Since the initial open playtest at PAX East, the playtest material has been the Caves of Chaos from KotB. Wizards has stated that the playtest released on the 24th will be the same basic packet-- pregens and the Caves of Chaos.
This makes me very, very happy. But it also makes me a little nervous.
Will the playtest version be the actual, original module, with different monster stat blocks? Or will it be an entirely rebuilt module with different rooms and monsters, with only the title being the same? Because I've been down this road before.
I remember when Dungeon Magazine re-released one of my favorite modules, The Isle of Dread, adapting it to the 3.5E rules. I was so excited about it that I ran out and bought the magazine right away...only to discover that they had changed nearly everything about the module. The map was different, the encounter keys were gone. There were no new dinosaurs, no pirates, no cat-people or aranea...and their version of the kopru was nothing like the original (or even like the MM2). And where did that freakin' demon come from?! It felt like they only kept the title, and changed everything else. "Converting is too hard! Let's just delete the parts that didn't fit 3E. Oh and stuff in a demon." *headdesk*
So I will be paying attention to this playtest on more than one level, so to speak. I will be paying attention how the characters feel, and how the mechanics work, and how much fun everyone has with the new system. But I will also be looking at the dungeon itself, and how much it changes from the original 1980 version. I will consider the dungeon itself to be a model of what the designers intended for a dungeon crawl, and the conversion of it will be a test for whether or not my old modules can
really, actually be adapted, and how much effort it will take.
For example: Does the "Shallow Pool" encounter at Area 33 (page 19) still have a jewel-encrusted goblet in the bottom, guarded by 3 gray oozes? Did they change it to just one ooze and a handful of gemstones? Or did they get rid of the pool, change the goblet to a +1 longsword, and replace the oozes with a bugbear and three goblin minions?
The first is ideal (and what I will be doing with my conversion). The second is acceptable, if done for the sake of game balance. The third is a cop-out.