Which of these old school modules are worth getting?

Knightfall · Feb 20, 2009

Okay, I'm thinking about getting a few of the older D&D modules to incorporate them into my World of Kulan campaign world. These are the only ones I'm really considering at the moment. However, if you HAVE to suggest something else then here are few things you should know...

1) I already own B4 Lost City, T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil, and X1 Isle of Dread.

2) I have the FREE v.3.5 revisions of Tomb of Horrors and White Plume Mountain as well as access to all the older D&D modules that WotC posted on the web site as classic downloads (i.e. L2 - The Assassin's Knot).

What I'm looking for is to find out which of the 10 modules listed in the poll would be easiest to incorporate into a homebrewed world.

What are these modules' strengths and what are their weaknesses? How hard would they be to convert to v.3.5, based on your personal experiences?

Cheers!

Knightfall

Bullgrit · Feb 20, 2009

I've reviewed Dwellers of the Forbidden City -- bottom line: it's great.
Bullgrit - D&D Reviews

Bullgrit

Vascant · Feb 20, 2009

S4 was already converted to 3.5 and released in 3 parts during the free Dungeon issues on wizards.com.

The_Warlock · Feb 20, 2009

B6 Veiled Society > It's a gang chase/fight/investigation in a Ducal City. It left me so underwhelmed when I got it, and when I re-read it years later, that I remember no other details except: A gang of assassins wearing royal purple hoods/cloaks is a cool visual even if the module otherwise is completely lacking.

C1 Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan > Love it. Escape or die from an ancient burial complex in the middle of nowhere from an ancient Mayan/Aztec flavored civilization. Puzzle solving, great handouts, brutal monsters and traps.

C2 Ghost Tower of Inverness > Love it. HIGH MORTALITY RATE. But otherwise, excellent 1E tournament module - just enough fluff about the ancient wizard and the terrible Soul Gem, and the moon hidden castle on the edge of civilization. Characters will die. Great TPK material.

I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City > It's like a mini-campaign framework. Sets up a lost and ruined city in the middle of a jungle with a number of monsters and natives. Not thick on plot, great to drop into any world.

I2 Tomb of the Lizard King > Swamp dungeon crawl with a growing power threatening near human settlements. Easy to fit in any swamp/civilization frontier.

N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God > One of my favorite low level modules ever. People oft complain about the design which requires the PCs to ally with a local mage to protect them on the most likely "frontal" approach agains the BBEG. I consider it a feature that the PCs actually have to make allies to take down something that's darn tough for their level. Otherwise, an investigate and save the small town scenario - easily inserted.

S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth > Puzzle solving, monsters, maps, handouts, great art. Hidden in a vast mountain range, the lair of lost sorceress who once dominated nearby tribes and nations 100s of years ago. Finishing it provides lots of magic items and some artifact like items.

X2 Castle Amber > Absolutely hysterical. Do not take seriously. Possible to make it serious, but it's a damned railroad of bad french accents, and you will love it for such. If you chose not to take the epic railroad, still has some nifty ideas, and a great map of a sprawling 1 floor mage family's mansion that could be used for other things.

El Mahdi · Feb 20, 2009

I haven't ever played through, or ran, any of the adventures in the poll (although I have played a couple of the ones you mentioned in the OP). So, I can't really speak to them.

But, I do have another classic recomendation for you.

What about The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh trilogy ( U1, U2, U3). They've got a pretty basic and simple plotline, but they're very easily adapted or modified to fit with any ongoing campaign story or plot. They are one of the most memorable games I've played in. We had a really good DM who ran them (although we did throw a couple of significant monkey-wrenches into his plans

). Absolute classics.

Silverblade The Ench · Feb 20, 2009

Dragon Mountain
Night Below
Undermountain (well, module-ish)
and of course, the original or 3.5 Temple of Elemental Evil
would be good

I never liked most modules as they fell way short on RP, for my tastes (preffered the Books of Lairs for short, fun, slip-in adventures)

Castle Greyhawk if you want humour!

Knightfall · Feb 20, 2009

Vascant said:
S4 was already converted to 3.5 and released in 3 parts during the free Dungeon issues on wizards.com.

Hmm... I'd forgotten that. Thanks for the reminder.

JeffB · Feb 21, 2009

Amber and the Ghost Tower are two of my top 5 or 6 fave mods of all time I'd say. I also love Tomoachan and Tsojcanth.

I'm a Moldvay fanboy and I'd reccomend everything he's done- X1 (along with Zeb), X2, B3 (I prefer his re-working over that mess of the recalled version) , B4 (def top 5 fave), A2, Outside of Gary in fact, I think Zeb and Tom were the best/most consistent module writers TSR ever had.

I'll also second the mention of Saltmarsh- at least the first one- I never ran the last two but Saltmarsh is one of my faves as well- I'm a total sucker for Haunted Houses and introductory/low level mods.

Wik · Feb 21, 2009

I only voted for three: Veiled Society. Tamoachan, and Forbidden City. Why?

1. The Veiled Society
I have some fond memories running this one, and it gives a good framework for how to run an urban campaign. I think it needs to be taken in context of the time period it was designed in, as well as the target market (it was a BECMI game, and was assumed as such to be run for younger gamers). There is a lot you can use, here, though it is a bit rail-roady for an urban adventure. I forget it now, but I remember that some of the clues in the "murder mystery" were interestingly done, and the villain isn't the one I first suspected.

2. Tamoachan
My favourite D&D adventure, bar none. There are a lot of great encounters that can be stolen and incorporated into other dungeons. Plus, the general idea of the dungeon (you have to escape the dungeon in time) means that gameplay is a bit different - PCs don't just focus on loot or killing monsters. Getting out of the dungeon is your prime concern. There are a lot of encounters that will slow you down if you choose to engage with them, which may annoy some GMs and players, but I always found to be exciting. An example, from memory:

[sblock=spoiler]
A statue head of a beaked creature, with a ring in the mouth. If you reached into the mouth, the head would slam down on your arm, holding you in place. It would take time to escape the trap. Hell, even if you tried to set up some alternate way to get the ring (a long stick, for example), it would eat up valuable time.

Compare this to, say, Tomb of Horrors, where a trap like this would result in instantly losing your arm - a penalty for greed and "stupidity", but not one that really did anything to the gameplay process besides harm a PC)
[/sblock]

Plus, the Hermit Crab and Talking Crayfish are some of my favourite NPCs. I re-used them in my 3e Savage Tide AP, and the group had a blast.

3. Forbidden City

Only ran parts of it, but it has stuck out in my mind. You have to love jungle adventures, and wasn't this the one that gave us the Yuan-Ti? And the Tasloi? It's one of those adventures where you don't need to plot out the PCs' path... you just throw them in the area, and let them interact with the city however they'd like. Lots of fun if you like a sandbox.

The Green Adam · Feb 21, 2009

Of those listed, I've gotta give it up for The Ghost Tower of Inverness and Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan . Both are solid and very dangerous adventures. In addition, both were expanded at one point or another in various campaigns I was in into major story arcs of our game.

Good time. Good times.
AD