Top 10 Greatest Adventures IN the Dungeon Magazine

[Zamora]

Hi,

From the early issues, "Mightier than the Sword". From the 3e period, "Thirds of Purloined Vellum" and the Cauldron Adventure Path.

Cheers


Richard

 

[Eremite]

yes. the issues were better back then. and the ideas in the newer issues are rehashes of material done by other companies or stories or games.

Ahhh, strange to see such a sweeping generalisation with respect to new vs old from you.... :\

I think part of the reason for this perception is a result of the 1E and 2E adventures generally being better (and easier) to read because both of these earlier editions were less stat intensive compared to 3E/3.5E. These earlier editions didn't require large, complicated and accurate stat blocks that break the rhythm of your reading.

Can you imagine Kingdom of the Ghouls being updated for 3.5E? It would probably take a standard issue for the stat blocks alone.

Getting back on topic, I would have to throw in a vote for Fedifensor although, strictly speaking, that was in Dragon as Dungeon didn't exist at that point. I also thought that the Mere of Dead Men series was rather good.

 

[Sunderstone]

Not in any order

Ancient Blood (#20)
Mud Sorcerer's Tomb (#37)
Raiders of Galath's Roost (#87)
Dungeon of the Fire Opal (#84)
Tears for Twilight Hall (#90)
Old Embers Never Die (#100)
Interlopers Of Ruun-Khazai (#92)
The Storm Lord's Keep (#93)
Mad God's Key (#114)
Raiders of the Black Ice (#115)
Practical Magic (#113)

My 11 picKs

The Shackled City series is excellent. The above are my single adventure picks.

 

[Stegger]

thanks again! please keep your suggestions coming.
I would really like to know why you like those particular adventures?
Stegger

 

[Paragon]

i think the reason people have a soft spot for the older issues of dungeon is that so many of them had great stories for the adventures. great ideas, great back ground, not just hack and slash railroads. it has nothing to do with stat blocks. not that there weren't bad adventures the one (greek style adventure) with the people in mantis masks that rob people. mantis masks. for the love of pete.
like i stated above almost all the oriental adventures in the early dungeons were phenominal.

 

[Steel_Wind]

I don't think it's any of those things.

I think it's just pure nostalgia distorting people's views and recollections. It's not a fault peculiar to gaming - but it is one that is becoming increasingly prevalent.

There were some fine older adventures in Dungeon - and some stinkers too. There have been some poor newer adventures - and some great ones too.

People harken "back in the day"; remembering only the good - never the bad. It's done here over First Edition modules and ruleset all the time.

I got so sick of First Edition AD&D I left playing D&D in any form for 18 years. While I can recall a lot of fun adventure sessions I had in my initial gaming experiences in the 70's and early 80's, I don't confuse those fun memories with the 1st ed system or the modules.

Recollections over Dungeon Adventures are the same.

By way of example, Mad God's Key is a damn fine Dungeon adventure and easily rates much higher than most of the stuff quoted in this thread. It's "sin" is simply that people don't look back on it and remember it through the haze of nostalgia.

 

[Prince of Happiness]

By way of example, Mad God's Key is a damn fine Dungeon adventure and easily rates much higher than most of the stuff quoted in this thread. It's "sin" is simply that people don't look back on it and remember it through the haze of nostalgia.

I've been gaming for quite some time, and I'm putting Mad God's Key, you bet. That chase on the docks, how a fella had his character killed for the first time since he was a kid (those twins are deadly!), the Green Dagger's hideout on fire, Cyrathas got away, and now he's going to be the thorn in the PCs' side. Now they're almost finished with the Tomb of Blood Everflowing. This one's definitely going down in the memory banks.

 

[Tyler Do'Urden]

I don't think it's any of those things.

I think it's just pure nostalgia distorting people's views and recollections. It's not a fault peculiar to gaming - but it is one that is becoming increasingly prevalent.

There were some fine older adventures in Dungeon - and some stinkers too. There have been some poor newer adventures - and some great ones too.

With the possible exception of Maure Castle, none of the recent Dungeon adventures have really impressed me. Maybe they just seem too polished, or I hate the look of the magazine these days, but I'm not sure...

... or they just don't fit my campaign setting. The Dungeon adventure path, while quite interesting, is completely out of place in my Arthurian/Tolkienesque setting, where monsters like beholders, mind flayers, and other bizzare aberrations don't exist, demihumans and humans seldom co-exist together in communities, and wizards are few and far between. Yet I search my collection of early dungeon issues, and I find piles of adventures that fit quite well. If I was running Eberron or Planescape, I'll bet the tables would be turned. (Nothing against those settings, I like both of them, they're just not what I'm playing right now, or feel like running right now...)

 

[Ranes]

...they just don't fit my campaign setting... ...where monsters like beholders, mind flayers, and other bizzare aberrations don't exist, demihumans and humans seldom co-exist together in communities, and wizards are few and far between. Yet I search my collection of early dungeon issues, and I find piles of adventures that fit quite well.

I would love to see the occasional adventure that's tailored for home brew, in the sense that it sets out some ways in which it varies from the default assumptions, whether they be racial demographics, literacy, prevalence of magic, deity worship, existence of monsters. I don't mind which level range it's in.

But I do love aberrations.

Edit: To get back on solid topical ground, I won't list my top ten, because the only issues of Dungeon I have any more are those published in the last two years, which would skew the results.

 

[mearls]

I've been gaming for quite some time, and I'm putting Mad God's Key, you bet. That chase on the docks, how a fella had his character killed for the first time since he was a kid (those twins are deadly!), the Green Dagger's hideout on fire, Cyrathas got away, and now he's going to be the thorn in the PCs' side. Now they're almost finished with the Tomb of Blood Everflowing. This one's definitely going down in the memory banks.

I agree - I ran it a week or so back, and had a fantastic time. The players were really into it. It ended with all of the monsters in the dungeon wading out to fight them in one, big showdown, and it was a real nailbiter of a finish.

I mentioned in the thread about the top 30 adventures that the best scenarios are the most memorable. Mad God's Key is definitely an adventure I'll remember 10 years from now.