D&D 5E Other Classic Adventure Remakes?

[Bad Fox]

Depending of the success of Curse of Strahd relative to other 5e adventure releases, I think it could potentially lead to the release of other remade/expanded classics. There is, after all, a really big back catalog of amazing adventures that would be ripe for this sort of treatment.

Now, whether or not WotC SHOULD do more of these is definitely up for debate.

I personally think CoS is fantastic and I'm super happy with it, but you could argue that for every remake Wizards does, they could be giving us an entirely new adventure. I never owned or played Ravenloft I6, so the new version is all new to me - that is likely colouring my perspective.

But think of all those awesome adventures that could get this sort of lavish update...

• The Isle of Dread: this would make an excellent hex-crawl for 5e. Pirates! Dinosaurs! Tribes of raccoon-monkey people! (Wait, what?)
• Dragonlance Classics: I'm not enthusiastic for a Dragonlance campaign sourcebook, but I would love a 5e take on the old DLC series. C'mon, this is the original adventure path and just a great story!
• Expedition to the Barrier Peaks: never played it, and only ever heard bits and pieces about it. Supposedly it's a bit of a hot mess? But still, sci-fi in my fantasy! How fun would this be to run?
• Castle Amber: another adventure that I've only ever heard about, but as a fan of Mystara, this has always been on my list of modules that I'd love to play. Google it if you don't know it. It just sounds weird and kind of Lovecraftian!
• The Keep on the Borderlands: is it a cop-out to list this one? Yeah, it's a cop-out to list this one. A lot of people (including me) enjoy how bare-bones the original module is - so much room for your own stuff! But I keep thinking about what Chris Perkins could do with Keep on the Borderlands and 256 pages... that could be fantastic.

I'm sure a lot of people would say Tomb of Horrors, but if Wizards went full hardcore mode with it, that would be pretty damn intense. It seems better suited to convention play than for MOST people's home games.

 

[Zardnaar]

Its not great but its a buck and has a nice map of the KotB and some PC races.
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/142240/Reclaiming-the-Caves-on-the-Borderlands

Isle of Dread would make a great conversion.

 

[Patrick McGill]

I would second a complete re-imagining of the Dragonlance series of modules. Ignoring anything other than the original modules, and going in and completely revamping and changing as needed. That way we can go into the series without knowing what to expect.

 

[Bad Fox]

I would second a complete re-imagining of the Dragonlance series of modules. Ignoring anything other than the original modules, and going in and completely revamping and changing as needed. That way we can go into the series without knowing what to expect.

Yeah, and based on reviews that people have put up about the originals here at EN World, it sounds as though they would benefit from an in-depth rework. It sounds like they have lots of problems from a contemporary perspective.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?392481-Dragonlance-Adventure-Series

 

[JonnyP71]

• The Isle of Dread: this would make an excellent hex-crawl for 5e. Pirates! Dinosaurs! Tribes of raccoon-monkey people! (Wait, what?)
• Dragonlance Classics: I'm not enthusiastic for a Dragonlance campaign sourcebook, but I would love a 5e take on the old DLC series. C'mon, this is the original adventure path and just a great story!
• Expedition to the Barrier Peaks: never played it, and only ever heard bits and pieces about it. Supposedly it's a bit of a hot mess? But still, sci-fi in my fantasy! How fun would this be to run?
• Castle Amber: another adventure that I've only ever heard about, but as a fan of Mystara, this has always been on my list of modules that I'd love to play. Google it if you don't know it. It just sounds weird and kind of Lovecraftian!
• The Keep on the Borderlands: is it a cop-out to list this one? Yeah, it's a cop-out to list this one. A lot of people (including me) enjoy how bare-bones the original module is - so much room for your own stuff! But I keep thinking about what Chris Perkins could do with Keep on the Borderlands and 256 pages... that could be fantastic.

Both Isle of Dread and the Caves of Chaos portion of Keep on the Borderlands were converted as part of one of the 5E playtest packets, and ihmo, both conversions were somewhat underwhelming. The Caves of Chaos in particular felt very dated and bland.

