So, what makes 1e adventures so great?

[The Shaman]

IIRC, the same style was also used in at least one Top Secret adventure, the one that came with the boxed set (Sprechenaltestelle or something like that). Was Rapidstrike done in that format? I can't remember.

Operation: Sprechenhaltestelle followed the same format as In Search of the Unknown - Operation: Rapidstrike, the adventure that came with the Adminstrator's screen, followed a conventional adventure format.

The Temple of the Frog (from Supplement II: Blackmoor) is also an oddity that lies outside the normal consideration of adventures.

Why? It was a fun dungeon crawl! It was also a good primer on site-based adventure design.

I don't think it's nostalgia that draws me back to the 1e feel - there are a number of 1e adventures that I thought then (and think now, in most cases) were pretty much crap. But I know that most of what I've seen since returning to D&D with 3.0 can't hold a candle to the best of 1e.

I think Celebrim said it very well - D&D in those days was still much closer to its literary roots in swords and sorcery in the days before Dragonlance and the Forgotten Realms. Somewhere along the way GMs became seduced by the siren call of "telling a story," substituting scene-setting and intricate plot twists for devious traps and cunning monsters.

And yet, there always seemed to be a story that emerged from our dungeon crawls and wilderness treks - bad guys escaped to reappear later, a monster which defeated our stalwart adventurers would still be lurking in a gods-forsaken wasteland, and so on. There were quests and retribution and comic relief, and all of it as close to spontaneous as one could probably hope to get given the constraints. The story was always there - we just didn't seem to work at it so hard.

 

[Hodgie]

My group still goes back and plays FirstQuest from time to time. We revamped FirstQuest into 3.0 when it came out, we've played it again since then, and will probably play it several more times in the future.

There is just nothing like recapturing those first moments of gaming.

 

[tetsujin28]

I wouldn't say it was nostalgia that made those modules great. It was that every module TSR put out was something you hadn't seen before. It's really difficult to have that experience, nowadays.

And if you really want to see how crazy and nasty early modules were? Try some of the old ones for Arduin. Man...I still have nightmares about some of those suckers...

 

[jasper]

As people have said no material except the modules and it was consider a game that did not end at the module. How it went to the game must not end ever I don't know.
However I will point out under a new dm so of the modules were bad. I do agree sunless is a classic and if came out under 1E with the details, plots, and suggestions it would be consider THE classic because it does hold new DMs hands better than the old modules.

 

[Henry]

I think the near-absence of a "plot" is also a major factor in nostalgia for the "classic" modules. These adventures were not overly concerned about how your PCs got to the front door, or what motivation they might have for barging in and stealing a bunch of treasure...

This resulted in a game experience consisting almost entirely of moving figures on a map and fighting dangerous beasts (or doing the same in your head). That means that from start to finish, you're actually _playing Dungeons & Dragons_, as opposed to sitting around and talking about what kind of outfit your guy is wearing or haggling over equipment prices with an NPC.

To build on what Erik said, this had another side effect, the perception of genericity, of application to all campaigns. Just like it's harder for a juror to diregard something that's been said, the lack of lengthy background and "whys and wherefores" means that a DM has an easier time concentrating on the gamist material at hand and applying it to his game.

Also, their writing tends toward the generic tropes of fantasy, meaning applicable to all campaigns than one or two. I could use White Plume Mountain or Against the Giantsin almost any fantasy setting out there, with minor mods. However, I have a harder time (not impossible) doing the same with Dark Sun's Black Spine, or Planescape's Fires of Dis, mainly because it's easier to paint on a cleaner canvas.

 

[mmadsen]

That means that from start to finish, you're actually playing Dungeons & Dragons, as opposed to sitting around and talking about what kind of outfit your guy is wearing or haggling over equipment prices with an NPC.

Priceless.

 

[diaglo]

So, why were they so great?

b/c they are written for 1edADnD.

and they are easily converted to OD&D(1974)

 

[Staffan]

Also, their writing tends toward the generic tropes of fantasy, meaning applicable to all campaigns than one or two. I could use White Plume Mountain or Against the Giantsin almost any fantasy setting out there, with minor mods. However, I have a harder time (not impossible) doing the same with Dark Sun's Black Spine, or Planescape's Fires of Dis, mainly because it's easier to paint on a cleaner canvas.

But on the other hand, Black Spine and Fires of Dis are a lot better as Dark Sun and Planescape adventures than, White Plume Mountain and Against the Giants are. Well, at least one would hope they are.

Me, I like things specific. A Dark Sun adventure should use psionics, desert travel, elven nomad tribes, city-states with their corrupt templarate, and so on. An Eberron adventure should use the Houses and their Dragonmarks, Inspired, remains of the Last War, and so on. That's why you use settings, because you like the things that make them different. Otherwise, what's the point?

 

[Storm Raven]

I believe these have been mentioned, but for me, the old modules stand out for these reasons -

Brevity: They were usually 16 or 32 pages long, usually lanchung directly into the adventure part of the publication within a few paragraphs, with minimal extraneous material. They packed an entire multi-session adventure into just a few pages.

Portability: While most early adventures had some minimal background, this element was kept to the back burner. This allowed me to work them into many different campaign settings with relative ease. Granted, it took some work to fully integrate them with any setting, but I didn't have to edit out or replace setting material that was already there.

Simplicity: Most of the early adventures were site based dungeon bashes, with a minimal veneer of organization among the villains. Once again, this allowed me to transplant them wholesale into many different settings.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Its been said before, but it bears repeating now...

Originality is probably the biggest key, coupled with nostalgia.

Combine that with all the growth in the hobby- the countless articles on how to improve your DMin style, how to run scary dragons again, the ecology articles, the slayers guides... Every player and DM has learned and internalized SO MUCH about how to be a better RPG hobbyist that we have higher standards.

An analogy if I may...

Bootsy Collins is credited with being one of the greatest bass guitar players of all time, but there are many modern players who are, quite simply BETTER. Yet he retains this status- How can this be? He is great because he did so many things first and well, but the modern players have learned the lessons he taught. The bar has been raised. What Bootsy innovated, the new guys must learn merely to be considered compitent.

So when we encounter modules or supplements that seem to be lacking, we are seeing that supplement through the internal lenses of knowing so much more than we did in 1979. Maybe this new adventure has mindless undead that we know the party will simply wade through in a couple of rounds, when we know that an encounter with even mindless undead can be a serious challenge to even a medium level party...if handled properly. Maybe the BBeDragon at the end seems wussy, because we know that these are ancient and crafty beings who can use magic and tactics as well as any party could...and possibly better.

Think about how liches were run before and after "Vecna Lives!"