Adventures you'd like to see

What are some adventures folks would like to see that's not really done well in the market place?

I would love a more fulsome treatment of the siege concept, ala The Siege of Kratys Freehold from Dungeon #33. Love that adventure because it is simple, easy to run, very "powder kegy" and memorable for all involved.
 

DangerousPuhson

Should be playing D&D instead
I have yet to be impressed by an underwater adventure even though the concept is ripe, so my vote is for one of those.
 
I have yet to be impressed by an underwater adventure even though the concept is ripe, so my vote is for one of those.
So very true...i recently played in an underwater hackfest, where the Sahuagin temple was like a normal temple on land, including doors, locks, stairs....why would swimming creatures need stairs? How does stuff stay on top of altars without floating away? WTF are they wearing platemail???
 

The1True

My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
I have yet to be impressed by an underwater adventure even though the concept is ripe, so my vote is for one of those.
I think the three dimenisonality of the medium makes it extremely difficult to write a scenario that players aren't going to immediately wreck.
 

Malrex

So ... slow work day? Every day?
I don't think I've ever seen a full on aerial adventure. Not high on a mountain, or a floating castle...I'm talking the characters have a mode of flying and go...
I got some underwater adventures coming. I stayed away from sahaugin. Basically a massive jellyfish emerges from the sea, beaching your ship...you got to enter it, underwater, and figure out how to deflate it to free your ship--while meeting strange creatures and monsters. Working on another that explores a atoll...and a bunch of underwater stuff in Vermilion.
 

DangerousPuhson

Should be playing D&D instead
I'd also like to see more planar adventures, specifically around the Elemental planes. I think that with such an alien environment, there's lots of room to witness how the denizens thrive while fully encased in stone or in constant free-fall (Earth and Air planes respectively).
 

Chainsaw

A FreshHell to Contend With
I got some underwater adventures coming. I stayed away from sahaugin. Basically a massive jellyfish emerges from the sea, beaching your ship...you got to enter it, underwater, and figure out how to deflate it to free your ship--while meeting strange creatures and monsters. Working on another that explores a atoll...and a bunch of underwater stuff in Vermilion.
I agree that underwater's under-appreciated. Pumped to see what you have cooking here.
 

Slick

*eyeroll*
I'd also be interested in some good underwater adventures, but I believe part of doing it effectively may be down to the rules governing underwater exploration/combat. I've seen it handled in the past by giving the PCs magic items that let them breath underwater and/or boots that let them move around as normal but that always seemed like a cop out, like why even bother making it underwater then? Just for the scenery I guess?
 

Chainsaw

A FreshHell to Contend With
I'd also be interested in some good underwater adventures, but I believe part of doing it effectively may be down to the rules governing underwater exploration/combat. I've seen it handled in the past by giving the PCs magic items that let them breath underwater and/or boots that let them move around as normal but that always seemed like a cop out, like why even bother making it underwater then? Just for the scenery I guess?
Change of scenery, but also lure of the rarely explored. As for the cop out, I don't think it's fun to "adventure" underwater if all of your abilities and powers are effectively nerfed. What's the point? You're not really adventuring anymore then. It becomes just another bad referee's cheap "bait and switch." I think the idea is that because of being higher level (using spells) or getting certain items (or both), the party can now access an exciting new area that may have really cool stuff - stuff most people can't reach. I would say, you have to let go of this opinion that making a remote/hazardous area accessible under certain conditions (magic spells or items) is somehow a cop out. /shrug
 
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Malrex

So ... slow work day? Every day?
I'd also be interested in some good underwater adventures, but I believe part of doing it effectively may be down to the rules governing underwater exploration/combat. I've seen it handled in the past by giving the PCs magic items that let them breath underwater and/or boots that let them move around as normal but that always seemed like a cop out, like why even bother making it underwater then? Just for the scenery I guess?
I totally understand your point, but if people can't breathe, they are going to bail on the adventure because they won't be able to go...so I'm going to side with Chainsaw on this one. There is exploration, but also a change in combat tactics....you got things able to come from all directions!

Since my adventure is for Levels 1-3, I "copped out" and added a component so that people could breathe, mainly because most wouldn't have access to underwater breathing magic. How many Level 1-3 underwater adventures are there? That change of scenery is huge!!!

