Classic Dungeons: all of them to exist in the new edition

[Lonely Tylenol]

Deleted, with good reason.

Of course, i'm prejudiced on this topic. Barrier Peaks was the first module I ever tried to run... and my players walked out on me after 30 minutes. *sob* And two years ago I tried to put an antipaladin riding a froghemoth mount into my game... and the PCs studiously avoided him.

I want my froghemoth!

well...
Age of Worms Spoiler:
[sblock]If you run The Champion's Games from the Age of Worms adventure path, there's a froghemoth in there. And the party is already confined to the floor of a gladiatorial arena, and should, if you do your work properly, think they're facing a cryohydra or something, so they won't be able to avoid the thing.[/sblock]

 

[Rechan]

Wow, go get S1 and B2 via PDF now. They're very cheap and definitely worth the read.

Where would I find them?

 

[The Little Raven]

Spell Jammer, on the other hand... well, I just haven't heard anything about it that sounds redeemable.

Try and find a copy of Dungeon #92/Polyhedron #151 with Shadow of the Spider Moon.

Spelljammer - Space Hamsters + It's Own Setting = Awesome.

EDIT: It was done by Andy Collins, and he's got a bunch of information about it over on his website.

http://www.andycollins.net/Projects/Spelljammer/Spelljammer.htm

 

[JoeGKushner]

I'm worried about what they'll consider a classic but I'm also interested in seeing how the new system handles them.

In and of itself, this could act as a huge guideline in determining how to write adventures for my own game as I've run many of the classics and if I can see how they're updated, I can figure out some of the approach to take myself.

 

[delericho]

Where would I find them?

Paizo.com have them, amongst other places.

 

[Mercule]

Dude, you ever try to take a mindflayer to the customer service desk, and try to redeem him for valuable gifts and prizes? He just eats the brain of the poor customer service drone behind the desk, and you don't get any valuable gifts or prizes.

So, I'd have to say - completely irredeemable.

Things like this are why ENWorld needs a rep system.

 

[Prince of Happiness]

?
Please explain... I don't have any of the 'Expedition to___' if that's what you are referring to. And if it is, what did they do?

And FWIW, if the classics aren't brought back to life in 4E, then they won't be classics much longer. As people my age and older leave the game, so will the memories of those classics... unless new players are given the opportunity to experience them in 4E.

It's in the sense that classic modules were more open-ended, and in that way "modular." If you needed some castle, or some ruin to drop in your own "Fantasy Adventure Milieu" because you mentioned some dungeon over the hill off-hand at 2:30 A.M. on your last session, and the players say "Let's go there!" you'd be set. When you start tying in more involved plots (for better or worse) you have a little bit more work getting the storyline to tie into your campaign.

 

[Rechan]

It's in the sense that classic modules were more open-ended, and in that way "modular." If you needed some castle, or some ruin to drop in your own "Fantasy Adventure Milieu" because you mentioned some dungeon over the hill off-hand at 2:30 A.M. on your last session, and the players say "Let's go there!" you'd be set. When you start tying in more involved plots (for better or worse) you have a little bit more work getting the storyline to tie into your campaign.

I guess that's just how things were back then. It having no overall plot elements aside from "There's stuff in there, let's go in", is really limited imho.

 

[Prince of Happiness]

I guess that's just how things were back then. It having no overall plot elements aside from "There's stuff in there, let's go in", is really limited imho.

No, that's not really the intent at all. It really varied on the module. But largely most modules of the "classic-era" certainly had protagonists who had not-so-healthy designs on the friendly inhabitants of the local environs, but the modules (mostly) didn't come out and say "ZOMG! ZOMG! BAD GUY! GUNNA DO BAD THINGS! IT GONNA HAPPEN LIEK DIS N' DIS N' DIS! YOU DM! YOU CHUT UP!!! YOU JUST MAKE MOD-OOL GO! YOU HAVE PEECEES TO STOP THEM N' DEY STOP 'EM LIEK DIS N' DIS N' DIS N' DIS!!!1111eleventy-one!"

So, again, in that sense it was easier to drop into your own existing campaign and tie into the storylines you and your players were already going on, rather than having to go back and re-write a bunch of content to make it work. Of course, this definitely changed later on, and even the classics were tied-in together (the G & D series, for example), but again, module:modular:fits in how you want it.

Generally.

Basically.

Sometimes.

Depending.

ETA some more: Oh hey, I broke 1K of posts. That took how many years?

 

[Clavis]

Of course, Expedition To The Barrier Peaks was obviously written by some sci-fi obsessed hack with no understanding of what D&D was about.

Oh, wait, that was Gary Gygax, who only CREATED THE GAME!

What's that you say, there was a certain Dave Arneson also involved in creating the game, and who even had the first D&D campaign ever? Surely he didn't approve of the way Gygax distorted D&D by introducing sci-fi elements?

I'm sure he would have been outraged if not for the freakin' aliens, lasers and starships in his Blackmoor setting.

Somehow, I think the game's creators knew a little more about D&D than anybody mucking with it now.