DCC and AD&D

[beermotor]

When I get to University in September (anyone in the Boston area, let me know!), I am looking to run the T-A-GDQ path of supermodules. The only difference is that I will be using the HackMaster 4th Edition versions, and will be running it in the world of the Knights of the Dinner Table. I will probably start out using B1 "Quest for the Unknown" as a funnel, and then allow the characters to either proceed to the Little Keep or to the Temple of Existential Evil (a rare module, but somehow I have two copies!). Then they will go through Smackdon the Slavers (sic) and into Annihilate the Giants. After that, I will probably start blending Descent into the Netherdeep with the 3e module "City of the Spider Queen," and Melanee will start to figure prominently in the denouement.

One thing I am having trouble with predicting, however, is pacing. There are at least 50 monster encounters in Little Keep on the Borderland, which means 100 EP's if the Knights hit all of them (which they won't, but given wandering monster encounters and traps, 100 EP's would be a conservative estimate). When they are done with Little Keep, the players should be around Level 3. Slavers has about 80 fixed encounters, meaning another 160 EP's (again, a conservative estimate). Allowing for random bonus EP's, the Knights should be around level 5 when they go into Giants. Most Giants can one-shot a level 5 character, though...

I did something similar in an OD&D game I ran, which ended up converting to 3.5 by the time they made it to T1-4. I was getting annoyed with OD&D's lack of a skills system, and THAC0 also annoyed me. I started with B1 and then ran them through B3 and UK5(or 6? the mountain one), then L1 and L2, before moving on to T1-4. I think they made it to about level 4 or 5 or so before T1.

Oh I forgot, we started A1 but abandoned it and went to T1-4 because I loathed the linearity. I think somebody pointed that out above. The A series is pretty bad. But, frankly, T1-4/GDQ isn't much better.

I think we all have a certain amount of nostalgia for the old modules, but most of them are pretty primitive. I imagine that was probably by design, but at this stage of my life, I'm looking for something that's a little easier / higher quality to run right out of the gate. (In the end, I'll probably just code something from the ground up, of course.)

[Galadrin]

I've never run Slavers, but I often hear the complaint that it is too linear. I don't see it that way myself, but rather it seems like it was designed for an earlier adventuring aesthetic (especially the parts where the players lose their stuff).

Mike Monard is doing a tell-all on RPG.net right now, and he mentioned that Ernie Gygax's character was murdered by another player after he refused to sell a magic item. Ernie's response? "Hehe, I guess I should have sold it to him!" He was 14 at the time.

Players just expected "easy come, easy go" back then. Otherwise, the physical linearity is probably just meant to illustrate how campaign travel could be handled in a game. I think if you are flexible and well prepared, you can make it seem not static but lively and natural.

[Raven_Crowking]

Slavers is linear because it was designed for a tournament. It is easy enough to redraw the map to make it less so.

Also, allow A4 to be an alternate route into the slaver's city, rather than only where you get dumped if you are defeated at the end of A3. Then make the end of A3 open rather than scripted....you may win, you may lose.

RC

[RevTurkey]

I ran a catastrophe of the A1-4 supermodule years ago. One of the big complaints was the linear nature of things....and you fall down a pit....and you get captured etc etc...

Had a Halfling on a Pony end up in a tree somehow...weird. One thing I remember was after the group ended up on the slave ship, it sank with a great big hole in it (can't remember if this was in the adventure or not). Well, they got to shore with a potion of Polymorph somehow and turned into a dolphin or similar and swam to retrieve all their gear. Don't think this was meant to happen

[Galadrin]

Haha that is awesome, I think an octopus would work better than a dolphin though... lots of tentacles to grab the stuff!

[danbuter]

The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh is perfect for DCC.

[sheriffharry]

for finarvyn:



You must get it if only for the CD performance (mainly atmospheric sound effects and dialogue involving the extended d'Amberville family). The best bit being a "French" butler with a very "French" fake accent exclaiming a very un-French "Caramba!" at one point! We must have played that bit 100 times at the time we played that module! "Caramba!" is still a classic inside joke 15 years down the road around here.

"And you, chère mère, it’s not safe to let you wander about anymore. I’ll find you some truly suitable companions. Some muscular matrons from out back to keep you out of trouble, perhaps. You’ll thank me in the…u'est-ce que c'est? what’s this? Caramba!"

[Vandendanderclanden]

I cannot recommend Caverns of Thracia highly enough. It is so perfectly suited to DCC. I'm pretty sure this is the best module ever published.

(excepting of course the fine offerings of our colleagues at Goodman. Thank you fellers for understanding what a DM actually requires to run a completely Rad session).

[finarvyn]

for finarvyn:

You must get it if only for the CD performance (mainly atmospheric sound effects and dialogue involving the extended d'Amberville family). The best bit being a "French" butler with a very "French" fake accent exclaiming a very un-French "Caramba!" at one point! We must have played that bit 100 times at the time we played that module! "Caramba!" is still a classic inside joke 15 years down the road around here.

Sounds like a blast, and I can't believe that I missed it. In general I avoided the sets with CDs to do with them because it seemed like kind of a cheezy gimick.

Is this a re-do of the original module or a total sequal?

[TheNobleDrake]

While they are definitely cheesy, the D&D products out there with audio CDs (especially First Quest) are mostly the good kind of cheesy.

You put in the disk, you listen, you have a bit of a laugh - but you still play a really great game of D&D... or at least one that was good enough to leave me nostalgia-blind to any major flaws that it had.

[sheriffharry]

I agree 100%, the CD were fun and a mood-changing experience.

As for Mark of Amber it is a full-blown sequel, set some 20 years in the future.
A complicated whodunit involving literally dozens of Amberville from 4 generations!
There is also a dream sequence where the party revisit some part of the original X2 module.

It is great fun to READ.
As for playing it... the thief in our group did most of the investigation by snooping around during the night in one-on-one sessions with the DM, so it wasn't exactly thrilling for me. But every group plays differently and it might do well with a Call of Cthulhu/detective work inclined party.
The maps are exceptional, a giant poster with a parchment look that adds a second level to the Castle.