But there is also that 'resource game' component that I think is important and can totally see Slick's point. In my adventure's case (levels 1-3), players SHOULD be rewarded by using a scroll of Underwater Breathing or other item if they have it and not get any negatives. There is a resource I added that players can use, but they get a -2 to attack rolls...it's not a total nerf, but its inconvenient. This conversation makes me think I should add a 5% chance (or 10%) per hour that it doesn't work or something, so that people will want that guaranteed spell--so it compliments the resource game....or allow some 'hero time' as another player can try to share...which may be troublesome during combat and add some stress and challenges......thanks guys! HAH!

Damn DP....making me think of some sort of free-fall adventure....that is intriguing. Like I said above, aerial adventures seem low...I don't even know how you would map that except by side profile.....
 

Beoric

8, 8, I forget what is for
Damn DP....making me think of some sort of free-fall adventure....that is intriguing. Like I said above, aerial adventures seem low...I don't even know how you would map that except by side profile.....
I've heard of placing a die beside each mini to indicate altitude. Maps often indicate the altitude of floating objects.

I have had a few encounters with a 3d component so I used my VTT to give each token an altitude bar.

EDIT: I personally would like to see an adventure set up for domain play. Not just with troop battles, but also with court intrigue, espionage, sabotage, etc.
 

Malrex

So ... slow work day? Every day?
I've heard of placing a die beside each mini to indicate altitude. Maps often indicate the altitude of floating objects.

I have had a few encounters with a 3d component so I used my VTT to give each token an altitude bar.

EDIT: I personally would like to see an adventure set up for domain play. Not just with troop battles, but also with court intrigue, espionage, sabotage, etc.
Domain play would be cool...we got a rough idea of a dwarven domain battle going on and a party has to sneak behind enemy lines, but we haven't developed it yet--and its more of an adventure, not leading troops. I think court intrigue, espionage and sabotage is interesting stuff, but has challenges developing. Dont want to be a railroad so would need some alternative stuff 'that happens'. And the 'helpful NPC' who backstabs has been done to death, so would need something fresh in my opinion. Maybe something with factions, but where your actions REALLY make a difference between factions...and the players are more all in because its domain play...
 

Beoric

8, 8, I forget what is for
I feel like you need to accomplish two things to make domain play work.
  1. A way to determine the outcome of activities undertaking by your proxies. Not only shouldn’t you try to do everything by yourself, but you shouldn’t be able to do everything by yourself. You can’t manage your estates if you are conquering your neighbor, and you can’t chase bandits if the king requires your presence at court.
  2. A way to do at least some things personally so the whole thing doesn’t just turn into a resource building strategy game resolved entirely by die rolls.
For the first, you obviously need to appoint proxies to handles things when you can’t. So you hire a steward to manage your estate, a spymaster to run your spy network, and a ship’s captain to run your merchant ships, etc.

How do you know if they succeed in the tasks you give them? If you have a skill system it is based on the proxy’s skill. If you don’t have a skill system, I dunno, maybe use something like the Assassin Spying table when the task is not opposed by someone with a level, and the Assassins Table for Assassinations table when there is an opponent. I supposed a character’s “skill” level could be separate from his combat level, so a steward might be a 7th level fighter, but he could be better or worse at managing the estate, or navigating court politics if the king arrives with his retinue while the PC is away.

For the second I’m thinking, first of all, that the PC is going to be better at many things than his subordinates, so he is going to want to take care of some things personally; and secondly, there are some obligations that are difficult to avoid. A summons from the king comes to mind, as does a marauding dragon. You could also have something like a hazard die roll each “domain turn”, along with a list of benefits and setbacks.

So the PC starts out with a plan for what he is going to do: go adventuring, make improvements to the castle, make improvements to his estate, build a spy network, hire expert hirelings (steward, guard captain, spymaster etc.), attack his neighbors, go to the capital and purchase merchant ships, build a network of domestic servants, etc. He then delegates what he can. DM figures out how many domain turns the delegated tasks are going to take, and the odds of success. DM figures out actions of opposing NPCs. DM determines success or failure, and consequences arising therefrom. DM rolls hazard die each domain turn to determine events that help or hinder the PC (maybe he rolls for each task, including tasks/events that are being overlooked or ignored). The order of steps might be varied, I haven’t worked it all out, but that would be the gist.

An adventure might start with a grant of land from the king in the borderlands, an outline of the resources in that parcel (amount of arable land, possible mining, timber), an outline of the neighboring fiefs and the lords’ agendas, personalities, what they want from the PC, and their general strategies for getting what they want. Also the king’s agenda etc. Maybe a bit of information about the capital and court. Tables of random events, and procedures as to how to use them. Probably a timeline of what the king and the neighboring lords do if the PC doesn’t do anything to screw it up.
 

