@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 Yes, absolutely! I'm pretty sure I commented on it and said thanks for the shoutout. LOVED IT!! The mini painting and all the work you put into was AMAZING. Great stuff! I'm definitely looking into speed paints as well based on your recommendation.
Thanks@@captcorajus ! I'm sure you did, but I cannot recall. Keep making great videos! Say--when are we going to meet? What cons do you have planned for 23-24?
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 I'm going to TRY and make Gary Con this year. I live in Baltimore Md. There's a few local conventions I plan on hitting (Scrumcon). Zach Howare (Arch Zenopus) usually attends. Its a small local convention.
I’m currently running my group through that module right now! I still have my version that I bought in maybe 1992? Although it is missing three pages of the handouts.
@@captcorajusmy players did not want to do Barrier Peaks...but Amber I've both run and played through well over 5,6 times. To not spoil it for newer players just play a mute character and just do what the elected party leader tells you to do. There can be funny results.
No particular order. except the first which is my all time favourite. B1 Keep On The Borderlands. - Perfect introduction to the Basic D&D of the day. Allowing a new DM and new players to learn and grow into their roles. I got the chance to run it at college when we set up an RPG club. Had three groups running it at the same time, in different sessions, so each group impacted the valley structure. As players dropped out (we knew they would... most just turned up to see what the game was all about and only played one or two sessions) and we wittled it down we ended up with one group of dedicated players whose characters joined forces to finish it off and continued playing. UK6 All That Glitters, - didn't think I was going to enjoy running it for my group of hack and slash teenagers in the mid 80s but it was brilliant. Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits. - First time running a deity level boss in a published moduleon their own turf, ( I *think* you *can* meet Blibdoolpoolp in the D series...) it was very clever for its time and far dealier than people gave it credit for. S1 Tomb of Horrors - Brutal and unforgiving. S2 White Plume Mountain - Short, sweet and can be easily adapted to all manner of situations. WG6 Isle Of The Ape- never ran this one, but played it, worked out really quickly how the boss' defences worked and my wizard took him down with a Tensers Transformation, a jar of Obliviax, and a couple of first level spells. X1 - Isle of Dread - not dissimilar to WG6, but more of a "sandbox" Hex Crawl. Excellent intrudction to the Expert Rule set, and a really good vibe of "Lost World" options rather than the typical pseudo-medieval I6 Ravenloft -Initially found it frustrating, with so much lore and stuff to explore, but an urgency to get through as quick as possible. When I'd run it a few times and tinkered with the timer, allowing the players time to explore more than would normally be possible it became one of my favourite mods to run. T1 The Village of Hommlet - the perfect way to move from Basic/BECMI intro AD&D, I still love this module almost as much as Keep On The Bordelands. One of the things I loved was that it only gave brief overviews of most of the NPCs. Enough to run them as written, but with scope to personalise the village for extended use. G1-3 Against the Giants - Cheating a bit, but when I bought them it was in the three mod set. These are just great fun. And if you play them as part of a T,A,G,D,Q campaign, are a bit of a highlight.
I've run all of these - often several times, and agree that they are all good to great. Shout out to my favourites: N1 Against the Cult of Reptile God, X8 Drums on Fire Mountain, and U1-3 Saltmarsh.
What would really slay is if you were to upload sessions of you and some friends running these campaigns. I love this channel so much. It's like a wishlist catalog/journey back in time.
Its a fun idea, and I've had requests for such but logistically there are problems. I'd really have to create a separate play group just for live streaming as opposed to my regular group.. and then that runs into time constraints. Maybe one day!
Great list. I often go back reskinning these modules to use again. I'd throw in Against the Cult of the Reptile God. The Giant Modules always felt like the epic combat i was looking for in a D&D module.
Reptile God is fantastic. Really an entire mini-campaign and launchpad to greyhawk. I just ran it with my kids and are following up with Tsojcanth. Their first characters all died and they learned the very real dangers of old school AD&D. Low level characters who go to sleep in the wrong inn are basically done for.
I love that so many of these adventures are available for 5E now. I am getting to experience some of these old adventures for the first time. I really enjoy how Goodman Games presents the original and the updated and expanded version.
Never ran B2 but did run B1. I started with 1E in 81. Ran the Return to Keep on the Borderlands. Hate Tomb of Horrors. Enjoyed Lost City, Tamoachan and Whiter Plume Mountain, which I have also run. Ghost Tower in a heavy modified way and did play in Depths of the Earth. My favorite classic modules are L1, L2, UK2, UK3, WG4, EX2, U1, B3, DL1and I1.
