D&D General DMs Guild Classics POD & PDF Wishlist

[KirayaTiDrekan]

Today's goodies...

In print

B9: Castle Caldwell and Beyond (by the legendary Harry Nuckols)
C3: The Lost Island of Castanamir

 

[CleverNickName]

Wow...that's all of the B-series modules except B3, "Palace of the Silver Princess."

 

[Riley]

Wow...that's all of the B-series modules except B3, "Palace of the Silver Princess."

There’s also the other B3, “Palace of the Silver Princess.”
I’d really like to buy a reprint of both!

 

[Parmandur]

Unfortunately, I wonder if legal or other issues prevent B3 from being viable for a reprint? It would seem perfect for the Goodman Games historical treatment.

 

[Alzrius]

Unfortunately, I wonder if legal or other issues prevent B3 from being viable for a reprint?

I doubt it, since Wizards of the Coast saw fit to release the original version of the adventure for free on their website several years ago.

 

[Weiley31]

I doubt it, since Wizards of the Coast saw fit to release the original version of the adventure for free on their website several years ago.

Thank you for the heads up on that!

 

[Orius]

Possibly WotC aren't certain which direction to take with B3 either.

The whole background on B3 is uncertain, there's been many versions told over years that are conflicting, some by the people who were directly involved. Whatever the case, there are also known to be actual flaws in the original. But even given those flaws, one could say that Moldvay's rewrite undermines Wells' original work on the project. Some might even say that it's a smoking gun pointing to sexism within TSR at the time, but I'd hesitate to go that far. After all, TSR had a release schedule and something about the module was unsuitable. Some of the things considered unsuitable aren't too unreasonable either.

 

[Parmandur]

Possibly WotC aren't certain which direction to take with B3 either.

The whole background on B3 is uncertain, there's been many versions told over years that are conflicting, some by the people who were directly involved. Whatever the case, there are also known to be actual flaws in the original. But even given those flaws, one could say that Moldvay's rewrite undermines Wells' original work on the project. Some might even say that it's a smoking gun pointing to sexism within TSR at the time, but I'd hesitate to go that far. After all, TSR had a release schedule and something about the module was unsuitable. Some of the things considered unsuitable aren't too unreasonable either.

Well, one of the people involved with sinking Wells version of the module more recently self-immolated his comic book art career with a bizarre public misogynist rant, ao I think it is extremely safe to say that misogyny played a significant role in these events.

 

[teitan]

POD, From the Ashes and/or the original Old Grey Box FR set. Especially the former and the regional supplements they put out.

 

[Orius]

Well, one of the people involved with sinking Wells version of the module more recently self-immolated his comic book art career with a bizarre public misogynist rant, ao I think it is extremely safe to say that misogyny played a significant role in these events.

There are so many different versions of what really happened with the module and I can't be sure anyone knows the truth from what I can tell. Some of the people are now dead and can no longer give their side of the story even if they remembered it. To me, attacking dead people is nothing but a rhetorical cheap shot unless they were part of power structures that were actively shaping social systems of Injustice and that doesn't include TSR.

Some of those stories about B3 say they were problems with module content at a time when TSR was both rebranding the B series as more kid friendly at the same time the Satanic panic was starting to explode. (And I would say if you want to point sexism fingers over the Satanic panic there are many many far worthier targets I wouldn't waste the time to defend but naming them would violate one of the board rules.) Some of the blame is put squarely on the art, and that has nothing to do with Wells. Given all the uncertainty over what really happened I wouldn't be confident in pointing to any single factor in what happened with the module.

In any case, if WotC is wavering over the module because of the underlying controversy, let them just release both versions of the module together. The original is said to have some problems with the maps matching up (and don't feel like going over my .pdf to find out). Some people also think the unfinished areas are a flaw too, but that was part of the tradition of B1. I'm not familiar with Moldvay's version, but some people say it's a bit bland compared to the original. That could be the result of a hasty rewrite. Whatever controversy existed over the module originally isn't really that important today; B3 really didn't have much influence over the development of D&D. It's mostly a curiosity to gamers aware of it I think. At least curiosity is what led me to download it from WotC's site all those years ago. It's an okay module, but I was never particularly fascinated by it. I suppose it's serviceable as an introduction to the game.