The classic AD&D modules and my collection

[MerricB]

What makes an AD&D module classic? Does it have to be good?

For me, the test of whether a module is classic or not depends on whether it is listed on the back of another classic module..

This is a completely arbitrary notion, and comes from the period when I entered the game (about 1982, as far I can work out) and from the first module I actually owned: D3 Vault of the Drow (the blue cover edition, not the mono edition).

So, here are the Classic Modules according to Vault of the Drow:

G1: Steading of the Hill Giant Chief
G2: Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl
G3: Hall of the Fire Giant King
D1-2: Descent into the Depths of the Earth
D3: Vault of the Drow
Q1: Queen of the Demonweb Pits
C1: Hidden Shrine of the Tamoachan (note the "the" in the title)
C2: Ghost Tower of Inverness
S1: Tomb of Horrors
S2: White Plume Mountain
S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks
T1: Village of Hommlet
A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity

Emotionally for me, those are the "classic" modules, and it's been a long time since I first saw that list until - well, not even now - soon, when I'll finally own all of them.

For those wondering at which modules I didn't own... the answer is C1 has been the one that's taken the longest to acquire, with T1 in the second position. D3 was my first AD&D module bought - and, boy, was that module confusing for a 10-year old!

G1, G2 and G3 I've never owned as individual modules; they're all together in G1-2-3, but I'm happy with that.

The other emotional attachment to the adventures comes from the collection of one of my friends who I used to borrow the books from in those early days. He had, apart from Q1, also the I3, I4 and I5 "Desert of Desolation" series - so this would be 1983-4 when I was fully into my apprenticeship of AD&D.

However, as I've owned I3, I4 and I5 for a very long time now, they haven't been on my "want" list for a long time now.

Given that introduction, I6, Ravenloft sits just outside of how old an adventure module has to be to be a classic! (No, I don't own it, although I should try to buy it one of these days).

"Modern" AD&D starts in 1984 for me, with the release of Dragons of Despair. I bought the module - probably in 1986 - as I was collecting all of the DL series after reading the novels and deciding I wanted to run the adventures. (I ran DL 1 and part of DL 2 at school before we had to abandon it!)

Of course, 1984 was also the year AD&D "jumped the shark" with the release of The Forest Oracle...

Probably the biggest holes in my collection are the lack of original cover AD&D rulebooks (MM, PHB, DMG). I'm not actually playing AD&D at present, nor does such seem likely with the players I play with, but there's a collector in me that would like to get them!

Cheers!

 

[TerraDave]

So, here are the Classic Modules according to Vault of the Drow:

G1: Steading of the Hill Giant Chief
G2: Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl
G3: Hall of the Fire Giant King
D1-2: Descent into the Depths of the Earth
D3: Vault of the Drow
Q1: Queen of the Demonweb Pits
C1: Hidden Shrine of the Tamoachan (note the "the" in the title)
C2: Ghost Tower of Inverness
S1: Tomb of Horrors
S2: White Plume Mountain
S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks
T1: Village of Hommlet
A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity



Cheers!

I was just looking at my old mods. Yes, I have all of those. (and just about all the hardbacks. They take up so much less space them my very partial 2 and 3E collections)

I would add the "4s" S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth and its semi-sequal WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun, both published 1982. And of course I6 Ravenloft, from 1983.

More importantly, I DMed all of those, in a linked campaign. But of the classics above, I have only used T1 (though I have gotten a lot of milage out of hommlet). This makes me sad. Then again, this is true with a good number of other adventures and games.

 

[Bullgrit]

On the subject of collecting old modules (or any old books), ebay has been great and sad at the same time.

It used to be a thrill to find an old module for sale somewhere -- comic book store, yard sale, etc. Finding them could a lucky surprise or the result of a lot of active legwork.

Now I can just log into ebay and purchase something missing from my collection in 5 minutes.

I remember when I found Expedition to Barrier Peaks at a comic book store when I was just looking for MtG cards. Would have been the late 90s. The experience of the discovery was exciting and fun.

I also had a coworker, in the early 90s, sell me about half a dozen old modules for like a buck each. Was a little bonding experience.

I kind of miss those finds. But, then again, I don't have to rely on luck to find material missing from my collection -- I can get it whenever I feel like looking it up online.

