Adventure Classics - tell me about them

[Rechan]

I'm a D&D youngin'. I started reading FR novels around 1998, and have always had an interest in D&D (I recall sitting in a book store marveling at the Monstrous Compendium Annual), but I never got the chance to really sit down and play the game until 2001 or so.

And I've been around these forums for a long while, and all the older players bring up "Keep on the Borderlands" and "Against the Giants" and I feel really left out. I know nothing about these classics; never seen a boxed set (aside from the FR box, Ravenloft box, and Rod of 7 Parts). The most familiar I am with classic adventures is through Nodwick.

So, tell me about them. Particularly Keep on the Borderland and The Night Below. What are they about? Why are they so good? What was in the Tomb of Horrors aside from a Lich?

 

[Rechan]

Nobody?

 

[Rhun]

I never played or DM'd The Night Below...but I know many around here did. So be patient, and I am sure you'll get some answers.

Keep on the Borderlands wasn't really all that good in and of itself, IMHO. But it gave a solid framework that any decent DM could turn into a terrific adventure. It held a base of operations, a wilderness area, and multiple dungeon areas, though only the Caves of Chaos were fleshed out. Like I said, a real good framework that could provide many levels of fun play with the right DM.

Tomb of Horrors was more of a dungeon crawl filled with deadly traps. And the lich was actually a demi-lich. There were very few things to fight within the tomb, but there were puzzles to solve and traps to avoid. It was definitely a thinking person's adventure.

 

[Rechan]

Tomb of Horrors was more of a dungeon crawl filled with deadly traps. And the lich was actually a demi-lich. There were very few things to fight within the tomb, but there were puzzles to solve and traps to avoid. It was definitely a thinking person's adventure.

I'm very curious what was IN it. I seem to recall mentioned:

1) A door that was a sphere of annihilation
2) Some sort of giant steamroller that traveled back and forth over a half-crescent floor.

 

[Rhun]

I'm very curious what was IN it. I seem to recall mentioned:

1) A door that was a sphere of annihilation
2) Some sort of giant steamroller that traveled back and forth over a half-crescent floor.

I do recall the door that annihilates anything that goes through it. I don't remember the juggernaut.

If I were home, I'd pull out the module and look, but I'm a few hours away from that.

 

[Pat]

I'm very curious what was IN it. I seem to recall mentioned:

It's been a long time, but a few things I seem to recall (parts may be faulty):

• A four-armed gargoyle.
• Three entrance tunnels, but the real entrance was hidden off to the side of one of them. In fact, that was a theme. The obvious entrance was almost(?) always a trap.
• A "lady or the sack (of treasure?)" moral dilemma, using a nymph.
• A very nasty exploding gem.
• Several gaping mouth-like portals that were actually spheres of annihilation.
• Lots of teleport traps that would teleport your equipment one place, and your naked body somewhere else.
• Sample parties that seemed to recommend taking 10 or 15 characters into the dungeon. Apparently, for spares.
• A demilich that could only be hurt by extremely esoteric or powerful means (like throwing incredibly valuable gemstones at it, or somehow digging up a vorpal sword), so you really needed those spare bodies.
• Lots of secret doors and secret passages.
• The inner 8(?) pages were all black & white illustrations, intended as handouts.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Check Quasqueton's sig for the "Classic Adventures" threads. He's got link to 'em all.