Isle of Dread
- Thread starter Mage Hand
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The1True
8, 8, I forget what is for
Ripping off the old Adventure Path expansions from Dungeon Magazine might be a good start. I discovered them too late.
I've heard people complain about the aimlessness of it, but my players had a blast just filling in blank hexes on the map and in the process we kind of ended up writing the story together. They canoed across that huge lake in the south and I harassed them with a plesiosaur as they did, but the waters were crystal clear and I offhand mentioned what looked like a city in the depths. They kept talking about it, so I threw in some related hooks and items with the Kopru and they came back to it later. We did a big S3/Dwellers of the Forbidden City mashup. It was fun!
I've heard people complain about the aimlessness of it, but my players had a blast just filling in blank hexes on the map and in the process we kind of ended up writing the story together. They canoed across that huge lake in the south and I harassed them with a plesiosaur as they did, but the waters were crystal clear and I offhand mentioned what looked like a city in the depths. They kept talking about it, so I threw in some related hooks and items with the Kopru and they came back to it later. We did a big S3/Dwellers of the Forbidden City mashup. It was fun!
Beoric
8, 8, I forget what is for
Ok, you have to tell us what that looked like! (And I'm aware that we are three posts in and I've already taken us off topic. But then my opinions on Isle of Dread are verboten. Or maybe I should say verboden?)
Hey, why are your opinions verboden?
In any case, we played last night level 4: Paladin, Monk, Barbarian, Wizard, and Bard. I started them in one of the seven villages but made it 8 villages by including Jawala, the one ruled by the were shark. The villages had a big meeting including dinosaur races which I stole directly from Tomb of Annihilation. (Did you know that in TOA they don't acknowledge Isle of Dread as an inspiration? I don't know if you read these boards, Chris Perkins, but that isn't very nice; the two adventures are obviously closely related.) The dragon race was fun, but not that fun. I would suggest any DM rehearse it once before running it, and throw in some random crap Star Wars style.
The setting is interesting. This week they interceded in a feud between the wereshark in Jalawa and the matriarch of another village. Next week they will set off after "The Troll" who steals special treasures and kidnaps people and hides them in his vault. I put that on the Peninsula off to the East, where the gargoyles usually are, so they can play it without crossing the whole island.
OK. more later.
B
Yora
Should be playing D&D instead
My players just reached the Isle of Dread last week. I originally had planned to run the module more or less straight as it is with some expansion, but the campaign introduction before they got there didn't take up 3 or 4 sessions as I had planned, but 11. By this point, there has already been so much story happened and expectation evolved, that switching now to treasure hunting in a sandbox doesn't feel right anymore.
I started with Against the Cult of the Reptile God, with the villain being from the Isle of Dread and working with the pirates that are based there. And I had exactly the same idea to take Dwellers of the Forbidden City and put it on the Isle of Dread. I always felt Taboo Island really doesn't offer much that seems interesting, but it's the perfect location to place the Forbidden City.
The players are now for the yuan-ti masters of the Cult of the Reptile God, trying to rescue the villagers from Orlane that resisted getting charmed (and where taken by the pirates to the Isle of Dread instead of killed.)
I'm still trying to figure out what to do now exactly. I am thinking about not adding more content to the Isle of Dread, and simply use it as is, with the players trying to find the Forbidden City that is somewhere on the isle. I feel that's not quite what the module was written for, but at this point it seems the right way to go.
I started with Against the Cult of the Reptile God, with the villain being from the Isle of Dread and working with the pirates that are based there. And I had exactly the same idea to take Dwellers of the Forbidden City and put it on the Isle of Dread. I always felt Taboo Island really doesn't offer much that seems interesting, but it's the perfect location to place the Forbidden City.
The players are now for the yuan-ti masters of the Cult of the Reptile God, trying to rescue the villagers from Orlane that resisted getting charmed (and where taken by the pirates to the Isle of Dread instead of killed.)
I'm still trying to figure out what to do now exactly. I am thinking about not adding more content to the Isle of Dread, and simply use it as is, with the players trying to find the Forbidden City that is somewhere on the isle. I feel that's not quite what the module was written for, but at this point it seems the right way to go.
squeen
8, 8, I forget what is for
Hey Yora! Haven't heard for you in awhile.
Sounds like a nice start to your campaign. The Lost City on an island idea is grand. I also heartily recommend Chainsaw's Lost Treasure of Atlantis for a similar vib.
Sounds like a nice start to your campaign. The Lost City on an island idea is grand. I also heartily recommend Chainsaw's Lost Treasure of Atlantis for a similar vib.
DangerousPuhson
My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
I suspect Chris would end up tarred, feathered and run out of town on a rail if he showed up around these parts. I'm a fan of the 5e ruleset, but even I find his work just too generic and derivative.
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Derivative is putting it mildly, I think. But he doesn't seem to be the first one to rehash All the old stuff. You guys all have known this I'm sure. I'm just reading it all for the first time
DangerousPuhson
My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
You've helped me put my finger on exactly what bothers me about what I call the "Appendix N" approach of D&D design - jamming too many extant ideas into your head only causes you to expel variations of those same ideas, over and over, rather than to develop something truly original and unique.