Bullgrit

 

[Belorin]

G1: Steading of the Hill Giant Chief
G2: Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl
G3: Hall of the Fire Giant King
D1-2: Descent into the Depths of the Earth
D3: Vault of the Drow
Q1: Queen of the Demonweb Pits
C1: Hidden Shrine of the Tamoachan (note the "the" in the title)
C2: Ghost Tower of Inverness
S1: Tomb of Horrors
S2: White Plume Mountain
S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks
T1: Village of Hommlet
A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity

Of those listed the only one I have not played or DM'd in is A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity, as it was about this time that I found the Forgotten Realms and started playing those adentures.

I would also have to mention some of the basic D&D modules;
B1: In Search of the Unknown
B2: Keep on the Borderland
X1: the Isle of Dread
and others.
These can also be considered classic and were easily converted to AD&D.


Bel

 

[DaveyJones]

Probably the biggest holes in my collection are the lack of original cover AD&D rulebooks (MM, PHB, DMG). I'm not actually playing AD&D at present, nor does such seem likely with the players I play with, but there's a collector in me that would like to get them!

Cheers!

are you including the various assorted Geomorphs, DM Logbook, Perm Character Record Folder, Greyhawk folio, etc... in your list of wants?

i sent copies of the original cover 1edADnD books to Hong and Wil Upchurch. they aren't very hard to find here in the US. you should come to Gen Con sometime mang.

 

[Celebrim]

What makes an AD&D module classic? Does it have to be good?

For me, the test of whether a module is classic or not depends on whether it is listed on the back of another classic module..

This is a completely arbitrary notion, and comes from the period when I entered the game (about 1982, as far I can work out) and from the first module I actually owned: D3 Vault of the Drow (the blue cover edition, not the mono edition).

So, here are the Classic Modules according to Vault of the Drow:

G1: Steading of the Hill Giant Chief
G2: Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl
G3: Hall of the Fire Giant King
D1-2: Descent into the Depths of the Earth
D3: Vault of the Drow
Q1: Queen of the Demonweb Pits
C1: Hidden Shrine of the Tamoachan (note the "the" in the title)
C2: Ghost Tower of Inverness
S1: Tomb of Horrors
S2: White Plume Mountain
S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks
T1: Village of Hommlet
A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity

Emotionally for me, those are the "classic" modules, and it's been a long time since I first saw that list until - well, not even now - soon, when I'll finally own all of them.

The first three modules I was familiar with were B1, U1, and X1. I knew at the time that those existed, but I'd never played them (although I played the C and S modules a few years later). The A and GDQ modules, I've never actually played, and looking back on them, don't really want to. As such, I have no real attachment to them and a much broader feel for what is 'classic', even though my gaming also begins in like '82.

The other emotional attachment to the adventures comes from the collection of one of my friends who I used to borrow the books from in those early days. He had, apart from Q1, also the I3, I4 and I5 "Desert of Desolation" series - so this would be 1983-4 when I was fully into my apprenticeship of AD&D.

However, as I've owned I3, I4 and I5 for a very long time now, they haven't been on my "want" list for a long time now.

I was actually in college before I got a hold of I3 and I4, and my admiration for them as modules vastly exceeds many things people would consider classic. I still think that they are largely very well constructed modules, and having converted them to 3.0, I have come to conclude that many of the things I consider limited and 'immature' about them, have more to do with the limitations of space in the format than the limitations of the writer. It's amazingly how terse old school D&D modules are.

Of course, its quite possible that the same is true of the even more terse 'classic' modules you list. Certainly I see less clearly how to turn G1-3 into something I'd consider running than I do I3-5, and that's even having read the silver anniversery update to the modules as well.

Given that introduction, I6, Ravenloft sits just outside of how old an adventure module has to be to be a classic! (No, I don't own it, although I should try to buy it one of these days).

For my part I think that you can make a good argument that I6 (and DL1, the other module you mention) are the dividing line between the first and second ages of D&D modules.

Of course, 1984 was also the year AD&D "jumped the shark" with the release of The Forest Oracle...

No, it jumped the shark with the release of 'Shadowdale' (FRE1), a module from which D&D would not recover for a very long time.

