I usually ignore the whole XP counting fuss and just wing it. If a module/scenario/adventure is large I let them level at the completion of it. If smaller then the PCs have to hack trough several to level up.

/shrug.

Quote from: Phillip;857921The great value of treasure involved presents a problem: what to do with it? Hire armies to pillage still more treasure (for fewer if any XP)? Buy magic items?

One thing I'm going to yoink from 4th ed Dark Sun is the idea of favors and boons. In this case, favors recorded as a GP value worth of goods and services that a group or individual feels they owe a character or a group of characters.
Actual treasure is nice, but I feel that there are lots more interesting ways to reward players that aren't simple coins and gems.
Formalizing and writing it down lets the players still feel rewarded even if they aren't clutching any bags of loot.

Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;857806Do you guys disagree that what he's doing would make a fun game? Or is it just because it takes longer?

I'm sure that some people who enjoy it. However, I would neither enjoy playing in an Angry DM-style mega-dungeon or running one. I'm just don't find adventure paths much fun -- so a dungeon full of mini-adventure paths wouldn't work for me.

To me a mega-dungeon is all about being able to explore in any way you want -- and that includes suddenly deciding you want to go another direction. Another way to put it is in the type of mega-dungeon I enjoy, all encounters are basically optional and character advancement depends on what the party decides to do or not do -- that there's no real way to predict that when you are designing the dungeon.

What exactly is the difference between an "adventure path" and just a prewritten module? I see the term thrown around a lot.

Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;857959What exactly is the difference between an "adventure path" and just a prewritten module? I see the term thrown around a lot.

An adventure path is a pre-sketched story of a kind. Events happen in a certain order, and locations are visited as dictated by the overall plot. Some adventure paths have multiple branches, but they usually end up all leading to the same places, which usually involves a climactic confrontation or other big dramatic finish.

Progression and level ups are usually doled out at certain points to ensure that the protagonists have the required assets to deal with the threats that come up in later chapters.

An old school adventure module is just that. There may be a scenario or hook to get the players involved but beyond that there is no story sketch. Locations and their contents are detailed and may be used in whole or in part by the DM in conjunction with other material. A classic dungeon has its own ecosystem, power players and groups, and the players just sort of interact with it as they see fit. It is a living place that keeps doing what it does before the players ever arrive and probably long after they leave for the last time. There is no dramatic finale.

Quote from: Doughdee222;857926I usually ignore the whole XP counting fuss and just wing it. If a module/scenario/adventure is large I let them level at the completion of it. If smaller then the PCs have to hack trough several to level up.

/shrug.

I used to do this as well, but I stopped when I realized that I could use XP as a gauge of how well the players performed. As in, engaging 50% of the adventure would result in a "win", but 100% completion involves exploring, discovering various hidden encounters and engaging optional encounters.

An "adventure path" is the apodaemonis* of a module.




*made up word intended to be the antonym of apotheosis

Quote from: Ratman_tf;857988I used to do this as well, but I stopped when I realized that I could use XP as a gauge of how well the players performed. As in, engaging 50% of the adventure would result in a "win", but 100% completion involves exploring, discovering various hidden encounters and engaging optional encounters.

That only works if you're saying there is a pre-approved path to take and objecives. What if they try to do something that wasn't part of the story before?

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;857989An "adventure path" is the apodaemonis* of a module.




*made up word intended to be the antonym of apotheosis

And people wonder why the OSR can give the impression of "One True Way" thinking.

Quote from: Armchair Gamer;858016And people wonder why the OSR can give the impression of "One True Way" thinking.

I think it is a good point, though. D&D gave rise to CRPGs, which by circumstance and necessity had to have a definitive "adventure path". Wizardry and Bard's Tale, for instance, have an "end game". All actions taken in either strive to meet the win condition. By no means does this make them bad games whatsoever, but they were products for a specific medium. Why anyone would want to do the same thing for a table-top RPG which is possibly limitless in scope is beyond me.

Quote from: Armchair Gamer;858016And people wonder why the OSR can give the impression of "One True Way" thinking.

Beats me, I have nothing to do with any "Renaissance" of any type, I'm playing the game the way I always did.

I thought modules were a bad idea when G1 came out.  I still do.  Others disagree.

This is my opinion.  There are many like it, but this one is mine.

Eh, pretty much everyone thinks their way is best or they wouldn't do it. I hear all the time how the kind of "no script immunity" games are no fun and from an asshole DM.

Example: https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/3ltsd3/elemental_evil_spoilers_so_my_dm_tpked_our_level/cv9u3kf

Me and some guy on reddit who's mad over a TPK on principle.

Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;857959What exactly is the difference between an "adventure path" and just a prewritten module? I see the term thrown around a lot.

Modules are place components: a Giant's castle, a trap and treasure laden tomb, a haunted mansion, a temple compound, a city, the warrens of ratmen or serpent folk beneath a city, a mysterious island, etc.

"Adventure paths" (after Paizo's name for its line) are plotted sequences of events premised on assumptions as to what the players DO. When the assumptions are enforced, riding roughshod over whatever the players try to do instead of following the script, it's a 'railroad.'

Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;858003That only works if you're saying there is a pre-approved path to take and objecives. What if they try to do something that wasn't part of the story before?

I wouldn't call it pre-approved. More like the expected path. When the players decide to take on the space pirates of the denebian star cluster, I feel pretty confident that I can prep an adventure where they take on space pirates.
If not, I can always wing it.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;858034Beats me, I have nothing to do with any "Renaissance" of any type, I'm playing the game the way I always did.

I thought modules were a bad idea when G1 came out.  I still do.  Others disagree.

This is my opinion.  There are many like it, but this one is mine.

Did you remember to give it a girl's name?