Modules Question

Hey Guys, New DM here.  Well, not new...i've been playing D&D for about 20 years now, but this is my first time using Roll20.  I ran a small campaign for 3 players over the weekend using the "Master's Vault" free module to see if we'd like this system.  I bought the Player's Handbook compendium to add to the game, because I really wanted all the classes for the player's to build their heroes from. My question is on the larger paid ones specifically.  For example, the $50 dollar WotC modules.   Will those big modules have all the enemies/npc's pre-made, as well locations?  What should I be expecting?  I wish I could preview it before purchasing so I had a better idea.  If it's just 10 pre-made maps and 20 pre-made monsters/npc tokens i'm not sure it'd be worth it.  Hoping someone could help clarify for me. Sorry if there is a resource I could be reading for this, I did try skimming a bit before posting.

The modules do have all of the maps, NPCs/monsters, and magic items (as handouts, not compendium entries) in the module. There are also handouts for each map that describe the locations in the map, and handouts for the general story information in the module. Essentially, the module has all of the information that the physical book has, but transformed into a format that is easily used on Roll20. The main benefit is the time it saves you when trying to set up a module otherwise. If you have the time to input all of the maps/NPCs/magic items yourself, you won't find much use in purchasing the module if you have the physical copy. But imagine not have to do any of that and being able to just drop the PCs into the module and get going in the same day. My only complaint is the format for the general story information. I would much rather receive a PDF version of the module than handouts, but then that becomes a licensing issue.

The maps are also already set up with the monster tokens in the right locations, and if you are a Plus/Pro subscriber you can utilize the built-in dynamic lightning.

Thanks Kyle, that was a quick and sufficient answer for me!

I have purchased Storm King's Thunder and Tomb of Horrors. Everything is set up and ready for you to start playing. You do not even need the book as the handouts contain all of the book's text (although some understandably find it a little difficult to read through in that format). My adventures follow the same format of containing everything you need to run the adventure, and I would assume that most of the adventures from other creators contain everything you need as well.

One other quick question.  When I add in a new module for a game - will it overwrite everything I have built in my current game?  Like player-characters and any NPC's I may have created, or will it just add to it?

Ryan S. said: One other quick question.  When I add in a new module for a game - will it overwrite everything I have built in my current game?  Like player-characters and any NPC's I may have created, or will it just add to it? A module is different from an add-on. A module can only be added to a game when you are creating  the game. Therefore there will not be anything in the game to override. An add-on can be added to an existing game. It will not overwrite existing data, except maybe in the case where an existing item shares the name of an item in the add-on.

Ahhhh, so i'd have to use character vault if I want to move existing PC's into a new game?  Gotcha.  I might just make a brand new campaign with the Storm King's Thunder then.  That one seems like it will last us for a bit. Really appreciate the responses Kyle!

Kyle G. said: Ryan S. said: One other quick question.  When I add in a new module for a game - will it overwrite everything I have built in my current game?  Like player-characters and any NPC's I may have created, or will it just add to it? A module is different from an add-on. A module can only be added to a game when you are creating  the game. Therefore there will not be anything in the game to override. An add-on can be added to an existing game. It will not overwrite existing data, except maybe in the case where an existing item shares the name of an item in the add-on. I am fairly certain that each item has a unique id which helps prevent name collisions.

Two things not mentioned: I believe most modules have All Access Character Vault privileges for that game. So you should be good on that point, even at the free level. Monsters are all pre-done, but because many spells on a sheet adds up to a campaign slowdown due to overhead, they frequently only have a spell list instead of actual spells. I think that some of the more common spells have abilities (attacks or macros) attached to the sheet, but that's anecdotal. Hopefully someone will be along to correct me if I am wrong. So you will need to drag any spell you need the details for from the Compendium to the sheet.

Thanks everyone for the responses, this helped me answer my questions and I went ahead and bought the content. Really appreciate it, the mods can lock/close this thread.