What adventure module defines D&D to you?

[Freakohollik]

So many good choices.

B2 for all the reasons said.

GDQ for going up against giant fortresses then traveling into the mysterious underground to face a new enemy.

T1 is also a good choice. It has all the tropes that end up in level 1 D&D adventures.

- Small town
- Ruins
- Bandits (Hum Ftr1, these are sometimes kobolds or goblins, it's the same idea)
- Giant Spider
- and the 5th level cleric in charge of it all

If I have to choose one, I'll go with B2. So vote number whatever for that module.

 

[TheNovaLord]

another vote for N1, just lovely balance

followed by bone hill / assassins knot

sentinel/gauntlet

 

[Lanefan]

followed by bone hill

Good call; I forgot about Bone Hill, another defining module.

Lanefan

 

[Mythmere1]

B1.

No, wait. It's B2.

Actually, maybe it's G1.

I don't know the answer. Damn.

 

[Wormwood]

Another vote for Keep on the Borderlands (even though I thought "keep" was a verb, not a noun. Give me a break, I was like 9).

I would add Queen of the Demonweb Pits as well.

Ridiculous maze? Check
Lots of room for a creative DM to expand the game? Check.
Insta-kill zones? Check.
Iconic foes? Check.

 

[Chainsaw]

Me and my groups do not play with modules.

That in itself, defines D&D for us.

Agree.. D&D was all about homebrew for us (we didn't have the dough to buy modules).

 

[ferratus]

Okay, I have to protest this widespread love of B2.

The Keep on the Borderlands was simply a collection of NPC's with no names or personality, and the Caves of Chaos were just a random jumble of minor delves with the usual monstrous humanoids.

Sure, you can probably build upon it to make it something great with these bare bones, but that's you instead of the module.

 

[Vegepygmy]

Sure, you can probably build upon it to make it something great with these bare bones, but that's you instead of the module.

Yeah, but re-read the title of this thread. The question isn't what is the best D&D module ever written; it's what module defines D&D to you?

And I can't think of a more definitive quality than "you can probably build upon it to make it something great."

(That having been said, I'm torn between In Search of the Unknown and Keep on the Borderlands. And N1 is a great, great, great module IMO, but I don't think it defines D&D to me.)

 

[grodog]

If you were to pick one (1) published D&D adventure that best showcases, defines, or exemplifies Dungeons & Dragons to you, what adventure would that be?

S4 is one I'll single out, since it contains both wilderness and dungeon exploration, as well as a variety of (then-) new monsters/magic items/spells, so it's always been a personal favorite, and I certainly consider it one of the best exemplars of module design.

That is up there but I think my love for Maure Castle triumphs so I'd go with WG5 Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure.

Of course, then there's Maure Castle/El Raja Key/WG5, and Castle Greyhawk, and G1 and G3, and....

edit: interesting that so many folks are naming 1e modules, too.

 

[Sunderstone]

T1 - Village of Hommlett

-great home base w/NPCs
-ruined keep
-giant frogs
-bandits
-Evil High Priest (EHP)
-giant crayfish
-loads of treasure & nice Easter Egg
-cool backstory

This. but T1-4 for my group. The above plus the huge dungeon crawl.

Also D3 Vault of the Drow as an excellent sandbox example of the work a DM needed to do to bring it all to life. D1-2 Descent into the Depths of the Earth and S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth for the Underdark environment and S1 Tomb of Horrors for the fear factor of losing your precious character to the best trap laden test of mettle in RPG history.

I miss the Ad&D days.

B2 was my beginning but AD&D is what nailed me.