I'd rather own and run 'The Forest Oracle' than own and run 'Haunted Halls of Eveningstar' (FRQ1). Production values aside, 'The Forest Oracle' is a far superior module. If I hadn't already dumped FRQ1, I'd happily trade you for N2.

Probably the biggest holes in my collection are the lack of original cover AD&D rulebooks (MM, PHB, DMG). I'm not actually playing AD&D at present, nor does such seem likely with the players I play with, but there's a collector in me that would like to get them!

The are definately worth owning. The production values in the 1e MM are terrible. But as a campaign guide, it exceeds any MM since. I really could probably run a campaign that started with little more than random encounters from the 1e MM, because it does an extremely good job of world building. It tells you for instance, what percentage of Hobgoblin lairs are underground, gives a rough outline of what their fortress would be like if it isn't, tells you what percentage of encounters with hobgoblins will be with a nearby lair, and what percentage are merely wandering in the open, tells you how many catapolts said lair will have, what pets they have, what treasure each individual hobgoblin will have, how they are armed, what value in total the goods in the lair will have, what the organization of a tribe is and how powerful its leaders should be, and so forth. Each entry is practically an adventure in itself. The PH is probably the least interesting of the bunch, except for its descriptions of proper play. But the 1e DMG in particular ought to be required reading for any well rounded DM. It's a treasure chest and has never in my opinion been surpassed.

 

[MerricB]

I was actually in college before I got a hold of I3 and I4, and my admiration for them as modules vastly exceeds many things people would consider classic. I still think that they are largely very well constructed modules, and having converted them to 3.0, I have come to conclude that many of the things I consider limited and 'immature' about them, have more to do with the limitations of space in the format than the limitations of the writer. It's amazingly how terse old school D&D modules are.

I agree - both I3 and I4 are very close to being my favourite modules of all time. I ran both in 3.0E, and I4 actually managed to exceed I3 as a great module. It's amazing how it plays when you're confident enough to roleplay all the intrigue in the Oasis.

For my part I think that you can make a good argument that I6 (and DL1, the other module you mention) are the dividing line between the first and second ages of D&D modules.

Definitely.

No, it jumped the shark with the release of 'Shadowdale' (FRE1), a module from which D&D would not recover for a very long time.

Actually, that was AD&D 2nd Edition jumping the shark. It didn't take long! I own that adventure, and it's amazing to see all the quality work by Ed Greenwood (check the plot threads for before the adventure begins) disappearing in the clunkiest and most annoying railroad adventure.

I'd rather own and run 'The Forest Oracle' than own and run 'Haunted Halls of Eveningstar' (FRQ1). Production values aside, 'The Forest Oracle' is a far superior module. If I hadn't already dumped FRQ1, I'd happily trade you for N2.

I've got both N2 and FRQ1. You get the impression from Haunted Halls that it needs to be about 100+ pages long to get all of Ed's work; but I remember how disappointing it was when I got it. Hommlet light.

The are definately worth owning. The production values in the 1e MM are terrible. But as a campaign guide, it exceeds any MM since.

Oh, I own all the original AD&D books (3 copies of the PHB); I just don't have the original efreet/statue/etc. covers.

Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

are you including the various assorted Geomorphs, DM Logbook, Perm Character Record Folder, Greyhawk folio, etc... in your list of wants?

i sent copies of the original cover 1edADnD books to Hong and Wil Upchurch. they aren't very hard to find here in the US. you should come to Gen Con sometime mang.

Not so much. I've got the 1983 boxed set and I've not got much attachment to the original Greyhawk folio. I used to own the geomorphs when I was starting the game - now I've just got a pdf of them.

Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

Of those listed the only one I have not played or DM'd in is A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity, as it was about this time that I found the Forgotten Realms and started playing those adentures.

I would also have to mention some of the basic D&D modules;
B1: In Search of the Unknown
B2: Keep on the Borderland
X1: the Isle of Dread
and others.
These can also be considered classic and were easily converted to AD&D.

Indeed. B2 was the basis for one of my 3e campaigns, and my group travelled four times to the Isle of Dread in another of my games!

B1 I'm currently lacking, but (with any luck) due to ebay it's on its way to me now.

Cheers!

 

[Doug McCrae]

I think the essential classic modules are:

G1-3, D1-3, S1, S3, B2, X1, I6, T1-4

Purely because they get name checked the most.