I'm not going to be that guy who says 'but how come you didn't include this?!?' We all have our faves, and this is a beautifully comprehensive, diverse list. Well done Cap'n! Happy Hallowe'en!
@captcorajus you are the reason i got into the OSR and eventually started my own channel, this list hits such a weird part of me. I have no real nostalgia for these adventures as im in my 30s and was introduced to d&d in late era 2e but ive always had love for games, music and films from before my time. I think it comes from my dad, its stolen nostalgia 😂
We actually ran a campaign in 5e starting at level 1 with keep on the borderlands onto against the slaver lords onto against the giants onto descent into the underworld into against the spider queen taking us all the way to level 20 and beyond. It was my best and most memorable d&d campaign ever and I've been playing since 1992.
how did it play compared to 1e/2e? my question is in regards to the lethality and danger. eg is darkness food navigation even combat trivialized? i once tried to run something old under 4e and it was a truly stupid experience and ive never even looked at 5e
@@40zed 4E was Hasbros initial attempt to create a D&D that emulated the online experience with a long termview of getting the game online. It sucked as a table top game and a conversion of an old (A)D&D module would require a LOT of effort on the part of the DM for it to not end up a mess. (Incidentally the MMO Neverwinter uses 4E as its base combat system,and despite its many flaws Neverwinter has one of the best MMO Combat Sytsems out there.) I tried 5E a couple of times, and can't stand it. So I wouldn't know about that. But Keep On The Bordelands is a really basic concept. Start with first level characters... visit the keep and learn things. Venture into the wildenress and explore cave lairs of monsters, kill them, grab their loot and return to the keep. Shower, rinse, repeat, and delve into more dangerous lairs as your characters improve. The DM is invited/encouraged to repopulate lairs, or expand the plots at the Keep at their discretion. I think that if someone wants to try adapting an old D&D module for a different game, then either B1 or T1 would be a good starting point. Resource management (food, torches etc) and party mapping were key features of the older versions of the game, andwhileits been a while since I ran it, I don't recall much being trivialised. As far as lethality and combat goes, I do know that if you get cocky and start venturing too far into the tougher lairs before you are ready, you are very likely to die.
Kind of surprised you included Ghost Tower of Inverness (which you reviewed and had lots of caveats about what would make it a fun & playable adventure) and excluded Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh (which you reviewed very positively on).
@@captcorajus lol, that's what I gathered. I too enjoy funhouse dungeons, but since Saltmarsh was the first adventure I actually played, I have a soft spot for it. Later, when I purchased the module, I found it an excellent read and DM'd one gaming session for it - unfortunately, the players died when they confronted the 4th level illusionist, so they didn't get to partake in the sea adventure portion.
Glad to see B4: The Lost City so high on the list, its my favorite by far. I think ai can only really give a clear too 5 but I'll edit this comment if I figure out what a top 10 would be. For now though here is what I got so fat: 1. B4:The Lost City 2. X2: Castle Amber 3. B3: Palace of the Silver princess (Green cover) 4. S1: The Tomb of Horrors 5. B1/B2: In Search of the Unknown/The Keep on The Borderlands Sode notes about my list. You may notice the pattern that there are a lot of Moldvay modules. Thats because in my opinion Moldvay is one of the best adventure designers TSR ever had. Other modules are short adventures Tom Moldvay writes 28 page campaigns, B3 is a hidden gem that is severely underrated. I'm also cheating as I always combine B1 and B2 because they fit so well together, I feel B2 provides a great location to hold B1, I feel like it is meant to be that way.
