D&D General Dungeon Magazine's Top 30 Adventures: Do they hold up?

[Peter BOSCO'S]

Almost no one really likes T1-4, what they like is T1, The Village of Hommlet. It should be on the list by itself, and we should forget the long version, T2-4 are just a big, stupid, grindy mega-dungeon (although the very first part, set in Nulb, isn't bad).

 

[Stormonu]

U1 is good (but U2 is ... troublesome), it's a pretty good introductory adventure. Just ... take Ned out of the adventure and it's much better.

I ran a converted Tamoachan for 3E; it's very quirky and there is a lot of deep, interesting mythology in it, but as an adventure, it's a bit meh.

Temple of Elemental Evil is just a mess, I wouldn't dare attempt to run it - not much value in it beyond Homlet as a home base.

I really liked I3 Pharaoh, it's a very interesting take on a dungeon crawl, but I3-I5 Desert of Desolation tries too hard as a railroad and doesn't deliver.

S1 - Tomb of Horrors used to be one of my favorites for all the ingenious deathtraps within. Now, I see it from player's eye and can't stand the thing.

I6 - Ravenloft is my absolute favorite of all the modules listed, and I've run it in every edition of the game, usually during Halloween. Griffon Hill is good if you've into investigation and not hack'n'slash - it plays more like it was written for Call of Cthulhu. Just keep away from the Expedition version (it burns!!!!).

S2 - White Plume Mountain is an interesting mix of puzzles and combats. I ran it recently, and it holds up very well and is quite challenging still.

Unfortunately, I have a strong bias on liking B2, but it was the first adventure I ever owned. I still use it to this day though, so I'll say it holds up.

Out of the GDQ series, I've only actually been able to run Q1 (due to player familiarity with the GD part), and it's quite a disappointing adventure. But the 3E Expedition version was an even more convoluted mess.

I've recently come to appreciate B4 - The Lost City and want desperately to run the Goodman version. Back in the B/X days, I was a more hack'n'slash dungeon crawler DM and I didn't "get" this adventure. I do now.

L2 - Assassin's Knot was an adventure I remember playing in and had a great time back in 2E. I haven't looked at it from the DM side of things, but as a player I remember enjoying it a great deal. I'd be curious to see if it still holds up to scrutiny now.

 

[JEB]

Just keep away from the Expedition version (it burns!!!!).

Yeah, it's definitely not the best version of Ravenloft. (I only used Expedition at the time for ease of conversion to Mutants & Masterminds.)

 

[billd91]

Yeah, it's definitely not the best version of Ravenloft. (I only used Expedition at the time for ease of conversion to Mutants & Masterminds.)

It’s got some good encounter ideas in it. I cribbed a few for my 3e conversion of I6.

 

[Zardnaar]

It's a good list of 30 classic adventures best of all time no.

Ones I would ad since then.

There Is No Honor Savage Tide Pt 1
Lost Mines of Phandelver
Curse of Strahd

Most 5E adventures aren't that great

Things I wouldn't put on list

Temple of Elemental Evil
Keep on the Borderland

There's probably more.

 

[Riley]

Almost no one really likes T1-4, what they like is T1, The Village of Hommlet. It should be on the list by itself, and we should forget the long version, T2-4 are just a big, stupid, grindy mega-dungeon (although the very first part, set in Nulb, isn't bad).

Temple of Elemental Evil is just a mess, I wouldn't dare attempt to run it - not much value in it beyond Homlet as a home base.

I sadly have little time to elaborate just now, but the T2-4 Temple was both the best campaign I’ve ever played (in 1e), and the best I’ve ever run (in 2e).

It’s a great big chaotic sandbox in which some truly amazing adventures can unfold, based on the interactions between the players and the DM, and between the characters and the place and its inhabitants.

It does not, however, have a story of its own to tell, or much guidance to offer on what DM’s or players should do with it.

 

[Retreater]

The ones I've played/DMed...

I6 Ravenloft
B2 The Keep on the Borderlands
Gates of Firestorm Peak
The Forge of Fury
U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh
B4 The Lost City

That's not very many at all, merely 6 out of 30 (20%).

I would like to see an updated Top 30; however, I think a more interesting list would be the adventures that still influence the DNA of the hobby today.

 

[delericho]

The content of that list was pretty predictable - it was always going to be made up of those adventures that most, if not all, of the judging panel had fond memories of. Given the experience of that panel, that meant old TSR adventures were going to dominate.

Even a few years ago, a similar panel would have come up with much the same list - almost nothing from the 2nd Ed era, 3e, 4e, a third-party publisher, or Dungeon magazine had the widespread exposure to make it. The only likely exceptions being "The Sunless Citadel" and/or "Forge of Fury", "Red Hand of Doom", and the three Dungeon Adventure Paths.

