DMs: Modules or No?

[DM of Doom]

This kind of started in another thread, but I\'d like to see some nifty stats and charts go with it. (What can I say, I\'m a DM?)

If for some reason you aren\'t sure what I mean, modules are pre-made adventures, with maps, stats, etc. all ready to go for playtime.

So, when it comes to game time, modules or no?

 

[Naukhel]

Personally, I stopped running modules a good, long time ago.
The people I play with often go outside of the boundaries described in the module texts, and I end up making it up as I go along until I can steer them back toward the module\'s goal again.

These days, I might pull one out to throw at a party more for nostalgia than for any need to use one.

 

[Usideann]

modules BLeahhhhh

Really? Ok I dont see the need for modules... Maybe it is because our group thrives on itself and character development... It is not uncommon for my group to spend the night roleplaying the campfire because the halfling got board and put those \"funny mushrooms\" in the stew... :bouncy::flip::flip:

If I do use a module its more of bits and peices to give me new ideas for my story but on the whole I come up with a story and a reason for the characters to be doing what they are doing...

I feel modules are for the occasional gamer that has no immagination to make his world real enough to players to explore on thier own...

 

[Mick]

I think its always interesting reading them even if you dont play them it can inspire other ideas..like dungeon magazine they have linked scenarious over several magazines..for Goodman Games to have done so many over the past couple years they must sell well..I think they have done nearly 30 in 4 years..

 

[Mick]

myself i would rather be playing the Temple of Elemental Evil then freeform chaos roleplaying when everything happens by chance and drugs are introduced to make it fun..can you say monty haul

 

[Zora]

My last campaign used 3 modules as the core part of the creation of the overall game. Didn\'t stick too closely to them, as there are always several problems with modules.

This campaign there are none for the basis, so it should get interesting.

 

[NerdyOgre254]

I don\'t have the money to buy modules - and then my group would probably make any purchase of it pointless. i find that (even when i just flick through them) that they can provide some interesting material which you can use in your games.

 

[Onis Lair]

In home games i almost never use a mod, only notes that i have taken from past games, ideas i have and the like. However i do use mods all the time as the Living Arcanis and Living Grayhawk campaigns are mod only campaigns.

 

[uberdark]

we are doing the living greyhawk right now and i am doing a mod for the seven rods or something like that.

its pretty cool but i am just a player. i have never done a mod and always make my own. its more fun that way.

 

[Gilvan Blight]

Times are a changing.

Years ago when I first started playing no one used modules, they were evil for uninventive DMs.

About mid gaming life, modules became the start of a campiagn and the ocasional distraction. You would start off things with a module to give you direction and a basis and then go off on your own from there. Evey now and then you would hear about some new module and how good, or hard it was and work it into your campaign.

Lately it\'s been run a ton of modules and try to write some story that goes between them and links them so taht it forms a campaign.

For my upcoming campaign I plan on getting rid of even that work, by just running modules with an episodal feel \"This week we find our heroes...\"

The reason for this change, age and real life responsibilities.

Back when I started DMing I was in gradeschool. Besides a bit of homework I had nothing but time.

My mid gaming life, I was in University or at my early Jobs. Short work weeks, part time jobs, still quite a bit of time to do some planning.

My more recent gaming life: I work over 40 hours a week, have a house and home to upkeep and other real life obligations. It\'s rare we have time to play let alone a lot of prep time.

My upcoming campaign is going to start with my Wife Very pregnant (hopefully we will get it stated before teh new player arrives). I expect to have no prep time. Having a chance to read a module while at work, is the most I can expect.

So my old answer would have been \"Never, Modules are for Loosers!\" My new answer would be \"Definately, modules are for people with too much reality infinging on their fantasy\"

 

[lizcam]

No, No, NO, NO. And did I say No?

When my group plays it\'s about the eb and flow of a story never told before. It\'s nice to hack a monster to bits but there\'s more to life than that. Plus half the fun of DM\'ing is drawing the maps, working out the monsters, planning the excrusiating pain the party members will be in. Moduals seem like cheating. I\'d rather not play them and just paint.

 

[Bill]

???

Nodules!

 

[Eryops]

Originally posted by Gilvan Blight
My more recent gaming life: I work over 40 hours a week, have a house and home to upkeep and other real life obligations. It\'s rare we have time to play let alone a lot of prep time.

I\'m finding that my gaming is following suit. It\'s not a bad thing, and for me, it\'s who I play with, rather than 100% original content. I had a WFRP campaign fold within a few weeks of starting as the GM couldn\'t find the time to prep the way he felt he needed to. I wouldn\'t have cared less if he had pulled out a few mods and said, \"We\'re going to start in on these.\" It\'s always been the people who have made the game, not the story.

 

[pez5767]

I totally agree with Gilvan Blight.

However, there is one key element that i feel has not been addressed in this discussion. Are we talking D&D 3.5? The reason i ask is this... IMHO the new versions of D&D exist as a means of hack and slash meat grinder type of play. The amount of Role-playing as opposed to Roll-playing that you can do with the current set up is so amazingly limited by the design and mechanics of the game that it\'s hard to see how much \'eb and flow\' of a game you can have without getting down to \'hack and slash\' at some point.

