I adapt my old modules into new games. Some modules take to it better than others. Generally, the more dense or restrictive the plot, the less compatible it tends to be. My greatest hits list for adapting to almost any non-OSR, D&D-based TTRPG: Barrowmaze B2: Keep on the Borderlands N2: Against the Cult of the Reptile God L1: The Secret of Bone Hill Stonehell Dungeon T1: Village of Hommlet BF1: Morgansfort
Great list. We got a lot of play out of Keep on the Borderlands, Bone Hill and Against the Cult. Easy to add on adventures inside these. Plenty of play. We often end up at the Caverns of Thracia or Forbidden City or a beefed up Lost City or the desert of desolation or Tegel manor depending on what they like and where they go.
Great list. We always got a ton of play out of Bone hill, Keep on the Borderlands, Against the Cult. Also got a ton of play from Isle of Dread, Tegel Manor, Salt Marsh, Caverns of Thracia. Always great to have something to build on.
I'm very much and old school dm. The older I get, the more I find it difficult to get my players together what with life in general getting in ones way. Picking up an old school module has been my go to choice in these later years. I keep my games short like a one or two night session. Get in, get out for a few hours of fun. I think of it like bread crumbs of fun. Leave them wanting more. Using old modules with your own spin is an easy way to play without re-inventing the wheel so to speak. I find campaigns is a huge ask of commitment for players where as a short but memorable old school adventure can be much more fun.
It reads a bit sad, but I bet you have a great time and in the end that's what matters most. Live gets in the way - I hope I can make it work as long as you do (assuming you are actually as old as you sounds).
@@joze838 I was a teen when keep on the borderlands was brand new. I've used that with the village of homlet not far from the keep as a starting point of some great adventures.
Well of course I know him, he's me. Got into AD&D 1st ed in the past few years, and lately I'm running a large campaign for two separate parties (same employer paying them to scout and map a massive frontier) that are hitting and going through these old modules as well as some other little dungeons and interesting old adventures tucked away in half-forgotten books like Dark Folk (1983). We have knocked over Silver Princess, Horror on the Hill, finishing up In Search of the Unknown, they got through and escaped but didn't finish The Whispering Trees. Actually keen to keep doing this for the next five years. Some of the best time dming I've had.
@@LokisLair yeah, I went the old Wells version with the sensitive art that got cut. The party did not save the Princess or raise her, they stole her palace though (great base)... 😅
Those early modules for B/X and AD&D are fantastic. And they're meant to be adaptable aka *modular* to whatever world you're in, or even if it's just a one-off. Plus, they're flexible & open for however pc's approach them. I never really got to play them because the group I started with had been thru them, but as a consequence I got to read them, and I was fascinated at how they were mostly so well-constructed. Running them for new players is a great idea, and I would encourage going to the originals rather than relying on any version updated for whatever edition, or at least looking at the originals before using any later adaptation. imo, it should be relatively easy to adapt them yourself to whatever game you want.
Against the Giants is a great module that can be picked apart to fit any campaign, basically just layouts and npc's for 3 different giant fortresses. One of my favourites is "The Lost Tomb of Kruk-Ma Kali" by Kenzer&co, i've run it in three different game systems
I like the idea of running a point crawl wilderness rather than sandbox. We get 2.5 hours a week to game. So not a huge amount of time, so want to make the time count. So am thinking of making a point crawl between these adventures sites (classic modules) and run an encounter between them (depending on distance and path type)
Adventure Paths saved our game. Our biggest complaint was that sandbox games died a slow death around level 7-8 when the DM would get burnt out. Someone else would start up a game and it would happen all over again. We never got to play high level characters or 'finish' a game. While fun, they felt like pointless wandering that never made a difference. I love the published modules because they give us clear goals to achieve. The Pathfinder Adventure Paths (and 5e stuff) gave us content to high level, and I think that helps a lot with DM burnout. Having goals and consequences is not railroading. True player agency is found when brainstorming up ideas on how to overcome a challenge.
I managed to reinvigorate my open table OSE game by running a module I've wanted to actually get to the table for twenty years ─ so we're just off to the Temple of All Consumption!
