Why Are Most Modules Terrible?

and three things the best of the best do right

As I write this, my bookshelf is reflected just behind me on my monitor screen, which is filled to the brim with RPG products. Many of them are systems, but most are modules.

Adventures. Settings. Campaigns. You get the drill.

This year, I began actually sitting down and reading what I bought. Gasp! You mean actually getting value out of the thing you paid money for? Yes, dear reader. The number of unread books that sit on my shelves is frankly embarrassing.

But as I’ve gotten through 5, then 10, then 30—a dawning horror washed over me:

Most of these are not very good.

Some of them are kind of minor issues. Layout, spelling (oof), or other things that I can look past. But the worst ones fail in one or more of the three essential elements of a functional module.

These three things are so important that I would wager that if they don’t have them, you’ll be playing pinch hitter with the module designer, trying to throw down railroad tracks before your game goes careening off the cliff.

So let’s talk about them.

1. Modules Should Highlight Systems

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When I sit down to read a module, I’m likely planning on running it. I expect the module to show me what makes this system tick so that I, as the GM, can adequately set the tone and expectations for my players in each evolving scenario during play.

Functionally, this means that the module should have both of the following:

• It should help me understand the core mechanic(s).
  Think of things like the d20 roll in Dungeons & Dragons, the 2d6 roll in Powered by the Apocalypse games, or the Hope / Fear rolls of Daggerheart.

• It should help me understand what the system is trying to accomplish.
  Think of things like dungeon-delving in D&D, trying to survive in Mothership, or living the legacy of a knight in Pendragon.

As an aside, there are obviously modules out there that are system “agnostic” or “neutral.” I think the reason these modules don’t find as much success as ones explicitly written for a system is outlined above.

If a module fills one of the bullets above, it can probably get away with a bit more. A dungeon-crawling adventure that isn’t geared towards a specific adventure can succeed if it’s easy to translate for a wide array of systems. This is pretty typical in OSR spaces, where many games utilize the same HD, AC, HP, etc. mechanics.

In other words, it’s much more critical that a module makes it easy to determine what it’s trying to accomplish. That way, a potential reader knows what games it can work in.

“But wait!” you may be thinking, “What if this is aimed towards more experienced game masters who already know that stuff?”

Even better. Experienced GMs don’t need less guidance—they need better guidance. They want to see how this module interprets the system.

A great module takes these things and often reframes them. It demonstrates the tone, pace, and emergent priorities of play differently from other offerings for the system and setting.

And speaking of tone…

2. Modules Should Be Tonally Consistent

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Writers of novels and stories often use literary tropes like "twist endings” or “ally-to-villain betrayal.” These tropes are used for a reason; they are easy to understand and predictable in a way that (if done correctly) feels like a reward for the savvy reader.

That said, modules are not novels or stories. They are quantum bundles of scenarios that will or will not play out depending on the players' actions.

Writing a module like a novel can very easily veer into the dreaded r-word territory, with the module building upon itself like a house of cards until you’re dead-ended into railroading your playgroup. And when agency goes, so does the game.

This often plagues new writers and game masters alike. If you can’t control where or when or even what things happen, how can you ever hope to plan for them?

Simple: tonal consistency.

• It should establish and maintain a clear tone.
  Think of things like bleak desperation in Mothership, emotional and brooding inner turmoil in Changeling the Lost, or whimsical brutality in Troika!

• It should help the GM reinforce that tone at the table.
  This might be NPC voices, room descriptions, encounters, or even just the questions the module asks the GM to pose to the players.

At this point, your module does a good job of representing the system and establishes a clear tone that is easy for the GM to translate at the table.

Now it’s time to break away from all that:

3. Modules Should Bend The Rules

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It’d be a boring milieu if dungeon-crawling games could only be in dungeons, or scary sci-fi games could only deal with monstrous aliens. Imagine if every murder-mystery were Holmesian in nature!

You don’t have to adhere rigidly to a system's core rules in every module. The best ones take what makes the system tick and add a few fun twists.

Here are two things I’m looking for in new-to-this-module additions:

• They should add new context to existing rules or settings.
  Think of things like Prospero’s Dream in the Mothership module “A Pound of Flesh”, the Dying Earth supplements for Dungeon Crawl Classics, or the pseudo-reputation system for deities in Mythic Odysseys of Theros for D&D 5E.

• They should introduce wholly new rules that fit the system and tone.
  This could involve adding monster hunting and harvesting to games with lots of monster combat or rules for new disastrous weather conditions in a survival game.

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You’re probably wondering:

“That’s all well and good, but can you give us some examples of what modules do these things?”

Honestly, I don’t really have to. You can look up the best-rated modules in the business yourself by just going on Reddit, Google, ENWorld, etc.

You’ll be hard-pressed to find any that don’t hit all three things above.

Seriously, go give it a try and report back. If you can find a module that’s highly-rated that doesn’t do what I outline, let me know! And if you’re writing your own module, you can look at it through the lens above and ask yourself:

• Is my module representing the system well?

• Is my module sticking to a tone?

• Is my module doing something new and exciting?

If you can answer yes to all of them, you’ve probably got a winner (and I’d like to read it, please and thank you).🟦

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