Annotating Every 1st Edition D&D Adventure
A while ago I had a great idea for a new campaign I was planning on. All the players would start out as hardened criminals incarcerated in a maximum security prison mine deep inside a mountain. The adventure started with a prison break. The characters would start out practically naked with no weapons in a hostile environment. Giant spiders and other hideous creatures could leap on them at any moment as they were pursued by guards. I thought my idea was so original and was jabbering away to one of my DM buddies. He said, “Cool idea. Sounds just like In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords.” I had to admit I had no idea what he was talking about. The cruelest cut? I have had A4 sitting unread in my gaming bookshelf for years.
I decided right then I would have to go back and become familiar with every classic adventure I could. I love designing monsters and writing adventures. I really need a better understanding of the classic adventures that have been written over the years.
I started out trying to cheat. I pulled a list of all the 1st edition D&D adventures that TSR released from Dragonsfoot and read the wikipedia pages to get an overview of the plot, but that was ultimately unfulfilling. I really wanted the details of the characters and the encounters in the story. I just wasn’t finding it.
I decided finally I just had to bite the bullet and read all the adventures for myself. I’m starting out with the entire 1st edition TSR catalog of D&D adventures. My goal is to create an annotation for every adventure and share it on my blog. Each post will be a cliff notes version of the module including plot summary, major NPCs and memorable encounters. I’m sure I’m not the only adventure designer out there that would find this information useful. Assuming I can beg, borrow or steal a copy of each adventure, I’ll post a annotation. I’ll keep the list on this post updated with links.
A SERIES
A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity
A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade
A3: Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords
A4: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords
C SERIES
C1: Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan (Greyhawk)
C2: Ghost Tower of Inverness (Greyhawk)
C3: Lost Island of Castanamir
C4: To Find a King
C5: Bane of Llywelyn
C6: Official RPGA Tournament Handbook
CB SERIES (Conan)
CB1: Conan Unchained (Conan the Barbarian)
CB2: Conan Against Darkness (Conan the Barbarian)
GDQ SERIES
G1: Steading of the Hill Giant Chief
G2: Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl
G3: Hall of the Fire Giant King
D1: Descent into the Depths of the Earth
D2: Shrine of the Kuo-Tua
D3: Vault of the Drow
Q1: Queen of the Demonweb Pits
EX SERIES
EX1: Dungeonland (Wonderland)
EX2: Land Beyond the Magic Mirror (Wonderland)
H SERIES
H1: Bloodstone Pass (Forgotten Realms)
H2: Mines of Bloodstone (Forgotten Realms)
H3: Bloodstone Wars (Forgotten Realms)
H4: Throne of Bloodstone (Forgotten Realms)
I SERIES
I1: Dwellers of the Forbidden City (Greyhawk)
I2: Tomb of the Lizard King
I3: Pharaoh (Forgotten Realms)
I4: Oasis of the White Palm (Forgotten Realms)
I5: Lost Tomb of Martek (Forgotten Realms)
I6: Ravenloft (Ravenloft)
I7: Baltron’s Beacon
I8: Ravager of Time
I9: Day of Al’Akbar
I10: Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill (Ravenloft)
I11: Needle
I12: Egg of the Phoenix
I13: Adventure Pack I
I14: Swords of the Iron Legion (Forgotten Realms)
L SERIES
L1: The Secret of Bone Hill (Greyhawk)
L2: The Assassin’s Knot (Greyhawk)
N SERIES
N1: Against the Cult of the Reptile God (Greyhawk)
N2: Forest Oracle
N3: Destiny of Kings
N4: Treasure Hunt (Forgotten Realms)
N5: Under Illefarn (Forgotten Realms)
R SERIES
R1: To the Aid of Falx
R2: Investigation of Hydell
R3: Egg of the Phoenix
R4: Doc’s Island
S SERIES
S1: Tomb of Horrors (Greyhawk)
S2: White Plume Mountain (Greyhawk)
S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks (Greyhawk)
S4: Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (Greyhawk)
T SERIES
T1: Village of Hommlet
T1-4: Temple of Elemental Evil
UK SERIES
UK1: Beyond the Crystal Cave
UK2: Sentinel (Greyhawk)
UK3: Gauntlet (Greyhawk)
UK4: When a Star Falls
UK5: Eye of the Serpent
UK6: All that Glitters…
UK7: Dark Clouds Gather
U SERIES
U1: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh
U2: Danger at Dunwater
U3: The Final Enemy
Sounds great! Looking forward to it.
I could be mistaken, but I think series B was actually for the Mentzer basic edition. I’m not sure if you want to be exclusive to 1st edition or not. The B series has some pretty iconic moments.
Yes you are correct. I’m dumb. I’m actually going to break off the Basics and make them the next project. Annotating all these is a big enough project already. Plus, I left off some of the miscellaneous modules (like RPGA and Red Sonja) because I’m don’t own any and I’m not sure if I can find them. I’ll update this list if I track them down.
This is an excellent idea and a great resource. I’ll admit to never having read through some of the classics as well, like the L series and the U series.
Drop me a line at p_symptome(at)yahoo(dot)ca and I can get you some of the PDFs you are missing if you don’t mind ‘unofficial’ sources (which I guess everything is now that WOTC stopped selling PDFs).
Best blog series idea I’ve seen in years. Good luck!
[...] Annotating Every 1st Edition D&D Adventure [...]
[...] Eles são tão legais que o pessoal do Meta Gamemastery resolveu fazer uma série de posts chamada Annotating Every 1st Edition D&D Adventure, nos quais farão comentários sobre essas aventuras em um formato bem legal e objetivo, dando uma [...]
Awesome idea – it would be cool to also include the Boxed set modules (B,X,C,M and Immortal series).
Once you’re done with the source modules, will you also be annotating the “super-modules” TSR put out, such as A1-4, GDQ Against the Giants, etc.?
Also, I don’t see the WG series of modules on the list (WG4 Hidden Temple of Tharizdun, WG7 Castle Greyhawk, etc.). Will you be looking at these?
Thanks – this is a great project, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what you do!