[UPDATED] WotC & Goodman Games Partner To Reprint Classic Modules for 5E

At Gary Con, Goodman Games and WotC announced a partnership, as reported by Brett B over on Google+. They'll be reprinting classic modules, including B1 In Search of the Unknown and B2 The Keep on the Borderlands in a hardcover with both the original adventures and 5th Edition information. More information if and when I hear it!

At Gary Con, Goodman Games and WotC announced a partnership, as reported by Brett B over on Google+. They'll be reprinting classic modules, including B1 In Search of the Unknown and B2 The Keep on the Borderlands in a hardcover with both the original adventures and 5th Edition information. More information if and when I hear it!


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Photo by Brett B

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B2ModuleCover.jpg



UPDATE! There's now a press release from Goodman Games.

Classic D&D Module Collector’s Editions!

Very exciting news from the “What’s New With Goodman Games?” seminar at Gary Con this weekend: Goodman Games has partnered with Wizards of the Coast to produce hardcover Collector’s Editions of classic D&D modules! These editions will include the adventures as orginally printed, complete conversions of the modules to the 5E ruleset, new 5E content, and behind-the-scenes historical content!

Present at the announcement were B1 author and industry legend Mike Carr, D&D lead designer Mike Mearls, and Chris Doyle who will be doing the 5E conversion.

Here is the full press release:

Jump into Classic Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Modules with Collector’s Editions from Goodman Games

First Volume Contains B1 and B2 Converted to Fifth Edition, Plus Insider Commentary, and Original Art

Goodman Games is pleased to announce a partnership with Dungeons & Dragons to publish deluxe collector’s editions of classic D&D adventure modules! These commemorative editions will appeal to fans of Dungeons & Dragons across multiple editions. Each volume will include digitally restored, high-quality scans of the original 1970’s-era adventure modules, presented in their original published form. In addition, each volume will include a conversion of that original adventure to the fifth edition rules set. This format allows nostalgic gamers to re-live the adventures of their youth, and play those adventures again in a modern rules set! For gamers with families and children ready to receive the torch of gaming, this volume is the perfect format to share fond adventures with the next generation playing the Dungeon & Dragons fifth edition rules.



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The first hardcover collector’s edition will include B1: In Search of the Unknown and B2: The Keep on the Borderlands. These classic adventure modules were played by millions of gamers in their original editions. Among other things, the book includes:

  • Commentary by gaming luminaries on the history and development of these modules, including gaming legends such as Frank Mentzer and Luke Gygax who were “on the inside” when these modules exploded in popularity.
  • A new interview with gaming legend Mike Carr, author of B1: In Search of the Unknown and early gaming pioneer.
  • Digitally restored scans of both B1 and B2, including multiple printings of B2: The Keep on the Borderlands. B2 went through nine printings in its original form, and there are material differences between the first three printings and subsequent editions. These include changes in monster stats and significant differences in interior art. Two printings are presented in their entirety to highlight these differences. The historical material also includes the true story behind the cover art of B1, which was the only cover image TSR ever published that featured the signatures of both David Trampier and David Sutherland.
  • A thorough and complete conversion of both B1 and B2 to the 5E rules set, fully playable with the original maps.
  • New 5E content providing additional detail on the areas surrounding the Caves of Chaos, including, at long last, the Cave of the Unknown.
  • Additional material for playing B1: In Search of the Unknown, including several completed monster and treasure assortments ready for play.
  • A variety of additional essays, commentary, and other material for play.

The deluxe hardcover volume is anticipated to be available at Gen Con with general release in September 2017. For additional information, visit Goodman Games online at www.goodman-games.com.

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TerraDave

5ever, or until 2024
It is awesome news.

So far with WotC and past content we have had the new adventure inspired by the old adventure (Princes), the new adventure that incorporates the old adventure (CoS), and the lightly converted old adventure without all the original art (Yawning Portal).

I like the more in-depth focus on the original material promised here. One thing about those two adventures is that they contained crucial "how to DM" sections that were essential for many young DMs back in the day. Wonder if we will also see something like that here.

And it certainly sounds like the start of a series! I look forward to the next announcement.
 

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ddaley

Explorer
I was wondering how they could justify a hardback from B1 & B2. This clears it up a bit:

"These editions will include the adventures as orginally printed, complete conversions of the modules to the 5E ruleset, new 5E content, and behind-the-scenes historical content!"

Now, I am excited about this. I hope this is just the beginning. Between this and the Yawning Portal, I think it is pretty safe to assume that it is.
 

ddaley

Explorer
Isle of Dread

You know... they apparently converted Isle of Dread during the play testing. I found a copy of that somewhere. I really want to run this for my group one of these days, but we have too many campaigns going at the moment.

Since it was converted for the play test, it seems like it would be a easy choice to polish it up in order to release it officially.

Oh PLEASE tell me Isle of Dread is in the cards. It'll save me from having
to convert it myself.
 
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Ghost2020

Adventurer
Why?
Why include the old ones, why bother?

They're easy enough to convert on their own, but how about NEW product?

5e seems content with treading over the same old ground.

I guess I don't get it.
 

ddaley

Explorer
I guess you have missed the campaigns that they have released over the last couple of years? People have been asking for them to convert older modules to 5e (myself included). Just because it doesn't appeal to you doesn't mean that it won't appeal to others. I want to see more of these conversions... not less.

Why?
Why include the old ones, why bother?

They're easy enough to convert on their own, but how about NEW product?

5e seems content with treading over the same old ground.

I guess I don't get it.
 

redrick

First Post
Wow, this has to be the easiest product to do.
Reprint B1/B2 & just edit the Stat blocks to read Orc: see page x of 5e MM, etc.

Ha, quite true.

B2 has a very special place in my heart for nostalgic reasons, and, if they do a good job, I'll probably pick up a copy of the hardback for that reason alone. On the other hand, as far as adventures needing a "conversion" to 5e rules, this one ain't at the top of the list! Keep on the Borderlands kicked off the first 5e campaign I ever ran, when only the basic rules had been released, and just about every monster had statblocks in the basic DM pdf. Low level encounters and adventures seem to convert on a pretty straight line, so I didn't have to tweak much until characters got to a higher level and started having an impact on the environment of the Caves of Chaos. Same stuff I'd do with an adventure written directly for 5e — adjust to suit the particular group and to keep playing off the actions of their characters.

I guess it would be nice to have treasure and magic items in line with 5e magic item expectations, especially if done well and creatively. Basic D&D was much more liberal with +1 weapons than 5e is supposed to be.
 

Ghost2020

Adventurer
I guess you have missed the campaigns that they have released over the last couple of years? People have been asking for them to convert older modules to 5e (myself included). Just because it doesn't appeal to you doesn't mean that it won't appeal to others. I want to see more of these conversions... not less.

No i didn't miss the campaigns that WotC put out. A large chunk of them seemed to have roots in old modules. A lot of people have been asking for new material and new campaign settings as well, maybe you've missed that?

I didn't say it didn't appeal to me, but the marketing behind it doesn't make much sense, for a company that used to wave the flag of "adventures don't sell", that's pretty much all they put out.

I'm actually surprised Goodman doesn't revisit some of their excellent 3.x DCC line of materials and convert them over to 5e.
 
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kettite

Explorer
I'm left with a couple questions:
1) Will this include full color full reproductions of the front and back covers? In the case of B1, that would be the monochrome and full color versions.
2) Will this preclude POD versions of the original modules being made available at Drive-Thru RPG in the future?
 

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