The Heretic

Should be playing D&D instead
Domain play. *sigh* I think I've mostly given up on trying domain play. Mixing two of my favorite games (D&D and Civilization) together just doesn't seem to work.

Wait a sec, didn't we discuss this before in another thread? I'm getting old. I think I'm getting all you six-letter named people (Malrex, Beoric, Grutzi) confused!

(also I suppose Squeen is also six letter but Squeen is Squeen)
 

Beoric

8, 8, I forget what is for
I don't remember discussing it before in any detail.

It occurs to me that there is a third issue that needs to be resolved for domain play. There needs to be an answer to the question of why the PCs are doing this rather than adventuring, when if they are adventuring, they are gaining gold, XPs and magic. In a home campaign the players might be interested in doing it for its own sake, but if you are publishing an adventure there needs to be incentive for those players who weren’t already thinking about it on their own. This is the “why do the players care” issue that Bryce is always raising in his reviews.

There are already mechanics for getting gold from the PC’s estate. But its not clear how much gold, or whether gold from peasants is an appropriate way to gain XPs if the default for many games is going to be to sit there and collect rents without ever getting into domain play. Also, there is no replacement for the magic items you are not gaining. And there is no money, XPs or magic associated with other activities, like gaining influence at court, or building a spy network. I suppose you could assign cash Treasure Types to certain activities, but that still doesn’t solve the “gaining influence at court” issue of the lack of magic items issue.

So you end up with a default activity of increasing your rents, and no new magic items unless the wizard hits 15th level and is willing to risk his Con. Exciting!

Obviously this needs to be addressed. I know how to fix it in my 4e game because there is a concrete system for awarding experience for non-combat activities, and it is possible to make intangibles act like magic items (for instance, having a noble title or influence at Court might grant a bonus to Diplomacy checks or other social skill checks as though they were an item, and having a spy network or founding a school could give a bonus for certain knowledge checks). But I’m not really sure how to deal with the issue in an early edition game. Anyone have any ideas?
 

Two orcs

Officially better than you, according to PoN
ACKS core rules have:
Domains, handling income from different land values, how large your stronghold must be to control a certain realm, vassals to extend your control further (best handled by henchmen who will be more loyal), if you have a lord they might demand duties or give favors each month, investing in your domain to attract peasants or grow the urban settlement. Demi-human and chaotic domains functions slightly differently. Taxing the land gives you XP (up to your threshold, high level characters always need more, this means you can calculate the max level of a baron from how much land he owns).

Mages and clerics create magic items and research spells, investing in libraries and workshops and requiring monster parts or item samples to create items. This also gives XP. Clerics have congregations that generate divine power which can be used in item creation instead, the congregation grows when you and subordinate clerics cast healing spells as charity. Chaotic clerics may power their crafting with blood sacrifice. The mages build dungeons under their sanctums where monsters congeal that you then harvest for magic parts. High level casters may create construct, undead or crossbred creatures or transform themselves into undead.

Thieves found/take over syndicates and hideouts where hired thieves are sent on 'hijinks' which typically make the guild master money (and the thief xp) but 'spying' 'treasure hunting' etc. can be used to instead give information and treasure maps. Resolved with classic thief skills like Hiding in Shadows. Bad failures result in legal problems and there is a system for quickly resolving court cases to see what punishment the thief gets (also useful to turn on the PCs, one of my players was caught breaking into a bank and got away with a fine and a brand on his forehead instead of being killed on the spot).

Mercantile ventures, calculating demand for different wares in different cities. Any risky mercantile venture grants xp based on the profit.

There is a free(?) supplement with revised Domains rules simplifying some aspects that were tedious in the core rules (like paying upkeep on your Stronghold which is now assumed to be automatically done by your peasants).

AXIOMS (expanded rules) includes:
Abstract mercantile ventures and dungeoneering. I know one group who routinely send their henchmen on abstract dungeon delves they don't want to bother with themselves sometimes there is profit sometimes disaster. More detailed domain management with mines, random encounters for domains, running beastman domains (lower population densities and income, bigger population growth and more warriors per capita) slightly more indepth magic weapon creations.

Player's Companion includes:
Magic experimentation. Research overpowered spells or create overpowered creatures by putting your laboratory, sanity or life at risk. This is the justification for why Sleep is so powerful (using the spell building rules also included it counts as a 3rd level spell).

