane]

I've played through EttRoG (last campaign we wrapped up before I started running my current EtCR game), and I really enjoyed it. It's a big dungeon slog, interspersed with some city adventures.

If you enjoy the World of Greyhawk and it's personages/deities...EttRoG is chock full of Greyhawky goodness. As a player, I'd give it a solid 8/10 for enjoyability. Only thing I would say is that it does drag on a bit, and has a LOT of sidequests...but if you're looking for a long term adventure, I throroughly recommend it.

[Ozreth]

Def looking for a long term adventure. Neither my players or myself know anything about Greyhawk. I'm looking to get some of the more "classic" adventures under my belt, hence greyhawk and undermountain. I am currently playing in Red Hand of Doom and that DM is eventually going to run us through Ravenloft.

Does expedition to GH do justice to the setting? How does it compare to modules like Red Hand of Doom or Ravenloft? (no spoilers please!)

[CapnVan]

Neither RHoD nor Ravenloft are written with Greyhawk in mind.

Of course, with the exception of Ruins of Greyhawk, none of the others are, either

[Ozreth]

Neither RHoD nor Ravenloft are written with Greyhawk in mind.

Of course, with the exception of Ruins of Greyhawk, none of the others are, either

Wasnt looking to exclusively play in greyhawk :)

[Thurbane]

I've played RHoD, and am currently DMing EtCR.

I believe EttRoG does the setting justice, and ceratinly does have a lot of that "classic module" feel to it - with a lot of nods to other classic modules in it (Isle of the Ape and Dungeonland, to name but two).

[Ozreth]

I've played RHoD, and am currently DMing EtCR.

I believe EttRoG does the setting justice, and ceratinly does have a lot of that "classic module" feel to it - with a lot of nods to other classic modules in it (Isle of the Ape and Dungeonland, to name but two).

So its worth spending a good amount of time in? I just can't think of anything else that would seem as epic and classic.

Although I've been doing some research and it seems that a lot of the castle has been left out and the DM needs to fill it all in to get the players through, as well as several other hurdles on top of that, and I'm not the most experienced DM...

On a side note, was 2e Ruins of Greyhawk even any good? I seem to be reading a lot about how terrible it was.

[Lhurgyof]

Def looking for a long term adventure. Neither my players or myself know anything about Greyhawk. I'm looking to get some of the more "classic" adventures under my belt, hence greyhawk and undermountain. I am currently playing in Red Hand of Doom and that DM is eventually going to run us through Ravenloft.

Does expedition to GH do justice to the setting? How does it compare to modules like Red Hand of Doom or Ravenloft? (no spoilers please!)

Classic adventures? Tomb of Horrors. xD

[mobdrazhar]

Classic adventures? Tomb of Horrors. xD

+1 to this

[Balain]

I only really remember playing Expedition to Undermountain. I was a player and remember it being fun.

I personally would lean towards Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk. I don't remember it at all but I tend to like Greyhawk.

[Thurbane]

So its worth spending a good amount of time in? I just can't think of anything else that would seem as epic and classic.

I can only testify for myself and my group, and (aside from it running a little long) we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Although I've been doing some research and it seems that a lot of the castle has been left out and the DM needs to fill it all in to get the players through, as well as several other hurdles on top of that, and I'm not the most experienced DM...

I believe a few areas can be fleshed out by the DM, but all significant areas to run the adventure are detailed. Expedition to Undermountain, on the other hand, certainly has a LOT more of this than EttRoG - huge amounts of Undermountain are left blank. Annoyingly so, from my read through it (I was considering DMing it instead of EtCR, and this was certainly a deciding factor).

On a side note, was 2e Ruins of Greyhawk even any good? I seem to be reading a lot about how terrible it was.

Never played this one, unfortunately. I do have a copy of the 1E Castle Greyhawk module, which is a comedy/pun module, but is basically unrelated to EttRoG.

[Ozreth]

Alrighty, looks like Im going to have to get my hands on this module. Thanks a ton for the insight. The adventure sounds promising enough : )

Greyhawk it is!

[Thurbane]

No worries, glad to help out. Hope you and your group enjoy it.

P.S. I'll check with my friend who DMd it, he might still have some adventure notes you might find useful. If so, I'll PM you a copy. Also, you can grab the web enhancement for free on the Wizards website - I believe it has some player handouts you can print off.

[Ozreth]

No worries, glad to help out. Hope you and your group enjoy it.

P.S. I'll check with my friend who DMd it, he might still have some adventure notes you might find useful. If so, I'll PM you a copy. Also, you can grab the web enhancement for free on the Wizards website - I believe it has some player handouts you can print off.

Hey that would be great! Thank you so much : )

[Tyndmyr]

Classic adventures? Tomb of Horrors. xD

This. Bust out the old tourney modules for a real oldschool taste.