Modules are great can be a great way to add to your own game or build your own game from even more so if you dont have time to come up with some stuff for a couple of weeks can also easily add some of your own stuff to them as well.
Horror on the Hill is meaty, any group could be chased by stirges and away from the goal. The party was pretty adept at going around the map to get to the monastery and dungeon quite quickly. This party is strange like that. As a dm, you can always nudge them to focus on finding the monastery, use tracks, and all that. The ogres, neanderthals, and witches can help lead them up. For a party that aren't great looters, they probably need to steal more things and have the hunger to loot and level. 1 gp - 1 xp
@@LokisLair remember the neanderthals have been captured by the ogres, so tracks of barefoot humans leading them to the neanderthal camp, and them leading the pcs to the monastery after a bit of rp. Gives an opportunity to fight alongside the neanderthals for a bit on the way there. My party has a pretty heavy neanderthal bias though. :D
@@The_Custos The Neanderthals in my game have turned out to be pretty aggressive towards the party. Weirdly enough they've been working better with the Hobgoblins; I created a few different tribes and the smaller tribe wants to take out the bigger tribe that is based out of the monastery. Any thoughts?
I like this idea, and I am currently doing this for our group as a break away from our other GM's main campaign. Started off with one module to get them working together and then present a choice between two more as they near the end, rinse and repeat. This video was nice though, as I kind of ran out of steam to run the next module, but now I am thinking more on how I can just twist what is there for my own purposes and add more homebrew to get myself excited!!
I'd like to hear more about what you're running. I haven't run any classic modules yet. Discovered OSE last year and LOVE it and have run lots of OSE modules, just nothing classic yet. They hold up alright? I have the b1 to b9 adventure begins book..!
Classic Modules are just the best. I'm running "Horror on the Hill" for my Sunday Group and "The Lost City" for my Thursday group. I'm not changing too much, apart from making some of the "big encounters" more interesting. I'm pretty sure they convert well to OSE and suit that style of game. If you have any questions about what I'm running, let me know.
Inclined to agree on milestone levelling. I'm working on a pseudo-milestone levelling system for level 10+ which involves collecting and consuming Legendary items. I'm mostly bothered by Milestone levelling because it means the story needs to follow a bolted-down set of 'gates' which usually correlate with however the DM wants to story to unfurl. While I'm DMing my game, I'm not the storyteller; who am I to dictate when and why the party levels up? Also, I'm a fairly new DM, so I really appreciate having 'point crawl' added to my vocabulary. That's exactly how I run; there are half a dozen bolted-down locations that the party know about, there are half a dozen that they need to follow leads for, and there are a few that are floating/random encounters. Point crawls are also great for time management. You take a long rest? Maybe enemies from Point A have attacked and captured Point B, and driven out the defenders to Point C.
Not a big fan of modules, but... having said that, I have certainly looted freely almost all the old TSR, as well as Judge's Guild modules for clever ideas, monsters, unique items. They are a master class in the early style of adventure. You are preaching to the choir here my friend. Keep doing you.
Modules and adventures in general should be simple. A group of active players will bring their own drama and emotional content. People who complain about simple adventure modules also complain that players are always ruining their game and going off script and so on. Because good players bring all that themselves, and a dense adventure on top of that is too much. Less is more. But it must still be enough. Ask any artist in any medium.
Been DMing for 48 years. I ran my share of modules in the early days. Today I prefer running my own content. I find newer modules to be poorly constructed/organized.
My favorite adventure of all time is The Lost City. Moldvay was absolutely brilliant!
I adapt my old modules into new games. Some modules take to it better than others. Generally, the more dense or restrictive the plot, the less compatible it tends to be. My greatest hits list for adapting to almost any non-OSR, D&D-based TTRPG:
Barrowmaze
B2: Keep on the Borderlands
N2: Against the Cult of the Reptile God
L1: The Secret of Bone Hill
Stonehell Dungeon
T1: Village of Hommlet
BF1: Morgansfort
Great list. We got a lot of play out of Keep on the Borderlands, Bone Hill and Against the Cult.
Easy to add on adventures inside these. Plenty of play.
We often end up at the Caverns of Thracia or Forbidden City or a beefed up Lost City or the desert of desolation or Tegel manor depending on what they like and where they go.
