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TSR What's Your Favorite Basic Modules?
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Tonguez
A suffusion of yellow
Nights Dark Terror is one of the greatest modules ever
of the others I liked how In Search of the Unknown and the Lost City gave empty spaces and taught/encouraged DMs to populate those spaces themselves. Keep on the Borderlands is good too but the overstocked Caves of Chaos are a bit much of distraction that needs a DM to do even more chop work to make the logic fit.
of the others I liked how In Search of the Unknown and the Lost City gave empty spaces and taught/encouraged DMs to populate those spaces themselves. Keep on the Borderlands is good too but the overstocked Caves of Chaos are a bit much of distraction that needs a DM to do even more chop work to make the logic fit.
Iosue
Legend
I am a big fan of B1. You have a classic dungeon design perfect for the old style of mapping and exploring. The DM advice is some of the best in the game, superior even to the B2 advice, which cribbed heavily from it.
But what I really like about it is what everyone else dislikes about it. The map is empty and relies on the DM to fill it up, either from the list the pre-planned encounters included, or from the DM's own ideas. I believe that this is a better model for introducing a new DM to the game, because it gives them guided experience in adventure design, rather than doing everything for them.
Unfortunately, once Gygax saw how well the Basic set was selling, he quickly replaced B1 with B2, to get those sweet, sweet royalties. And B2 did everything for the DM except name the NPCs. And with the popularity of both Holmes and later Moldvay Basic Sets, that became the expected model for adventures.
But I sometimes wonder. What if he hadn't done that, and B1 became the model for adventure modules going forward? How might our whole concept of an adventure module have changed, from pre-planned content to something more free form and adjustable? Even if it was only applied to beginning modules for new DMs? Less plug-and-play, and more kits of play elements for each DM to quickly and easily make their own?
But what I really like about it is what everyone else dislikes about it. The map is empty and relies on the DM to fill it up, either from the list the pre-planned encounters included, or from the DM's own ideas. I believe that this is a better model for introducing a new DM to the game, because it gives them guided experience in adventure design, rather than doing everything for them.
Unfortunately, once Gygax saw how well the Basic set was selling, he quickly replaced B1 with B2, to get those sweet, sweet royalties. And B2 did everything for the DM except name the NPCs. And with the popularity of both Holmes and later Moldvay Basic Sets, that became the expected model for adventures.
But I sometimes wonder. What if he hadn't done that, and B1 became the model for adventure modules going forward? How might our whole concept of an adventure module have changed, from pre-planned content to something more free form and adjustable? Even if it was only applied to beginning modules for new DMs? Less plug-and-play, and more kits of play elements for each DM to quickly and easily make their own?
sevenbastard
Legend
B10. Why they haven't given it a full 5e conversion is a travesty. The new generation needs to know.
Black Dougal
Footpad
B4 and B2
Sacrosanct
Legend
Journey to the Rock got a vote? It's notorious for being the 2nd worst module ever (behind Forest Oracle).
I voted B2 and B3. B3 was the first adventure I ever did, and died with my first character straight away*. B2 because you could do so much with it, and I probably played that the most often.
*I was playing a cleric who had 1 hp left after a battle with a skeleton near the entrance. The module was on the ground between my brother (the DM) and I. He asked which direction I was going. I said "left", because the door was to my left. He said "you run into the wall and take 1 hp of damage" because the wall was to his left. :/
I voted B2 and B3. B3 was the first adventure I ever did, and died with my first character straight away*. B2 because you could do so much with it, and I probably played that the most often.
*I was playing a cleric who had 1 hp left after a battle with a skeleton near the entrance. The module was on the ground between my brother (the DM) and I. He asked which direction I was going. I said "left", because the door was to my left. He said "you run into the wall and take 1 hp of damage" because the wall was to his left. :/
Parmandur
Book-Friend, he/him
I have only read 3, 2 of which I was lucky enough to get original lrintings second-hand (B2 and B4), but I have B1/2 and B4 from the Goodman Games OAR line as well.
B4 is my favorite of those, completely unhinged peak pulp fiction.
B2 is the D&D-est D&D that ever D&D'd, though. High Gygaxian prose supporting an absolutely absurd situation.
B1 I think was a very interesting experiment when Adventures were basically a new product: I can unserstand why people were frustrated that they had to stock it themselves, but to be honest I find that charming: one of the supporting essays in the Goodman Games book is a series of alternate Encoutner sets Keyes to the Dungeon, and each one creates an essentially different Advebture experience on the solid bones. I give it a pass on being an experiment that had close to zero antecedents for how to make an Adventure product, and a solid design of creative rooms in which to stick Encounters in a coherent structure.
Anorgwe aspect of "it isn't prestocked!" is that at the time, it would have been stocked near this very forgotten entry in the "Big Lists" genre of RPG products:
D&D Monster & Treasure Assortment Sets One to Three - Wizards of the Coast | Maps/Terrain/Game Aids | D&D Basic | Dungeon Masters Guild
B4 is my favorite of those, completely unhinged peak pulp fiction.
B2 is the D&D-est D&D that ever D&D'd, though. High Gygaxian prose supporting an absolutely absurd situation.
B1 I think was a very interesting experiment when Adventures were basically a new product: I can unserstand why people were frustrated that they had to stock it themselves, but to be honest I find that charming: one of the supporting essays in the Goodman Games book is a series of alternate Encoutner sets Keyes to the Dungeon, and each one creates an essentially different Advebture experience on the solid bones. I give it a pass on being an experiment that had close to zero antecedents for how to make an Adventure product, and a solid design of creative rooms in which to stick Encounters in a coherent structure.
Anorgwe aspect of "it isn't prestocked!" is that at the time, it would have been stocked near this very forgotten entry in the "Big Lists" genre of RPG products:
D&D Monster & Treasure Assortment Sets One to Three - Wizards of the Coast | Maps/Terrain/Game Aids | D&D Basic | Dungeon Masters Guild
Lanefan
Victoria Rules
B7 Rahasia is great.
B2 Keep on the Borderlands is pure chaotic fun.
Haven't run most of the rest and don't even own B11 or B12.
B10 I've run twice and realized it only really works if you make it the home setting for a campaign, it's terrible to shoehorn into an existing setting. I doubt I'll touch it again unless someone goes back to that area in my current campaign.
B2 Keep on the Borderlands is pure chaotic fun.
Haven't run most of the rest and don't even own B11 or B12.
B10 I've run twice and realized it only really works if you make it the home setting for a campaign, it's terrible to shoehorn into an existing setting. I doubt I'll touch it again unless someone goes back to that area in my current campaign.
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