Probably S4. I'm less keen on the A series than I used to be, and will moderately re-work it if I run the series again.
As other have said, I can't pick just one. So here are my top 5 (and this list probably doesn't match the one over on Dragonsfoot!) T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil G1-3 Against the Giants B2 Keep on the Borderlands B4 The Lost City S-4/WG4 Tsojcanth/Tharizdun Okay, so I cheated a little as there are mroe than 5 listed but so be it!
I think Queen of the Spiders: Supermodule Gdq 1-7 since it has all of the great ones in one module. Mike
Here's my list of favorite D&D modules, roughly in order, but not counting material published in Dragon or Dungeon, which drops out some strong votes that would gone to Rob Kuntz's Maure Castle dungeon levels): G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King by Gary Gygax (D&D; TSR) WG5 Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure by Rob Kuntz (AD&D; TSR) T1 Village of Hommelet by Gary Gygax (AD&D; TSR) S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth by Gary Gygax (AD&D; TSR; I have an extensive web page on this one @ http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_s4.html) Bottle City by Rob Kuntz (AD&D; Pied Piper) A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity by David Cook (AD&D; TSR) Maze of Zayene #4 Eight Kings by Rob Kuntz (AD&D from Creations Unlimited, or d20 from Different Worlds) WG4 Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun by Gary Gygax (AD&D; TSR) D3 Vault of the Drow by Gary Gygax (AD&D; TSR) Dark Druids by Rob Kuntz (d20; Troll Lord Games) D1 Descent into the Depths of the Earth by Gary Gygax (D&D; TSR) Honorable Mentions (in no particular order): "Treasures of the Dragon Queen" by Rutgers University Gamers (D&D convention tourney c. 1983; Rutgers University Gamers; details on my site @ http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_tourneys_dragon_queen.html) Maze of Zayene #1 Prisoners of the Maze by Rob Kuntz (AD&D from Creations Unlimited, or d20 from Necromancer Games) Starstone by Paul Vernon (OD&D; Northern Sages) Return of the Eight by Roger E. Moore (AD&D 2nd edition; TSR) Tomb of Abysthor by Clark Peterson and Bill Webb (d20; Necromancer Games) Castle Zagyg: Dark Chateau by Rob Kuntz (d20; Troll Lord Games) The Lost Abbey of Calthonwey by Bob Charette (AD&D; Phoenix Games) Beastmaker Mountain by Bill Fawcett (AD&D; Mayfair Games) R1 To the Aid of Falx by Frank Mentzer (AD&D; TSR) Seren Ironhand by Tom Moldvay (AD&D; Challenges) B1 In Search of the Unknown by Mike Carr (D&D; TSR) B4 The Lost City by Tom Moldvay (D&D; TSR) X2 Castle Amber by Tom Moldvay (D&D; TSR) X4 Master of the Desert Nomads by David Cook (D&D; TSR) X5 Temple of Death by David Cook (D&D; TSR) N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God by Douglas Niles (AD&D; TSR) B4 Lost City by Tom Molvay (D&D; TSR) WG6 Isle of the Ape by Gary Gygax (AD&D; TSR) N5 Under Illefarn by Steve Perrin (AD&D; TSR) Three Days to Kill by John Tynes (d20; Atlas Games) Demons & Devils by Bill Webb and Clark Peterson (d20; Necromancer Games) The Abduction of Good King Despot by Will and Schar Niebling (AD&D; New Infinities Productions)
Hey Alan, Great list with some fun adventures (although you are missing the Lost City of Gaxmoor :lol: ). I had forgotten about the Abduction of Good King Despot! That was lots o' fun as I recall- and I may have to find a copy somewhere to run at Gary Con II (even if it is from Will Niebling- persona non-grata to Dad). Luke
I haven't had the opportunity to run Gaxmoor, so it's not on the list: I've run almost everything on there at least once (or played it) Somehow I didn't list Paul Jaquays' Caverns of Thracia---I'll have to fix that, too: it's a great adventure! I thought they'd always been close, since the Nieblings were (I though) higher-up in TSR's mgmt hierarchy??
Will and Char were friends for many years, but apparently there was a falling out and TSR ended up settling a lawsuit of some kind. I do not have the details- as I was just a kid. But Will was not friends with my Dad after that point about 1984 or 5.
I'm guessing since he's okay hanging with "Zeb Cook" that its a sign that Luke must be a pretty forgiving individual!