DangerousPuhson
My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
See, to many people that sounds like a neat idea to tie things together thematically, and to do a sort of "walking tour" of classic modules.
To me, it sounds like the guy is incapable of creating any of his own materials, so much so that he even plugs the gaps in existing adventures with other existing adventures.
Maybe I'm just too cynical.
To me, it sounds like the guy is incapable of creating any of his own materials, so much so that he even plugs the gaps in existing adventures with other existing adventures.
Maybe I'm just too cynical.
DangerousPuhson
My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
And yet he's running his group through 4 concurrent adventures.
I get it - a lot of legwork as a DM is prep, and many just don't want to deal with that (which is a shame, really, since creation is what makes the DM role so special). All I'm saying is that I lament the loss of improvisation in the game; something that was once heavily evangelized by Gygax himself, but over time grew to be swallowed up by rehashing material from half a century ago, including appropriations of the works in Appendix N. The more I hang around these kinds of communities, the more I realize how rare good improv skills are among DMs.
EDIT: Yes, I'm aware of the irony of commenting about pre-made adventures as a crutch on a pre-made adventure design and review forum.
DangerousPuhson
My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
The term is basically synonymous. Expedition to the Barrier Peaks expects you to visit the space ship. Tomb of Horrors expects you to go to the Tomb. Yes, the approach can be different, and yes, they can be slotted into other adventures, but modules are basically self-contained adventures. That extra village/NPC/location stuff in there? Part of the adventure.
The fact that you can run a module in a complete vacuum, free from the influence of any other module or overarching campaign, pretty much defines modules as self-contained adventures. The fact that they can slot together or nest within each other doesn't somehow make modules "not adventures".
Beoric
8, 8, I forget what is for
My understanding from sites like Playing at the World, the occasional dive into Gygax' Q&As on various sites, and his writings in the 1e DMG, is that he never really improvised from nothing. He always had some ideas and jotted down some notes before sessions.
Not that you can really trust much that Gygax said about himself, or even about the game, as least until his later years when he seemed to realize what an ass he had been and gained some humility.
I would also agree with this. "Adventure" and "module are used as though they are synonymous, but I would argue that they shouldn't be. When they first started to be referred to as "modules" is was because they were supposed to be modular, and they were written with modularity in mind. I don't think this often applies to modern "adventures". For instance, a lot of the OSR adventures that Bryce likes are not modular and are difficult to drop into an existing campaign; these tend to be self-contained "adventures". I mean, I like Marlinko, but I have no idea how to incorporate it into my campaign. But T1 and B2 can be dropped into almost any campaign that uses magic and pre-20th century technology and are therefore more modular and should be called "modules".
I note that a lot of the TSR stuff that was less modular is also less popular. Lakofka's stuff, for instance, because it is strongly linked to his campaign world. Either version of Palace of the Silver Princess. The Desert of Desolation series.
DangerousPuhson
My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
"Shouldn't be" is very different from "how the world actually is".
The two terms are interchangeable for their purposes insofar as you wouldn't be confused if I said "I didn't like the story of The Hobbit" vs. "I didn't like The Hobbit book" - basically the same, even though not all books tell stories and not all stories are held in books. Same thing if I said "I didn't like The Temple of Elemental Evil module" vs. "I didn't like the Temple of Elemental Evil adventure" - I'm saying the same thing, you understand what I'm saying... there's no need to be all "WELL ACKSHULLY" about it to for the sake of pointless arguments over semantics.
Also regardless of Gary's stance, you can't deny the usefulness of improvisation in the DM's arsenal. A DM who can't improvise is like a data entry clerk who can't read - they can still technically do the job, but damned if it isn't going to be way harder for everyone involved, and an obvious bad fit.
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squeen
8, 8, I forget what is for
Beoric
8, 8, I forget what is for
I would argue that it is impossible to DM without some amount of improvisation, and even DMs who think they don't, do. I just don't think improvisation is a substitute for preparation, or good tools (think of them as "props"). Having something to work with doesn't just make improvisation easier, it also makes it richer.
Re: "adventure" and "module", I am suggesting that, at least for the purposes of this discussion, it is useful to give them different definitions. Because it is easier than defining some modules as "modular modules" and other modules as "non-modular modules". And I think the change in language corresponds to a change in attitude respecting what a module was supposed to do. I think modules came to be non-modular long before they were re-branded as "adventures".
The early, modular modules were designed to be tinkered with. And not in a "the adventure doesn't suck because a DM can always fix the designer's mistakes" kind of way. I mean they were designed to be easily modified so you can plug them into your campaign world. They were fertile ground for your imagination, not a cheap substitute for it. Which is why you can shove X1, I1, B4, and C1 together, have them work together, and still leave plenty of room for your own stuff.
DangerousPuhson
My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
I concur wholeheartedly.
This is a matter of semantics, pure and simple. The easiest, most obvious follow-up question to clear it all up: what do you define as an "adventure"?