Modules you played that immediately went off the path

[Sac2:Electric Bugaloo]

I suppose this could be for any system, but is probably best suited for AD&D and B/E since that's when most of the published modules were released as stand alone adventures.

The question is, what modules did your group get together with the intent of running, only to find out that the game went off on a completely different direction rather quickly, leaving most of the module untouched?

For me, one that stands out was Keep on the Borderland, about 1985 or so. We got together to play it, be we never actually made it to the caves. En route, we were ambushed by a group of lizard men and captured. The lizard man shaman stripped us of all our equipment and put us in a valley. Our weapons and equipment were hidden throughout the valley, and there were other participants as well (orcs, other captives, etc). The goal was to survive and make your way out of the valley. We were all placed randomly within the valley--no one was partnered with another.

After beating the Lizard men, we then went to help a town of halflings who were being attacked by a green dragon. We still used the keep as a base of operations, but never actually went and explored the caves like we intended.

[Morandir]

KotB, oddly enough. I settled on it as the introductory adventure to my fledgling OD&D game, and it went smoothly enough for the first two sessions. Then, during the third session I threw a random adventure hook at the party (an elf looking for assistance in finding and looting a particular mage's tower), and to my surprise they took it. They only explored the kobold, goblin and hobgoblin lairs, and haven't been back since.

I'm not sure if that counts as "immediately," but I was sure surprised. These guys really keep me on my toes!

Mor

[That Idiot]

The first time I started the Burning Sky campaign, the party fell to fighting each other in the tavern that starts the game. Add in some invaders and there was a TPK in the opening scene.

[Sac2:Electric Bugaloo]

Originally Posted by That Idiot

The first time I started the Burning Sky campaign, the party fell to fighting each other in the tavern that starts the game. Add in some invaders and there was a TPK in the opening scene.

[aboyd]

Originally Posted by Sac2:Electric Bugaloo

The question is, what modules did your group get together with the intent of running, only to find out that the game went off on a completely different direction rather quickly, leaving most of the module untouched?

Well, this isn't quickly going off-module, but in the Freeport trilogy, we abandoned the town to their evil fate, sailing off as the lighthouse came online and turned everyone into Cuthulu-bait. In the Red Hand of Doom campaign, we got into a fight with an NPC in Drellin's Ferry, and said, "Good luck against the horde, hope yer kids survive!" Then we left them to be overrun.

In The Sinister Spire, we were supposed to hit a magical transport node, be flashed into the underdark (specifically, the city of Pedestal) and begin... well, whatever that module had planned. We did go through the node and arrive on the outskirts of town, but we bought a Teleportation scroll from the merchant (Brurhwol), and just teleported away, never once even entering the city.

We may be a DM's worst nightmare. All those modules were abandoned in a single campaign.

[rotru]

Originally Posted by aboyd

Well, this isn't quickly going off-module, but in the Freeport trilogy, we abandoned the town to their evil fate, sailing off as the lighthouse came online and turned everyone into Cuthulu-bait. In the Red Hand of Doom campaign, we got into a fight with an NPC in Drellin's Ferry, and said, "Good luck against the horde, hope yer kids survive!" Then we left them to be overrun.

In The Sinister Spire, we were supposed to hit a magical transport node, be flashed into the underdark (specifically, the city of Pedestal) and begin... well, whatever that module had planned. We did go through the node and arrive on the outskirts of town, but we bought a Teleportation scroll from the merchant (Brurhwol), and just teleported away, never once even entering the city.

We may be a DM's worst nightmare. All those modules were abandoned in a single campaign.

Ouch. Was the DM cool with it, and did he/she have other stuff ready to run instead?

It sounds like these were rejected out of hand before they even started. Did you talk with the DM about why you didn't bite? If this was an established campaign, I can see the pre-existing hooks being more interesting than the modules.

This has not happened to me yet, as my players are just passive enough to really relish the obvious quests I throw at them. Left to their own devices, they have started a bar/brewery and began the process of expanding their beer across the land, but real adventuring has always been in response to external events.

[OneEyedMan]

Originally Posted by That Idiot

The first time I started the Burning Sky campaign, the party fell to fighting each other in the tavern that starts the game. Add in some invaders and there was a TPK in the opening scene.

You sure you weren't playing Paranoia?

I ran B3 Palace of the Silver Princess once, and the party resolutely refused to enter the palace gates. "Red glow? Kills on contact? Hellfuck no! We're not going in!" So I had to make up the surrounding town on the spot and give them something to do. Had fun, but man did they torch the plot wagon on that one.

-J

[ANTImunchkin]

I ran some fellas through KotB back in '85-- not only did they not make it the Caves, but they decided to hire the mercs at the Inn, and ally themselves with the Chaotic Raiders and attack the Keep.

The attack ravaged the outer bailey, but they were driven off. Then the raiders splintered into factions and threw down over the swag. And then were all killed by the Castellan and a force of guardsmen.

It was a hoot.

[Vulcan's Wrath]

Temple of Elemental Evil.

My players wandered around the site for a while and eventually investigated the well.

Did you know that the well leads to a corridor on the third level? I certainly didn't!

[aboyd]

Originally Posted by rotru

Ouch. Was the DM cool with it, and did he/she have other stuff ready to run instead?

It sounds like these were rejected out of hand before they even started. Did you talk with the DM about why you didn't bite? If this was an established campaign, I can see the pre-existing hooks being more interesting than the modules.

Mostly you have the right idea, there. We teleported out of Sinister Spire because we were hell-bent on killing some king, elsewhere. We sailed away from Freeport because we changed DMs, and he wanted to shoot us into another module. It helped that we were a chaotic neutral party, and we really bristled under the Freeport assumption that PCs are do-gooders.

But when we got into a fight in Drellin's Ferry and left them to the horde, that threw the DM for wild loop. His wife told us that after we left that night he said to her, "I have no idea what to do for this game." Shortly after that was when he threw the Sinister Spire at us, but by then we were so intent on killing the king that we didn't want to do anything else.

In fact, we made a thread about it here. Even though that thread is a month old, we're still in the middle of trying to ambush the guy.