Honestly, I was a youngster during most of the time and I was not privy to much of the business stuff. I try not to hold too many hard feelings about the past. And fortunately so do some other folks. As a teenager I lipped off to Mr Ward and he was kind enough to let bygones be bygones. I even called Brian Blume and invited him to come to Gary Con I. I hope he comes to Gary Con II!
It's pretty hard to pick any modules I don't like! My favourite has to be the G1-2-3 GIANTS series. We had an absolute blast with that! S4 would be right up there, and T1 also. One of my friends ran a basic/expert campaign, and we did Keep on the Borderlands, Castle Amber and Isle of Dread, and we loved each and every one.
For my money, it's S3, EXPEDITION TO THE BARRIER PEAKS. It's like REESE'S Peanut Butter Cups. What's not to love?
Well, the modules I think I had the most fun playing would be the Slaver modules running smack into the G/D/Q series. I was young when my older sister and her friends grudgingly let me join in the campaign (but only when she hosted the game). Wow that was back in 1980! The day we started Slavepits of the Undercity, our DM arrived at my house one day holding this really boss new book with a picture of a scimitar wielding demon holding a woman. My first glimpse of the DMG. Needless to say, we had a blast making our way through that classic series! Now, as a fairly veteran DM, I am currently running over on RPol.com, Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth and Descent Into the Depths and while I am enjoying Descent, I am having an absolute blast running Tsojcanth! I will thus name my top 5 in ever changing order: D3 Vault of the Drow A1 Slavepits of the Undercity G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King S1 Tomb of Horrors B1 In Search of the Unknown Honorable mention to A2 Secret of the Slaver's Stockade N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God X1 Isle of Dread
Overall, my favorites are mostly the classics: - Giants series (G1-3) - Drow series (D1-3) - Slavers series (A1-4) - Keep on the Borderlands - In Search of the Unknown - Village of Hommlet Back in the day, I was a big fan of White Plume Mountain, but it hasn't aged as well as the others for me. I still regard Queen of the Demonweb Pits highly, though mainly for the section on demi-planes which have been fuel for many adventures unrelated to the module. Overall, I'd have to say the intro modules have gotten the most actual playing use. I have run B2 at least 6 times in different places (Perrenland, Keoland and post-GH Wars Medegia in Greyhawk) as well as a Star Frontiers B2 where the keep became a colonial outpost of the Truane's Star government on a post-Sathar War I Volturnus. B1 and T1 have also seen use in multiple campaigns and campaign settings. Great stuff.. I think a lot of the reason I keep returning to the old modules is they are "sandbox" adventures, which can have the serial numbers filed off again and again for use in new campaigns. Most of the newer modules I've seen, played and read (especially 3rd edition D&D) tend to be so tightly wound up that it is hard to adapt them for re-use later. And so I find myself returning again and again to the old standbies.. Andy
B10 Night's Dark Terror I6 Ravenloft X1 Isle of Dread X4 Master of the Desert Nomads M5 Talons of Night There are many more I could name, but those really stand out
Speaking of lost gaming notables, a lot of AD&D-era personalities came out of the wordwork, but (unless I've missed mention of them) a few seem to have faded into the woodwork. Out of curiosity, has anyone heard anything from Len Lakofka (big fan of his Leomund's Tiny Hut column) or Roger E. Moore (still consider his articles on the demihumans and humanoids to be "the standard")? What about some of the more prolific DRAGON authors like Katherine Kerr? On the same note, any chance of some of the classic TSR artists attending GaryCon? I'm thinking of Jeff Dee, Erol Otus and the like.. Andy
Len Lakofka is busy at work producing L4 and L5 sequels to the (obviously) "L" series in collaboration with some folks at Dragonsfoot.org. It has been long delayed but I hear L4 is nearing completion. Here is a link to the thread if you are interested in reading up on the subject: http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20770.
Glad to hear that it's back on track and almost finished! I was just wondering the other day on what had happened to that project. Looking forward to seeing it!
I will invite Len Lakofka to come to Gary Con, but I believe he is living out on the west coast and it might be too far away for him to attend easily. I have not spoken to him in person since the 1980s, but he is a facebook friend I saw Erol Otus at DunDraCon last year and I invited him to Gary Con. I do not believe he will be able to attend, but he did graciously offer to produce some artwork for Gary Con. So there should be some EO merchandise available at Gary Con.
