I grew up in a tiny town in northeast Iowa where you won't find a single stoplight or public library, let alone a game store. With fewer than 600 souls, it's probably the last place you'd expect to be immortalized in the pages of one of the most influential Dungeons & Dragons adventure modules of all time – but it was. Here's the story of how.
When I tell people I'm from Quasqueton, Iowa, the most common response is some version of "never heard of it." But certain old-school D&D fans will recognize the unusual name, having delved into the Cavern of Quasqueton while playing Dungeon Module B1 In Search of the Unknown. The module, written by Mike Carr and first published in 1979 in the first edition basic set, laid the foundation for virtually every dungeon crawl that followed. Classic monsters and traps await in the Cavern of Quasqueton, along with some areas intentionally left blank for dungeon masters to fill with original encounters.
For years, I wondered how the name of my hometown wound up in In Search of the Unknown. It's simply too unusual of a name to chalk up to coincidence. With Goodman Games releasing an update of the module for 5E this year as part of its Into the Borderlands collection, I decided to try to track down Mike Carr to see if I could get the full story. The kind folks at Goodman Games conveyed my initial inquiry to Mr. Carr, himself, who graciously took the time to send me an email recounting the origin of the Cavern of Quasqueton.
As it happens, the dungeon likely would have received a different name were it not for the Ground Round restaurant chain. Carr worked for the Ground Round in Roseville, Minnesota, during college. His job prospects upon graduation looked bleak, so he entered Ground Round's management training program, which sent him to the restaurant chain's Cedar Rapids, Iowa, location from 1974 to 1975. Carr first encountered the name Quasqueton during that fateful time in Cedar Rapids, which is located in an adjacent county from my hometown. The name stuck with him when he started work for TSR in March 1976.
"In developing the backstory and setting [for B1], I wanted to give this mythical place a distinctive and extraordinary name," Carr said. "During my two years of living in Cedar Rapids, I became aware of the town called Quasqueton and that place name qualified perfectly, so that's the name I chose."
Carr worked for TSR from 1976 to July of 1983, editing many of the best-loved D&D products during that stretch. When it was decided the basic set needed an introductory adventure module, he volunteered to write it. He said he designed the Cavern of Quasqueton as an example for beginning DMs to follow.
"I took special care to construct it in a manner that would illustrate how to create a backstory and a setting, as well as how to design a challenging dungeon and populate it with monsters and treasure," Carr said.
In real life, the name Quasqueton comes from a Native American word for "swift, running water," owing to the town's location along the banks of the Wapsipinicon River. I've heard people pronounce the name many different ways. Even lifelong Quasquetonians, as the town's residents are referred, disagree over the pronunciation. Most refer to it by its shorter nickname, "Quasky." But I'm glad Carr didn't name his classic dungeon the "Cavern of Quasky." Somehow, that doesn't sound as impressive to me.
contributed by Fred Love
When I tell people I'm from Quasqueton, Iowa, the most common response is some version of "never heard of it." But certain old-school D&D fans will recognize the unusual name, having delved into the Cavern of Quasqueton while playing Dungeon Module B1 In Search of the Unknown. The module, written by Mike Carr and first published in 1979 in the first edition basic set, laid the foundation for virtually every dungeon crawl that followed. Classic monsters and traps await in the Cavern of Quasqueton, along with some areas intentionally left blank for dungeon masters to fill with original encounters.
For years, I wondered how the name of my hometown wound up in In Search of the Unknown. It's simply too unusual of a name to chalk up to coincidence. With Goodman Games releasing an update of the module for 5E this year as part of its Into the Borderlands collection, I decided to try to track down Mike Carr to see if I could get the full story. The kind folks at Goodman Games conveyed my initial inquiry to Mr. Carr, himself, who graciously took the time to send me an email recounting the origin of the Cavern of Quasqueton.
As it happens, the dungeon likely would have received a different name were it not for the Ground Round restaurant chain. Carr worked for the Ground Round in Roseville, Minnesota, during college. His job prospects upon graduation looked bleak, so he entered Ground Round's management training program, which sent him to the restaurant chain's Cedar Rapids, Iowa, location from 1974 to 1975. Carr first encountered the name Quasqueton during that fateful time in Cedar Rapids, which is located in an adjacent county from my hometown. The name stuck with him when he started work for TSR in March 1976.
"In developing the backstory and setting [for B1], I wanted to give this mythical place a distinctive and extraordinary name," Carr said. "During my two years of living in Cedar Rapids, I became aware of the town called Quasqueton and that place name qualified perfectly, so that's the name I chose."
Carr worked for TSR from 1976 to July of 1983, editing many of the best-loved D&D products during that stretch. When it was decided the basic set needed an introductory adventure module, he volunteered to write it. He said he designed the Cavern of Quasqueton as an example for beginning DMs to follow.
"I took special care to construct it in a manner that would illustrate how to create a backstory and a setting, as well as how to design a challenging dungeon and populate it with monsters and treasure," Carr said.
In real life, the name Quasqueton comes from a Native American word for "swift, running water," owing to the town's location along the banks of the Wapsipinicon River. I've heard people pronounce the name many different ways. Even lifelong Quasquetonians, as the town's residents are referred, disagree over the pronunciation. Most refer to it by its shorter nickname, "Quasky." But I'm glad Carr didn't name his classic dungeon the "Cavern of Quasky." Somehow, that doesn't sound as impressive to me.
contributed by Fred Love