Great list. We always got a ton of play out of Bone hill, Keep on the Borderlands, Against the Cult. Also got a ton of play from Isle of Dread, Tegel Manor, Salt Marsh, Caverns of Thracia. Always great to have something to build on.
Horror on the Hill is fun. Love building on to existing adventures.
I'm very much and old school dm. The older I get, the more I find it difficult to get my players together what with life in general getting in ones way. Picking up an old school module has been my go to choice in these later years. I keep my games short like a one or two night session. Get in, get out for a few hours of fun. I think of it like bread crumbs of fun. Leave them wanting more. Using old modules with your own spin is an easy way to play without re-inventing the wheel so to speak. I find campaigns is a huge ask of commitment for players where as a short but memorable old school adventure can be much more fun.
It reads a bit sad, but I bet you have a great time and in the end that's what matters most. Live gets in the way - I hope I can make it work as long as you do (assuming you are actually as old as you sounds).
@@joze838 I was a teen when keep on the borderlands was brand new. I've used that with the village of homlet not far from the keep as a starting point of some great adventures.
Of course you should run d&d modules!
The best place to start is to look at what came before using that as inspiration for your games!
Well of course I know him, he's me.
Got into AD&D 1st ed in the past few years, and lately I'm running a large campaign for two separate parties (same employer paying them to scout and map a massive frontier) that are hitting and going through these old modules as well as some other little dungeons and interesting old adventures tucked away in half-forgotten books like Dark Folk (1983).
We have knocked over Silver Princess, Horror on the Hill, finishing up In Search of the Unknown, they got through and escaped but didn't finish The Whispering Trees.
Actually keen to keep doing this for the next five years. Some of the best time dming I've had.
@@The_Custos I’ve heard good things about the silver princess, good stuff.
@@LokisLair yeah, I went the old Wells version with the sensitive art that got cut. The party did not save the Princess or raise her, they stole her palace though (great base)... 😅
Those early modules for B/X and AD&D are fantastic. And they're meant to be adaptable aka *modular* to whatever world you're in, or even if it's just a one-off. Plus, they're flexible & open for however pc's approach them. I never really got to play them because the group I started with had been thru them, but as a consequence I got to read them, and I was fascinated at how they were mostly so well-constructed. Running them for new players is a great idea, and I would encourage going to the originals rather than relying on any version updated for whatever edition, or at least looking at the originals before using any later adaptation. imo, it should be relatively easy to adapt them yourself to whatever game you want.
Against the Giants is a great module that can be picked apart to fit any campaign, basically just layouts and npc's for 3 different giant fortresses. One of my favourites is "The Lost Tomb of Kruk-Ma Kali" by Kenzer&co, i've run it in three different game systems
Yeah Love the Sand Box. I've got generally 3-4 directions my players can go in.
I like the idea of running a point crawl wilderness rather than sandbox. We get 2.5 hours a week to game. So not a huge amount of time, so want to make the time count.
So am thinking of making a point crawl between these adventures sites (classic modules) and run an encounter between them (depending on distance and path type)
Adventure Paths saved our game. Our biggest complaint was that sandbox games died a slow death around level 7-8 when the DM would get burnt out. Someone else would start up a game and it would happen all over again. We never got to play high level characters or 'finish' a game. While fun, they felt like pointless wandering that never made a difference. I love the published modules because they give us clear goals to achieve. The Pathfinder Adventure Paths (and 5e stuff) gave us content to high level, and I think that helps a lot with DM burnout.
Having goals and consequences is not railroading. True player agency is found when brainstorming up ideas on how to overcome a challenge.
I managed to reinvigorate my open table OSE game by running a module I've wanted to actually get to the table for twenty years ─ so we're just off to the Temple of All Consumption!
Modules are great can be a great way to add to your own game or build your own game from even more so if you dont have time to come up with some stuff for a couple of weeks can also easily add some of your own stuff to them as well.
Horror on the Hill is meaty, any group could be chased by stirges and away from the goal. The party was pretty adept at going around the map to get to the monastery and dungeon quite quickly. This party is strange like that. As a dm, you can always nudge them to focus on finding the monastery, use tracks, and all that. The ogres, neanderthals, and witches can help lead them up.
