What adventure module defines D&D to you?

[ForceUser]

If you were to pick one (1) published D&D adventure that best showcases, defines, or exemplifies Dungeons & Dragons to you, what adventure would that be?

Bullgrit

Keep on the Borderlands. It was the first full-length module I owned, and I must have run three or four groups through it as a kid. It was a dungeon full of monsters and treasure. Can't get more D&D than that.

 

[Job]

So many great modules... I can't pick one, sorry, but here's best that I DM'd and that my players still talk about to this day.

- The orginal "Ravenloft" for its amazing gothic setup, 3D mapping, and iconic vamp;
- "Baba Yaga's Hut" from Dragon Magazine by Roger Moore - this introduced my players to a demigod, her tesseract, and fried my player's brains;
- Dungeon Magazine #1's "Into the Fire" for depicting the quintessential dragon with attitude, evocatively depicted on the cover;
- and more recently, the Savage Tide's trip to the abyss to meet Demogorgon. An adventure of legend.

Job.

 

[Lanefan]

Other than mine, I have noticed but one other nominee (Tegel Manor) from the Judges Guild.

Nitpick: I at least gave passing mention to Sword of Hope...

General quality aside, the JG products just do not seem to have been as widely distributed (and TSR in the 1980s withdrew the license to use its trademarks, which cut that more). Not surprisingly, the JG modules are the only OD&D representatives; TSR's first module (G1) was issued under the Advanced D&D logo even though the core AD&D rules set was not yet complete.

All of the B series (the B stood for Basic), all of the X series (the X stood for Expert), and some others, are written for "Basic" (or 0e) D+D. For quite some time, TSR was putting out modules for 0e and 1e side by side.

As for Judges' Guild, I picked up quite a bit of their stuff at GenCon last summer - it varies *widely* in quality and usefulness, all the way from "this is great, I could run this right now as is" to "reading this hurts my brain, running it would kill me" - but I couldn't find either Sword of Hope or Maltese Clue, both of which I'd like to own my own copies of.

Although my pick -- Paul Jaquays's The Caverns of Thracia -- was written for the Original D&D rules set, ...

Didn't see that one either. On your recommendation, I'll keep an eye out for it.

Lanefan

 

[Snoweel]

Judging from reading through it, I'd say, 'Red Hand of Doom'

OMG how could I forget that one!?

Actually probably because I never got the chance to run it. But Red Hand of Doom certainly looked like it would be a blast.

 

[Hussar]

Hrm, my contenders would be:

B2 Keep on the Borderlands
B4 The Lost City
EX 2 The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror
X1 Isle of Dread.

Funny how three of hte four are Basic/Expert rules modules. I really think the B/E rules modules were much more iconic D&D for me than most AD&D modules.

 

[Wicht]

Put down another vote for B2 as the module that immediatelly leapt to mind when I read the question to name the module that best defines Dungeons and Dragons.

Others that I think are worthy contenders are Isle of Dread, Ravenloft, The Gauntlet and Burnt Offerings.

 

[Hierax]

As for Judges' Guild, ... but I couldn't find either Sword of Hope or Maltese Clue, both of which I'd like to own my own copies of.

Well, an early Merry X-Mas to you then, Lanefan, I have copies of both of these for you, so you can take them off your x-mas list and save someone the frustration of trying to track them down!

I didn't even know you were looking for them I've got a whole pile of old Judges Guild stuff in my library, you didn't have to go all that way to get them!

 

[Ariosto]

"Basic" (or 0e) D+D

I am accustomed to seeing "0e" (and "OD&D") refer to the actual original D&D line. There are about as many notable differences as between that and Advanced -- not that any which way is a big deal when it comes to using modules written for one with any of the others!

Although I have been mainly a "little brown books" man, the Moldvay/ Cook/ Marsh Basic & Expert books are to my mind the most all-around elegant presentation of all. The "retro clone" Labyrinth Lord is about as close as such a thing can be.

(Elves are just too good, but that basically makes human magic-users in my experience rare and ... very dedicated. Maybe a bit crazy. Which is Not Entirely a Bad Thing in my book, flavor-wise. Ditto the warranted Elven superiority complex.)

 

[Ariosto]

For quite some time, TSR was putting out modules for 0e and 1e side by side.

If your "0e" includes BECMI/ RC, then I would say that some of the best stuff from the late 1e and early 2e era was 0e.

 

[Ariosto]

- "Baba Yaga's Hut" from Dragon Magazine by Roger Moore - this introduced my players to a demigod, her tesseract, and fried my player's brains;

Oh, YES! Definitely one of the all-time greats.