Identifying "old school" adventure modules

[Bullgrit]

Which of the above adventure modules do you consider "old school"? Can you explain why you voted for one and why you didn't vote for another?

Bullgrit

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

All of the above. All of these modules helped shape my view of what makes D&D what it is.

I can understand why some wouldn't choose all of these modules, but I don't understand choosing Tomb of Horrors and not choosing White Plume Mountain. So I hope to read more on that choice.

 

[Grymar]

I didn't go through many of those old modules, but I can tell you that I didn't vote for Ravenloft. It had a totally different vibe from what I considered traditional D&D in 1984 or whenever it came out. From the isometric map to the gypsy town, it was far and away unusual.

Slave Pits of the Undercity is one that I do think of as a solid, traditional, old-school module.

 

[Grymar]

I can understand why some wouldn't choose all of these modules, but I don't understand choosing Tomb of Horrors and not choosing White Plume Mountain. So I hope to read more on that choice.

I did that very thing, but because I am far more familiar with ToH than WPM. I think I may have played through WPM at one point, but I really don't remember it and so I didn't vote for it.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

I did that very thing, but because I am far more familiar with ToH than WPM. I think I may have played through WPM at one point, but I really don't remember it and so I didn't vote for it.

Ah, OK. WPM was the one where the party is sent to retrieve three powerful weapons from one wacked out dungeon. When you get to the room that's an inverted step pyramid with glassteel walls holding monsters that normally don't go together (at least one tier of the pyramid was filled with water), you know you're in an old school "damn the ecology" dungeon.

 

[jaerdaph]

I6 Ravenloft was an awesome module, my favorite of all time, but I personally consider it to be the first of the "new school" mods. Dragonlance was definitely not old school IMO - it always had a different feel to me. I will say Dragonlance deserves a lot of credit for bringing a lot more women into D&D and the hobby in general, at least from my experience.

 

[kitsune9]

Tome of Horrors is about as ye olde skool as I can get. Maybe Keep on the Borderlands ranks up there too for me.

 

[Melan]

I voted for all of them except Dragons of Despair and Beyond the Crystal Cave; the former was omitted because it is a representative of a new story-centric paradigm (some good set-pieces notwithstanding), and the latter because I have never seen it. The two borderline cases are Ravenloft and Pharaoh.

WRT Ravenloft, I have argued previously that underneath a story-driven surface, it embodies some fairly old-school design principles:

• you've got an antagonist who is not just very powerful, but also in control of his environment;
• you've got randomly distributed magic items that could give you an edge over the antagonist;
• the PCs and the vampire are both bound by limited rules of engagement - the PCs are trapped by the fog, while the vampire may only attack a certain number of times during the module, so he must make it count (oh dear).

Add this setup to a relatively non-linear 3d playing environment with some serious hazards, unleash the PCs and see if they can outwit you. It has a strategic dimension, lots of tactical potential, and is mostly a good game adaptation of the Hollywood Vampire Movie genre married to D&D's resource and risk-management side. It isn't any worse than any tournament module. Pharaoh is essentially Ravenloft but milder. I would classify The Lost Tomb of Martek as a new-school scenario however - it is "look while I escort you through a sequence of events, but please! - don't touch".

[edit]Also, I must add that while most of those adventures are old-school, not all of them are good.

 

[Herschel]

All but Dragons of Dispair and Dungeonland(what?). The rest are classics. The Desert of Desolation series is maybe my favorite ever. Dwellers of the Forbidden City, Tomb of the Lizard King, Ghost Tower, Desert of Desolation and later Against the Giants were staples in my campaigns.

 

[darjr]

Dungeonland and The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror were levels in Castle Greyhawk, turned into stand alone modules.

WotC has them up for free on their web site.

EX1-2. Dungeonland and The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror