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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Titan in the Playground
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    Feb 2011

    Default Best Module You’ve Played Through?

    So, what modules have led to standout gaming experiences for you? And what modules would you want to play and/or run?

    For the sheer enjoyment of diving back into D&D after a long absence, I had a blast with Forge of Fury. A classic and a ton of fun. More recently I played partway through Rise of the Runelords with a great GM, and that led to some intense combat and excellent RP.

    As for modules I’d like to run, both Ironfang Invasion and Ruins of Azlant look interesting and imaginative, and I especially like the lost continent/drowned world vibe of Azlant. I’ve borrowed elements of both for my current campaign, but they seem like they’d be a lot of fun on their own.

    So, what are the best modules and/or APs that you’ve gone through? And what would you love to run for your group if you had the chance?

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    DwarfClericGuy

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    Default Re: Best Module You’ve Played Through?

    Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh has been one of my favorite modules for over 30 years.

    It's a rockin' Scooby Doo mystery - haunted house and all!
    Last edited by Democratus; 2020-09-08 at 01:10 PM.

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Orc in the Playground
     
    Dr paradox's Avatar

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    Default Re: Best Module You’ve Played Through?

    I'm a perpetual DM, so I don't have much to choose from. Small segments of Lost Mine of Phandelver and Dragon Heist as a player, and with some Dungeon Crawl Classics as a DM. Of all of those, I think I enjoyed Lost Mines best for the limited time I had with it, though I suspect my DM made serious alterations.

    As far as what I'd like to play, I'd really like to play Sunless Citadel or Red Hand of Doom. Nothing startlingly original, as I understand them, just really high quality takes on classic D&D staples. As an infrequent player I'd be into that.
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    Troll in the Playground
     
    Lvl 2 Expert's Avatar

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    Default Re: Best Module You’ve Played Through?

    I'm currently in Curse of Strahd (5e). It has a reputation for being a darker module with lots of bad stuff, for containing uncomfortable stereotypes and for despite this being overall a very good module. I'd say all three of those reputations are well deserved. (And apparently that second one got better in the very latest version of the book.)
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  5. - Top - End - #5
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Pex's Avatar

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    Default Re: Best Module You’ve Played Through?

    Of recent work:

    Most fun: Dragonheist of Waterdeep. I give credit to the DM here. He added fantastic atmosphere, more than the module provided.

    Easiest: The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan (5E adaptation). Once I learned the trick that most traps were greed traps early in the adventure the whole thing was a piece of cake. The doppelganger was annoying, but it was overall easy.
    Quote Originally Posted by OvisCaedo View Post
    Rules existing are a dire threat to the divine power of the DM.

  6. - Top - End - #6
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Friv's Avatar

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    Default Re: Best Module You’ve Played Through?

    The Glass-Maker's Dragon, the primary campaign book for Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine, is gorgeous, enthralling, and most importantly serves as a really good primer on how the author expects the game as a whole to run. I found that it really helped my groups get a handle on a game system that is quite orthogonal to how most RPGs play.

    Also you can turn into a giant snake, but it never helps.
    Last edited by Friv; 2020-09-09 at 11:49 PM.

  7. - Top - End - #7
    Firbolg in the Playground
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    Default Re: Best Module You’ve Played Through?

    I don't know that I've seen any truly great modules.

    I think that the one I enjoyed playing through the most was… Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, IIRC. But that was because I enjoyed having my BDH party wade through it like the threats were human, while dropping innuendo like it was human. I enjoyed most everything they did, both homebrew and module. So I can only say that they module didn't get in the way of them having fun.

    The one I most enjoyed running… was likely simply because I had planned to be a player, and, when the original GM bailed & I took over running the module, I saw that the quest-giver would kick my (now DM)PC out, and, running it honest, had exactly that happen. Also, had a scene where i had the defective NPCs stress that it was the least they could do, and the party thoroughly agreed with them.

    The one I'd most like to play in / most look forward to? Probably some classic module, like Red Hand of Doom, or… something on something hill (or something?) Keep on the Borderlands? Maybe even Tomb of Horrors.

    Module I'm most looking forward to running? Would you believe… the worst module I've ever read? I'm just waiting for the PCs to be high enough to meet the prerequisites.
    Last edited by Quertus; 2020-09-12 at 07:31 AM.

  8. - Top - End - #8
    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: Best Module You’ve Played Through?

    That definitely is a hard question.

    For the best sandbox-style D&D campaign, I threw together a lot of stuff by Necromancer Games:
    - Vault of Larin Karr
    - Grey Citadel
    - The Wizards Amulet/Crucible of Freya

  9. - Top - End - #9
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Telok's Avatar

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    Default Re: Best Module You’ve Played Through?

    B2, about 30 years ago. But that could have been the group/DM. We set factions against each other, diverted a stream to flood one of the caves, set a forest fire when an entire tribe chased us.

    It could be nostalgia, or just that most DMs I've run with don't do modules.

  10. - Top - End - #10
    Librarian in the Playground Moderator
     
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    Default Re: Best Module You’ve Played Through?

    My favorite is a mash-up of B2: Keep on the Borderlands and T1: Village of Hommlet. B2 makes a good intro to T1, since T1 ramps up in power pretty quickly for 1st level characters, while B2 can be a lot more of a long seige against the Caves of Chaos.

    Best I've played in? Some of the Fourthcore stuff, like Fane of the Heresiarch. Fourth edition is very fun and playable, IME, if you don't have to go through character creation, and can just sit down and play a scenario. The combination of a time limit and other aspects made the game hella fun to play, and really took advantage of 4e's strengths.
    The Cranky Gamer
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  11. - Top - End - #11
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Yora's Avatar

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    Default Re: Best Module You’ve Played Through?

