Good Modules For 4E

[JNAProductions]

Especially any available on DriveThruRPG, since I really don't want to have to track down physical copies from this system.

[Beoric]

Especially any available on DriveThruRPG, since I really don't want to have to track down physical copies from this system.

If you started gaming early enough to use the word "module" to signify an adventure, you probably aren't going to be happy.

Modules that I consider salvageable include:

• Madness at Gardmore Abbey
• Dead by Dawn (Dungeon 176)
• Last Breaths of Ashenport (Dungeon 156)
• Rescue at Rivenroar (Dungeon 156) and the Lost Mines of Karak (Dungeon 159), but only if you can find a way to divorce them from their adventure path.
• Reavers of Harkenwald
• Keep on the Shadowfell, possibly remixed as discussed on the Alexandrian (if that page is still up).

The common denominator for me is that, with all of these, it's possible to de-linearize them without a lot of reworking. But I run a pretty sandboxy game, and I'm making some assumptions about your preferences based on that use of the word "module". If you like 3e modules in general, then you may enjoy 4e modules more than I do. If you prefer Basic or 1e modules written before 1984, you might prefer to convert those.

[Just to Browse]

If you hack the social SC with the dragon in The Slaying Stone (it's a trap and a total dead end if you fail) into some generic RP, it's a pretty fun nonlinear experience.

[Beoric]

If you hack the social SC with the dragon in The Slaying Stone (it's a trap and a total dead end if you fail) into some generic RP, it's a pretty fun nonlinear experience.

I forgot about that one. Having an area map makes it a lot easier to fix. When I scan an adventure to see if it will be worth running, the first thing I look at its the map; if it isn't possible to travel in a non-linear fashion, I give it a miss.

That includes mainly social adventures, it's just harder to spot. There needs to be room for players to go anywhere they want in the social "landscape."

EDIT: The Slaying Stone suffers because the dragon lacks a lair map, which makes it harder to adjudicate if players look for a non-social solution that may depend on the physical space (like stealing the map, for example). Having a generic dragon lair map handy might be useful.

[Just to Browse]

Stealth could theoretically be handled with an SC as well, but the real problem with The Slaying Stone is that the dragon is a non-diegetic bottleneck with nonsense motivations. The PCs want the slaying stone because it's an artifact of great and terrible power that should not fall into the hands of evil... but there's a dragon guarding the thing! There are a bunch of angles on this that don't make sense:

• The dragon could just take the stone and leave, since it has no loot otherwise. The dragon doesn't want to do this for... plot handwaving reasons.
• The dragon could use it on a squirrel or something and void the stone of its magic. The dragon doesn't want to do this either, even though it would be very easy.
• The dragon can't be stolen from because the SC doesn't support stealing.
• The dragon can't be fought because the designers didn't think to include a battle map & stat block.
• The SC can't be circumvented by having the brass dragon leave to meet Treona, or by sneaking Treona in to town, because the designers didn't consider that.
• If motivated to protect the world from the stone (instead of by the XP hook at the start of the adventure), the PCs can say "oh cool a badass dragon is handling this" and just dip.

The PCs must have the stone for the plot to progress. Nothing else in the book makes sense if they don't have it. So this bottleneck needs to be extremely robust. Ideally everything should point to a neon sign saying "TAKE THE ROCK ASAP OR ELSE THE BAD GUYS WILL GET IT".

IME it will be enough to have the brass dragon be wounded and desperate, hiding from the various hunting parties here. Flip this scene on its head and have the brass dragon beg the PCs to take the stone.

[Kurald Galain]

[*] The dragon can't be stolen from because the SC doesn't support stealing.[*] The dragon can't be fought because the designers didn't think to include a battle map & stat block.[*] The SC can't be circumvented by having the brass dragon leave to meet Treona, or by sneaking Treona in to town, because the designers didn't consider that.

LOL, that ties in great with the recent thread on why every 4E player ever totally loves SCs

[LibraryOgre]

Especially any available on DriveThruRPG, since I really don't want to have to track down physical copies from this system.

For one shots, you might take a look at some FourthCore stuff... all free.

Fane of the Heresiarch was great fun, I still tell stories about it.

I think I also played Crucible of the Gods.

[Beoric]

LOL, that ties in great with the recent thread on why every 4E player ever totally loves SCs

Yeah, there was a particular example from this SC that I thought about posting in the other thread. But I didn't actually want to start that argument again.

The PCs must have the stone for the plot to progress. Nothing else in the book makes sense if they don't have it. So this bottleneck needs to be extremely robust. Ideally everything should point to a neon sign saying "TAKE THE ROCK ASAP OR ELSE THE BAD GUYS WILL GET IT".

I actually think it is good that there is a possibility of failure. I just think failing a lame-ass SC would be a lousy way to fail the adventure. It's just a "roll to continue" skill check, with more rolls. For something this important, the players need a lot more flexibility in how they can approach the situation.

[masteraleph]

In addition to the things people have mentioned, Some Assembly Required is a lot of fun (Dungeon 208), and designed for low level adventurers

[RedMage125]

I second Madness at Gardmore Abbey. I'd even love a 5e adaptation of that.

The Scales of War adventure path (goes from 1-30) has some really good modules. Someone them, especially at the start, are pretty generic D&D fare, but there's some really good stuff in the Paragon and Epic tiers.

[Wildstag]

I'm personally fond of the Loudwater story (levels 1-3) from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide.

I'm actually running it as a 1-10 campaign for some friends, extending the Yuan-ti kidnapping plot.

[Ozreth]

During my brief stint with 4e the ones I found to be the best were Scales of War and Keep on the Shadowfell.

Ran slaying stone as well but don’t remember much of it other than I ran into some of what the other above mentioned but my group is good about not thinking too much into things when it’s a shorter module and not a long term campaign.

[glass]

During my brief stint with 4e the ones I found to be the best were Scales of War and Keep on the Shadowfell.

Really? I have never run nor played "Keep..." but I have never before heard anyone who has say anything good about it at all!