[Dungeon] Which TSR Modules are "Classics"?

[Archade]

Hey all,

Everyone's listing their favourites. But not too many have answered the question on why they are classic.

Erik, it's because they were sweeping, broad adventures with emphasis on action, mostly thinking man dungeons that killed as many PCs as we have stories for you. They were innovative, creating new monsters, like the Drow and the Demilich, and giving them backgrounds to play against. The dungeons were lost subterranean cities, fabled tombs, sunken pyramids, and other grand settings, not just a series of 10' x 10' rooms.

To be honest, it's also because they were a shared experience -- we all played them, and could compare stories.

Personally, my favourite was N1 - Against the Cult of the Reptile God, because it was a pretty cool adventure for low-level shmoes...

 

[Wippit Guud]

Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth... first adventure I ever went on in AD&D


I'm adding an off-beat module as classic... Castle Greyhawk. How many other adventures award 5000xp for saying the words "B-52's weren't in World War 2..." And lets not forget the elemental plane of Building Materials (Brick) and the Land of Useless Creatures (mainly flumphs and nilbogs)

 

[night_lord]

my favs

Well I have 3 which I think are classic.

Keep on the Borderlands- I still have this module

Queen of the Demonweb pits- Lolth when she had 66 hit points

X10 Red Arrow Black Shield- this is my Favorite all time adventure. Not really a classic but it has it all, war, politics, facing a vile threat. If you havn't already check it out

 

[Ti-bob]

B2 Keep on the Borderlands
N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God
X1 Isle of Dread
A1, A2, A3, A4 the Slavers series

Because it's the first modules I had DMed.

 

[Doppleganger]

As a direct answer, "In Search of the Unknown" is a classic because:

• it's a cheesy, plain old stereotypical dungeon, made before module designs became much more interesting and creative.
• it's old old old.
• it came in a box with one of the ancient editions so many people have fond memories of reading it or playing their first session with it.

Though, if you're thinking of re-doing an oldie, my vote would be for "Barrier Peaks". Simply because I think the average 2003(4?) Dungeon reader would really love to see it. If you get an artist to redo the old b&w "picture #51", put that on the cover of Dungeon mag, then I think people would be inexorably driven to buy it. I love the contrast between plants & metals that exists in the module, and it's full of creative new "monsters" and based in a wierd/mystic terrain setting. It's a classic partially because it reflects the old 1st edition DMG's gestures towards playing mixed genre games.

Second choice for re-doing an oldie would be "White Plume Mountain"; because the interior rooms so thoroughly exemplify the "classic" adventure; in that it's an odd mish-mash of unrelated monsters, the architecture of each room is unique and memorable, and there are numerous creative mental puzzles. Plus the action is set in a memorable and unique location, it's got cool magic items that the players will remember for the rest of their lives, and some grandiose climax encounters at the end of each path.

If you're asking what is the "best" classic module, I'd give an enthousiastic vote for "Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh", which I usually consider to be the greatest overall module of all time.

Anyway, Erik, I don't know you're cooking up, but you've already got me excited to see what your final project is.

 

[jester47]

Opening up another browser to the aceum...

B2,5,7
X1,4,5
T1
S1-2
UK2,3,5
I3-6
A1 (but the rest get tired IMO)
GDQ

Why these? Mainly because they combine many of the elements that are classic to roleplaying. Great fights, thought, interesting situations, and some are just so stereotypical that they set the standard.

Not counting the ones Gygax wrote, it seems that there is a running trend for people to favor Hickman, Morris, Niles and Dave Cook.

I think there was a thread close to this subject a while back. I think it was about "the best module ever" but I can't think of the title right now. I know it had module in the thread title. There is some good info there.

Aaron.

 

[FoxWander]

Everybody's mentioned most of the good ones, but you all forgot the best-

EX1- Dungeonland

EX2, The land beyond the Magic Mirror wasn't nearly as good. Why is it a classic? Pure kick ass nonsense and fun! Dude, it's Alice in WOnderland for D&D. The Mad Hatter and the March Hare as insane monks! The Dormouse could turn you into a were-rat. And don't even think of pissing off the Cheshire cat, an intelligent Phase Saber-tooth Tiger! It's a classic based on a classic.

Beyond that the whole S1 - S4 series were the best traditional D&D modules. I still have a character that has one of the lasers.

 

[Mistwell]

Whichever one of the Slavers series (A3 I suspect) started the players out naked and in total darkness in a twisting cave complex. It's pretty wicked when the best weapon you have is a bone you were able to scrounge up off the ground, and your wizard has no spell book, and no light to read it even if they did.

 

[Emiricol]

Keep on the Borderlands - first module I ever ran, I have probably done or run this one 10 times. Oh, the memories! 11 years old, and discovering D&D was as exciting as discovering how many cool books a library has, if you can believe that. That module "changed my life" and certainly gave me a life-long hobby.

Slaver series!! Man oh man these were probably the first "real" modules I ran. My dad used to play with me, mostly to have something to do with me that didn't drive him totally nuts I think, but my dad and I playing D&D together is a tough memory to beat on the Happy Memory Meter.

Oh, and the Giants series, because, well, it was possibly the coolest series ever (after Slavers of course hehe)

 

[7thlvlDM]

I vote for X1: Isle of Dread and B2: Keep on the Borderlands. If this is about redoing a classic module, I'd like to point out that many of the other classics have been revisited already (Return to the Tomb of Horror, Return to White Plume Mountain, Slavers, House of Strahd, Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, etc.)

-7th