D&D 5E In Search of the Unknown: The BECMI Chronicles 5E.

[BaytAlAzif]

There are several I just never picked up at the time. I do remember cutting out lots of buildings for The Veiled Society, whose political intrigue might actually be much more of interest to me now.

Looking forward to the rest in your series!

 

[Jer]

I've run B3 under at least 3 different rule sets (Basic, 3e and 4e) and I think that it's a great adventure, but there are some caveats. One thing that Zardnarr doesn't get into is that the two versions of this adventure are very different. When TSR recalled the adventure and pulped it, they didn't just fix the one piece of "objectionable" art in it - they got rid of a number of art pieces. The maps were redrawn (mostly the lower level, IIRC) and Tom Moldvay put in a substantial re-write of the adventure - all of the wilderness encounters around the Palace were cut and replaced with a "programmed" introduction for new DMs where you'd read through numbered boxes based on the choices the PCs made. The story was pretty radically changed as well - in the original version, the Palace was in ruins and IIRC the disaster that had struck it was an old one (or at least was some unspecified time in the past). The PCs were assumed to be treasure hunters lured to location by legends of the treasures still assumed to be somewhere in the ruins and the whole thing is a typical dungeon crawl with a fairy-tale backstory. In the re-write, the disaster that had struck the princess was recent, and the PCs were specifically brought to the palace by a race of (fey?) beings known as the Protectors who have put them on a timetable to undo the disaster and stop a mad god-like being from getting out into the world. Plus Moldvay's version had the same "you're trapped in the dungeon and can't get out until you finish the adventure" characteristic that some of Moldvay's other adventures have (notably X2 where the mist surrounding Castle Amber forces you to work your way through the mansion, though it feels more organic there than here, as does the desert that forces your choices in his B4 adventure). The two versions share a lot of overlap, but if you changed the names of the NPCs involved you might be able to get away with running them both for the same group without them realizing it because they give very different experiences IMO.

Over time, as much as I've always liked Moldvay's work, I've come to appreciate the original Jean Wells (orange cover) adventure more and more. The last time I ran it (4e) I used bits and pieces of both versions in my conversion. The next time I run it I might just use the Wells version as is. (The wilderness around the Wells version is strange as well. It might make a good fit for a Gamma World game, or at least a D&D game that is more Thundarr the Barbarian than Tolkien inspired).

 

[Zardnaar]

I've run B3 under at least 3 different rule sets (Basic, 3e and 4e) and I think that it's a great adventure, but there are some caveats. One thing that Zardnarr doesn't get into is that the two versions of this adventure are very different. When TSR recalled the adventure and pulped it, they didn't just fix the one piece of "objectionable" art in it - they got rid of a number of art pieces. The maps were redrawn (mostly the lower level, IIRC) and Tom Moldvay put in a substantial re-write of the adventure - all of the wilderness encounters around the Palace were cut and replaced with a "programmed" introduction for new DMs where you'd read through numbered boxes based on the choices the PCs made. The story was pretty radically changed as well - in the original version, the Palace was in ruins and IIRC the disaster that had struck it was an old one (or at least was some unspecified time in the past). The PCs were assumed to be treasure hunters lured to location by legends of the treasures still assumed to be somewhere in the ruins and the whole thing is a typical dungeon crawl with a fairy-tale backstory. In the re-write, the disaster that had struck the princess was recent, and the PCs were specifically brought to the palace by a race of (fey?) beings known as the Protectors who have put them on a timetable to undo the disaster and stop a mad god-like being from getting out into the world. Plus Moldvay's version had the same "you're trapped in the dungeon and can't get out until you finish the adventure" characteristic that some of Moldvay's other adventures have (notably X2 where the mist surrounding Castle Amber forces you to work your way through the mansion, though it feels more organic there than here, as does the desert that forces your choices in his B4 adventure). The two versions share a lot of overlap, but if you changed the names of the NPCs involved you might be able to get away with running them both for the same group without them realizing it because they give very different experiences IMO.

Over time, as much as I've always liked Moldvay's work, I've come to appreciate the original Jean Wells (orange cover) adventure more and more. The last time I ran it (4e) I used bits and pieces of both versions in my conversion. The next time I run it I might just use the Wells version as is. (The wilderness around the Wells version is strange as well. It might make a good fit for a Gamma World game, or at least a D&D game that is more Thundarr the Barbarian than Tolkien inspired).

Good to know I actually own the green cover one in dead tree format but never really looked at both of them that hard to figure out the differences.

