What are some of the best, and most iconic TTRPG Modules? Or just ones you think are really good?

I want to read some modules and fish for setpiece ideas or story hooks. Some are poorly written and basically a railroad, but others are basically "how to run your game" tutorials. I'd like some suggestions, especially ones that are a bit less well known.

Tomb of Horrors
Masks of Nyarlathotep
Murder on the Orient Express
Pirates of Drinax
A Pound of Flesh

Oh and what do you think makes a good module?

>>96041307 (OP)
Id say the 1st and 3rd mechanoids campaigns are some of the best modules

>>96041307 (OP)
This comes with massive caveats, but both Dragon Heist and Rime of the Front Maiden have minable ideas. You need to radically restructure them in order for them to be any good, but they are actually good reads to see what *not* to do in a campaign.

>>96041591
>they are actually good reads to see what *not* to do in a campaign.
what the FUCK where they thinking with that dragon chapter

>>96041307 (OP)
B-10 Night's Dark Terror. It has some great set pieces. It opens with the siege of a homestead by multiple goblin tribes. That leads into tracking down the various goblin tribe lairs including one in a petrified forest. From there you get information on a lost civilization that leads to a battle between the degenerate remains of said civilization and their barbaric slaves. Toss in an eldrich horror for spice and a few weird locales and it makes for a good campaign.

>>96041307 (OP)
Keep on the Borderlands is also a classic, and more fun in a modern game than the hyperkilly meatgrinder that is Tomb of Horrors to boot.

>>96041628
the fucking opening lines are the bit that really kills me.
it's one thing to have an army led by a dragon show up at level 1, but not putting the party in the town when the army led by a dragon at level 1 attacks it then expecting the level 1 pcs to try and do something about it other than "fucking leave" is probably the most retarded thing I have ever seen a module do

>>96041660
oh no anon, I was talking about Frostmaiden's dragon chapter
at around level 6, there's this dragon construct siege engine that flies around destroying the ten-towns while you chase it on a dogsled and try to stop it.
The dragon is damage-thresholded to flee whenever it takes x amount of damage, so what happens in practice is it destroys the first couple towns before the players arrive and then the players deal 20 damage to it as it arrives and instantly flees at each town in sequence, up until it finally lands in the last town where the players are actually allowed to kill it

Song of the Fens remains my very favorite D&D adventure. It's in Dungeon Magazine #40. I've said so before in these threads but it's worth repeating. It's got a noble knight errant, a damsel in distress, an inn everyone hangs out in, a spooky monster in the swamp, rumors to be collected through social interactions, and a wilderness area to be explored for monsters and treasures, and a little lore to uncover.

I think it is the single best first adventure for new players, hand down, ever. It's pretty on-the-rails so no one is ever confused about what they should do. The story is just goofy enough that people feeling self-conscious about roleplaying have something to break the tension. And it's got every single element you expected, when you thought about "What D&D must be like," before you ever sat down at the table.

>>96041693
jesus christ that sounds fucking miserable to play through, and not much better to RP in.

>>96041693
My GM completely rewrite that encounter, it ended up being an incredible climax to the campaign. The problem was, it isn't the climax of the campaign, and everything after that isn't as interesting as that.

My *other* problem with the dragon encounter is that they don't hint at the existence of a second faction of Duegar, so we were ready to storm this keep to stop the dragon from flying off, several members of our party snuck up to the top of the keep with spider climb, and the entire thing was really fucking awkward. The second faction could have been a cool secret patron feeding you intel during the first part of the campaign, but instead it's just another weird link in the railroad. You can really tell WotC doesn't playtest.

>>96041307 (OP)
Tomb of Horrors is iconic but it is not good by any stretch of the imagination

>>96041945
>instead it's just another weird link in the railroad
is it like Descent into Avernus where the module just completely forgets about its reasoning for the link being a link and so gives it about as much depth as a road sign?

>>96042013
My only interaction with DiA is Alexandrian's articles remixing it, but that is certainly his assertion, and it's likely to be the case. WotC is capable of writing good ingredients for a campaign, but there actually modules are so railroaded it's insane.
My group is playing through Out of the Abyss right now and it fucking sucks. Cool atmosphere, some alright set pieces, but hard railroaded.

>>96041307 (OP)
The GDQ series is great. Still holds up and is also very iconic

>>96041628
>>96041591
>>96041660
>>96041693
>>96041945
Okay so what are some things that a good module should do? What elements come together to really make a good module?

