How do you put a module in your world?

[howandwhy99]

This is a personal question, not a plea for help.

How do each of you fit a published module into your worlds? (custom or homebrew worlds)

Feel free to be as detailed as you like and use any module (like one the classics) as an example. Your latest or most illustrative attempt would be fine.

Also, please point out areas you changed due to poor module design vs. alterations made to fit things into your world.

Lastly, I'm not looking for a comprehensive method from anyone, but if you do have something please go ahead and include it. It could be just a list of elements you watch for in every published module. I'm specifically looking for folks' current (and perhaps past) habits in regards to adventure manipulation rather than formalizing some system of my own.

Comments welcome

[tank]

I cut off as many loose ends from the module as possible, then I drop it in, and then I resupply my own loose ends to tie it to the existing world (a homebrew world).

For example, I recently included Brave Halfling's CLA1: Fortress of the Mountain King as a sublevel in my megadungeon. I ignored all the setup in the module - the background, the players' introduction, the way to the dungeon section, and the rumors - and I placed the fortress at the end of a corridor near a cave in. I also supplied a secret back entrance to the fortress that leads to another part of the dungeon. Then I added a few rumors to my list and will have some raiders come out of the new entrance and reak havok in the countryside. The rest should take care of itself.

Megadungeons are perfect for including pretty any dungeon-based adventure you want; just tack it on as a sublevel. I plan to do the same with several of the adventures from Fight On! For wilderness exploration, I drew up a hex map of the campaign area and dropped encounters from the "Book of Lairs" here and there as I saw fit. The PCs haven't done any wilderness exploration yet, so I don't know how well it will work, but I hope it gives them a feeling of a larger world that exists outside of them and their actions.

[brianm]

My technique is very similar to Tanks. I've been known to go even further, though, to the point of swapping out entire populations of monsters or even gutting an entire adventure and just using a map I really liked. For instance, the module UK3 - The Gauntlet has a sweet castle guarding a mountain pass. I've used the module as printed, and I've used the castle as fortress of an enemy nation full of human warriors, and I've used it as the setting for a murder mystery.

- Brian

[RandallS]

Jun 7, 2008 11:12:12 GMT -6 brianm said:

....even gutting an entire adventure and just using a map I really liked.

I've done that with many a published adventure. If i like the maps, they get reused everywhere. For example, I've used building maps from ICE's old MERPS Middle Earth modules for many a D&D adventure.

[makofan]

I chose Verbosh to run a campaign in (it's been sitting unused for 20 years). The dungeon under the city had wererats and giant rats - I changed them to werespiders and giant spiders to fit my theme better (City vs Temple vs renegade cultists)

[philotomy]

These days, I often change quite a bit: maps, plot, creature types, et cetera. The "spoilers" in my B4 Lost City campaign log are a good example of the kind of tweaks I tend to make. Some modules get more or less tweaking, depending on the situation. For example, several years ago I ran a campaign that included a Ravenloft-like adventure (i.e. the original module, not the setting or follow-ups). I stole the story and plot, the cursed land/mists, and the town. I threw out everything else and made my own ruined castle and dungeon.