best non TSR/WotC/d20/OGL published fantasy adventures

[jester47]

Aside from the legacy of D&D, d20 and everything we talk about on this board, what other published adventures (swords and sorcery style) are there out there?

I am thinking about WHFRP stuff, ICE stuff, and various other adventures that are not remembered here often because they are not part of the D&D legacy...

Aaron.

 

[Napftor]

I hear Masks of Nyarlathotep (sp?) is pretty spiffy from Chaosium.

 

[T. Foster]

IMO the best adventure ever published for any rpg is Griffin Mountain (for RuneQuest). This was originally published in 1981 and was oop for many years (there was a re-released version called Griffin Island but it was nowhere near as good) but was re-released a couple years ago by Moon Design Publications and is AFAIK still available (not cheap, though -- $30 or $35 IIRC). It's a huge campaign setting/adventure, describing a culture (the Balazarings), 3 different citadels (including tons of NPCs and plot hooks), a wilderness area (the Elder Wilds), and a dozen or so 'points of interest' (each of which could potentially generate several different adventures). It's over 200pp. of good good stuff; I had it in play with my RQ group for 2 years and never came close to exhausting its possibilities. Plus one of its authors is Paul Jaquays, who also did a lot of acclaimed work for D&D (especially his modules for Judges Guild -- Dark Tower, Caverns of Thracia, Book of Treasure Maps, etc.).

 

[Dave Turner]

T. Foster is right about Griffin Mountain, but I knew it as Griffin Island when I played it and thought it rocked damn hard. It's a campaign in a box. Simply amazing.

 

[Ed Cha]

IMO the best adventure ever published for any rpg is Griffin Mountain (for RuneQuest). This was originally published in 1981 and was oop for many years (there was a re-released version called Griffin Island but it was nowhere near as good) but was re-released a couple years ago by Moon Design Publications and is AFAIK still available (not cheap, though -- $30 or $35 IIRC). It's a huge campaign setting/adventure, describing a culture (the Balazarings), 3 different citadels (including tons of NPCs and plot hooks), a wilderness area (the Elder Wilds), and a dozen or so 'points of interest' (each of which could potentially generate several different adventures). It's over 200pp. of good good stuff; I had it in play with my RQ group for 2 years and never came close to exhausting its possibilities. Plus one of its authors is Paul Jaquays, who also did a lot of acclaimed work for D&D (especially his modules for Judges Guild -- Dark Tower, Caverns of Thracia, Book of Treasure Maps, etc.).

I HAVE TO GET THIS! It sounds awesome. I am big fan of Paul Jaquays and love late 70's/early 80's modules. This looks like a must-have. Thank you, T. Foster.

 

[Monte At Home]

My favorite non-D&D adventure--maybe my favorite adventure period--is the Court of Ardor by Terry Amthor from the golden age of ICE. It's a MERP adventure, but it has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with Middle Earth and Tolkien. It's a wonderful mix of Roger Zelazny's Amber books and some of the coolest settings, NPCs and organizations ever. I suppose by today's standards it's really more of a sourcebook than an adventure, but I've more or less run it as a long campaign adventure twice (once converting it to 1E AD&D, and once using Rolemaster).

Terry's a terribly creative guy. He did a lot of really cool old Rolemaster stuff. Every once in a while he resurfaces in the industry for a while (he was involved with the English version of the Kult game, for example). I wish he did more.

 

[Glyfair]

IMO the best adventure ever published for any rpg is Griffin Mountain (for RuneQuest).

Personally, I categorize this as an adventure, but it's very borderline. It's a bit more of a campaign setting (albeit, a subsetting within Glorantha). It is amazing the amount of information. It's interesting to note that this originally was going to be a non-Glorantha Runequest adventure published by Judges Guild. However, because of discussions with Greg Stafford while Jacquays was designing it, it grew and grew into the product it is.

I think almost everything published for Runequest by Chaosium has been worthwhile, but some is very campaign setting focused. For example, Trollpak is still probably the best sourcebook for a single race. However, trolls in Glorantha are very different from trolls in D&D.

I rank Apple Lane up with Keep on the Borderlands for introductory adventures. It has a "learn the system" scenario, a village with interesting personalities, an adventure within the village & a dungeon crawl outside the village. What more do you need?

 

[jester47]

Thanks for the replies guys,

Monte,

I think you and I frequent the same movie theater. If I ever see you there, I will be sure to say hey. Thanks for the ICE recommendation of The Court of Ardor. I also love the old ICE stuff. The only one I have right now is Hillmen of the Trollshaws. The actual location and adventure have very little to do with Middle Earth and in fact I find that it fits very well into the FR Savage Frontier (aka SIlver Marches). More of these titles are what I am looking for!

T. and Glyfair,

Griffin Mountain sounds cool. I will have to look it up/hunt it down and take a look. I don't think I have ever touched a runequest book in my life, I keep hearing about it. I always get it conused with Talislanta and Ars Magica for some reason (?). Anyhoot, thanks for the direction! Apple lane sounds handy! Definately need to check out runequest...

I am surprised there are no WHFRP suggestions (yet). One of the ones I have and love, but have never used is Castle Drachenfels. Man that one is a doosy classic. I cannot figure out how I would NOT scare my players with that one. It seems to be the only adventure that I have seen that really shows how messed up magic can really be. A classic for sure.

Aaron.

 

[Turjan]

I am surprised there are no WHFRP suggestions (yet).

You want someone to mention "The Enemy Within"?

 

[johnsemlak]

Which system was the adventure simply titled 'Borderlands' published under (not the Keep on...). I read some comments on it a while back and was intrigued. IN fact, I beleive there was a very similar thread to thsi a while back.