    The best experience with a module of any kind was running Against the Cult of the Reptile God earlier this year. Still not really sold on the dungeon that makes up the second half, but it has genuinely decent playable content that isn't just following a script or a string of combat encounters.
    We are not standing on the shoulders of giants, but on very tall tower of other dwarves.

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  12. - Top - End - #12
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    GreataxeFighterGuy

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    Default Re: Best Module You’ve Played Through?

    "Caverns of Thracia" has an absolutely cracking map, with various entrances, interconnecting paths/rooms, secrets, rumours, and tons of content that can be missed, lending excellent variety.
    Even if you prefer a more elaborate scenario, the layout and key are worth taking pages from.
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  13. - Top - End - #13
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Imbalance's Avatar

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    Default Re: Best Module You’ve Played Through?

    As far as I know, I've only ever been guided through one published module in the short time I've been playing. The DM got it from one of those subscription boxes, and tucked it in as a one shot/sidequest for us to grind and level up while he re-plotted his homebrew campaign after we broke it by killing his bbeg too soon, or something. Anyway, I don't remember the name of the module, but it was a nautical theme...and we broke it, too...somehow. It was good, I guess? I dunno, I had fun.

    Lost Mines is the only one I've run so far, so...it was good, I guess? All of my players are new, so no real help in judging it from them. They all claim to be enjoying it, though the main plot is over and I'm mostly homebrewing Faerun adventures at this point until they pick a hook to follow.

    I feel like I would enjoy running or playing Storm King's Thunder, as I've read through the plot points a few times and like the story. I also like the replayable sandbox it presents. The hard part is finding cheap figures for the table.

  14. - Top - End - #14
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    RedWizardGuy

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    Default Re: Best Module You’ve Played Through?

    The first three parts of the WFRP 'Enemy Within' campaign are all excellent, but if I had to choose the best, I would say 'Power Behind the Throne'; I have yet to see a political adventure fleshed out as comprehensively.

  15. - Top - End - #15
    Firbolg in the Playground
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    Default Re: Best Module You’ve Played Through?

    The oldschool module I'd love to play through is "Keep on the Borderlands". It's the one I've heard the most praise for.

  16. - Top - End - #16
    Ogre in the Playground
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    Default Re: Best Module You’ve Played Through?

    It's been a long time since I've played through a module, so I can't really give recommendations from a player's perspective.

    On the other hand, as a convention GM, I have a lot of experience in playtesting and running modules for varied groups.

    Of these, my personal favorite would be Death Love Doom, for Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

    1) It's a single, well-defined location with a nice clean map.

    2) It presents a number of easily grasped motivations for why you'd visit the location. (You're going to rob the place, or stop it from being robbed, or just going to check everyone is okay...)

    3) It works fine as a one-shot but would be easy to slot into a long-running campaign (you only need an established port town and a trading company) and offers a few nice hooks that you could use to start off a campaign.

    4) It has memorable monsters and persona dramae that elicit strong emotional reactions from new and old players alike, fueling player actions. (This is one of few adventures where I basically never see severe decision paralysis in players.)

    5) Because of 4), players are more than happy to play through it more than once with minimal inclusion of just one new player. (They want to see the look on their friend's face. )

    6) The location is very open to different angles of approach, giving it variety through multiple runs whether you're a player or a GM.

    7) It has a very nice plot and backstory, but the players don't have to play through that or even find out the full details for the adventure to be efficient.

    8) Because of 4), the players don't need to see everything in the adventure for it to have been worth it.

    9) the subject matter is such that as a GM, you are unlikely to have thought up anything like that by yourself.

    10) the author's notes are comedy gold and you will get a nice laugh out of them with your players when you read them after playing the module.

    So what's the catch? It's a haunted house scenario with extreme gore and body horror and baby murder. The normal reactions upon reading through it are "Why would anyone run this to other people?" (My initial reaction) and "Who sick f*** would come up with something like this?" (my friends' initial reaction). So to run it, you need a certain amount of guts and faith in other people not burning you at the stake.
    Last edited by Vahnavoi; 2020-09-13 at 05:21 AM.

  17. - Top - End - #17
    Banned
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    Default Re: Best Module You’ve Played Through?

    I liked The Grand Conjunction trilogy. I mean, I really liked it. It certainly has it's problems - an unwinnable fight right at the start being a primary one - but the story is excellent, and I truly hate Strahd and Azalin to this day. I'd go back right this instant to kill of the both of them if I could.

    It may be that it was all the GM. I never read modules, so he may have done a lot with a little, I couldn't say.

  18. - Top - End - #18
    Troll in the Playground
     
    ElfRangerGuy

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    Default Re: Best Module You’ve Played Through?

    Quote Originally Posted by Glorthindel View Post
    The first three parts of the WFRP 'Enemy Within' campaign are all excellent, but if I had to choose the best, I would say 'Power Behind the Throne'; I have yet to see a political adventure fleshed out as comprehensively.
    I can totally agree with that. First edition Warhammer wasn't the best system, but it was still some of the most fun we had and we still talk about that campaign, although it's been almost 10 years since we played it.
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  19. - Top - End - #19
    Librarian in the Playground Moderator
     
    LibraryOgre's Avatar

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    Default Re: Best Module You’ve Played Through?

    Most involved I've seen a group get involved with a module was with the first book of The Night Below. A friend who has run it multiple times says the game always dies in book 2.
    The Cranky Gamer
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