D&D General 50 years, 50 publications - the poll

[JEB]

Lost mines is the best adventure but not the best starter set.

Second one best content weakest adventure

Agreed that Lost Mines outranks Icespire as an adventure, but it's fairer to say (IMHO) that the two sets have different approaches. The Starter Set was just enough material to get you playing, with a more linear adventure path, while the Essentials Kit is more like a true D&D-in-a-box, with a sandbox adventure. The weakness of the Starter Set is it's less comprehensive, but the weakness of the Essentials Kit is it can be more overwhelming for new players.

 

[Zardnaar]

Up until now all I knew about B10 was the module's name, and what was on Wikipedia - didn't know it was an OSR darling. Guess it was a good include on the list! (May have to check it out myself. In fact, sounds like I should look more closely at the B-series in general...)

I bought the pdf years ago.

If you like X1 but want to do it lvl 1-3 in Karameikos you might Iike it.

If not.....

Most of the B and X series is decent to excellent in a retro review.

 

[Zardnaar]

Agreed that Lost Mines outranks Icespire as an adventure, but it's fairer to say (IMHO) that the two sets have different approaches. The Starter Set was just enough material to get you playing, with a more linear adventure path, while the Essentials Kit is more like a true D&D-in-a-box, with a sandbox adventure. The weakness of the Starter Set is it's less comprehensive, but the weakness of the Essentials Kit is it can be more overwhelming for new players.

Yeah it's how I see it. Essentials is a great deal the adventure is the hardest of the 3 to run imho.

 

[JEB]

My attempt to advance some publications for 1e:

Monster Manual (1e): The original AD&D rulebook, and the original dedicated monster book.
Players Handbook (1e): When AD&D truly became its own game, establishing the template for the modern era.
Dungeon Masters Guide (1e): The original guidebook for DMs, full of Gygaxian wonder.

A1-4: Scourge of the Slavelords (1e): You beat up slavers!
C2: The Ghost Tower of Inverness (1e): Noted for making players think.
D1-2: Descent Into the Depths of the Earth (1e): The first modules to feature the drow, and the sequel to...
G1-2-3: Against the Giants (1e): One of AD&D's earliest and most famous adventure paths.
I6: Ravenloft (1e): An enduring classic that inspired an entire setting, and showed a new way to play the game.
L1: The Secret of Bone Hill (1e): Quoting @Lanefan: "By TSR standards it's a masterclass in non-linear dungeon design".
N1: Against the Cult of the Reptile God (1e): A more investigative adventure for beginners.
Q1: Queen of the Demonweb Pits (1e): The finale of the storyline started by the G and D series, pitting the heroes against Lolth herself.
S1: Tomb of Horrors (1e): The original killer dungeon. YMMV on whether it's famous or infamous...
S2: White Plume Mountain (1e): Often cited as one of D&D's great "funhouse" dungeons.
S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks (1e): D&D's most famous blend of SF and fantasy.
S4: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (1e): The grand finale of the S series.
T1: The Village of Hommlet (1e): The iconic place for 1e adventures to begin.
T1-4: The Temple of Elemental Evil (1e): The expansion of the above, featuring a true mega-dungeon.
U1: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh (1e): The original haunted house adventure.
UK1: Beyond the Crystal Cave (1e): The first in a series of British adventures, which encourages non-violent solutions!
WG4: The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun (1e): A particularly Lovecraftian sort of dungeon crawl.

Battlesystem (1e): Bringing D&D back to its wargame roots.
The Book of Lairs (1e): Looking for a bunch of short adventure ideas for any campaign? Check this out!
Deities & Demigods (1e): The second attempt at bringing real-world mythology into D&D, and the one most fondly remembered.
Fiend Folio (1e): The odd middle child of the 1e monster books, and the first major UK contribution to the game!
Manual of the Planes (1e): D&D's first comprehensive treatment of the planes.
Monster Manual II (1e): The third and final monster book for 1e. Among other things, it gave us modrons!
Oriental Adventures (1e): D&D's first attempt at an Asian-themed setting.
The Rogues Gallery (1e): Includes early writeups for some of the game's original iconic NPCs!
Unearthed Arcana (1e): Gygax's final contribution to official D&D.