 

[Zardnaar]

B4 The Lost City

Once upon a time a young Zardnaar had 4 modules and the B and X series players guide. The year was 1993 and one of his friends had an older brother and a closet containing old D&D material. B2,3 and 4 and X1 were the 1st D&D games I played along with my 1st proper campaign in 1994 with B2 (and the DM changed the rules). In the pre internet days I did not now much about things like D&D, 1E or 2E and the game at large although I was vaguely aware of the Realms and water deep via things like the Eye of the Beholder game. While B 2 and 3 do not really tug on the old heart strings B4 does as we played it probably a couple of times back in the day (each side of the DM screen) and I ran it for modern players back in the dark times of the lost years (2008-2014) using Adventurer Conquer King (ACKs). We all enjoyed the module and IMHO it has aged well and I think this is one of the best D&D adventures of all time IMHO of course.

So this adventure is a bit of a personal favourite. There is a minor negative in this adventure that modern gamers may not like. The start of it is heavily railroaded in all fairness this was 1982 but you more or less start at the door of the dungeon with limited resources. I do not mind a hot landing adventure on occasion if it is done well but there is that to consider. For an early D&D module it has some decent art that has not aged to badly. This adventure is basically a pure dungeon hack although it is a good one and it doesn't even have the minimal amount of out doors area or regional map B1-B3 had. The guts of the adventure has an under ground pyramid as a Dungeon that has 5 levels while you can expand it beyond with a less detailed dungeon levels 6-10. There are less for the new DM type tips and a lot less premade PCs etc its jam packed with dungeons basically. Of th 38 pages in my PDF around 14 of them are the primary dungeon with the rest being made up of the introduction, expanded dungeon, maps, encounters, new monsters and more maps including an underground cavern containing the city of Cynidicea. The cartography hold up well even today IMHO. You are basically getting a miniature campaign setting here and could probably use it to reach level 6 or 7 back the old levelling system of B/X. This adventure predates BECMI. It also has an additional 8 plot hooks to follow up on once you complete the adventure. There are not to many combat encounters, most rooms are empty for example relative to the size of the dungeon and there is also a lack of traditional D&D low level fodder (Goblins, Kobolds, Orcs, Gnolls etc).

The adventure is also a great example of D&D factions you can ally with, at least beyond the Gnoll/Orc/Hobgoblin tribes of say B2 Keep on the Borderlands. It introduces the Brotherhood of Gorm, Warrior Maidens of Madarua, and the Magi of Usmigaras (domains war, war, arcane perhaps in 5E). A lot of B series adventures have NPCs usually clerical in nature PCs can interact with to get healed as low level clerics in Basic have very few spells, 0 at level 1. Getting the local cleric onside is usually a good thing and food, ammo etc is an issue in this adventure and the factions can help there. They can also guide you to their lost city. The factions can also be fought a process we found a lot easier in ACKs than Basic all those years ago - ACKs PCs are more powerful than default Basic. Well that and we had a sleep spell available. The adventure does have some save or dies in there which usually converts to 2d6 or 3d6 damage per level in 5E terms ( a 5th level PC could expect 8d6-10d6 damage for example).

So overall I would rate the Lost City 4.5/5 and I think it would make a reasonably easy conversion to 5E so 4.5/5 there as well. As an aid to playing D&D its not as good as B1-3 which still have some useful advice so it gets 2.5/5 out of 5 for that. As per usual with a B/X to 5E conversion you need to keep an eye on some of the larger encounters due to differences between the edition but the lower levels of the pyramid (tier 6-10) have some unique critters in it that would require a conversion along with some interesting encounters that may test the PCs. One may also want to cut the nonmagical treasure in half or by 75% and remove some of the magical treasure as well. Quite a few of those hoards are worth in the 5k-25k range (one s worth 35k) and one page can have 4-5 magic items in it although a few of them tend to be scrolls and potions but there are things like a +1 sword +3 vs Dragons which at level 5 or 6 I think I would it into the game. as written. And of course if a B/X adventure has a sword of Dragon slaying in it there is usually a Dragon as well. This is also the 1st B series adventure to feature a Dragon and most of the 2nd half the encounters are 1-2 critters so the adventure could be run as written probably, the expanded part is for level 4+ PCs back in the day and should still work almost as written.

 

[Schmoe]

It has been a long time since I've looked at B3, but I ran it a couple times early on. I remember having a great time with it both times. The Decapus, especially, was good for the shock value and for putting some fear into the players. Of all the adventures I've played, this is the closest I've come to playing a fairy tale. It comes complete with the sleeping princess and the rescuing prince, and a fantastical story of dragons and romance. I'll have to dig it out again and read through to see how it holds up with age. For example, I really don't remember the part where you are supposed to fill in your own encounters!

One thing that I remember vividly was the step-by-step introduction to the dungeon. I ran through this as a very novice DM. I basically followed it step-by-step as scripted, and it was hugely helpful for introducing me to how the game could be run. I went back to that part afterwards and referenced it multiple times as a newbie DM.

Alas, I've never owned or run B4. It sounds like it has great flavor for kicking off a campaign in a desert environment, so I may try to fit this in for a future campaign that eventually leads to the Desert of Desolation series.