# Best 3rd edition adventures



## Infernal Teddy (Jun 18, 2006)

I need some recomendations, guys. What are the best available adventures for D&D at the moment? What makes them great, why do you like them? What pitfalls are there to look out for?

And  before anyone askes, I'm asking about all levels.


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## demiurge1138 (Jun 18, 2006)

Most of the 3e adventures I've really liked are from Dungeon Magazine. In no particular order...

Age of Worms: The Whispering Cairn - It might be brutally deadly for some first level parties (hint - encourage burning hands and flasks of alchemist's fire), but no module I've ever seen has so successfully combined 1e hard dungeon crawling with the emphasis on story and roleplaying 3e tries hard to encourage. Of course, I also loved the rest of the Age of Worms, so...

Steel Shadows - I'm a sucker for murder mysteries. I'm a sucker for warforged. A murder mystery featuring warforged? I'm sold. The clues are well set up, the antagonists are both wicked and surprising, and the fights are memorable and brutal. And yes, of course, this is an Eberron adventure, so it wouldn't fit into all games.

The Styes - More urban mysteries, this time with a heavy Lovecraftian flair and more than a little homage to the dark fantasy of China Meiville. And it was the first time I ever got a handle on how to use an aboleth effectively.

Shadows of Istivin - I haven't ran through it yet, but this three-part adventure arc is chock full of classic Greyhawk flavor. And it's got giants, drow and demons in it! A triple threat that's hard to miss with.

Demiurge out.


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## DaveMage (Jun 19, 2006)

Shackled City from Paizo.

Tomb of Abysthor & the Rappan Athuk series from Necromancer Games (Rappan Athuk soon to be rereleased as a box set with enhancements from the original 3 modules).

World's Largest Dungeon from AEG.


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## Endur (Jun 19, 2006)

Best adventures ... hmmmm

The big campaign adventures from WOTC: Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil and City of the Spider Queen are excellent.  RTOEE has an excellent message board on the Monte Cook site for additional details.

Dungeon has had some great adventures in the last thirty or forty issues.  Tears for Twilight Hollow is a can't miss.  Maure Castle is nice if you are nostalgic for the old days of D&D.  

If you have access to living greyhawk adventures, Erik Mona's River of Blood and the geoff modules Gifts of the Fey and Summer's Passing were excellent modules.


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## Qualidar (Jun 19, 2006)

demiurge1138 said:
			
		

> The Styes - More urban mysteries, this time with a heavy Lovecraftian flair and more than a little homage to the dark fantasy of China Meiville. And it was the first time I ever got a handle on how to use an aboleth effectively.



I can't second this one enough, as well as the general sentiment that Dungeon is the go-to source for great adventures. In general, the adventure paths have been well worth checking out.

Other recent greats:
Ill-Made Graves (133) - Snowy viking dragon goodness
Palace of Plenty (130) - Oriental adventures spirit realm goodness
Murder in Oakbridge (129) - Another Ebberon murder mystery with a great protagonist
Shut-In (128) - Creepy low level investigation/horror adventure
Lost Temple of Demogorgon (120) - Uplifted demon worshiping dire apes!
Throne of Iuz (118) - High level orc fight

~Qualidar~


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## Mouseferatu (Jun 19, 2006)

_The Red Hand of Doom_ is, bar none, the best adventure WotC has published to date, IM(NS)HO.


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## Voadam (Jun 19, 2006)

Banewarrens.

Factions, epic powers, politics, dungeon crawling, mysteries to unravel and lore to be unearthed, betrayal, traps, dynamic plot, varied and interesting enemies. 

Watch out for the mecha influence, as a D&D player I want my PC to be the actor, not controlling a character directing action through a mech.


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## Psychic Warrior (Jun 19, 2006)

Age of Worms Adventure Path - taken in its entirety this is one bad muther of an adventure.  Can't wait from the hardcover release and I've already run 1/2 of the dang thing!

Terror in Freeport (I think) the one with lizard/snake people trying to take over Freeport and the Sealord building a lighthouse to bring madness to the world.  I only ran in it as a player but I had a lot of fun in and around Freeport.


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## Drowbane (Jun 19, 2006)

I'm a huge fan of Paizo's two hits, Shackled City and Age of Worms.  I own Red Hand of DOOOOM but haven't had a chance to mess with it yet (looks spiffy though).