Since my 5E group finished my own homebrewed mini-campaign I've been filling in sessions with loose conversions of BECMI/1E adventures - we're just coming to the end of L2 (The Assassins' Knot), and next up will be either Isle of Dread (my own conversion) or Castle Amber, depending on how this week's finale plays out. L2 has been fun, but not quite the success I wanted due largely to the group quickly working out just how useful Insight was as a skill, and the cleric making liberal use of Zone of Truth - that makes a suspect who is innocent much more believable! As a result they've solved it pretty quickly and I've had to force their hand somewhat by bringing some of the bad guys to them, rather than have them simply raid the castle to hunt them down. I moved the setting to Hlondeth in FR, so I've added Yuan-Ti to spice it up a bit too.

If you are confident enough, the 5E mechanics are simple enough to convert a lot of the old stuff on the fly and just wing it. I tried it once with Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh and it was fine.

But Dragonlance? No thanks. Good setting, terrible series of modules.

 

[77IM]

The Keep on the Borderlands: is it a cop-out to list this one? Yeah, it's a cop-out to list this one. A lot of people (including me) enjoy how bare-bones the original module is - so much room for your own stuff! But I keep thinking about what Chris Perkins could do with Keep on the Borderlands and 256 pages... that could be fantastic.

Wow. This... sounds really awesome! I've always hated Keep on the Borderlands because it's just so... blah. But it wouldn't take much to turn the Caves and the Keep and the surrounding wilderness into a dynamic and interesting scenario.

 

[Bad Fox]

Both Isle of Dread and the Caves of Chaos portion of Keep on the Borderlands were converted as part of one of the 5E playtest packets, and ihmo, both conversions were somewhat underwhelming. The Caves of Chaos in particular felt very dated and bland.

Likewise, I ran Caves of Chaos from my crew during the playtest. I agree that it was pretty slap-dash, but that made sense in the context of what it was getting used for.

If you are confident enough, the 5E mechanics are simple enough to convert a lot of the old stuff on the fly and just wing it. I tried it once with Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh and it was fine.

That is one nice thing about 5e. But (as you pointed out with Isle of Dread and Caves of Chaos), I think that many old modules need a lot more work than a straightforward conversion. And like a lot of DMs, I just don't have the time to commit to that sort of thing. Personally, my expectation is that I'd find it more time consuming than making new adventures from scratch.

 

[Shiroiken]

• The Isle of Dread: this would make an excellent hex-crawl for 5e. Pirates! Dinosaurs! Tribes of raccoon-monkey people! (Wait, what?)

I could see an expanded and reimagined IoD. Part of the problem some have with it, is that it's a hex-crawl without any real purpose or meaning (acceptable back in the day, but people want more story now). A base setup on the island, with PCs working on various quests as they explore the island, expanding the difficulty of the quests with experience could be a really good product. Just reprinting and updated IoD isn't going to fly, IMO.

• Dragonlance Classics: I'm not enthusiastic for a Dragonlance campaign sourcebook, but I would love a 5e take on the old DLC series. C'mon, this is the original adventure path and just a great story!

I don't know how to feel about this. On one hand, it was the first real AP, so updating to 5E might be kinda nice. On the other hand, soooo many players already know the story, that it would be just acting out the novels, rather than playing a game.

• Expedition to the Barrier Peaks: never played it, and only ever heard bits and pieces about it. Supposedly it's a bit of a hot mess? But still, sci-fi in my fantasy! How fun would this be to run?

I own this adventure. I've played this adventure. I've run this adventure. No. Just No. It's a terrible idea. It's a one trick pony (mixing sci-fi with fantasy that it can't last beyond the one adventure. A completely re imagined adventure based loosely on the the concepts might work, but the adventure isn't strong enough on it's own.

• Castle Amber: another adventure that I've only ever heard about, but as a fan of Mystara, this has always been on my list of modules that I'd love to play. Google it if you don't know it. It just sounds weird and kind of Lovecraftian!