For a party that aren't great looters, they probably need to steal more things and have the hunger to loot and level. 1 gp - 1 xp
@@The_Custos how would you recommend me getting them there without it being too obvious?
@@LokisLair remember the neanderthals have been captured by the ogres, so tracks of barefoot humans leading them to the neanderthal camp, and them leading the pcs to the monastery after a bit of rp. Gives an opportunity to fight alongside the neanderthals for a bit on the way there. My party has a pretty heavy neanderthal bias though. :D
@@The_Custos The Neanderthals in my game have turned out to be pretty aggressive towards the party. Weirdly enough they've been working better with the Hobgoblins; I created a few different tribes and the smaller tribe wants to take out the bigger tribe that is based out of the monastery. Any thoughts?
@@LokisLair they flee after a defeat and the party follow.
What do you use for those hex maps for Karameikos you showed? They look pretty neat
Worldographer. It's really easy to use and as you said, it looks pretty neat lol.
I like this idea, and I am currently doing this for our group as a break away from our other GM's main campaign. Started off with one module to get them working together and then present a choice between two more as they near the end, rinse and repeat. This video was nice though, as I kind of ran out of steam to run the next module, but now I am thinking more on how I can just twist what is there for my own purposes and add more homebrew to get myself excited!!
Thanks. Good luck with your next game.
I'd like to hear more about what you're running. I haven't run any classic modules yet. Discovered OSE last year and LOVE it and have run lots of OSE modules, just nothing classic yet.
They hold up alright? I have the b1 to b9 adventure begins book..!
Classic Modules are just the best. I'm running "Horror on the Hill" for my Sunday Group and "The Lost City" for my Thursday group. I'm not changing too much, apart from making some of the "big encounters" more interesting. I'm pretty sure they convert well to OSE and suit that style of game. If you have any questions about what I'm running, let me know.
Inclined to agree on milestone levelling.
I'm working on a pseudo-milestone levelling system for level 10+ which involves collecting and consuming Legendary items. I'm mostly bothered by Milestone levelling because it means the story needs to follow a bolted-down set of 'gates' which usually correlate with however the DM wants to story to unfurl. While I'm DMing my game, I'm not the storyteller; who am I to dictate when and why the party levels up?
Also, I'm a fairly new DM, so I really appreciate having 'point crawl' added to my vocabulary. That's exactly how I run; there are half a dozen bolted-down locations that the party know about, there are half a dozen that they need to follow leads for, and there are a few that are floating/random encounters.
Point crawls are also great for time management. You take a long rest? Maybe enemies from Point A have attacked and captured Point B, and driven out the defenders to Point C.
Point crawls are interesting but I usually stick with Hex Crawls for my game. I think Point Crawls are good for shorter games.
Another banger.
Cheers pal.
Not a big fan of modules, but... having said that, I have certainly looted freely almost all the old TSR, as well as Judge's Guild modules for clever ideas, monsters, unique items. They are a master class in the early style of adventure. You are preaching to the choir here my friend. Keep doing you.
Did you try Palace of the Silver Princess and Horror on the Hill?
So you do like the content in the modules.
@@archersfriend5900 some of the content, yes. But modules, as modules, no
@@Marcus-ki1en exactly, I steal bits and pieces.
Can I ask what you are using for that homebrew grand duchy hex map?
@@paul-the-pilgrim worldographer
@@LokisLair Ty!
Modules and adventures in general should be simple. A group of active players will bring their own drama and emotional content. People who complain about simple adventure modules also complain that players are always ruining their game and going off script and so on. Because good players bring all that themselves, and a dense adventure on top of that is too much.
Less is more. But it must still be enough. Ask any artist in any medium.
Ran mines of phalindar . But had to add plenty... The BbG would wipe the floor with the pc's. They didn't quite get there. But they will...
Yep
Been DMing for 48 years. I ran my share of modules in the early days. Today I prefer running my own content. I find newer modules to be poorly constructed/organized.
Karameikos is based off Serbia and Balcans from what I recall.
Yeah Serbia/Northern Macedonia makes sense to me.