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## Treebore (Jun 19, 2006)

As my sig says, Dungeon and Necromancer Games are my favorite makers of adventures, especially if you want decent to great story elements. the DCC's from Goodman can be good too, but thye have been much more hit or miss with me.


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## KingCrab (Jun 19, 2006)

Red Hand of Doom really is excellent.  The different choices characters can make really do have serious consequences later in the game, and the adventure doesn't force only one optimal path.


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## pogre (Jun 19, 2006)

_Lost City of Barakus_ is my choice. I have never gotten so much mileage out of one adventure book.

_Red Hand of Doom_ looks very solid. I have not had an opportunity to play it yet.


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## Hussar (Jun 19, 2006)

ANother vote for the World's Largest Dungeon.


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## Treebore (Jun 19, 2006)

The 3.0 Grey Citadel, also by Necromancer, is another one like that.  I  tend to get a lot of mileage out of many of Necromancers modules, like ToA, Durbenford, Rappan Athuk, Morrick Mansion, Amulet/Crucible, Bonegarden, and several others. The towns/cities/locations have all made good long term campaign fixtures. These adventures are not "fire and forget" adventures in a campaign. The locations and NPC's are great to have stick around to give your campaign continuity and depth.


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## Thomas Percy (Jun 19, 2006)

Red Hand of Doom
Bastion of Broken Souls
& some adventures from Penumbra series.


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## Melan (Jun 19, 2006)

We had the most fun with Necromancer's *Tomb of Abysthor*. It is just a well done dungeon crawl, but that's its main strength. Large enough to feel mysterious, small enough not to overwhelm a campaign. As I understand it, it is pretty hard to find nowdays (plus 3.0 if that thing turns you off), but the time and money is well spent IMHO.


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## Kyuss Knight (Jun 19, 2006)

Well, I have to agree those that have talked about Red Hand of Doom, The Freeport adventures, Shackled City, and Age of Worms.

I also have to mention Sunless Citadel. The first 3.0 adventure done by WotC and it is a good one. 

Also, we just got done running through Sons of Gruumsh. It is an FR adventure but could be fairly easily adapted to any setting. It's pretty much a hack'n'slash, but it was a lot of fun!


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## Frostmarrow (Jun 19, 2006)

Mouseferatu said:
			
		

> _The Red Hand of Doom_ is, bar none, the best adventure WotC has published to date, IM(NS)HO.




It's a remarkable adventure. It's sheer joy to DM. Love it!


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## Morpheus (Jun 19, 2006)

_Red Hand of Doom_ and _The Banewarrens_ are two solid, mid-level adventures...


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## Barendd Nobeard (Jun 19, 2006)

In addition to all the good stuff already mentioned, "Tears of Twilight Hollow" - I think it's in Dungeon #90.


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## VorpalBunny (Jun 19, 2006)

I really enjoyed the _Age of Worms_ and _Sons of Gruumsh_ too. I though the _Shards of Eberron_ campaign arc (_The Crypt of Crimson Stars, Temple of the Scorpion God,_ & _Pit of the Fire Lord_) was well done and my players really enjoyed them.


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## Nebulous (Jun 19, 2006)

Red Hand of Doom is the best adventure i've read for 3rd edition. The presentation is also top notch. I haven't had a chance to actually run it yet, unfortunately, but it's one of those campaigns that is just fun to read.


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## Philotomy Jurament (Jun 19, 2006)

I like the adventures from Necromancer (Rappan Athuk, Maze of Zayene, etc).  I like Green Ronin's Freeport adventures, too (pirates, serpent-men, and Lovecraftian influence -- hard to go wrong with that).  The Marue Castle adventures in Dungeon magazine are really cool, too.


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## Arnwyn (Jun 19, 2006)

Some of my top choices:

- Lost City of Barakus (Necromancer Games)
- Shackled City (Paizo)
- Red Hand of Doom (WotC)
- Tomb of Abysthor (Necromancer Games)
- Vault of Larin Karr (Necromancer Games)

Honorable Mentions:
- Grey Citadel (Necromancer Games)
- Dungeon Magazine - because I just can't choose one! (but see the suggestions in this thread)


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## ehren37 (Jun 19, 2006)

Qualidar said:
			
		

> I can't second this one enough, as well as the general sentiment that Dungeon is the go-to source for great adventures. In general, the adventure paths have been well worth checking out.
> 
> ~Qualidar~




Thirded! My players are in control of an canton in Penance (oathbound), and the styes has been set up as some rival cantons for them. They are going to go through this adventure relatively soon.