Domains at War (Campaigns):
Recruit armies from huge realms, do sieges, march your army around. Thief hijinks are important for scouting (infiltrate spies into enemy army) and sieges (open gates, destroy supplies).

Domains at War (Battles):
Create custom military units and fight on a battlemap with miniatures or tokens.
 

Two orcs

Officially better than you, according to PoN
ACKS XP-threshold sets up an economy where high level characters are encouraged to lead vast armies, create mighty artifacts or lead huge trading expeditions while lower level characters gain experience as subordinate commanders, assistant researchers, vassals or mooks in a thief guild. In a campaign setting I'm tinkering with I even zoomed in more than ACKS usually does and figured the knightly class (2nd level fighters) have micro domains where they are supported by 12 peasant families each.
 

squeen

8, 8, I forget what is for
At Two Orc's suggestion I got a copy of Domains at War (Campaigns/Battles). It is surprising good --- and I've put the wheels in motion for the PCs to play out a battle soon as field-commanders. (The cool part was eating up some of their gold by getting them to help pay for the war!). I'll let ya'll know how it goes.

It includes a system for (a) abstracted realm combat (Campaigns), and (b) player-controled blow-by-blow combat with units/commanders (Battles). This allows you the flexibility to go either way with the level-of-detail. But most helpful (for me) was seeing such a heavily thought-out system for army units and the cost of supporting them. Suddenly, in my home campaign (you knew I'd get there eventually), I could build up a sensible contingent of soldiers in the capital city and surrounding/supporting villages (vassels) that had some sort of in-game relevance.

The only ACKS Adventure I've ever seen a PDF of is the Sinister Stone of Sakkara. (warning: political left/right meltdown in the review comments, as per usual with ACKS stuff). It has both a dungeon/temple location and a military outpost. In the details of the outpost you see the elements of domain play supported. Byrce correctly pings it as overly-wordy, but I can easily image what it would be like trying to "take the stronghold", or similarly defend it. As someone who has a tendancy to fall in the simulationist camp, it does have an appeal. There's a real system to back up your design decisions.

@The Heretic: It's easy to keep the six-namers separate.
  • Boeric is the Black Unicorn because he plays a 4e mash-up.
  • Grutzi wins all the adventure writing contests because he likes to drawn with crayons
  • Malrex is the hyper-productive Mericless Merchant (hopped-up on 2e performance enhancing drugs)---he'll help you publish just about anything.
  • Slick has only 5 letters in his name. That's why he's the "quiet one".
Oh...and Two orcs has Two Names....so he's just plain "special".

Melan doesn't post much here any more...but he's really the Happy Hungarian a.k.a. Gabor Lux (also probably a made-up name), author of Castle X and Bryce's drinking buddy. He's got probably a hundred other published products to his credit and more important matters on his mind. He's also infamous for having once "danced" with DP (and, oddly, likes to disguise himself as an Ohio college student).

Prince of Nothing has so many letters in his name...he kinda scares me (his blog is insane), so it's probably best he doesn't post much either. Like all Dutch, he'd sell you to the Devil in a heartbeat for a few coppers and a pint of beer.

EOTB has a mind like a trap (and just knows stuff).

DP has both too many letters and too few. He never backs down from a fight, has a morbid fear of The OSR (particularly when played by people who work in Toll Booths), and also suffers from extreme Gerontophobia. He's friendly with Ogres---but only the kind that crash your party even though they weren't invited. (Also, he's sulking right now.)

And then there's Bryce Lynch (not his real name). He pays the bills and mostly ignores the vermin that have crawled into his Writing Studio. Every now and again he gets drunk and blasts bizarre late-80's New Wave at us and then passes out. Also, I think he might be writing a book (or sumthin'). He owns a Wondrous Machine that spits out reviews at an amazing rate of all the published D&D stuff you can imagine (and more!)---but it can't travel back in time before the year 1989, and it's spelling/grammar-checker was stolen by the dastardly Professor I-Don't-Give-A-F***.

Did I forget anyone?

Hope that helped.
 
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The Heretic

Should be playing D&D instead
I don't remember discussing it before in any detail.
Aha! Found it. I was discussing the Kingmaker adventure path with...<drum roll>...Grutzi!

Okay, so it wasn't you. ANYway it was a Paizo adventure path where you start your own nation, at level one.

3.x/Pathfinder solve the magic item conundrum by making item creation a set of feats, some of which can be taken at first level. OSR is not 3.x, of course.
 
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