Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 12:31 pm
IMO the two main keys to a good module are an interesting location and interesting characters. If you have those two you don't need a "story," because that will develop naturally as the players interact with the location and the characters (see the "gospel of Papers & Paychecks").
The first is obvious, the second perhaps a little less so. A weakness (IMO) of many of the classic TSR modules was that they tended to only present characters in the context of the location (e.g. IIRC in module G3 the characters Obmi and Eclavdra are included as part of the room descriptions for their bedchambers and not mentioned otherwise) and didn't treat them as mobile and independent entities with goals and motivations of their own even though that's presumably how they were intended to be used. In a well-run adventure the NPCs won't be sitting around waiting for the PCs to show up and kill them, they'll be active -- working against the PCs, or with them, or doing their own thing without heed to the PCs -- and a well-made module will facilitate that, rather than assuming the DM will figure it out on his own (which, if he's inexperienced, he probably won't).
Another key to a good module IMO is that it should both have elements playable right out of the box and be a toolkit for further expansion and development by the individual DM. This means that there should generally be some obvious start and end point that can be run "straight" by a harried DM without the need to modify or create anything on his own, but around the edges of that there should be room for the DM to expand and develop the material further if he chooses to (including, if he wants to and isn't harried, ignoring the canned part completely).
This is tricky to get right. A good example that comes to mind is Zeb Cook's Dwellers in the Forbidden City where there's a canned mini-scenario of the PCs working their way into the ruins in search of a local villager's kidnapped son that can be run straight out of the box, but there's tons of other material in the module and the kidnapped villager plot can be ignored completely if the DM wants to use a different approach. The Lost City by Tom Moldvay is another good one -- it comes with the canned hook of the PCs being lost in the desert and stumbling upon the ruins while looking for food, but there's also a ton of room for expansion in the module, either after the PCs have finished the canned portion or, if the DM is feeling ambitious and willing to do extra work up-front, in place of it -- the PCs don't need to be lost in the desert, they could be archeologists, or treasure hunters, or merchants, etc. seeking it out deliberately, and there could be a long adventure before they even get to the "start" of the module.
The first is obvious, the second perhaps a little less so. A weakness (IMO) of many of the classic TSR modules was that they tended to only present characters in the context of the location (e.g. IIRC in module G3 the characters Obmi and Eclavdra are included as part of the room descriptions for their bedchambers and not mentioned otherwise) and didn't treat them as mobile and independent entities with goals and motivations of their own even though that's presumably how they were intended to be used. In a well-run adventure the NPCs won't be sitting around waiting for the PCs to show up and kill them, they'll be active -- working against the PCs, or with them, or doing their own thing without heed to the PCs -- and a well-made module will facilitate that, rather than assuming the DM will figure it out on his own (which, if he's inexperienced, he probably won't).
Another key to a good module IMO is that it should both have elements playable right out of the box and be a toolkit for further expansion and development by the individual DM. This means that there should generally be some obvious start and end point that can be run "straight" by a harried DM without the need to modify or create anything on his own, but around the edges of that there should be room for the DM to expand and develop the material further if he chooses to (including, if he wants to and isn't harried, ignoring the canned part completely).
This is tricky to get right. A good example that comes to mind is Zeb Cook's Dwellers in the Forbidden City where there's a canned mini-scenario of the PCs working their way into the ruins in search of a local villager's kidnapped son that can be run straight out of the box, but there's tons of other material in the module and the kidnapped villager plot can be ignored completely if the DM wants to use a different approach. The Lost City by Tom Moldvay is another good one -- it comes with the canned hook of the PCs being lost in the desert and stumbling upon the ruins while looking for food, but there's also a ton of room for expansion in the module, either after the PCs have finished the canned portion or, if the DM is feeling ambitious and willing to do extra work up-front, in place of it -- the PCs don't need to be lost in the desert, they could be archeologists, or treasure hunters, or merchants, etc. seeking it out deliberately, and there could be a long adventure before they even get to the "start" of the module.