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## Keldryn (Jun 19, 2006)

We had a lot of fun with The Sunless Citadel.  Yeah, it's a dungeon crawl, but my players really got into the whole dynamic between the goblin and kobold tribes.  It was a memorable adventure for many reasons (Meepo!), not the least of which was how dumbfounded my players were after they attacked the goblins, retreated back to the kobold lair to rest for a day, and then discovered that the goblins had set up new traps and reinforced the entry with every single warrior in the tribe.  Sigh... that was a fun battle that took almost two entire sessions to run.


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## JRRNeiklot (Jun 20, 2006)

Anything from Goodman Games or Necromancer Games.  Kenzer also has high quality stuff.


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## big dummy (Jun 20, 2006)

Mouseferatu said:
			
		

> _The Red Hand of Doom_ is, bar none, the best adventure WotC has published to date, IM(NS)HO.




it ought to be considering the price!  SheesH!

BD


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## big dummy (Jun 20, 2006)

Qualidar said:
			
		

> Shut-In (128) - Creepy low level investigation/horror adventure
> ~Qualidar~




Do you mean Dungeon magazine #128?  I think I have that one and I don't remember a lovecraftian adventure in it...?  Can you expound on the backstory a bit?

BD


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## Philotomy Jurament (Jun 20, 2006)

Keldryn said:
			
		

> Yeah, it's a dungeon crawl...




You say that as if being a dungeon crawl is a bad thing.  :\


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## Mouseferatu (Jun 20, 2006)

Philotomy Jurament said:
			
		

> You say that as if being a dungeon crawl is a bad thing.  :\




I don't mind if an adventure _includes_ dungeon crawling. But unless it's short, I prefer an adventure not be _solely_ a crawl.

That's why I tried to include so many varied locations in _The Doom of Listonshire_. A number of the encounter areas are definitely crawls, but no single one of them is all _that_ long. I like variety in my adventures.


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## Qualidar (Jun 20, 2006)

big dummy said:
			
		

> Do you mean Dungeon magazine #128?  I think I have that one and I don't remember a lovecraftian adventure in it...?  Can you expound on the backstory a bit?



Actually, it's not Lovecraftian at all. If anything it's a bit House of Usher-ish: a creepy house that just happens to have you, an insane old maid, and a halfling serial killer dressed up like a child, all locked in with no way to escape. 

If you are looking for Lovecraftian horror, however, Dungeon's been pretty focused on that recently: And Madness Followed (134) for Hastur madness, and Caverns of the Ooze Lord (132) for more slimy fun.

~Qualidar~


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## satori01 (Jun 20, 2006)

The Banewarrens is probably one of my most favorite adventures of all time, I rank it up there in terms of fun with the Giants series.  Intrigue, urban setting,  betrayal by allies, a large logically designed underground complex where often times the biggest challenge are rival groups exploring the complex itself, and a lot of different changes of scenary that tie all together into a nice climax.  I personaly am a big fan of opening scenes wether for movies or modules.  Banewarrens has one of the best "opening" scene encounters I have ever run.  Cant reccomend it enough.

Age of Worms.  Whispering Carin is a genius adventure.  The high level segement of this path is just fantastic.  I yoinked many things from it for my home brew,  just great stuff.

Red Hand of Doom is great up into the 3/4 mark.  I think it peters  out at the end, the big bad is really more denoument.  Nice production values, but it suffers from the classic WOTC problem of having all stats in an appendix in the back.  I hate this wrecks it for me.

Sunless Citadel is like Palace of the Silver Princess to me, a classic entry module.  Like many people, we played this right out the bat when 3e came out.  Wasnt terribly impressed at the time, however when I ran my first self made adventure for 1st level characters, I appreciated the Citadel's design much more.


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## Staffan (Jun 20, 2006)

Mouseferatu said:
			
		

> I don't mind if an adventure _includes_ dungeon crawling. But unless it's short, I prefer an adventure not be _solely_ a crawl.



I definitely agree. I got SOO sick of big dungeons when I ran Return to the TOEE. Red Hand of Doom seems like a far better adventure.


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