Everything is a potential sourcebook.

I can’t stress this enough. Beg, borrow, steal, plunder and loot everything and anything you can from other TTRPGs and add it to the one you’re running. Inspiration is everywhere. Running D&D 5E? Every other fantasy game is your oyster.

I know I’ve mentioned this before but I haven’t found the article yet. (*LOL!) I’ve taken Star Wars modules and run them for D&D. I’ve taken D&D modules and kitbashed them into Star Wars. Superhero games- File off the statistics and change the names. Done. Star Frontiers into Starfinder.

I love the idea of dropping really old modules onto new players.

They will literally never know what hit them. Take modules from older editions of D&D and mod them into 5E. There are even conversions available on DMs Guild for some of the more popular ones. Sure, they’ve heard of Strahd. But wait’ll they get a load of Lord of the Iron Fortress or even Sunless Citadel. Or go way back and grab an adventure out of Dungeon Magazine or Polyhedron.

I think my copy of Necromancer Games’ Crucible of Freya is around here somewhere. I have a ton of 3-3.5 era Dungeon Crawl Classics modules lying about that I know my 5E group hasn’t played, except for my wife… hmm. There’s also my collection of 4E modules that run all the way up into Prince of Undeath. We’ll see how they feel about the Balor after that. Alderac Entertainment also made some really good stuff back in the old days.

Now, imagine taking all of these old D&D treasures and switching up the system.

Need to prep a game session on short notice? Grab an old module (preferably one you already know) such as D&D Isle of Dread and convert it to Dungeon Crawl Classics or Shadowdark Rules. Shorter on time yet? Convert them into ICRPG or EZD6. It’s amazing how little stats even come into play for some games. All you really need are the NPC descriptions and the scenario.

I love post apocalyptic setting games like Gamma World, Rifts, or Mork Borg and slide in any module from just about anywhere and it’ll work. Basically, any adventure you’ve written, read, or can buy is probably adaptable to another game, genre, setting, or system. Sometimes you have to tweak around psionics or magic depending on the game, but it almost inevitably works.

The quick read method.

All you really, truly need to run any adventure is key NPC names, setting/locale names, and the situation. Long time GMs are likely used to scanning modules for such things. Stats? Maybe if there’s combat, traps, or magic in play. Unlike module writers of old, we aren’t required to stat out every single NPC and creature the group encounters. I’ll likely be discussing this technique in a future article.

If you think about it, it’s your game. Run it the way you want to do it. Sure, Crash on Volturnus was written for OG Star Frontiers, players don’t need to know that unless you happen to pull out the adventure in front of them or if it’s on the maps. But, otherwise, they’re never going to know.

Used book stores are a treasure trove of old modules.

If you know where to look, you can probably find enough material to last you a decade or so in old D&D modules. That’s just T$R and WotC. There are hundreds of modules written by third party publishers. Some good, some great, and others that are amazeballs. Garage sales can be a good potential source of stuff, depending on who you know.

Dungeon Magazine is awesome if you can find back issues. Polyhedron as well, if you can find them. Some of these classics can be found online if you dig a little. Of course, there are hundreds of adventures to be found on the worldwide interwebs with a little digging. Most will by written for D&D in some form, but as I said- conversion is usually pretty easy. A lot of game company websites tend to have free downloadable adventures and maps, too.

Apply my advice at your own peril.

Some mash-ups probably work better than others. Keep on the Borderlands where we swap out Orcs for German troops and run it for Operation White Box might get kinda weird. Then again, weird is pretty cool sometimes.

I always say what works at my table might not work for yours. Some people prefer to keep their setting completely free of magic or any other strangeness. Gritty realism sometimes goes right out the window in fantasy games. Likewise, magic or psionics might kinda wreck a Covert Ops mission because there are things we can’t do in the real world. Please try to think ahead before dropping elements that will give one side a distinct advantage in the game.

Superhero games such as ICONS can go to pieces really fast if the power balance isn’t checked ahead of time. I.E. Don’t put Spidey up against Lex Luthor. It’s not likely to end well because Lex is used to dealing with the Man of Steel. Spidey would likely be little more than a nuisance by comparison. (*Insert evil villain laugh here.)

However you do it, have fun. Just try to keep names, settings, and the basic scenario straight. I find sticky notes can be very helpful for this. You might want to make notes for yourself ahead of time during game prep. If there’s any kind of combat scenario, please remember to read it over and make substitutions as needed.

Thank you for being here. Below is a list of all of the games referenced in this article, minus a couple of the big ones. Please go on DriveThruRPG.com and take a look. Please remember indie TTRPG designers need your support. Make the best of your game sessions, regardless.