>>96043624
>What elements come together to really make a good module?
>A great (or good) idea
>executed to its fullest extent
>able to be run right out of the box after one read through
>wriggle room to change, adapt, and expand upon the material presented

>>96041307 (OP)
>The Age of Worms
>Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth
>Dead Gods

>>96041656
It's legitimately one of the most complete modules. I love it. It has a cinematic start and hits basically everything you want in a D&D adventure.

This thing is really really good, but only if you have a very specific group for it.

>>96041307 (OP)
>Or just ones you think are really good?
None
>Oh and what do you think makes a good module?
Nothing
>Some are poorly written and basically a railroad, but others are basically "how to run your game" tutorials. I'd like some suggestions, especially ones that are a bit less well known.
>Some
All of them are like this, you are effectively picking your poison: do you want a super-railroad, do you want a thought experiment with no playtests or do you want a shitty short story with dice rolls?

Modules are like a baking formula: you would need to be either retarded or American to buy it or even use it at all. Anyone claiming otherwise is either retarded or American

>>96047163
>Modules are like a baking formula: you would need to be either retarded or American to buy it or even use it at all. Anyone claiming otherwise is either retarded or American
yuropoor can't affort modules and is blocked from torrenting them due to eu web filters . . . sad!!

I'm currently running Ghosts of Saltmarsh as a campaign and it's a banger. Had to do a little bit of homebrewing to make it all fit together, but that's honestly more fun to me anyway.

>>96041591
What does Rime fuck up, apart from the dragon? I'm about to run it in a month or two, and what I've read seem really good. Would love some tips tho.

>>96047163
Where on the autism spectrum do you reside

>>96050564
Foreshadow the second Duegar faction in sunblight keep early. It makes sense that his pissed off bride would help the party once she knows they exist. Play up the sandbox nature of the first part, it's far and away the more fun section of the game. Our GM used some extra shit from the dma guild, and I know the Alexandrian wrote a few articles about the campaign, check those out.

My GM rewrote some stuff but he tried to stick to it pretty closely, I think you abandon the structure somewhat there is a more interesting game of siding with factions in the towns. The local politics was the best part of our game.

The second half gets way more railroad and I missed some sessions so I have less to say about them.

>>96047163
It's impressive that this post tells me not only that you don't game, but that you also don't bake.

>>96051435
Ty for the tips! It sounds like I was already on the right track by autistically obsessing over the early sandbox section. I'll check out the Alexandrian tho, and do some foreshadowing about the Duergars that are pissed off at Xardorok.

Where you there for Grimskalle, Auril's place out on the iceberg? It looks a bit goofy to me, and I'm tempted to rework it to feel more like a proper frost giant fortress. But I wanna know what people think.

https://refereeingandreflection.wordpress.com/2020/11/09/runequest-classic-six-years-that-changed-gaming/
I like reading this from time to time when I'm bored

>>96053312
That was one of the sessions I missed, unfortunately.

I forgot to mention earlier: Tales from the Yawning portal is a bit of a mixed bag, but I ran Forge of Fury with my group and it was really good. I'm currently prepping Sunless Citadel for a one-shot, and that one seems solid too.

>>96055812
Sadge

>>96058899
Sunless citadel into forge of fury is better than any 1-5 starter adventure wotc has put out

>>96058899
I found Sunless Citadel fell really flat, but my players are completely uninquisitive, and don't ask really any questions if they get anything but full Elder Scrolls NPC behaviour. So they had no idea what was going on. So I think it was mostly a problem on my end.

>>96061484
Yeah I get why that would be an issue. I might have the players come upon a room with some goblins and kobolds fighting, or some kobolds that try to talk to the party and get them or their side. Maybe the bottom floor needs some more clues too, about the gulthias tree?

>>96062668
Yes the tree is a complete mystery unless the players get the Druid or Hobgoblin boss talking. But both are obviously pretty hostile. Some detailed notes in the druid's study might help, and just generally dropping more hints, like overhearing some of the goblin guards and the like.

But like I said, my players are very uninquisitive. So if your players seek out information at all, its pretty available.

>>96064668
This sounds like a job for Random Emaciated Prisoner Chained to a Pillar Somewhere

>>96065759
This guy, given a bit more information would be perfect for that.

>>96059525
>Sunless citadel into forge of fury is better than any 1-5 starter adventure wotc has put out
technically wizards published both of those . . .

When it comes to time shenanigans, Gatsby and the Great Race cannot be beat. You really have to play it in its full three-group glory complete with interdimensional hopping to truly experience it.

>>96066106
Damn, good point. I forgot that guy even existed.

>>96066259
Yeah and every starter adventure since then has been worse