Best 3rd party dungeon crawl adventures

[itsjustb]

A friend is visiting for Turkey Day and wants to do a good, old-fashioned dungeon crawl. I've been looking through various publishers--especially Goodman Games, Necromancer Games, and 01 Games--to try to find one, but it's tough to choose one, even using the reviews here on EN World.

So, what's the best 3rd-party dungeon crawl adventure you & your party have played? Or, is there one publisher whose adventures consistently impress you?

Thanks!

Beej

 

[DaveMage]

The ultimate dungeon crawl is, of course, the World's Largest Dungeon by AEG. It covers all levels 1-20 and is very modular so it would work well for whatever level you want to play, and for however long.

If you want something of smaller scope, Rappan Athuk from Necromancer Games was fun (though it too is a large dungeon). If you want brief, then any of the Goodman Games dungeon crawls seem good (although unlike Rappan Athuk, I have not actually played any of them).

Forge of Fury by WotC has also received very positive reviews, though I have not played or DMed it either.

 

[jtone]

I would second DaveMage's recomendation of the World's Largest Dungeon. It is very well written (despite typos and such). You might also want to consider the Banewarrens by Monte Cook. Both of these are too long for just a weekend session, though you could enjoyably play through one section of the World's Largest Dungeon.

 

[francisca]

Dungeon Crawl Classics #2: The Lost Vault of Tsathzar Rho, written by Mike Mearls and Published by Goodman games is pretty good. I feel it was money well spent.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

All of Goodman Games Dungeon Crawl Classics are good, but I think the best of them is #5 Aerie of the Crow God. That's the one that we nominated for the ENnies this past year, and all the judges seemed to like it very much, if our opinion counts.

 

[Wycen]

I think I'd go with Goodman Games 2 dollar dungeon. It is 2 bucks, has an interesting twist and is small enough to be run in 1 sitting.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

I think I'd go with Goodman Games 2 dollar dungeon. It is 2 bucks, has an interesting twist and is small enough to be run in 1 sitting.

That's a good one too, and you can't beat the price. It's #11 and is called The Dragonfiend Pact. My group just finished running through it and we had a good time. Although it took us 3 sessions to finish, but that's a story for another time...

 

[Psion]

The one I use for one offs is Rappan Athuk... seeing how players handle different parts of the dungeon in different interludes is a source of great mirth for me. (The doppleganger room was infamous in my old group.)

Tomb of Abysthor is nice too, but you probably won't finish it over thanksgiving.

Aerie of the Crow God is a bit smaller and probably more in striking distance of finishing over a holiday.

 

[Ed Cha]

I'd recommend my own 2004 ENnie-nominated "World of Whitethorn 1B: The Village of Oester". It's got a lot of great NPCs, side encounters, and backstories that will definitely entertain your friend. At 64 pages, it's long enough to last you over the weekend and yet not too long that you can't finish.

Here is a preview of the art and maps:
http://www.openworldpress.com/gallery.php#1B_art

And it's on sale now for $11.99 (25% off) with FREE PRIORITY MAIL shipping within the U.S. accompanying orders $25 and over at:
http://www.indiepressrevolution.com

Good luck and please do post a message about how it goes!

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I'll second Banewarrens -- though it's half a campaign in itself.

Also, Necromancer's The Grey Citadel is a good adventure that combines a good city setting with the dungeons underneath, plus a little surrounding wilderness, so there's lots of variety.