Third edition's OGL policies changed a lot of things. I expect they looked at the sales figures since 2000 and decided modules like that aren't worth it for them. It's not like there aren't tons to be found on DM's Guild, and modules are usually fairly easy to convert from one edition to another.
I suspect that WotC made the OGL after looking at sales figures from TSR and decided that small one-and-done modules weren't worth bothering with. For the first couple of years after 3.0 came out, there were tons of such modules (most of which were terrible) produced by fly by night companies that littered gaming store shelves. And then they basically vanished.
A lot of the adventures on that list don't really qualify has short modules, and many of the ones that do were either packaged with a larger book or used as a promotion for something. Very few of them were just sold as stand alone products. The majority of short modules that WotC produced for Third Edition were given away for free as participation prizes for events.
On that note as well, you link does not include the hundreds of modules that were released as part of the digital versions of the Dungeon Magazine throughout the 4th Ed era.
"This is a list of official Dungeons & Dragons adventures published by Wizards of the Coast as separate publications. It does not include adventures published as part of supplements, officially licensed Dungeons & Dragons adventures published by other companies, official d20 System adventures and other Open Game License adventures that may be compatible with Dungeons & Dragons."
Modules that are part of a larger publication are less relevant for the topic at hand. They help sell that larger publication, but it's impossible to tell how valuable they are for that. I don't think they're the kind of thing Jeffiaz was refering to (but I could be wrong).
Just pointing out that both the Scales of War and Chaos Scar modules are missing from this list. And since those are two of the more recognizable modules from the 4th Ed era, I would wager that either, for some reason, they are not counted as "modules," or the definition of what a "module" is seems overly specific. All I do know is that in all my years of D&Ding, I've never been confronted with a dearth of modules and adventures being put out, either by WotC directly, or through their affiliates.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
They bundle the smaller adventures into anthologies now instead of selling them individually as modules. Like the one that just came out recently, Candledeep.
On this note Candle keep and tales from the yawning portal are the main anthology official books I'm aware of.
I think Ghosts of Saltmarsh is also an anthology that _can_ be played as a campaign; but isn't necessarily designed to be so (it's largely reprints of modules IIRC).
If they were to print modules, they'd likely hurt their other two main sources of income and likely make less in the long run. Modules are effectively magazines that are intended to be viewed as quick non-important adventures... y'know, 5 sessions or less. And if they build on eachother the way that they used to, you run a big risk: You can't actually predict how many copies will sell. Sure, D1 will sell really well, but D2 will likely sell less, D3+ a lot less, all at the same cost to print, so you lose money as you produce more in the same story. Instead, Wizards can say, "Let's do high seas!" And print Ghosts of Salt Marsh, or "Indiana Jones!" And get Tomb of Annihilation. "Cramped Underdark" and you get Out of the Abyss. Each Adventure Book forces the buyer to get the entire line at a lower cost to produce, and since it's always a new kind of game, it's easier to guess around how much money it'll make.
I had to check, but yes Ghosts of Salt Marsh is a set of adventures that aren't necessarily connected, it's an anthology. Also modules were not supposed to be inconsequential or non-important. Look at the earliest modules and look at that numbering system. Modules were called so because they were "modular" which means they could be _integrated_ into a campaign. Sure Modules could be played as "one and done" things but most of the module series were somewhere between trilogies and pentologies that would take players through tiers of play ... sort of like what the hardback adventures do, just the latter is all bundled together so less costly distribution (one release instead of 3-5 over the course of a year).
I think your estimate of Adventurers' League in D&D is a bit overdone. There's league play, and then there's the bulk of what everyone else is doing. Sure people can purchase AL content via DMsGuild, with all the other content. AL has a veneer of being "sanctioned" by some adjudicating body, but this is just 2e's Living City with the RPGA now focused exclusively on one game.
Then we look at their other front: Adventurer's League. AL doesn't look like it, but it's the primary way that D&D Advertizes.