5e has skewed things significantly, since for the first time in decades it has adventures that are selling spectacularly well. However, most of those adventures are either poor, or are remakes of, or at least homages to, the classics. "Lost Mine of Phandelver" should probably be on the list, but other than that...

("Curse of Strahd" is the other candidate from 5e, but it's unlikely to dislodge "I6 Ravenloft", and the list is highly unlikely to feature both.)

 

[Yora]

From an armchair critic who has only browsed most of these briefly, properly read a few, and run just two:

Spoiler

Queen of the Spiders:

Spoiler

G1, D1, D2, and D3 certainly deserve their fame. Not sure about G2 and G2 being such big classics as the others, but Q1 is widely regarded as junk, and doesn't actually connect to the plot thread that tied together the other six modules. It's also cheating, because this is a bundle of seven different adventures.
Ravenloft: A giant castle that looks really fun to explore, and I actually want to run it one day.
Tomb of Horrors: The Thing That Should Not Be. Tomb of Horror's is not an adventure. It's a convention one-shot meant for having a laugh at stupid death. Don't run this as part of a campaign.
The Temple of Elemental Evil: From all I heard, this one is infamously bad and basically unplayable.
Expedition to the Barrier Peaks: I actually don't know.
Desert of Desolation: I heard it's great.
The Keep on the Borderlands: Lots of people really love it, but I don't see why. The overall scenario doesn't make much sense to me. It's famous because it came bundled with the most popular Starter Box in the olden days. It's what a large number of older played first.
Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil: I don't know either.
White Plume Mountain: I think I read it and remember nothing.
Return to the Tomb of Horrors: I don't know this one.
Gates of Firestorm Peak: Neither this one.
The Forge of Fury: This does look really good and I had it ready to run for several campaigns, but the players never went there yet. Still keep it ready for upcoming campaigns.
Dwellers of the Forbidden City: I love the idea of this one. But it's really just the city streets of an ancient ruined city. You have to create all the interiors of the ruined palaces and the underground tunnels yourself. It's great for what it is, but it's more a coloring book for GMs than a ready adventure.
Dead Gods: Was this Planescape? I think this is the one Planescape fans fawn over.
Castle Amber: I read it once. It's famous. But I don't know why.
The Isle of Dread: Like Forbidden City, but a whole island instead of a ruined city. Fantastic starting point to build your sandbox campaign, but not an adventure in itself.
The Ruins of Undermountain: I believe a Forgotten Realms megadungeon. Somewhat famous I think, but I don't believe anyone's been praising it for being good.
Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan: A fun puzzle dungeon meant as a convention one shot, but this one actually works as part of a campaign.
Against the Cult of the Reptile God: This is the number one and there's no competition!
Scourge of the Slavelords: Heard of it, but never sounded appealing enough to read it.
Dark Tower: It could be that the dungeon itself is actually great. The book itself is a nightmare. It's a very early module, but no matter how long and hard I try, I just can't figure out what's going on there. Caverns of Thracia isn't easy to read either, but much less difficult than this one.
The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth: Some fun ideas, but it comes across as a collection of somewhat random rooms to me. This is one that I want to do a full remake of from scratch.
The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun: Probably my favorite dungeon ever.
City of the Spider Queen: I ran this one back in the day. The locations, creatures, and backstory are all actually quite great in my opinion, but at least as I ran it as a noob GM back then, it's mostly just a linear string of combat encounters. Cutting it all to pieces and turning it into something open ended with more complex NPC motivations could make something really great.
Dragons of Despair: Serious time: I actually think this was the greatest turning point for RPGs since their first introduction. But not for the better. This this is the cause for 38 years of railroading and people thinking this is what roleplaying games are supposed to be like.
The City of Skulls: Never heard of this one.
The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh: All I know about this one is the twist, and I think it's lame.
The Lost City: I can appreciate why people like it, but another case of lots of random rooms with nonsensical puzzle situations glued together. The overall concept of what lies underneath it is pretty compelling, though.
The Assassin’s Knot: Don't know anything about it.
The Ghost Tower of Inverness: This one neither.

I think 8 out of 30 actually have a reason to be on any greatest hits list.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

This is probably controversial, but I think Tomb of Annihilation is a far better adventure than Tomb of Horrors. It's final dungeon hits similar notes as ToH, but it's a lot more fair while still being "cruel." And of course, it's actually an adventure and setting combined, compared to ToH that was originally designed as a tournament meat-grinder.

I'd also say Curse of Strahd is superior to OG Ravenloft (it's expanded the material and is probably the most played 5E campaign after Phandelver), but it's much more of a remake so I don't think it should be on the list.

Phandelver deserves to bump someone off. Possibly Temple of Elemental Evil, but as others say Hommlet is pretty good.