I have just re-read the last 2 years of Dungeon magazines and I have noticed an impressive amount of praise for Greg A. Vaughan in these pages by staff, subscribers and authors. Most people seem to have been overly impressed with Tammeraut's Fate but also by the Istivin mini campaign. While I recognize obvious qualities to these adventures, I can't say that I am impressed to a point where I would put Mr Vaughan work over most other authors' like some people seem to do. I am curious as to why people think that his adventures (as opposed to other author's) deserve that much praise. In your opinion, what makes Tammeraut's fate such a great adventure? Which aspect of the game do you feel that Vaughan excels at? What is he doing that others are not doing?
Don't get me wrong here. I am not trying at all to put down Mr. Vaughan's work (which I respect a lot), I am just trying to get a feel for what people like and why they seem to like his stuff better.
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Ok, I haven't played the Istivin adventures yet, but I played Tammeraut's Fate.
My player's loved this adventure. We had the best time in years with fighting the undead on the island!
What makes Tammeraut's Fate outstanding for me is the fact, that it is easy to prepare. It's an isolated island and you have almost everything in hand and you can easily improvise here. It's almost like RAVENLOFT1, where you had just the castle of Strahd.
Tameraut's Fate has a great dungeon-feel without actually being a real dungeon. My player's jumped on the idea to prepare for the fight in the evening. Afterwards they told me they've felt like The Seven Samurai or The Glorius Seven (don't know if this is the original titel of the Western-Movie).
Greg A. Vaughnan's adventures rock, because they are very atmospheric and everything is nicely thought of. The storys always make sense and I never had the thought, while reading, why would this or that by?
Looking at Tammerauts Fate, it has a strong background and is very well written, the remote island setting promises plenty of potential for adventuring and the synopsis moves the action along very well.
From the moment the ferry departs the island there is a terrific feel of isolation with this adventure, that there is something out there and that its coming back, these feelings are strong in great movies like Blair Witch, Deliverance and Aliens and are very hard to capture in writing, and that’s the first great point about this adventure – the atmosphere.
The heroes explore the island and come upon the survivors, as the sun sets the heroes settle in to the hermitage and ready for an attack, the hermitage itself is a strong setting and another plus of this adventure. The drowned ones are memorable and another plus, the undead rising from the sea is a strong image, and the attacks, which can go on all night, have a strong oppressive quality, will they be back? How many are out there?
Finally dawn breaks and gives the characters the opportunity to further explore the island, and eventually discover that there is something beneath the ocean, a fine ending to a very good adventure.
This adventure has bags of atmosphere, suspense and some powerful images, these feelings are very hard to capture in writing – I’ve tried 3 submissions along similar lines to Tammerauts Fate and they’ve all been rejected, but I shall keep trying as the result when it works – as it does in Tammerauts Fate – is worth it. Greg makes this look easy, and it isn’t, he’s a very good writer who has a strong talent for imagery and constructing adventures.
I guess everyone will have things they like and dislike about the magazine and will have their favourites (there are numerous threads on these pages to testify to that), Willie Walsh would be one of mine but he’s not everybody’s cup of tea.
To me if you want adventures that have bags of atmosphere, that run as well as they are written and have memorable scenes then look for Greg's work.
Rich
Hear, hear ;)
I totally agree on your ravenloft connection, sounds like you had great fun with this Dryder! The Istvin series seem to me to just continue Gregs fine work.
Rich
Other strong images from Tammeraut's fate:
- The Harpies fighting over the washed up body
- The bell ringing 5 times at the PC's approach, then falling silent
- The grotto with its mass of corpses and the hiding Chull (yuk)
- The survivors inflicted with the skin disease (forget which one)
This adventure is great. There are so many adventure ideas where you have to fight a swarm of undead, or reseal a "dark portal." Greg found a way to use these tired ideas in a very vivid, focused setting, full of strong imagery and characters. Plus, it was completely open-ended, as the PCs could prepare for the zombie attack however they chose.
Richard Pett's "The Styes" works for the exact same reason, and also explains why HE gets such acclaim as well (at least from me and my geeky cronies here in Indianapolis). The heart of that story is about an evil cult and a dark creature ammassing power - a very familiar adventure arc. It's the strong characters and vivid setting that make it seem so fresh.