Alternatively, dig up older 2nd ed settings. Spelljammer. Dark Sun(though I fear with the 4e treatment, it may not keep that oldschool feel). Greyhawk is of course a classic. Im not a fan of dragonlance personally, but I know many gamers that seem to enjoy it.

There's really no wrong setting to pick, so long as you like the feel of it.

[Ozreth]

I would love to play some Dragonlance, but you are kind of talking settings where I just want a big adventure to play, regardless of setting. I don't know of any big epic dragonlance modules for 3.5...lemme know if there is one : )

[Ozreth]

Also, you can grab the web enhancement for free on the Wizards website - I believe it has some player handouts you can print off.

Can't seem to find the web enhancement, though I've found one for many of their other modules : /

[The Big Dice]

Classic adventures? Tomb of Horrors. xD

It's over rated. Now Expedition to the BArrier Peaks, on the other hand, if a forgotten classic.

[Diarmuid]

Seems like you already got your answer, but just to add...the Cormyr adventure was

A) Very poorly written
B) Completely unforgiving if the party is missing key elements
C) Just downright wrong with a mechanich built into the last encounter

Whoever wrote that module must simply hate people who play D&D. My players didnt enjoy it much and I didnt enjoy running it much.

[Barlen]

So its worth spending a good amount of time in? I just can't think of anything else that would seem as epic and classic.

Although I've been doing some research and it seems that a lot of the castle has been left out and the DM needs to fill it all in to get the players through, as well as several other hurdles on top of that, and I'm not the most experienced DM...

On a side note, was 2e Ruins of Greyhawk even any good? I seem to be reading a lot about how terrible it was.

The 1e version was joke/pun as mentioned. The 2e version was a brutal dungeon crawl. Seemed rather monty haul to me. Fight then loot and repeat. I had both and was going to DM the 2e one but never got to it. The one your looking at looks real nice, plenty of story elements.

The "empty" parts are there to allow room for you to add several of the movable encounters. For example there is a boss with henchmen that take over a few rooms and you decide which rooms. These are detailed in the module itself. If you are not sure what to do with an area leave it empty either with signs of a recent battle (obviously looted remains etc) or just dusty rooms with tracks of someone moving farther down.

For more fun if the PCs clear a location on the way down and then go back to town for a few days, have one of these encounters move into where they cleared so they need to clear it again. Lampshade it by having the new boss complain out loud that they just got there an already someone is jumping their claim.

Its a large place and not every room is currently in use. PCs can use a place to rest.

[Lhurgyof]

It's over rated. Now Expedition to the BArrier Peaks, on the other hand, if a forgotten classic.

Well, yeah. the 3.5 Tomb of horrors is hardly a comparison to the other editions'. I'd say learn AD&D, learn Dark Sun, and buy the Valley of Dust and Fire, probably the hardest published adventure out there, considering that characters can die in the prologue from the weather. xD

[The Big Dice]

Well, yeah. the 3.5 Tomb of horrors is hardly a comparison to the other editions'. I'd say learn AD&D, learn Dark Sun, and buy the Valley of Dust and Fire, probably the hardest published adventure out there, considering that characters can die in the prologue from the weather. xD

Sounds like the old Wilderness Survival Guide. Where just going out on a sunny day while wearing metal armour could literally kill a 1st level character before he even got near a dungeon.

And you don't even need to chase down old copies of AD&D these days. You could just go and download OSRIC or one of the many other retro clones. If your tastes run to the older schools of gaming.

[Lhurgyof]

Sounds like the old Wilderness Survival Guide. Where just going out on a sunny day while wearing metal armour could literally kill a 1st level character before he even got near a dungeon.

And you don't even need to chase down old copies of AD&D these days. You could just go and download OSRIC or one of the many other retro clones. If your tastes run to the older schools of gaming.

Oh, indeed. And if that's not bad enough, there's a river of lava, only passable by a gate that warns the level 20 psionicist/20 defiler/ 30th dragon that you used it, and the walls of the city are 1 mile thick.

And it goes downhill from there. xD

[The Big Dice]

Oh, indeed. And if that's not bad enough, there's a river of lava, only passable by a gate that warns the level 20 psionicist/20 defiler/ 30th dragon that you used it, and the walls of the city are 1 mile thick.

And it goes downhill from there. xD

I wonder if I can find a copy on ebay, this sounds like a great read.

[Tyndmyr]

Well, yeah. the 3.5 Tomb of horrors is hardly a comparison to the other editions'. I'd say learn AD&D, learn Dark Sun, and buy the Valley of Dust and Fire, probably the hardest published adventure out there, considering that characters can die in the prologue from the weather. xD

This sounds frigging awesome. I'm totally getting it.