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9 months ago  ::  Sep 20, 2012 - 12:19AM #1
Zallin
Date Joined: Jan 19, 2009
Posts: 139
Can anyone point me to a decent\good 4th Edition adventure path.  All of the ones I have seen thus far are just a combat slog.  I realise 4th edition has a heavy emphasis on combat, and while I think the combat rules in 4e are better than any prior edition, combat weighs to heavily on the D&D experience of character developement, and a really cool story with twist, turns, and subplots.  

All the adventures I've looked through\Played in 4e are missing character.  It's just combat encounter for 2 pages, a paragraph of "story", just enough to push you to the next 2 pages of combat.  This kinda sucks in my opinion.  Thanks for your suggestions!
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9 months ago  ::  Sep 20, 2012 - 5:47AM #2
Seeker95
  • Reasonably Disagreeable
Date Joined: Oct 24, 2001
Posts: 9,933
For the most part, all pre-published adventures are combat slogs -- a series of encounters loosely connected by a storyline. This is not inherently a bad thing. It is just a thing. Your experience with 4e adventures is no different than pre-4e-adventures. Published adventures have to write to the lowest common denominator because they are already marketing to only 1 in 5 or 1 in 6 of the player base (DMs). The only thing that every D&D campaign (regardless of edition) has in common is combat.
Here are the PHB essentia, in my opinion:
  • Three Basic Rules (p 11)
  • Power Types and Usage (p 54)
  • Skills (p178-179)
  • Feats (p 192)
  • Rest and Recovery (p 263)
  • All of Chapter 9 [Combat] (p 264-295)

A player needs to read the sections for building his or her character -- race, class, powers, feats, equipment, etc. But those are PC-specific. The above list is for everyone, regardless of the race or class or build or concept they are playing.
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9 months ago  ::  Sep 20, 2012 - 7:42AM #3
frothsof
Date Joined: Jun 4, 2010
Posts: 10,490
if you could tell us what level you are looking for i can suggest some adventures, but you might have to connect them into a "path" on your own, as the only ture "path" for 4e that i am aware of is scales of war, and that is possibly the biggest railroad of all time, with the exception of the 1e dragonlance modules. frankly, most published 4e adventures are excrement, but there are a few good ones here and there
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9 months ago  ::  Sep 20, 2012 - 7:58AM #4
Zallin
Date Joined: Jan 19, 2009
Posts: 139
Any level would work. I really think 4e dropped the ball on adventures.  Really 3e did as well but not as hard at least it had some cool stuff like spider queen.  Paizo knows how to release an adventure. But as I said 4e is what I'm looking for.  Level doesn't matter to me. Probably Heroic Teir or Paragon Teir, would be best.
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9 months ago  ::  Sep 20, 2012 - 8:04AM #5
SatanicWarmaster
Date Joined: May 28, 2012
Posts: 40

While not an adventure path per se, I really like what they did with Gardmore Abbey.


It is probably one of the best adventures designed since 3e came out.


It is set for character levels 8-10 but with all the information and hooks provided, you can easily design an introduction that leads you to the required levels and afterwards design a paragon-tier adventure where the Deck of Many Things must be destroyed or somesuch. Thus creating an adventure path.

I personaly created an adventure path using Wrath of the Winter King, then Orcs of Stonefang Pass, Gardmore Abbey and then Tomb of Horrors by filling the gaps here and there but still using 90% of the modules as is.

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9 months ago  ::  Sep 20, 2012 - 8:48AM #6
frothsof
Date Joined: Jun 4, 2010
Posts: 10,490

Sep 20, 2012 -- 7:58AM, Zallin wrote:

Probably Heroic Teir or Paragon Teir, would be best.





for late heroic tier, gardmore abbey is pretty loose compared to other 4e stuff. it still has a bit of railroad to it, but its a good product

for early to mid paragon tier, gloomwraught, the shadowfell box set, is a location-based supplement. while not a straight up adventure per se, it does have an encounter book, and it can be presented as a straight-up sandbox.

for a one shot, if you have access to dungeon mag, this is the best 4e adventure that appeared in the mags

www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/d...

finally, if for some reason you have never seen these adventures, check them out (under the adventures heading)

slamdancr.com/wp/hardcore-essentials/


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9 months ago  ::  Sep 20, 2012 - 9:58AM #7
brap8
Date Joined: Jan 26, 2011
Posts: 305
My players and I enjoyed the slaying stone series, it was a good mix of combat and skill challenges
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9 months ago  ::  Sep 20, 2012 - 1:33PM #8
Mysteria
Date Joined: Oct 4, 2003
Posts: 7,269

Sep 20, 2012 -- 7:58AM, Zallin wrote:

Any level would work. I really think 4e dropped the ball on adventures.  Really 3e did as well but not as hard at least it had some cool stuff like spider queen.  Paizo knows how to release an adventure. But as I said 4e is what I'm looking for.  Level doesn't matter to me. Probably Heroic Teir or Paragon Teir, would be best.




Then just do what I do: grab a paizo adventure, grab 4e monsters and mix both together.

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9 months ago  ::  Sep 22, 2012 - 12:51PM #9
The_Jester
  • Stampeding Hybrid
Date Joined: Nov 1, 2003
Posts: 3,512

Sep 20, 2012 -- 7:58AM, Zallin wrote:

Any level would work. I really think 4e dropped the ball on adventures.  Really 3e did as well but not as hard at least it had some cool stuff like spider queen.  Paizo knows how to release an adventure. But as I said 4e is what I'm looking for.  Level doesn't matter to me. Probably Heroic Teir or Paragon Teir, would be best.



Why not buy a Paizo AP and adapt the stats to 4e?
If you're not interested in combat slogs you could also dump the superflous combat encounters, the ones there just to keep the party at the right level. 

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9 months ago  ::  Sep 23, 2012 - 5:23AM #10
Seeker95
  • Reasonably Disagreeable
Date Joined: Oct 24, 2001
Posts: 9,933

Sep 22, 2012 -- 12:51PM, The_Jester wrote:

Why not buy a Paizo AP and adapt the stats to 4e?
If you're not interested in combat slogs you could also dump the superfluous combat encounters, the ones there just to keep the party at the right level. 


I have done this with adventures from many different sources. Keep the story, substitute creatures for the combat encounters, and eliminate anywhere from 1/3 to 3/4 of the encounters that do nothing for the story.

I'll even turn a number of the assumed combat encounters into skill challenges, often with potential end points (from complete failure to complete success) of:
combat :: belligerent departure :: neutral departure :: begrudging compliance :: neutral support :: active support :: alliance

Here are the PHB essentia, in my opinion:
  • Three Basic Rules (p 11)
  • Power Types and Usage (p 54)
  • Skills (p178-179)
  • Feats (p 192)
  • Rest and Recovery (p 263)
  • All of Chapter 9 [Combat] (p 264-295)

A player needs to read the sections for building his or her character -- race, class, powers, feats, equipment, etc. But those are PC-specific. The above list is for everyone, regardless of the race or class or build or concept they are playing.
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