I LOVE this adventure! I could see an AP based on expanded locations. The second half of the adventure alone could be an AP (or even a whole setting!). Might need a better introduction though.

• The Keep on the Borderlands: is it a cop-out to list this one? Yeah, it's a cop-out to list this one. A lot of people (including me) enjoy how bare-bones the original module is - so much room for your own stuff! But I keep thinking about what Chris Perkins could do with Keep on the Borderlands and 256 pages... that could be fantastic.

As with IoD, this could be really good IF it's updated to include quests and goals, not just leaving things to the DM.

 

[Bad Fox]

I could see an expanded and reimagined IoD. Part of the problem some have with it, is that it's a hex-crawl without any real purpose or meaning (acceptable back in the day, but people want more story now). A base setup on the island, with PCs working on various quests as they explore the island, expanding the difficulty of the quests with experience could be a really good product. Just reprinting and updated IoD isn't going to fly, IMO.

I seem to remember Island of Dread coming with a player handout that talked about a treasure hidden on the island. Maybe that hook was only added in the version that came with the old D&D Expert Set? (That's the version of the module that I'm familiar with.)

Anyway, it doesn't matter - you won't get an argument from me about this. The adventure would definitely benefit from having much clearer reasons to motivate the players.

I don't know how to feel about this. On one hand, it was the first real AP, so updating to 5E might be kinda nice. On the other hand, soooo many players already know the story, that it would be just acting out the novels, rather than playing a game.

Interestingly, I think I'm the only one in my two current groups that knows the story of the War of the Lance. And even for people like us who know it, I think some of us might find it fun to experience the story from a more interactive perspective.

Although in all fairness, I do think I'd be much more inclined to run it for one of my groups rather than play through it myself.

I own this adventure. I've played this adventure. I've run this adventure. No. Just No. It's a terrible idea. It's a one trick pony (mixing sci-fi with fantasy that it can't last beyond the one adventure. A completely re imagined adventure based loosely on the the concepts might work, but the adventure isn't strong enough on it's own.

Hahah, noted! I do stand by my perspective that the basic concepts (a crashed spaceship and aliens?!) would make for a cool departure from standard D&D fare. The way you put it, though - it sounds like it would need a hard reboot. And I agree that it doesn't seem to be something that you'd want to continue as an extended campaign after finishing the adventure...

I LOVE this adventure! I could see an AP based on expanded locations. The second half of the adventure alone could be an AP (or even a whole setting!). Might need a better introduction though.

The more I hear about Castle Amber, the more I want to play it.

As with IoD, this could be really good IF it's updated to include quests and goals, not just leaving things to the DM.

Yeah, I feel like Keep on the Borderlands would make for an amazing sandbox.

And what about you? Are there any other adventures that you'd like to see get the Curse of Strahd remake/expansion treatment?

 

[delericho]

I'm inclined to think I'd rather see new adventures rather than remakes. (Even ToD and especially PotA feel a bit... remake-y. They're fine since they were the first 5e adventures and they wanted a classic vibe, but I definitely preferred OotA.)

But, in the spirit of the thread...

• The Isle of Dread...
• Expedition to the Barrier Peaks...
• Castle Amber...

Yeah, I think I'd pay for any of these. I'd also like to see a "Firestorm Peak" remake, since I've never seen/read/played the original, and also my personal favourite "The Shattered Circle". Come to think of it, "The Sunless Citadel" might be ripe for a remake - it's now 16 years old.

That said...

I'm sure a lot of people would say Tomb of Horrors...

I think ToH (and, actually both "The Shattered Circle" and "The Sunless Citadel") might well work best as a fairly small, self-contained site-based adventure - and as such, might well not benefit from the 256-page hardcover treatment. Certainly, the 4e version didn't impress, despite the undoubted ability of the team. But since WotC only seem interested in those 256-page hardcover adventures (as is entirely their right), it might be best to leave it alone.