I\'m not saying that imagination can\'t fill in the gaps a little, i\'m simply pointing out that the characters are built in D&D as monster killing machines and little else (possible exception of the rogue and bard). The mechanics of the D&D system drive toward combat, combat, combat. Role-playing type feats are viewed as a waste by most players i\'ve encountered. As further evidence how much of the DMG is devoted to deeper player character development and story telling, as opposed to mathmatical calculations, and monster/player killing mechanics?

If you are playing a system other than D&D (D20) that lends itseld to more of a balance of Role-playing vs. Roll-playing, then there is no need for modules, as the exploration of the characters that have been created is a significant purpose of the game. However, if you are playing D&D 3.5 then why NOT use a module? The point of the game is hack and slash. At least with a module you know it\'s balanced, you can push the monsters as hard as they can go at the party, and the players know they are in for some combat and can plan accordingly. It\'s D&D at it\'s best (sad but true).

I\'ve run for many years (18+), i now exclussivly run modules for D&D because i choose not to reinvent the wheel. I can spend my limited hours drawing up maps, scrutinizing over the appropriatness of the Encounter Level of 2 Ogres vs. a Minotaur for my players current quest. Or i can grab a module and get right down to the business of providing my players with the maximum challenge that the module allows, with the comfort of knowing that the module (story arc) is complete and my players know they are in for a reasonably fair fight.

Bottom line, anymore D&D need modules as much as it need miniatures. The game is masterfully about hack, slash, and treasure grab. Asking it (D&D) to do anything else is unfair to the players and to the system.

D&D D20 Modules... YES!
Other systems... maybe?

 

[airhead]

Originally posted by Eryops

Originally posted by Gilvan Blight
My more recent gaming life: I work over 40 hours a week, have a house and home to upkeep and other real life obligations. It\'s rare we have time to play let alone a lot of prep time.

I\'m finding that my gaming is following suit. It\'s not a bad thing, and for me, it\'s who I play with, rather than 100% original content. I had a WFRP campaign fold within a few weeks of starting as the GM couldn\'t find the time to prep the way he felt he needed to. I wouldn\'t have cared less if he had pulled out a few mods and said, \"We\'re going to start in on these.\" It\'s always been the people who have made the game, not the story.

Ditto:

I can take a module, pull out a few things, add a few things and make it fit my campaign now. I find this much easier than \"from scratch\" like I used to do sooo much of.

Dang real life. Who says we have to own a home, have a job and all that crap anyway? Can\'t we all just live in caves and play D&D?

 

[DM of Doom]

Originally posted by airhead
Dang real life. Who says we have to own a home, have a job and all that crap anyway? Can\'t we all just live in caves and play D&D?

That\'s what I\'m talking about!lollol

 

[False Keraptis]

Definitely modules! Of the top 5 campaigns I\'ve ever been a part of (as a player or DM), 4 were from modules. In my experience, even with a module players will do the unexpected, and there\'s plenty of room for roleplaying and freeform stuff as well. A well written, well balanced adventure can make a huge difference. For D&D, I\'d highly recommend the old 3.0 Sunless Citadel, Forge of Fury, and Monte Cook\'s fantastic Banewarrens.

 

[Shadzar]

OTHER:

both for and against modules use.

for prolonged games they are worthless to build an entire campaign around. for one-shots they are all you need. you don\'t want to build a world around one, and odds are they already have a world built for them. FR, Greyhawk, DragonLance, etc.

for a homebrew world it may be that players want a break fromt he \"scheduled\" story line, or have caught up to or past thepoint they thought you would be for the session. this means a module can come in handy to be inserted into the campaign to give them something to do to divert them from the main story, or to fill in where they nashed through your creation at break neck speeds.

not that all module games are not bad, but they are not lasting unless you have less than frequent game sessions. then they are helpful to remember where everyone was the last time.

but i find people prefer to break a long campaign sometimes where they feel they aren\'t getting anywhere or just to break the monotony with a jaunt through a module. either with the same characters or with totally new characters for the duration of the module.

you are also sometimes tied to the module with some things that people amy expect if they have heard of it, and odds are they may have already played it before. so the free flow of ideas for a DM can be halted in those instances.

they are perfect for teaching new players as most times that is why they are created. it gives new players somewhere that they can be on even footing with older players and not have to worry about \"overcomplicated\" encounters or complex puzzles.

this also goes for aspiring DMs. the present the material that a veteran DM can run and the new DM watch and see how things work, and the new DM can take a shot at running the module and see how well he compares with the ideas given by the first DM. changing what he needs, and getting help where he finds things difficult.

they are great play aids for all, but not the way to always run games.

 

[provoke me]

NEVER!

never! its just more satisfying when you create everything yourself. plus the players im my group are alot like Usideann\'s. they seem to like the stories and development of characters much more.
for maps, i just go into photoshop and draw up a quick thing. some parts ill grid and print it at kinkos nice large for the action filled parts.