Am I alone?

[der_kluge]

While reading the top 30 modules of all time thread, it made me realize that I'd never played in ANY of those.

No, I've never played in Tomb of Horrors, or the original Ravenloft, and while I've read Isle of Dread, and poured over its contents, I've never actually ran it or played in it.

Maybe it was because I really didn't get started DM'ing until 2nd edition came out, and my 1st edition experience was one of just playing. We played in a crazy homebrew game, and I can't recall any modules that he ever ran.

A friend of mine gave me some of his old modules, Temple of Elemental Evil being one of them, and I've never read it.

About the only modules I can ever think of playing or running was "Against the Giants" (I think that's the name). Lamest module, ever. Probably has something to do with me throwing 2nd edition characters into it. They totally owned the place. But the entire premise was just boring.

I had borrowed Ruins of Undermountain from a friend once to look over it, and then some other friends came over for a spontaneous game, and I thought that I could run that since it was a fully prepared dungeon, right!? Wrong. Imagine my dismay whenever the party chose to go right into a room that was to be defined by the DM. Ugh.

A friend of mine in college ran a lot of those Dark Sun games, but they were quite forgettable. I think he ran some of the Planescape ones, and I remember some of them being pretty decent.

But of all those old classic modules, my exposure is extremely limited. Am I alone in this?

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

I've never played in any of those modules in nearly 20 years of gaming. No DM I've played under used them, and I've never used them as a DM.

 

[Geron Raveneye]

Nope, you aren't, don't worry

 

[DMScott]

About the only modules I can ever think of playing or running was "Against the Giants" (I think that's the name). Lamest module, ever. Probably has something to do with me throwing 2nd edition characters into it. They totally owned the place. But the entire premise was just boring.

Er, the premise is: giants attack civilization, characters go figure out why, find out that evil subterranean elves are manipulating the giants as part of a religious war. Granted that's not necessarily a sublime literary experience, it still seems at least as solid as the great majority of adventures released since then. I think if that premise played out as boring, it probably has more to do with the DM than the players. The idea that throwing 2nd edition characters in would make it easier is bizarre - if the monsters were also changed to 2nd edition, they become far and away more powerful than a group of the suggested level range can handle (giants got a big upgrade from 1st to 2nd edition, almost as big as dragons).

But of all those old classic modules, my exposure is extremely limited. Am I alone in this?

Probably not. That's the thing about old classics in just about any field - those who weren't around for them the first time probably won't draw the same experience, even if they check out the classics.

Going back to the "Against the Giants" example, drow elves are practically a farce nowadays, completely overexposed and associated with some of the worst excesses of munchkinism. So running into them at the end of G3 nowadays is most likely to draw groans and Driz'zt jokes. But at the time, player reactions were of the "what the heck is THAT?!" variety, since the very idea of evil elves was completely alien to the game. People who nostalgize over G3 are probably remembering moments like that - it was the very first time they'd ever encountered drow, and that leaves an impression.

 

[Crothian]

I've played very few but have made a point to run about a third. I'd love to play more of these in an old style campaign. I just need the right players and someone to run it.

 

[Wombat]

Never run any of them myself

If I played in any of them, I certainly don't remember

**shrug**

Luck o' th' draw

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Going back to the "Against the Giants" example, drow elves are practically a farce nowadays, completely overexposed and associated with some of the worst excesses of munchkinism. So running into them at the end of G3 nowadays is most likely to draw groans and Driz'zt jokes. But at the time, player reactions were of the "what the heck is THAT?!" variety, since the very idea of evil elves was completely alien to the game. People who nostalgize over G3 are probably remembering moments like that - it was the very first time they'd ever encountered drow, and that leaves an impression.

Well-said.

At the time, Drow were an enigmatic one or two sentence note in the 1E Monster Manual that, in retrospect, we all should have taken as more significant than any of us seemed to have done at the time.

 

[Mystery Man]

Keep on the Borderlands never gets old.

 

[DragonLancer]

How can you call the Dark Sun modules forgettable? With one exception, those hold some grand memories for my gaming group when we played them.

 

[MDSnowman]

How can you call the Dark Sun modules forgettable? With one exception, those hold some grand memories for my gaming group when we played them.

I agree, even simply reading a Dark Sun adventure is a blast for me. My greatest regret in life is that I never got a chance to run Black Spine.