1st edition modules to make a complete campaign

[Tuzenbach]

Read carefully in the Greyhawk boxed set.....

How about if I quote from it?


[in reference to Verbobonc]

"This small state would hardly be worth mention in a continent-wide work of this nature, depsite its riches, except that evil forces chose the area to establish a stronghold. A temple and fortress were constructed in the wooded hills southeast of the town of Verbobonc, not far from the village of Hommlet. Trade was ravaged, the countryside pillaged, and bands of evil humanoids and men were flocking to the gruesome standards raised. Prompt action was taken when it became apparent that evil had grown strong. The Right Worshipful Mayor of the town called up the trained levies, and the Viscount brought all of his retainers and the militia, and these forces were in the forefront of the ensuing battle which broke the hordes of the Temple. The viscounty is a large one, extending from the Velverdyva's south bank some 15 leagues into the Kron hills, being over 50 leagues in breadth. Verbobonc is situated in the approximate center of its east-west axis."


(Gygax, 1983, p. 41)
Sourced from A Guide to The World of Greyhawk Fantasy Setting

 

[Tuzenbach]

Here's a better one:

"The allied forces were closing upon the stronghold of evil creatures, a huge, walled fortress known as the Temple of Elemental Evil, not far from the unfortunate village of Hommlet, when elven scouts reported that a huge army was approaching from the south."


(Gygax, 1983, p. 11)
Sourced from A Guide to The World of Greyhawk Fantasy Setting

 

[Delta]

No, that's not what I mean. I'm talking about the place in the Glossography, locations of adventures, that refers to adventures WG1-3, which weren't actually printed with those designations.

 

[T. Foster]

No, that's not what I mean. I'm talking about the place in the Glossography, locations of adventures, that refers to adventures WG1-3, which weren't actually printed with those designations.

Gygax also mentioned this in one of his "From the Sorcerer's Scroll" columns in Dragon magazine around the time that WG4 was released -- that he intended to have TSR re-release module T1 as WG1 and S4 as WG3, and that "Temple of Elemental Evil" (which hadn't yet been published as of that date) would be module WG2. For whatever reason, these reprints were never done and when ToEE was finally released it was not as WG2 but as T1-4.

As for the intended connection between "The Village of Hommlet" and ToEE, one need look no further than the cover-blurb of VoH:

The Village of Hommlet has grown up around a crossroads in a woodland. Once far from any important activity, it became embroiled in the struggle between gods and demons when the Temple of Elemental Evil arose but a few leagues away. Luckily for its inhabitants, the Temple and its evil hordes were destroyed a decade ago, but Hommlet still suffers from incursions by bandits and strange monsters...

This module contains a map of the village and lands around, a large scale map of the inn, church, trading post, and guard tower (main floor, upper rooms, and cellars), an informational key regarding the inhabitants, and a map and exploration key for a destroyed moat house, a former outpost of the Temple of Elemental Evil. The whole provides a complete, ready-to-play scenario, and is a lead-in to DUNGEON MODULE T2: THE TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL.

Since it took 6 years after module T1 was released before T2 (i.e. T1-4) finally came out, it's no surprise that many people played T1 as a stand-alone without waiting around for T2, but the intention was always very definitely that the two were intended to be played together as a set.

 

[Tuzenbach]

No, that's not what I mean. I'm talking about the place in the Glossography, locations of adventures, that refers to adventures WG1-3, which weren't actually printed with those designations.

Oh! You know, I've never noticed that. In fact, I STILL HAVEN'T!

*goes and checks Glossography*

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I am thinking of running a massive campaign, using first editon modules only. I believe I will start out with temple of elemental evil. I believe that slavers is next, followed by against the giants, decent, vault of the drow, demonweb pits.

So far my group is playing TOEE and moving on after that to The Slave Lords. After that, I'm not sure what the DM will run.

 

[Grimstaff]

The Saltmarsh sequence is one of the strongest in D&D history, IMO. I'm always surprised that TSR/WotC never did a return/expedition to that stuff.

Not an adventure, per se, but the 3.5 DMGII revisits Saltmarsh (which has experienced some urban sprawl apparently).

 

[Grimstaff]

So the series would go like this:

T1-4: Temple of Elemental Evil (lvl 1-8)
S4: Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (lvl 6-10) and WG4: Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun (lvl 6-10)
G1-3: Against the Giants (lvl 8-12)
D1-2: Descent Into the Depths of the Earth (lvl 9-14)
D3: Vault of the Drow (lvl 10-14)
Q1: Queen of the Demonweb Pits (lvl 10-14)

White Plume Mountain also works very well in between ToEE and G1-3.

And don't forget Tomb of Horrors, after D3 or Q1, its a great way to end a nice long campaign with tragedy and woe!