D&D General Bestest, Most Epic-est Short Adventure?

[Retreater]

Hey everybody. I've got a quick change of plans and not a lot of time to prep.
I'm hosting and running a gaming weekend in a couple weeks for a group of old college pals. Typically, we do this annually, but it's becoming more difficult with each passing year.
The original plan was I would run them through the Starter Set for Dragonbane. But believe it or not - I've reached my current capacity for different systems. (To give you an idea, I'm currently playing in Pulp Cthulhu, and this week I'm running 4e/5e/PF2, and prepping for a West End Games Star Wars session.) So I need something that is familiar and simple to run and teach these players - likely something OSR-ish.
I'm leaning towards Castles and Crusades or AD&D 2e for the system. (B/X has been shot down for being too simplistic by some of the players, 5e is too "vanilla, etc.")
Looking at something to run. Big, epic tournament style module we can finish over the weekend. I missed a lot of the classics back in the day, so veteran opinions are also appreciated.

 

[ValamirCleaver]

If you want something that's legally free you have an AD&D 2e clone and an AD&D 1e clone. If you & your players are willing to purchase something you have a lot more options. My personal choice is Adventures Dark and Deep (which is an AD&D 1e clone with Unearthed Arcana material fully integrated into it) to run Castle of the Mad Archmage with it's expansions and the V series of modules if you want an introductory adventure.

For Gold & Glory

For Gold & Glory: Old School Roleplaying

from the designer's website: What For Gold & Glory Is: FG&G is a near perfect adaption of the 2nd Edition rules. It contains all information culled from the three “core” rulebooks, with the exception of optional rules, into a single product. The intention is to preserve a source that’s long...

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The Hawk Wolf Network

OSRIC

Old School Reference and Index Compilation (OSRIC)

Old School Reference and Index Compilation (OSRIC) is a fantasy role-playing game intended to reproduce the rules of 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, although for legal reasons it never refers to AD&D by name. The OSRIC rules are free to download in PDF form.

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First Edition Society

Knights & Knaves

Usherwood Publishing

Adventures Dark and Deep

Adventures Dark and Deep

User summaryAdventures Dark and Deep is a fantasy RPG that tries to envision a second edition of AD&D if Gary Gygax had not left Tactical Studies Rules (TSR). The game keeps many of the basic principles of AD&D: Randomly determined ability scores Character races & classes...

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BRW Games – Publishers of old-school tabletop games

www.brwgames.com

Greyhawk Grognard – A blog about the World of Greyhawk, tabletop RPGs, wargames, and pop culture

 

[Retreater]

I have both OSRIC and For Gold and Glory - as well as the official printings of 1st and 2nd editions. I've also got a few OSR-ish systems, including Old School Essentials, Basic Fantasy, Hyperborea 3e, Swords & Wizardry, and Castles & Crusades.
Part of it is time to prep - I have three weeks to get it together. I need it to be similar enough to what we're already familiar with to work.
And a really, REALLY awesome adventure is needed. I'd prefer something kinda high level (7th or higher) so they can have some good magic items and access to spells. None of this "crawling through a dungeon and getting killed by a rusted nail."

 

[ValamirCleaver]

If you & your group want over the top power gaming there's the Bloodstone Pass Saga / the H series. It ends with the party having to raid Orcus' palace in the Abyss, steal his artifact Staff and then enter Hell to kill Tiamat so the Staff can be destroyed with her heart. Be forewarned that H4 references demon lords information from other AD&D publications.

H1 Bloodstone Pass
H2 The Mines of Bloodstone
H3 The Bloodstone Wars
H4 The Throne of Bloodstone
FR9 The Bloodstone Lands

H - The Bloodstone Pass Saga

A series of modules released for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1st Edition), incorporating the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Battlesystem in two of the titles. The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (2nd Edition) sourcebook module FR9: The Bloodstone Lands is written assuming the module s of this series...

rpggeek.com

H series

The H series was a series of four Forgotten Realms 1st-edition adventures published by TSR, Inc. between 1985 and 1988. The series focused on the Bloodstone Pass and area. The series used traditional role-playing combined with the Battlesystem rules.

forgottenrealms.fandom.com

Bloodstone Pass - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Bloodstone Pass Saga | d20 Pub

A 2nd Edition, AD&D, Battlesystem Super Adventure Module for Level 15 and UP! Published in 1985. Consisting of four parts: Bloodstone Pass (H1), The Min ...

d20.pub

A to Z of Adventure! H is for High Level / Bloodstone

The Other Side Blog is a game design blog from Timothy S. Brannan

theotherside.timsbrannan.com