What 2nd ed AD&D Adventures are the Best? List them here! (Darksun, Dragonlance, etc)

TerraDave · May 26, 2005

What are the best, all time, classic adventures?

This thread is to nominate the best 2nd ed AD&D adventure modules. This excludes OD&D, B/ED&D (Companion, Masters and Immortals box sets, as well as the Rules Cyclopedia); 1st ed AD&D and 3.0/3.5/D20 D&D, which will be covered in other threads.

The focus is on for sale, free-standing adventures. Hence this thread excludes modules from Dragon, Dungeon, and other magazines (unless reprinted as a stand alone product) or ones that where only released as part of a rules supplements or campaign setting. It does include box sets (many of which where released) that have a substantial adventure component

Unlike the other threads, I am not going to suggest anything upfront…

General
Axe of the Dwarvish Lords+
Dragon Mountain+
The Gates of Firestorm Peak+
Night Below +
A Paladin in Hell+
Return to the Tomb of Horrors +
Rod of Seven Parts +
Labyrinth of Madness
Please list any worthy of nomination

Al-Qadim
ALQ1: Golden Voyages+
ALQ2: Assassin Mountain+
ALQ3: A Dozen and One Adventures+
Ruined Kingdoms+
Please list any worthy of nomination

Darksun
Dragon Crown+
Freedom!+
Please list any worthy of nomination

Dragon Lance
Please list any worthy of nomination

Forgotten Realms (Maztica et al)
Doom of Dagerdale+
The Haunted Halls of Evenigstar +
(Night Below +) recatagorized
Ruins of Undermountain +-
Please list any worthy of nomination

Greyhawk
Against the Giants: The Liberation of Geoff+
Crypt of Lyzandred the Mad+
Please list any worthy of nomination

Mystara/Savage Coast
Please list any worthy of nomination

Planescape
Dead Gods +
The Great Modron March +
Hellbound (mixed boxed set)+
Tales of the Infinate Staircase +
Please list any worthy of nomination

Ravenloft
Bleak House+
Feast of Goblyns
Night of the Walking Dead+
Vecna Reborn+

Please list any worthy of nomination

Spell Jammer
Under the Dark Fist +
Please list any worthy of nomination

…there where actually quite a few adventures released under 2nd edition, but I know little about the great majority of them. So clue me in, which are the best of the era!

der_kluge · May 26, 2005

I imagine that you're going to get very few responses to this thread. There just isn't the nostalgia factor for 2nd edition like there is for 1st. And, I think there are probably very few really exceptional modules in 2nd edition.

That said, a good one that comes to mind is the "Rod of Seven Parts" boxed set.

Zappo · May 26, 2005

The Great Modron March and Dead Gods were great Planescape adventures IMO.

S. Baldrick · May 26, 2005

I loved Night Below and the Rod of Seven Parts box sets.
Just my humble opinion.

diaglo · May 26, 2005

maybe and only just maybe... Return to the Tomb of Horrors boxed set.

TerraDave · May 26, 2005

Thanks! Also, if I misplace any of these, please let me know.

Shemeska · May 26, 2005

From Planescape: Tales of the Infinite Staircase, and from the Hellbound box set there's Squaring the Circle.

Never played any other 2e modules since I never got into DnD till 3e.

Celebrim · May 26, 2005

I'm getting really sick of hearing the word 'nostalgia' used these discussions as if the entire reason that 1st edition modules had greater appeal than 2nd edition modules could be put down to 'nostalgia'. In another thread, someone made the claim (I don't know if it was true or not) that there were some 200 published modules for 2nd edition. Surely some of them are good enough to stand on there own without 'nostalgia' being involved. Is the reason that 'The Rod of Seven Parts' invariably comes up in a discussion of 2nd edition merely people's nostalgia for it? Likewise, do people really think that the best 1st edition modules wouldn't stand on thier own as great adventures if it wasn't for peoples nostalgia for them?

If there really is a lost treasure trove of great second edition modules out there, I'm sure that most of the boards are open minded enough to be persuaded to see that point of view simply because its always better to have more modules as material to draw from.

TerraDave · May 26, 2005

I don't think it was just nostalgia, and yes, some of the 2nd ed ones have got to be good, TSR did have creative people working for it...of course, I don't really know which ones...

Shemeska · May 26, 2005

TerraDave said:
I don't think it was just nostalgia, and yes, some of the 2nd ed ones have got to be good, TSR did have creative people working for it...of course, I don't really know which ones...

With the exception of one or two of the Planescape modules, I don't think of 2e as the time of great modules. I think of 1e for that, even though I never played it. I think of 2e as the time of gorgeous, brilliant settings that bring tears to your eyes and make the lame walk again they're that good. Planescape, Ravenloft, Dark Sun, etc. Some of the best, more in depth and flavorful material ever produced in DnD before or since. For all I know the rest of the edition might have been total crap, but those settings have yet to be topped by any 3e material as far as I'm concerned.

Modules, I immediately think of 'Against the Giants', 'Tomb of Horrors', 'Lost Caverns of that creepy noun that starts with a Ts..somethingoranother' etc. Never read half of them, never played most of them, so they might be truly middling material except for the nostalgia factor, but they immediately scream 'DnD module for the ages!' when you think of them.