Only anecdotal but I didn't know what AL was until maybe a couple of years after I was up to speed on what 5e is. Quick shout out to my game community, including some folks who are industry reps for other games, were "what's that" when I mentioned it in passing to confirm my instinct.
And the last point which I just realized: D&D is trying to pass itself off as Premium Product. Look at those glossy books with their inclusive art and bleed edges! The only way to get something that isn't hardcover is to buy a Starter Set which still hides its soft cover behind a hard box. Mass Market Magazine print adventures gives D&D a disposable appearance that goes against their current branding... which is why the only way you can actually find shorter adventures printed on normal (non-edge beld page) paper without the premium look is to find the AL PDF's and print them yourself. They're like $5 each and I'm really happy with my Tyranny of Dragons binder. Hit those up if your jonesing for a taste of the old fashioned.
The Hardcover, unfortunately*, is now a TTRPG industry standard, I'd say largely because of advances in publishing (both traditional and print on demand) have allowed it. Ironically, the truly premium products licensed for D&D (Beedle and Grim's metallic editions which basically do boxed set deluxe treatments of hardcovers in the $150-$250+ range, WotC learned something from this licensing agreement which is why we now have the ~$100 Strahd Revamped boxed set) has returned the hardback into a set of softcover books (sort of like modules!) for better use at the table with all the other fancy accessories you get with them.
Again, there's a lot of good product on DMsGuild that doesn't have the AL seal of approval (but actually have WotC approval, of course there are plenty that don't have the WotC as well that are as competitive on the creative quality and production value front).
*I like hardcovers for my bookshelf, but I'd prefer something a little more "splat downable" with my game products. Of course, most of my boxed sets and softcovers are held together by various varieties of tape, so I can see it from a longevity point of view.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Wow lads, very interesting discussion. Thx for the insight to the history and likely marketing reasoning behind the shift from modules to the current thick books. I might have done without the Adam Smith lesson, but hey. ;p
LUV the idea of Homebrew Adventures here on DNDBeyond. Fantastic idea!
And I do like that it was pointed out that modules, at least as I remember them (I'm old!) were a part of a larger story. That's why they were modular!
And yea, as someone pointed out maybe long form campaigns are all the rage? Confession; I'm obsessed with Critical Role. Only started watching at Campaign 2, EP 100. Man, the Matt guy is flippin' good.
Also - "splat downable" should be a publishing term! :D
Also - "splat downable" should be a publishing term! :D
I was riffing off of "splat books" which AFAIK has a sort of chicken and egg history with publishers and the player community. Basically I think around 2e or so and/or White Wolf's World of Darkness, you'd have these books for the various D&D classes and Clans and Factions in the White Wolf games. They were sort of constructed so a player could walk in and "splat" the book down and pretty much have their character based off those two pages. I think that's how they worked. But yeah late 90s early 00's Usenet discussion term that I think was eventually used by publishers to discuss them.
Do browse GM's Guild. It's not the perfect online storefront, but once you get the hang of searching you can find some good quality work for basically "pay what you can."
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Have you looked at the adventures league stuff, I am not sure if that counts as a module but they are episodic one shot games that have a narrative behind them.
Wow! MidnightPlat, I had forgotten White Wolf. Only had seen a very few things they did in the 80s. Somehow someone in my local shop got some, pretty cool considering I grew up on an island (<-- Maritimer). Usenet!?! Oh wow.
And yes, I've found DMsGuild everyone. Thx! I get the newsletter too, new stuff all the time! :)
Just pointing out that both the Scales of War and Chaos Scar modules are missing from this list. And since those are two of the more recognizable modules from the 4th Ed era, I would wager that either, for some reason, they are not counted as "modules," or the definition of what a "module" is seems overly specific. All I do know is that in all my years of D&Ding, I've never been confronted with a dearth of modules and adventures being put out, either by WotC directly, or through their affiliates.
Both published episodically in Dungeon Magazine if I'm not mistaken, so not separate publications.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
I think Ghosts of Saltmarsh is also an anthology that _can_ be played as a campaign; but isn't necessarily designed to be so (it's largely reprints of modules IIRC).
I had to check, but yes Ghosts of Salt Marsh is a set of adventures that aren't necessarily connected, it's an anthology. Also modules were not supposed to be inconsequential or non-important. Look at the earliest modules and look at that numbering system. Modules were called so because they were "modular" which means they could be _integrated_ into a campaign. Sure Modules could be played as "one and done" things but most of the module series were somewhere between trilogies and pentologies that would take players through tiers of play ... sort of like what the hardback adventures do, just the latter is all bundled together so less costly distribution (one release instead of 3-5 over the course of a year).
I think your estimate of Adventurers' League in D&D is a bit overdone. There's league play, and then there's the bulk of what everyone else is doing. Sure people can purchase AL content via DMsGuild, with all the other content. AL has a veneer of being "sanctioned" by some adjudicating body, but this is just 2e's Living City with the RPGA now focused exclusively on one game.
Only anecdotal but I didn't know what AL was until maybe a couple of years after I was up to speed on what 5e is. Quick shout out to my game community, including some folks who are industry reps for other games, were "what's that" when I mentioned it in passing to confirm my instinct.
The Hardcover, unfortunately*, is now a TTRPG industry standard, I'd say largely because of advances in publishing (both traditional and print on demand) have allowed it. Ironically, the truly premium products licensed for D&D (Beedle and Grim's metallic editions which basically do boxed set deluxe treatments of hardcovers in the $150-$250+ range, WotC learned something from this licensing agreement which is why we now have the ~$100 Strahd Revamped boxed set) has returned the hardback into a set of softcover books (sort of like modules!) for better use at the table with all the other fancy accessories you get with them.
Again, there's a lot of good product on DMsGuild that doesn't have the AL seal of approval (but actually have WotC approval, of course there are plenty that don't have the WotC as well that are as competitive on the creative quality and production value front).
*I like hardcovers for my bookshelf, but I'd prefer something a little more "splat downable" with my game products. Of course, most of my boxed sets and softcovers are held together by various varieties of tape, so I can see it from a longevity point of view.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Wow lads, very interesting discussion. Thx for the insight to the history and likely marketing reasoning behind the shift from modules to the current thick books. I might have done without the Adam Smith lesson, but hey. ;p
LUV the idea of Homebrew Adventures here on DNDBeyond. Fantastic idea!
And I do like that it was pointed out that modules, at least as I remember them (I'm old!) were a part of a larger story. That's why they were modular!
And yea, as someone pointed out maybe long form campaigns are all the rage? Confession; I'm obsessed with Critical Role. Only started watching at Campaign 2, EP 100. Man, the Matt guy is flippin' good.
Also - "splat downable" should be a publishing term! :D
I was riffing off of "splat books" which AFAIK has a sort of chicken and egg history with publishers and the player community. Basically I think around 2e or so and/or White Wolf's World of Darkness, you'd have these books for the various D&D classes and Clans and Factions in the White Wolf games. They were sort of constructed so a player could walk in and "splat" the book down and pretty much have their character based off those two pages. I think that's how they worked. But yeah late 90s early 00's Usenet discussion term that I think was eventually used by publishers to discuss them.
Do browse GM's Guild. It's not the perfect online storefront, but once you get the hang of searching you can find some good quality work for basically "pay what you can."
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Have you looked at the adventures league stuff, I am not sure if that counts as a module but they are episodic one shot games that have a narrative behind them.
Wow! MidnightPlat, I had forgotten White Wolf. Only had seen a very few things they did in the 80s. Somehow someone in my local shop got some, pretty cool considering I grew up on an island (<-- Maritimer). Usenet!?! Oh wow.
And yes, I've found DMsGuild everyone. Thx! I get the newsletter too, new stuff all the time! :)
https://www.dmsguild.com