D&D General Goodman Games To Reincarnate Jennell Jaquays' Caverns of Thracia

Game designer Jennell Jaquays has announced that Goodman Games will be reviving her 1979 Caverns of Thracia adventure for D&D 5E and its own DCC RPG. The Greek-themed adventure is set in a detailed dungeon, and was originally published by Judges Guild.

After over two years of biting my tongue and ignoring friends' questions, I can finally share this news.

In addition to owning Dark Tower, the game adventure that I created 43 years ago for Judges Guild; Goodman Games also owns The Caverns of Thracia... which some fans consider to be the better of my two Judges Guild mega-dungeon/campaign adventures.

It will eventually be getting the same treatment as Dark Tower as a Goodman Games Original Adventures Reincarnated product

Dark Tower, another of Jaquays' Judges Guild modules, is currently on Kickstarter with three weeks to go.

 

[overgeeked]

The official announcement on Goodman Games’ website.

Goodman Games Acquires Caverns of Thracia|Goodman Games

goodman-games.com

 

[pukunui]

OK so aside from this being the adventure that prompted Justin Alexander to coin the term "Jaquaying the Dungeon", what is so special about this adventure? I've never read or played it, so I know nothing about it. Given the minotaur on the cover and the reference to Thrace, is it an historical adventure set in ancient Greece or something? (I note that Dark Tower seems to have an Egyptian theme.)

(I started playing D&D in the mid 90s with 2e, so I am not all that familiar with OD&D, 1e, BECMI, etc.)

 

[Lidgar]

Read the link Overgeek posted above (the Goodman announcement). It’s a great summary of the adventure without giving too many details.

 

[Parmandur]

OK so aside from this being the adventure that prompted Justin Alexander to coin the term "Jaquaying the Dungeon", what is so special about this adventure? I've never read or played it, so I know nothing about it. Given the minotaur on the cover and the reference to Thrace, is it an historical adventure set in ancient Greece or something? (I note that Dark Tower seems to have an Egyptian theme.)

(I started playing D&D in the mid 90s with 2e, so I am not all that familiar with OD&D, 1e, BECMI, etc.)

It's one of the earliest printed modules, and is a vaguely Hellenic Megadungeon.

The design is supposed to be top notch stuff thst still holds up.

 

[the Jester]

Oh, what I would give to see all of Len Lakofka's Lendore Isles ("L"series) compiled and modernized...

I actually just finished creating miniature scale maps of the main site on Bone Hill for a group I'm running in about two hours! They ended the last session at the base of the hill, ready to go explore.

 

[John Crothers]

For those that may want to have a more recent version of this module instead of waiting (assuming you can get it), Necromancer Games did a conversion to 3.5 and its a full PDF, so print quality is top notch.

It's an excellent conversion.

 

[Mannahnin]

It's one of the earliest printed modules, and is a vaguely Hellenic Megadungeon.

The design is supposed to be top notch stuff thst still holds up.

It's not quite a megadungeon. I believe it has four levels, and you CAN "clear it out". But it's a really cool and creative layout, with multiple entrances, tons of level interconnections and interesting ways to navigate including vertically. And it's one of the earliest examples of a dungeon supporting "faction play" as the OSR/megadungeon enthusiast crowd likes to talk about. There are different groups in the dungeon struggling for power and territory, and you can potentially ally or talk with some antagonists while fighting others.

The maps can be a little confusing in spots; the OAR cleaning/clarifying them a little would be helpful.

 

[Retreater]

It's not quite a megadungeon. I believe it has four levels, and you CAN "clear it out". But it's a really cool and creative layout, with tons of level interconnections and interesting ways to navigate including vertically. And it's one of the earliest examples of a dungeon supporting "faction play" as the OSR/megadungeon enthusiast crowd likes to talk about. There are different groups in the dungeon struggling for power and territory, and you can potentially ally or talk with some antagonists while fighting others.

The maps can be a little confusing in spots; the OAR cleaning/clarifying them a little would be helpful.

I'd like to add (without spoilers) that it has some of the Old School "uniqueness" without feeling goofy. Original, unique creatures; areas with special rules; an interesting history for the entire dungeon that you can uncover as you explore; some very memorable (and cinematic) encounters with varied terrain - not just 30 x 30 dungeon rooms. At least in my opinion.

 

[Lord Rasputin]

OK so aside from this being the adventure that prompted Justin Alexander to coin the term "Jaquaying the Dungeon", what is so special about this adventure? I've never read or played it, so I know nothing about it. Given the minotaur on the cover and the reference to Thrace, is it an historical adventure set in ancient Greece or something? (I note that Dark Tower seems to have an Egyptian theme.)

(I started playing D&D in the mid 90s with 2e, so I am not all that familiar with OD&D, 1e, BECMI, etc.)

What the others have said:

• The maps are just great. Seriously, the top two levels are a model of how maps should be in a module: multiple paths, a hidden secret exit, multiple bonus areas, a constant sense of wonder.
• Multiple factions. It’s always possible in those scenarios to befriend one faction and play it against another. Hence why folks should make reaction rolls, but I digress.
• While there are factions of humanoids, there are enough other things to encounter to keep everyone on his/her guard, like the dryads, the wight, the giant gnome, and the Immortal King.
• There are clear hints at the founders of the dungeon and their civilization, with some of them frozen in time waiting to be awoken.

The upshot of all this is that due to the multiple factions, the random encounters, the multiple branches on the map, and the hidden goodies, the same players could play through this adventure many different times and have different experiences each time, depending on choices made and how the dice fall.

 

[mach1.9pants]

A Comment On the OGL|Goodman Games

goodman-games.com