OD&D Best Classic Adventures?

[Retreater]

My group is really getting excited about the OSR movement, so I'm interested in looking back at classic modules (or those modern ones written for OSR games). What are some highlights to consider, since I missed out completely on gaming prior to the 1990s?
(If it matters, I think we'll be going Old School Essentials, which is modeled after Basic and Expert D&D.)

 

[Musing Mage]

There are some staples of old school you'll often hear repeated that are definitely worth looking into:

Keep on the Borderlands (basic and AD&D)
Against the Cult of the Reptile God (AD&D)
Village of Hommlet (AD&D)

Castle Caldwell and Beyond (Basic)
Isle of Dread (Basic)
Dymrak Dread (Basic)

These ones are fairly well known and tried and true and among my faves to run, a good starter list. You'll find that modules like Keep on the Borderlands or Village of Hommlet that present a setting as a homebase are great for incorporating other modules for campaign play.

I've recently purchased some bundles of 3rd-party old-school modules on Drive Thru RPG, but won't be able to run any until the pandemic tapers off and our group is less skittish about reconvening. There are some lines that have been well reviewed on that site and it's worth looking at them.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Isle of dread to really showcase the exploration pillar of the game
KotBL is the most popular, but it's not the best. Not without DM work. It's a basic dungeon crawl with no real cohesive plot. But it has the potential if the DM is willing to flesh out plots within the module (like the monsters unifying to attack the keep, or the castellan's advisor secretly working with the cave cult leader, etc)
UK1 and UK2 (Sentinel and Gauntlet) are two excellent low to mid level adventures.
Secret of Salt Marsh and the Lost City are two excellent low level adventures as well.
Castle Amber is another really great adventure with a bit of a twist.

 

[Musing Mage]

Yes, Saltmarsh! Slipped my mind but another great one. I've run it a couple of times for different groups, with only one of them actually making it to The Final Enemy...

Again a setting based module, albeit one where you need to create the setting details yourself.

 

[Enrico Poli1]

BECMI:
Keep on the Borderlands
Horror on the Hill
Rahasia
Eye of Traldar
Night's Dark Terror
Island of Dread
Castle Amber
Master of the Desert Nomads
Temple of Death
Red Arrow, Black Shield
Test of the Warlords
Death's Ride
Sabre River

1e/2e:
Against the Cult of the Reptile God
Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh
Slavers series
Lost Caverns of Tsojicanth
Against the Giants series
City of Skulls
Die Vecna Die!
Return to the Tomb of Horrors
Also, Dragonlance Heroes of the Lance series
Dragon's Crown for Darksun
Ravenloft: From the Shadows & Roots of Evil

 

[reelo]

Buy the Barrowmaze megadungeon/campaign-setting and you'll be set for years.

 

[LordEntrails]

White Plume Mountain (S3) always holds fond memories for me.

 

[David Howery]

KotBL is the most popular, but it's not the best. Not without DM work. It's a basic dungeon crawl with no real cohesive plot. But it has the potential if the DM is willing to flesh out plots within the module (like the monsters unifying to attack the keep, or the castellan's advisor secretly working with the cave cult leader, etc)

an idea I've tossed out before: get both the original Keep and the Return to the Keep modules... the latter has detailed the Keep with fully fleshed out NPCs, and you can still use the original Caves if you like...

 

[Bupp]

an idea I've tossed out before: get both the original Keep and the Return to the Keep modules... the latter has detailed the Keep with fully fleshed out NPCs, and you can still use the original Caves if you like...

Last time I ran it I did exactly that, with bits from Hackmaster's Little Keep on the Borderlands thrown in as well.

 

[Retreater]

Buy the Barrowmaze megadungeon/campaign-setting and you'll be set for years.

I have it for 5e. But I don't think this group of players particularly likes megadungeons.
Do megadungeons even work in Basic/OSR? Like, I would think the entire game mechanic of combat, rest, recovery would breakdown very quickly.