[Dungeon] Which TSR Modules are "Classics"?

[jester47]

I doubt it. Most 3e players, except complete newbies, have encountered goblins and kobolds by the time they've played this adventure. Unless you think people will remember fondly killing Twig Blights? (Or whatever they were called.)

I would have to disagree, becausefor most people that was the first 3E adventure they played. So there is a big shared experience going on there. Using a truncated version of RtToEE (Stop after the moathouse and clearing the temple of hobgoblins) you could do very well with Citadel, Forge, Temple, and Stone.

Aaron.

 

[Erik Mona]

It's astounding to me how similar everyone's responses have been, even though it shouldn't be, because I feel the same way about a lot of these adventures. Thanks to each and every one of you for providing feedback on this topic--you'll definitely be seeing the fruits of this discussion in a future issue.

If everything goes how I'd like it to go, you'll read about my devious plan in Dungeon #105 or #106.

In the meantime, I've got to go hang with my friends Stalman Klim, Drelzna, and X the Mystic.

--Erik Mona the Eyebiter

 

[Zaukrie]

Even though it wasn't produced by TSR Undead by Mayfair games was perfect. Undead, volcanoes, dwarves that had shaved their beards in shame!

S3 is classic because it was different. Even after we had played for years, this one brought back the sense of wonder.

Night's Dark Terror is one I can run over and over.

Rahisia (dang, it's down stairs with my wife who's watching a chick flick with a friend so I can't check the spelling). Witches, traps, puzzles, what more do you want?

Saga of the Shadow Lord. Even when you thought you'd won, it wasn't over. One of the great covers ever!

The Mines of Bloodstone. Wow, another great cover (I miss Keith's work). Goat headed, Orcus worshipping baddies!

The A slavers series is classic because who doesn't want to fight slavers. We aren't raiding some dungeon somewhere for money in this one.

The Saltmarsh series.

 

[Red Baron]

Hope I'm not too late to join in, but I had to jump in for a few of my my faves, off the top of my head... so onward, in no particular order.

N1: Against the Cult of the Reptile God
DL1: Dragons of Despair
A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity
A4: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords
(The middle two A-series modules are good, but not in my mind classic; however, I really love what the Scourge of the Slavelords supermodule did for the series as a whole...)
I3: Pharoah
I4: Oasis of the White Palm
I2: The Tomb of the Lizard King
I6: Ravenloft

Wow, that I-series figures pretty strongly, even if only the DoD trilogy tie in with each other!

Edit: Oh, yeah, can't forget H1-H3, esp H2: Mines of Bloodstone. (H4 got a bit too silly...)

 

[Matchstick]

Nostalgic Choice: Village of Hommlet. The first module I ever played. I'll never forget my half elven Ranger Cleric hitting the big bad with a Silence spell on the first round of the final battle. Good stuff.

Non-nostalgic: Against the Giants.

Others:

I really like non traditional settings, and I think in a lot of ways those types of modules were more important because they dragged you out of the medieval euro mindset. That's why I really like Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan and Pharoh (in that order).

Frighteningly, I bet I still have 75% of the originals of the modules being mentioned in this thread. Amazing.

 

[Southern Oracle]

I have to chime in with the Queen of Spiders series, the Desert of Desolation series, Fate of Istus, The Lost City, The Lost Island of Castanamir, Beyond the Crystal Cavern, All That Glitters, and Ravenloft. They all have elements that were "firsts" in my gaming experience, and I treasure them all.

 

[heimdall]

Most of the modules I'd consider classics have originally been mentioned, but I only saw L1 mentioned once. The L series covering Bone Hill/Lendore Isles I also consider a classic series.

L1 - The Secret of Bone Hill
L2 - The Assassin's Knot

I believe L3 came out as a special edition set, but I haven't seen it. These two, however, were wonderful.

 

[Staffan]

My favorite adventure definitely doesn't qualify as a 1980s adventure, and it probably hasn't been played by anywhere near the number of people who played things like B1 or G1-3, but I'll pimp it again anyway: Dragon's Crown for Dark Sun. To me, that is the essence of epic adventuring. It has everything:

• Strong ties to the setting (Dark Sun in this case).
• Big stakes - if the PCs fail, psionic powers will be pretty much lost - and they're a big part of what makes life possible in DS.
• World-spanning. The adventure stretches across the northern half of the map in the original box set, and then some - from Tyr near the Ringing Mountains, to islands in the Sea of Silt (off the map), and back across the Mountains to the Dragon's Crown.
• Multi-part. Instead of being one big dungeon like many adventures (Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil comes to mind - well, that's one huge dungeon and two small ones), the adventure is divided into about eight smaller, more managable parts.

It probably isn't all that suitable for use in Dungeon magazine, though.

 

[WalkerWhite]

I will agree with just about everyone's opinion except WG4. I really hate that module. Maybe if you were a few levels lower than what is recommended, it would be scary. As it is, it has exactly one challenging scene: the rolling barrels of fire on the bridge.

Everyone seems to keep reiterating the same top 10s, and I cannot really disagree with the choices. Rahasia, Desert, and Ravenloft are all in my top 10.

So instead, I will list two"underappreciated" modules.

C3 - Isle of Castanimir. Nothing causes havoc quite like giving people intelligent magic items they cannot control. Give a player the fremlin item and have fun.

I13 - Adventure Pack 1. The first collection of mini-adventures. Some, such as "Circus of Gandalfo" and "Weird Woods of Baron Orchid" are great fun. Definitely worth a look.

Finally, I would like to cast a vote for the WORST first edition module ever put out. That dubious award goes to

XL1 - Quest for the Heartstone. This was module meant to incorporate characters from the cartoon series. When all the NPCs have names followed by TM, you know there is a problem.

 

[Jhamin]

Finally, I would like to cast a vote for the WORST first edition module ever put out. That dubious award goes to

XL1 - Quest for the Heartstone. This was module meant to incorporate characters from the cartoon series. When all the NPCs have names followed by TM, you know there is a problem.

Now that is interesting. I would actually place XL1 in my top 10 list.

I've always ignored the pregenerated chararacters & just run the written adventure. You have some great wilderness adventuring in a icy but not desolate swamp, an interestingly designed dungeon that the characters can wander, or just try to get to the "good parts" if they can figure out the magical elevator. The layout just urges dramatic fights. One memorable one involved a character dangling from a grapple to the icy bridge while half the party fended off hook horrors while the other half tried to haul her up before the cryohydras in the ice cavern below got within breath weapon range. Good stuff.

Opponents vary from classed humanoids to packs of monsters to a family of frost giants. There are places for all the characters to shine and some pretty tough, though logical encounters.