OD&D Best Classic Adventures?

[Retreater]

I'm seeing a lot of suggestions for AD&D adventures (which I'm not opposed to), but is there any guidance on how to scale down the power level of AD&D to BECMI? (Or to scale "up" the characters?)

I'm worried that low-level Basic characters would be devoured by Temple of Elemental Evil.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I'm seeing a lot of suggestions for AD&D adventures (which I'm not opposed to), but is there any guidance on how to scale down the power level of AD&D to BECMI? (Or to scale "up" the characters?)

I'm worried that low-level Basic characters would be devoured by Temple of Elemental Evil.

Castle Amber is Expert.

Saltmarsh is the right level, but would require quite a lot of work to mod it to Basic, no matter which version you started with.

You are right, many of the others mentioned are way beyond Basic.

 

[Viking Bastard]

Castle Amber is Expert.

Unless I've misunderstood this thread terribly, this thread is about old school modules, a very subjective term, not OSR, which you seem to be referring to.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I'm seeing a lot of suggestions for AD&D adventures (which I'm not opposed to), but is there any guidance on how to scale down the power level of AD&D to BECMI? (Or to scale "up" the characters?)

I'm worried that low-level Basic characters would be devoured by Temple of Elemental Evil.

BECMI and AD&D1e are pretty much interchangeable with each other; there shouldn't be much modification needed.

to the second part, Basic or AD&D, character have a very real chance of getting devoured by the ToEE anyway. That's sort of the thing with old school TSR D&D . if you feel like you need to bump up a B/X character, then you'd probably have to do the same with AD&D as well, so it really doesn't matter if you're looking at a B/X adventure or AD&D. It's all compatible with each other. And it's all much more lethal than subsequent editions. Especially at low levels.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

If I had to pick one old-school adventure to recommend, it'd be T1 Village of Hommlet. It's got a village to serve as a home base, a classic dungeon that has variety without feeling too much a funhouse dungeon, and a few mysteries and conspiracies to unravel. Uncoupled from the Temple of Elemental Evil follow-up, there's a ton that a DM can expand from it as well.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

The best classic modules, ranked.

First, the answer to the question. What is the best (single) classic module?

....X2, Castle of Amber. It has everything. It's a B/X module, but can play fine with AD&D characters. It has a loose metaplot/mystery if you want to emphasize that. It has multiple different areas to explore. It has combat, traps, and classic "player skill" puzzles. It has dungeon and overland. It has madness and Lovecraftian horror. It has a whole demi-plane subplot. It is chock full o' stuff and a little bit gonzo.

...it is is messy and wondrous and perfect.

But I'd give an honorable mention, on the AD&D side, to WG4, The Temple of Tharizdun.

Some others to look at:

A Series (A1-4) The slaver series has lost a lot of luster with modern gamers because it is considered rail-roady, but it's good fun!

B1, B2, B3 All of these all, IMO, a little overrated. Still fine.

B4 Imagine how much better the world would be if this module, and not B2, had been included with all the basic sets!

C1, C2 Both classics; now that Tamoachan got a WOTC reprint, it pays to use Inverness.

EX1-2 The Wonderland modules.

I Series (I1-I6) I would argue that this is the best series of AD&D modules ... and if you argue with me, I will FIGHT you.

UK1 Perhaps the most new school of the old school modules.

X4-X5 Isle of Dread gets the hype, Castle of Amber gets the top prize, and other "series" that became bloated (I am looking at you, Temple of Elemental Evil and GDQ) are still beloved, but this weird little double of Desert Nomads and Temple of Death is the best module series / proto-AP TSR ever made.

 

[ccs]

A lot of the modules mentioned (e.g. Saltmarsh series, I3-6) I would class as "early modern" rather than Old School. For a genuine Old School feel, I would recommend these:

What in the world do you think makes I3-5/6 "Early Modern"? Because they have a story? A plot? Or because Hickman is better at presenting that story/plot vs other module writers of the time?

Actual play of these is 100% old school.
Pharoah - It plays just like Isle of Dread. you've got an opening sequence of hex crawl, resulting in wilderness encounters, & then you get to the "dungeon". It doesn't get more old school that tomb raiding in a pyramid.
I4 & I5 play similarly - though I4 adds some social encounters where combat is not the best option.
I6? It's a straight up dungeon crawl though a vampires haunted castle....

Likewise Saltmarsh isn't much different than Hommlet.
Little town ---> dungeon (be it the Moat house or the haunted house)
Final Enemy? That's just a hard ass dungeon crawl vs one type of enemy {spoiler; most of it's set underwater}
It's only Dunwater that truly stands out here as being ahead of its time as playing it as a seek & destroy combat run vs lizardmen is not the correct answer.

 

[Monayuris]

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.

They work very well. The original dungeons were megadungeons (of the DMs personal design).

I’ve run Stonehell and Barrowmaze with OSR games (Basic Fantasy and B/X). As mentioned already, it is not about clearing it in one go, it is about going in with finite resources and trying to explore and obtain as much treasure as possible. They are designed for multiple forays where each foray reveals more information and more objectives as you go.

 

[Monayuris]

I would suggest Castle Xyntilan.

I am playing in a game now (so this is from a player perspective).

It is a blast. It is an exploration of a giant castle that is home to some strange family. Reminds me of Castle Amber or Tegal Manor.
The rooms we have encountered are fantastic.

Lots of special tricks and puzzles and odd, strange peculiarities. It is definitely not 4 goblins in a room. Lots of mystery and a sense of wonder pervades.

The family are maybe / maybe not vampires(???) and they have their own strange motivations and interactions with each other. It feels like a big part of thedungeon is figuring out how to play them against each other.

So far an excellent old school D&D experience. It really brings home the sense of wonder and excitement that old school brings. You really need to interact with the environment in meaningful ways to succeed. There is no roll Arcana to win the room, here... you have to think.

If I were not playing it, I would buy it and run it for my group IMMEDIATELY.

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

My favorite was Under Illefarn. Might be that it came out at the right time when I was just getting in DMing or that it was a whole campaign in one module.
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I had great fun with that as well. Ran it in 3E with no trouble. There's an expanded, free version called Under Illefarn Anew (some of the material herein got used in Ghosts of DragonSpear Castle).