Adam Shultz wrote:One thing they did right was bring in a whole new slew of exciting artists and put them along Easley. Ruppel, Brom, Fields, etc., all ushered lofty standards onto fantasy gaming.
zhowar1 wrote:Adam Shultz wrote:One thing they did right was bring in a whole new slew of exciting artists and put them along Easley. Ruppel, Brom, Fields, etc., all ushered lofty standards onto fantasy gaming.And force Otus, Roslof, Dee to take commissions from collectors on the Internet... I'm not familiar with any of the artists you mentioned other than Easley, who I don't really care for. I've generally been selling off all my stuff I bought in the 80s with Easley covers.
So, what am I missing. Which module in 2nd ed. is good?
bbarsh wrote:Ok. I am starting a new thread on the subject of modules. In another thread, it was mentioned how crappy 3.0 modules are from WoTC. I haven not read too many, and can agree - they suck.But I have to say, I can't really find anything worth much in 2nd edition either. I quit actively playing just after the release of 2nd edition. I just read WGM1 Border Watch. A somewhat original concept, but the presentation is garbage. And I must say, it takes a bit of work to screw up module for 1st level characters, but they did it. Redundant encounters, and flat out boring. The one thing that I see that is missing from most modules after 1st edition (and even some of those toward the end) is the basic concept of adventure. There is no sense of adventure or danger. So, what am I missing. Which module in 2nd ed. is good?
bbarsh wrote:Badmike,I am with you on EX1/2, UK1 and several others. They suck outright. Totally unplayable. I also hated X2. But for every crappy 1e mod, there many more that are solid. I give the C series wide latitude as those are tournament modules and don't have to make sense, to a large degree.I forgot about the "Challenge" modules. They do have that 1e feel and I liked the couple I read.
bbarsh wrote:So, what am I missing. Which module in 2nd ed. is good?
grodog wrote:bbarsh wrote:So, what am I missing. Which module in 2nd ed. is good?Despite some of the initial rail-roading in it, I'm very fond of the Greyhawk 98 module "Return of the Eight" by Roger E. Moore. I also liked the Star Cairns, though Doomgrinder and the Crypt of Lyzendrad the Mad (sp?) were OK at best. I got the Falcon triology last year sometime, and it's relatively poor as well. Vecna Lives is a relatively poor adventure, but makes for some interesting reading to expand on Vecna's background. I don't know many 2e modules, since I also quit D&D with the advent of 2e (or at least never "upgraded"). Some of the Lankhmar modules were good, but I think the ones I'm thinking of were also 1e
Badmike wrote:I'm going to be honest and say there is a lot of 1st edition stuff I really don't like, and that includes a lot of the classics. Now I know we are playing a fantasy game, but the quickest way to lose myself and my group in the old school days was trying to be funny (EX1 and EX2, hated them)
or creating a totally illogical deathtrap with "clues" and "riddles" and goofy traps and treasures and illogical reasons for the monsters to be waiting behind every door (C2 and S2 were much despised at my gaming table and in the circle of gamers I hung around with also).
Ed Greenwood really sucks as a fiction writer, but his adventues and supplements are generally of pretty high quality. He has the same ability as Gary (he probably got it from reading Gary's stuff) to make a small encounter, single room, or monstrous opponent quite interesting. This adventure is pretty hard to find so it's overlooked a lot, but I would recommend it as a good low level crawl.
WGR6 City of Skulls---I really thought this was a challenge for high level Greyhawk characters.
Ruins of Undermountain-----Dathon is pulling down his pants to whiz all over this pick, but I loved the entire thing...maybe the concept isa bit goofy, but come on, didn't every single one of us really, really want a gigantic multilevel dungeon that had an entire book of fleshed out encounters when we first started out?
If this had come out in 1979 and was the exact same adventure word for word except set under Greyhawk not Waterdeep, I think this might be considered the greatest gaming product of all time.