Against the Slavers reprint

[Riley]

I've never heard someone praise the S series supermodule before; what makes that more appealing than the originals?

Oh, nothing more than that I already own the originals, and pretty much know them inside and out. On the other hand I've never read, or even seen, the supermodule.

 

[billd91]

Does anyone know if this will be a reprint of of the original A1 through A4 adventures, or a reprint of the A1-4 supermodule?

I just received my copy of the S1-4 reprint, and I was surprised to discover that it was a reprint of the original 4 adventures, not the S1-4 supermodule.

I think the S1-4 supermodule was just a reprint of the original 4 adventures. I don't believe there was any overall plot trying to tie the 4 together.

 

[Stormonu]

The one thing that bothers me about the S1-4 reprint, and that is probably going the be the same for the A series is that that maps (and picture packets) aren't removable, and mixed in with the adventure text. If it was used in play, you'd either want a photocopy of the maps or there'd be a good bit of flipping back and forth. I hope they somehow fix this with the A series - a map pocket/folder would be nice. Even moving the maps to the front or back of the book would be nice.

(That and some of the reproduced pictures are really dark - most notable in the S4 section - the cave moray and alu-demon picture look awful. Graz'zt looks like a blob of ink smeared on the page).

 

[johndesmarais]

I think the S1-4 supermodule was just a reprint of the original 4 adventures. I don't believe there was any overall plot trying to tie the 4 together.

There was a small amount of revision to create a (very minimal) overall storyline, and minimize the feel of them being tournament adventures (which they all originally were).

 

[MerricB]

(That and some of the reproduced pictures are really dark - most notable in the S4 section - the cave moray and alu-demon picture look awful. Graz'zt looks like a blob of ink smeared on the page).

Graz'zt doesn't look that different from the original. The pictures in S4 are horribly difficult to replicate well, they're very, very dark with limited contrast in the original as well. Without the original art, I'm not surprised that they had trouble.

 

[MerricB]

There was a small amount of revision to create a (very minimal) overall storyline, and minimize the feel of them being tournament adventures (which they all originally were).

S3 had material removed which described 3 of the levels, and S4 lost Daoud's Wondrous Lanthorn. Realms of Horror is not a particularly good reprint.

 

[frankthedm]

One thing to consider is that TSR has been disbanded and these modules haven't been printed in close to 30 years (and Gygax has passed away). Some sort of copyright/trademark might be close to expiring, and these reprints may be nothing more than WotC protecting IP rights.

Thanks to the laws megacorps have bought, that probably is not a concern. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries'_copyright_length

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Also, if copyright was an issue, we'd see a lot more stuff reprinted. The U series has never been reprinted, to my recollection, nor have most of the B series.

 

[Riley]

There was an edited reprint of B1-9.

 

[howandwhy99]

The one thing that bothers me about the S1-4 reprint, and that is probably going the be the same for the A series is that that maps (and picture packets) aren't removable, and mixed in with the adventure text. If it was used in play, you'd either want a photocopy of the maps or there'd be a good bit of flipping back and forth. I hope they somehow fix this with the A series - a map pocket/folder would be nice. Even moving the maps to the front or back of the book would be nice.

My way of thinking is all the maps need to be redrawn anyways as they are in ink. It can be a real pain when the players start rearranging the furniture so to speak on the map and there's no way to easily track it. Of course this is a major issue with most commercial maps then and now. As long as you can trace them, then it's all good.