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Another strength of Greg's is that he can insert 'historical antecedents' pretty darn seemlessly. Istivin is full of references to supporting characters from the original Against the Giants campaign and they are used in a way that doesn't feel forced or stilted. He's able to satisfy the nostalgic feeling without ramming the nostalgia down your throat.
Anybody that is obviously entrenched in the greatness of Greyhawk has my vote. Tammeraut's Fate was obviously an auspicious beginning.
But just so Greg's head doesn't swell too much I found the third part of the Istivin series a little bit of a let down. The first two parts seemed to build some momentum but it didn't build to a satisfying conclusion IMHO.
I am really looking forward to his take on the AP, I have a feeling its gonna be awesome.
Erik mentioned it in a thread or in one if his editorials.
I've personally enjoyed the detail to Greyhawk history that Greg put into his Campaign Arc.
I for one hope to see more of his stuff grace the pages of [I]DUNGEON[I/]
ASEO out
I am curious as to why people think that his adventures (as opposed to other author's) deserve that much praise.
I don't see it either. I haven't read Tammeraut's Fate, but I read the Istivin stuff. The backdrop was excellent, the first and third adventures were pretty solid, the second one was very good I thought. I wasn't impressed with the Isle of Dread stuff. G.V. is good, but I don't understand why he is deserving of superstardom around here, unless it's just because his work feeds into the nostalgia of the long-time Greyhawkers that are the most vocal on these boards and in Prison Mail.
Hear, Hear, again!!!
Mind you all - ASEO hopes to see more stuff of Greg, and ASEO is one of the hardest critics on these boards ;)
Man, My rep that bad ;-)
The only thing I hate is Wil Save.
ASEO out
Yeah Erik listed authors in one of his editorials, I don't remember which issue but...
Greg A Vaughn, Mike Mearls, and Sean K Reynolds kinda stuck out for me.
I am sure the whole roster is grade A so nobody crucify me if I didn't mention your favorite author for Dungeon...
Oh, I am pretty sure he mentioned Jason Buhlman who wrote the fantastic Mad God's Key.
Pretty much its a great time to be a Greyhawk fan who subscribes to Dungeon.
Oh, and "The Portent" *Shudder*
ASEO out
I've really got to reread Tammeraut's Fate. I didn't really give it much attention when I first saw it, but everyone speaks so highly of Greg's work that I need to give it another look. It sounds like a perfect fit for my Freeport campaign. Unfortunately I already ran Altas' Maiden Voyage. I could run ocean-going psuedo-zombie adventures pretty much indefinately, but I'm not sure how much variation on the theme my PCs can handle.
No, no! Actually I can't wait for another one of your posts! Their honest - I like that! ;)
I think Greg's ability to reach into the past and pull characters and locations out of 1st edition really keep the feel that sometimes gets lost when a new edition comes out. He skillfully reinvigorates the campaign world (Greyhawk in particular, but he may have a few other touch back adventures in the works). I find myself going into my gaming resource archives and looking up the old modules and characters that are referenced. When reading his adventures, I can see the Players running PCs that are children of the PCs that they ran through the original adventures. His Against the Giants style campaign arc was perfect that way.
I for one would love to see future prequels and sequels to that campaign arc. It has AP written all over it if you ask me. This doesn’t have to be done as an official AP, but could be done with a series of adventures that could be one day run as a complete campaign.
ASEO out
Imagine my surprise as I peruse the boards and notice one with my brother's name. I'm the oldest, I'm supposed to be the one with the fame and glory . . . .
Seriously, I too want to add my kudos to Greg's writing. Growing up playing D&D he was normally the DM as he was a much better writer and storyteller than I will ever be. Even from a very young age he had the ability to weave a compelling story. Granted, at 8 years old, they weren't very deep, but they were interesting. I recently got to playtest an adventure he's submitting that has a couple of references to our early days of D&D. He actually wrote one adventure for a college creative writing class (about 100 pages) and got an A even though the teacher didn't understand the rules.
I guess that's enough sucking up (can you suck up to a younger sibling?). Bottom line, I have to applaud Greg's writing. Not just because he's my brother, but because I truly feel he does an outstanding job. Is he going to be everybody's cup of tea? Of course not. Oh, and personally, I think he's a better DM than author. Even with that dual TPK in "Vesicant" oh so many years ago.