Classic Adventure Modules, What's your favourite?

Dear All,

This is a topic that has been discussed a number of times, but I couldn't see it on this forum.

What classic modules have people enjoyed and would recommend?

We recently starting playing a new 1st ed AD&D campaign and we started with 'N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God' - now that is a good module. A bit of intrigue and investigation, followed up by a dungeon crawl. We are currently playing the classic B2 'Keep on the Borderland'. We just had our first foray into the Caves of Chaos. We cleared out some Orc caves, but then got ambushed by an Ogre who slew one of our Clerics! Seems like we need to be more careful in our next incursion

I also have very fond memories of the UK series of adventures and the 'Against the Giants modules'.

Does anyone else have any recommendations or old favourites?

My all-time favourite is Dark Tower by Judges' Guild.

For me the classics are:

Keep on the Borderlands (B2)
Sinister secret of saltmarsh (U1)
Against the Giants (G1)
Desert of Desolation Series
Temple of Elemental Evil
Lost caverns of Tsojcanth
Dwellers of the Forbidden City

There are others but these are the favs that spring to mind!

dave

Interesting. I've never encountered any of the 'Judges Guild' work before. I see they converted Dark Tower for 3.5, but any idea where I could get hold of the original or a scanned copy?

David - I see you've listed some good old classics there. I'm looking forward to playing U1. It seems like I've actually missed playing a lot of these! So I need to catch up. I did play the Trokia version of 'Temple of Elemental Evil' on the PC. I thoroughly enjoyed that game

My favorite D&D adventures of all time are:

1. G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King by Gary Gygax (D&D; TSR)
2. Maure Castle (Paizo)/WG5 Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure by Rob Kuntz (AD&D; TSR)
3. T1 Village of Hommelet by Gary Gygax (AD&D; TSR)
4. A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity by David Cook (AD&D; TSR)
5. Maze of Zayene #4 Eight Kings by Rob Kuntz (AD&D from Creations Unlimited, or d20 from Different Worlds)
6. WG4 Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun by Gary Gygax (AD&D; TSR)
7. Dark Druids by Rob Kuntz (d20; Troll Lord Games)
8. D3 Vault of the Drow by Gary Gygax (AD&D; TSR)
9. Starstone by Paul Vernon (OD&D; Northern Sages)
10. S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth by Gary Gygax (AD&D; TSR)
11. Return of the Eight by Roger E. Moore (AD&D 2nd edition; TSR)
12. Tomb of Abysthor by Clark Peterson and Bill Webb (d20; Necromancer Games)
13. "Treasures of the Dragon Queen" by Rutgers University Gamers (D&D convention tourney c. 1983; Rutgers University Gamers; details on my site @ http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_to...gon_queen.html)

Honorable Mentions for D&D adventures (in no particular order):

• Maze of Zayene #1 Prisoners of the Maze by Rob Kuntz (AD&D from Creations Unlimited, or d20 from Necromancer Games)
• D1 Descent into the Depths of the Earth by Gary Gygax (D&D; TSR)
• The Lost Abbey of Calthonwey by Kerry Lloyd (AD&D; Phoenix Games)
• Castle Zagyg: Dark Chateau by Rob Kuntz (d20; Troll Lord Games)
• Beastmaker Mountain by Bill Fawcett (AD&D; Mayfair Games)
• R1 To the Aid of Falx by Frank Mentzer (AD&D; TSR)
• Crucible of Freya by Clark Peterson and Bill Webb (d20; Necromancer Games)
• Seren Ironhand by Tom Moldvay (AD&D; Challenges)
• B1 In Search of the Unknown by Mike Carr (D&D; TSR)
• B4 The Lost City by Tom Moldvay (D&D; TSR)
• X2 Castle Amber by Tom Moldvay (D&D; TSR)
• X4 Master of the Desert Nomads by David Cook (D&D; TSR)
• X5 Temple of Death by David Cook (D&D; TSR)
• N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God by Douglas Niles (AD&D; TSR)
• B4 Lost City by Tom Molvay (D&D; TSR)
• WG6 Isle of the Ape by Gary Gygax (AD&D; TSR)
• N5 Under Illefarn by Steve Perrin (AD&D; TSR)
• Three Days to Kill by John Tynes (d20; Atlas Games)
• Demons & Devils by Bill Webb and Clark Peterson (d20; Necromancer Games)
• The Abduction of Good King Despot by Will and Schar Niebling (AD&D; New Infinities Productions)
• Caverns of Thracia by Paul Jaquays (Judges Guild)

My favorite adventures of all time, for any system, are:

• Arnor: Land of the Witch King (MERP; ICE)
• Broken Covenant of Calebais (Ars Magica; Lion Rampant)
• Caverns of Thracia (D&D; Judges Guild)
• The Court of Ardor (MERP; ICE)
• "Deep Sh*t" (Blue Planet convention tourney; Biohazard Games)
• The Enemy Within campaign (Warhammer FRP; Games Workshop)
• G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King (D&D; TSR)
• "Grace Under Pressure" (Call of Cthulhu; Pagan Publishing)
• Griffin Mountain (Runequest; Chaosium)
• "In Medias Res" (Call of Cthulhu; Pagan Publishing)
• Masks of Nyarlathotep (Call of Cthulhu; Chaosium)
• Shadows of Yog-Sothoth (Call of Cthulhu; Chaosium)
• T1 Village of Hommlet (AD&D; TSR)
• Tomb of Abysthor (d20; Necromancer Games)
• "Treasures of the Dragon Queen" (D&D convention tourney c. 1983; Rutgers University Gamers; details on my site @ http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_to...gon_queen.html)
• Walker in the Wastes (Call of Cthulhu; Pagan Publishing)
• WG5 Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure (AD&D; TSR) and the "Maure Castle" series (d20 in Dungeon; Paizo)
• Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues (Paranoia; West End Games)

