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So you used to play D&D ALL the time - and now you play card games (mostly CCG's). You do this partly because it was something new, partly because it's fun and partly because it takes SO much less time - and, at least in part, because that's what all of your friends are now playing, what with families and jobs and all that other 'real life' stuff getting in the way, they don't have the time either.

But you really hunger for the involvement that role playing gave you. The card games are cool and there's always something new, but it's not really the rich world you hanker for. And the computer, whether solo or an "online" world, just isn't cutting it for you. I mean, Asheron's Call is GREAT, but you miss sitting in a room, trading barbs and jokes face to face. You really want to go face to face, roll some dice and ROLE play.

Maybe it's time to look at some of the modules.

I know, I know - modules are for SISSIES! Only *newbies* use modules. Modules are for the cretins who can't think up their own interesting storyline...

So that's what we've told ourselves all these years while we built unending stories, hunched over graph paper using unending hours of dice rolling to support this unending habit. But maybe, now that we're so busy we forget what holiday this month brings, it's time to take a look at some shortcuts. And maybe we can find some that don't' smack of Madison Avenue.

Modules have 2 things over most anything we build by ourselves. First, it takes way less time to adapt a module then to build a story and second, it's almost always shorter than what we build in our heads, which means it's playable in a long evening or a comfortable afternoon session. Now I know there are some amazing GM/DM's out there, that can build a story for us to play in and have it last exactly 3.36 hours, no matter who's playing or how wordy they get. But, for most of us, that's not even a dream. Our stories tend to last multiple day long sessions or 90 minutes, 'cause we tried to go "simple" and our players know us too well.

So - we're gonna try a module. What approach will get us the most savings of time (arguably the real reason we picked this approach anyway) and get us the most flexibility/use of our existing NPC's (or at least believable off shoots from existing stories)?

The first step is to find a module that will allow the flexibility of keeping your own, already brilliantly designed, NPC's active in the world. Whether they actually appear in this event or not is not the point, that they could is the point. Whether you created a "stock" D&D map-world, use one that was built by TSR (such as Grayhawk(tm) & or Forgotten Realms(tm)) or slapped something together from a multitude of other worlds (apologies to writers who's worlds were never intended to be filled with my best buddies' imaginative characters), the module you pick should be able to handle the world you're plugging it into, and vice versa.

I'll note here for some, the module, by itself, is perfectly fine and lots of fun. That's cool, but this article is focusing on the GM who built their own (often 20+ years ago) and wants to keep playing in it, but doesn't always have time for creating new story lines between the reports that are due and the diapers that need changing (or the soccer games that need attending).

The second step is to pick a module which doesn't irritate the living daylights out of you, the GM, or your players. If you know your players don't like "out of period" stuff - the modules that put them in Victorian clothes and make their sailing ships into flying spaceships probably don't fit your group real well. If you have a group that loves the absurd, than the Alice-in-Wonderland approach (and there are a few) should work just fine. But in either case (or any other), you need to pick one you won't mind reading thru a few times and GM'ing for 4-6 hours (the average length) and that you think your players will get a kick out of too. After all, that's a good chunk of why you wanted to get together in a role playing game anyway - so you all could have fun!

The third step often revolves around what version of D&D rules you use vs. what version the module you picked uses. Don't worry about it - pick a module you like, and yes, the older ones are often the cheaper ones, and adapt it. Sure, it takes less time if it matches the version of the rules you use, but the choices are limited too. Adapting from even 1st edition D&D to current (that's 3rd ed. for you older types out there :->), isn't so hard. The modules don't spend a lot of time on things that are that rule-bound (or so is my experience). The module has monsters? Great - slap in stats that make sense for your players and your world. Half the time they're too weak or too strong for my folks anyway, so have to be changed, even if we are, by some amazing coincidence, using the same version of the rules. The module has NPC's? Same deal - slap in stats that make sense for your group.

The main reason for buying modules is to get a story and some accomplishable tasks that will fit into a relatively specific time frame, not to mention a completed map you didn't have to draw (yea!). If the NPC's and monsters need a little stat tweaking to fit, that hardly makes the module useless. You just get to spend a little time making it "your own".

All in all, a pretty good deal. One of our best gaming events came from one of our GM's taking a very old module and running us through it, then adapting the end into a storyline that became an integral part of her world. We got the best of both worlds, both a short session (the first one) and a great, long storyline that integrated beautifully into her world.

And hey, if you're looking to save a few bucks, WotC (the current owner of TSR and Dungeons and Dragons) even has some very classic modules for free download. So, go out there and grab a module and tweak it till it hurts - Or at least until you can have some real fun with it!