WotC's Classic Downloads--Are these modules any good?

[VirgilCaine]

WotC has several (serious) modules avoilable in their Classic Downloads section. They are:

B3 Palace of the Silver Princess

L1 Secret of Bone Hill

I11 Needle

Feast of Goblyns (Grand Conjunction #1)
Ship of Horror (Grand Conjunction #2)
Touch of Death (Grand Conjunction #3)
Night of the Walking Dead (Grand Conjunction #4)
From the Shadows (Grand Conjunction #5)
Root of Evil (Grand Conjunction #6)

Are any of these any good?
I know L1 is a good example of how to design an adventure area, but what about these Ravenloft modules? And I11?

 

[DaveMage]

I enjoyed Feast of Goblyns (as DM), but since it's a Ravenloft adventure, unless you're playing in that realm, I'm not sure how usable it would be outside of Ravenloft.

 

[Schmoe]

B3 is good for nostalgia reasons. Depending on your play style, you'll either love it or hate it. It is a fairly whimsical dungeon crawl. I've both DM'ed and played it, and had fun both times.

I found I11 to be a very interesting module, but I'm not sure how it would work out as an actual adventure. It, too, is a little far-fetched.

I've heard good things about "Feast of Goblyns", but haven't read through it.

I have "Ship of Horrors", and it looks like it would be a fun adventure, but I haven't played it.

I have DM'ed "Night of the Walking Dead" twice, and had a blast both times. It would require some work to convert to v3.5, but is well worth the effort.

I don't really know anything useful about the others.

 

[Celebrim]

I think all of the free modules have flaws to a greater or lesser degree. The are certainly not examples of the finest modules available in 1st edition, which may be part of the reason that WotC feels free to release them.

The best of the modules may be 'Feast of Goblins' and 'Night of the Walking Dead'. I've never played either, but reading 'Feast of Goblins' I found it had some interesting encounters, NPC's and plot twists. I've never played 'Night of the Walking Dead' either, but I've heard very good reports from everyone that has.

 

[the Jester]

The only one of these modules I've played or run is L1, which is great.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

L1 Secret of Bone Hill

Lots of fun.

And check out EX1 and EX2, as well.

 

[Crothian]

Secret of Bone Hill is one of the better modules, I'm happy I recently tracked down a copy for myslf

 

[Kesh]

L1 Secret of Bone Hill

Very fun little dungeon crawl, but it'll need some work to convert to 3.5e, since it uses a few unique critters.

Feast of Goblyns (Grand Conjunction #1)
Ship of Horror (Grand Conjunction #2)
Touch of Death (Grand Conjunction #3)
Night of the Walking Dead (Grand Conjunction #4)
From the Shadows (Grand Conjunction #5)
Root of Evil (Grand Conjunction #6)

These are part of a series that didn't quite go according to plan. It was supposed to be a big world-changing event for Ravenloft, but plans changed and the order of adventures was shuffled a bit. Which explains why the actual level progression... isn't progressive. NotWD is the 1st level adventure, for instance.

FoG is okay, playable in most worlds. Lots of "city crawling."

SoH is very nice, if you have a coastal area you want to play in. Some good combat, a few railroady bits, but some good chances to do a bit of roleplay.

ToD is a desert adventure, so it's not as good if you aren't playing near an Egypt-style region. Not to mention it's going to end in a TPK if your players decide to stay for the end bit.

NotWD is my favorite of the set. Great low-level adventure, easily set in any swampy area (though you can cut out the swamp entirely if you want). Some great moments for the DM to set the mood, lots of little spots for fun combat, and you can use the prophecy to whatever ends you want.

The final two modules are really too tied into Ravenloft to pull of anywhere else. It's possible, but it'd be a helluva lot of work. Haven't played or run, but I've heard they're incredibly rail-roady.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

L1 Secret of Bone Hill was a great deal of fun, and while it will take a bit of digging L2 The Assassin's Knot is also there. L3 however is not available either as a free download, nor as an ESD..

The Auld Grump

 

[BWP]

B3 is good for nostalgia reasons. Depending on your play style, you'll either love it or hate it. It is a fairly whimsical dungeon crawl. I've both DM'ed and played it, and had fun both times.

Note that the B3 available for download from the WOTC site is the recalled and extremely rare "orange" version, not the widely-available "green" version. The two are very different (I think the maps are about the only element that's common between them).

Personally, I think B3 is a pretty poorly-designed adventure (in either version). The whole "dungeon" level doesn't make any sense, and it makes even less sense when you consider that the only way out of the palace is via the dungeon ....