The World of Greyhawk Fantasy World Setting (1e, 1980, Folio): The original campaign setting, and for many the definitive version of Greyhawk.
World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1e, 1983): Except for the Greyhawk fans who prefer this more comprehensive version.
Greyhawk Adventures (1e, 1988): The first post-Gygax take on Greyhawk, and the last for 1e.

Dragonlance: Dragons of Despair (1e, DL1): The original Dragonlance adventure, helping establish a whole new approach to D&D games.
Dragonlance Adventures (1e): The original all-in-one take on the Dragonlance setting.

Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (1e): The original version of the Realms, and for many the best.
Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms (1e): The most detailed exploration of the Eastern part of the setting.

 

[guachi]

B10, despite being a bridge from B to X, would probably work best if used as the start and base setting of a campaign. Trying to shoehorn it into something already existing (as I did, both times) does it no favours

I can't imagine B10 working very well unless you actually use the base setting in the campaign. This module is more tied to its setting than most. My campaign was actually set in the Known World.

 

[guachi]

As far as supplements, Aurora's Whole Realms Guide is the ultimate shopper's guide, with Arms & Equipment Guide a great treatise on "what are all these weird armors and weapons anyways?". The Compendiums (Wizard, Priest, Magic Item) are a fabulous collection of the first 25 years of the game's magic system.

I picked up the Whole Realms Guide, the Arms & Equipment Guide, and the 4 magic item compendiums on Ebay in 2014-15 and they are the only old non-module supplements I've actually used in my 5e games out of the few dozen books I picked up at the time. It's very easy to hand any of these to the players and let them look through them to find anything that might interest them. The Whole Realms Guide being a smaller size paperback actually adds to its appeal. I really feels more like you're looking at some catalog than a D&D supplement.

 

[guachi]

Up until now all I knew about B10 was the module's name, and what was on Wikipedia - didn't know it was an OSR darling. Guess it was a good include on the list! (May have to check it out myself. In fact, sounds like I should look more closely at the B-series in general...)

The main story is probably difficult to divorce from the Known World setting of Karmeikos. But it does have a lot of side quests that make the world feel lived in. I found its structure to be outstanding in that it perfectly does what it attempts to do - bridge the gap between Basic and Expert sets.

The module is 64-pages long and it must have taken my group 4 months to complete. That's at least 16-18 sessions of play. There's a shockingly large amount of stuff crammed into those 64-pages. For some reason I kept getting inspired on ways to add and expand encounters (mostly social and exploration) in ways I've never been with other modules.

E.g., at one point the PCs finally sell the white horses they've been looking for to the elves. There's a halfling tavern keeper in the little elf village. I grafted on a poem that appears in the Five Shires Gazetteer and the players got to do an actual song and dance right at the game table. The energy the players put into a silly song and dance was beyond my expectations. I've never seen players so into anything in the 40 years I've been playing D&D.

 

[JEB]

Day 3 progress report...

Top 10 publications:
#1 (23 votes): DMG (1e)
#2 (21 votes): PHB (1e)
#3 (18 votes): B2 Keep (Basic), MM (1e), I6 Ravenloft (1e), PHB (5e 2014)
#4 (17 votes): X1 Isle (Basic)
#5 (16 votes): PHB (2e)
#6 (14 votes): Basic Rules (Mentzer), Planescape CS (2e)

#1 result for 3e is PHB 3.0, with 12 votes.
#1 result for 4e is DMG, with 5 votes.
#1 result for OD&D is the original boxed set, with 6 votes.

5e made a comeback, now in the middle of the top 10, where the 2014 PHB is competing with Ravenloft! 3e is still just short of the top 10. In the 4e ranks, the Monster Vaults have now been displaced by the 4e DMG, bit of a surprise.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are some publications that still have zero votes as we reach the halfway point! Some not entirely surprised, but I figured there'd be at least one vote for (as an example) Madness at Gardmore Abbey...

Also, only two have more than half the total votes (the 1e DMG and PHB). We'll see if that changes!

 

[Lanefan]

Up until now all I knew about B10 was the module's name, and what was on Wikipedia - didn't know it was an OSR darling. Guess it was a good include on the list! (May have to check it out myself. In fact, sounds like I should look more closely at the B-series in general...)

Prepare to shell out, then, as B-10 is getting pretty costly these days.

 

[Zardnaar]

Prepare to shell out, then, as B-10 is getting pretty costly these days.

B series is on pdf.