My favorite supplements of all time are:

• Big Rubble (Runequest; Chaosium)
• Chessboards: The Planes of Existence (generic D&D; WotC)
• Cities (generic D&D; Midkemia Press)
• Delta Green (Call of Cthulhu; Pagan Publishing)
• Different Worlds Magazine (1979-1986; Chaosium)
• Dragon Magazine Archive (D&D; WotC)
• Dungeon Magazine 1986 to present (TSR, WotC, Paizo)
• Faeries (Ars Magica; Lion Rampant)
• GURPS: Illuminati (GURPS; Steve Jackson Games)
• GURPS: Russia (GURPS; Steve Jackson Games)
• Order of Hermes (Ars Magica; Lion Rampant)
• The Primal Order (generic D&D; WotC)
• Thieves World box set (multiple systems; Chaosium)
• World of Greyhawk box set (AD&D; TSR)

My favorite city-based supplements and adventures of all time are:

• Lankhmar City of Adventure (TSR)
• Thieves World (Chaosium, boxed set)
• The Free City of Haven (plus supplements, by Gamelords; various Thieves Guild materials would also fit in nicely)
• Cities, Tulan, Carse, Towns of the Outlands (Mikdemia Press but Cities, Tulan, and Carse were also reprinted by Chaosium)
• Bard's Gate (Necromancer Games)
• Marienburg and Warharmmer City (Games Workshop)
• FR1 Waterdeep
• Citybook series (Blade/Flying Buffalo)
• "Barnacus: City in Peril" (Dragon Magazine #80)
• Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins (WotC)
• Pavis and Big Rubble (Chaosium)

My favorite RPGs/core rule books of all time are:

• Ars Magica, 5th edition (Atlas Games)
• Blue Planet, 2nd edition (Fantasy Flight Games)
• Call of Cthulhu 5th edition (Chaosium)
• Dune: Chronicles of the Imperium (Last Unicorn/WotC)
• Dungeon Masters Guide, 3rd edition Revised (AD&D; TSR)
• Fading Suns, 2nd edition (Holistic Design)
• Kult, 1st edition (Metropolis)
• Paranoia, 2nd edition (West End Games)
• Star Wars, 2nd edition Revised and Expanded (West End Games)
• Vampire: The Masquerade, 1st edition (White wolf)

OMG! Now THAT is a list! There are some great modules and adventures on there Grodog. I've not heard of all of these, so I will take a copy of your list. Some of the ICE modules for MERP were great. Although MERP modules often needed a lot of detail filling in to make them work. Mainly as the time period they cover are thousands of years long! Thanks for the lists.

That's a thorn among roses, to be sure!

Excellent list Allan!

I'm one of "those" types who simply doesn't run bought scenarios.

I buy them, read them - and put them on my book shelf. I've even pinched ideas and sections from them, but never run one 'as is' straight from the book as twer.

My first Game of D&D was as a DM not as a player.

You couldn't even call it an adventure, merely a string of underground encounters - the party (that consisted of two next door neighbours and one very confused cousin) were a Thief, a Cleric, and a Fighter.

The very VERY first encounter, was an Orc locked in a cupboard (so sue me, I was a kid at the time) - and I can remember the stressed look on my cousins face as his Fighter took his very first swing . . . .

Grand Memories!

Temple of elemental evil, scourge of slavelords then against the giants, descent, vault of the drow and queen of the demonweb pits. That is the ultimate campaign, add in some side plots here and there to top up exp. Have played this through twice and love it.

S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks is my all time favorite old skool module. So much great Erol Otus art in it. It's just a funky adventure...

LOL. I missed your two replies last spring, guys, so thanks for the thread necromancy tolcrothlogan

AndyM said:

Sure, and if you want details about some of the more obscure ones, I'm happy to help, or point you to other locations, Andy.

I like the MERP books for their excellent design and details, their great maps, and the richness that they evoke in making Middle Earth come alive to well!

Richard said:

That's a thorn among roses, to be sure!

Excellent list Allan!

Well, I'm a wee bit of a Rob Kuntz fan, even when it's work done for d20/3e---his Maure Castle levels are simply phenmenal, for example. I like Dark Chateau for what it reveals about Zagig/Zagyg, as well as the possibilities it offers for expanding the Castle. I'd also still very much like to run my own version of the Dark Chateau--- a combination of the module as written with Hearst Castle and The Winchester Mystery House, with a dash of all the homes I've loved living in over years

Return to the Tomb or Horrors - classic !!!

Grodog listed a couple we played recently:
N1 Under Illefarn
A1 Slave Pits of Undercity

We enjoyed playing both of these. The insect men and giant ants in A1 were replaced with Were-rats and beefed up giant rats and that worked really well. Lots of OW models used there! It's a shame that A2 is so pants as a module

N1 it good as the GM can really add lots of role-playing elements between the different factions. So it's so much more than a large dungeon hack.

I noticed that no-one has mentioned any of the UK series of modules. We recently played 'All that Glitters' and 'When a Star falls' these were both really enjoyable modules.

That's a controversial one! There always seems mixed reviews on this one, but I've not played it so I can't comment. The original one was a Gygax classic if a kill zone for power hungry GM's!

I mentioned U1.

The U series are great, even if the second one can turn into a hack fest if the players don't want to talk..... (don't want to say any more in case it spoils someone's game if they ever play it)

Dave

We were going to play the U series but the DM dropped out before we could play it

So I still have not had a chance to play those modules! Up next for us is the Desert of Desolution super module, which was another one you mentioned. I'm running this one and it looks like an epic!