Hi capt-c... I love the list, and the cool part is that my top three are in your top 4, as far as how they influenced my knowhow about how to DM. I got the (Moldvay) Basic Set for Christmas in 1981 which was the first I ever even know that D&D existed. Blindly, I started reading it and became mesmerized!!! I got through that and before Christmas break was over I got to Waldenbooks (ha!) and got the Expert Set and read that. All of this before I began to play AD&D with a group in late January 1982. So I learned from Keep and Dread everything I needed to know about the practical basic game design for sandbox. Isle of Dread was not to my taste in content, but it was a great learning dungeon. These two modules (provided in those sets) told me everything i needed to know about base town, rumor tables, hex crawls, and dungeon crawls as a DM, and everything I have learned about those things since has just been a refinement on these basic concepts. (Dolmenwood being perhaps the best one I have ever seen!)... The other one is the Tomb of Horrors. I went through this as a noob player, with no idea of its reputation. What I got out of it was that the experience of playing my PC in a mysterious and spooky deathtrap weirdo place, and I found many of the things frightening! When we were teleported to a room and naked (because the mean older players who had high level characters threatened to kill us if we didn't go through the archway as canaries in the coal mine), we had to do something to try to find our way out. We found our equipment nearby, but then soon found Acererak's tomb. The DM described a skull in a pile of dust. As we were trying to figure out what to do with this, one of the guys (Des) goes, "I'm going to tap the skull with my sword." The DM described the skull's eyes light up red and then it began to stir, slowly levitating with a trail of dust swirling underneath until it stopped and said, "I am going to steal one of your souls. Whose shall it be?" OMG, I was 13 years old and absolutely TERRIFIED!!!! We were all like, "Des, why did you do that!!!???" (Perhaps it is why I am so sensitive when players just do things haphazardly and unilaterally without thinking them through with the other players, because their actions have consequences on everyone else!! I see it as selfish and amateurish to play so stimulus-response reactively and carelessly.) What I got out of Tomb my guide for designing adventures: they should inspire a sense of wonder, awe, and fear in the PLAYERS sitting at your table (just as punk rock inspires unbridled rage against the man)....So I love the list!!! WOOOH!!!
I think we in the comments ought to share ours, yes? For my criteria I choose one 'Primary' rubric and one 'Secondary' rubric. First, the adventure HAS to inspire and excite the DM (me); I've learned that the more enthusiastic a DM is about his or her adventure, the more prep will happen and the more that energy will exude out to the rest of the table. The secondary criteria is playability; I may love 'reading' a module, but is it designed to be played by PCs who are just showing up at my house after work ready to let off steam? Tsojcanth is great reading but how fun does it play -- that kind of thing. So here goes (And I can't wait to see everyone else's) *TSR 1978-1988* (sorry 'Palace, Vampire Queen', 'Tegel Manor,' 'City State' and my favorite 'Dark Tower') 10} "Assassin's Knot" L2 9} "The Lost City" B4 8} "Into the Fire" Dungeon magazine 7} The Village of Hommlet" T1 6} "The Veiled Society" B6 5} "The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth" S4 4} "Dwellers of the Forbidden City" I1 3} "Against the Cult of the Reptile God" N1 2} "Vault of the Drow" D3 1} "Ravenloft" I6
I'd probably swap out The Lost City for Expedition to the Barrier Peaks in the same spot. That was the module that made me realize that literally anything was possible in this game.
PT on trying to get my groups over the years to do barrier peaks - but no one liked the idea of swords and sorcery vs. Robots. Damn. I still want someone to make miniatures of the police droids and the human looking droids. Luckily I got a Froghemoth from the prepainted minis sets.
Back in the day, the dnd group I played with went through the slaver series (while it was first being rolled out), the giant series (when it was still separate modules, before it was consolidated into Against the Giants) and a number of others. I had the (as I understand now so many years later) I had the privilege of playing in a group with an outstanding, gifted DM. Later, I ran (mostly) the same group through the Desert of Desolation. Those old modules weren't perfect, but they were so good anyway.
I played Tomb of Horrors at a convention. The people running it said up front what to expect, and kept a running tally of deaths for each session they ran.
ToH is awesome if taken on its own terms. The only thing it really lacks is a foreword explaining that, especially in the 5e TftYP version, including suggestions for how it should be understood and approached. Something like "In most adventures for the Dungeons & Dragons game, players should expect their characters to survive if two of the following three conditions are met: the players are very clever and careful, the characters are versatile and powerful, and the dice rolls are lucky. This is not one of those adventures. Survival is unlikely even if all three conditions are met. It is, deliberately, a true death trap, intended to guide a different style of play than usual. Players and Dungeon Masters should approach it as such, bringing as many as four characters per player, expecting all or most of them to be lost." That way you wouldn't get people innocently trying out an "old school adventure" they heard a lot about and coming away mad,thinking all older modules are like the literal most extreme of them.
A great list and agree for the most part! For my list, I'd need to include Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh and Against the Cult of the Reptile God at the top of the list. We just ran those with Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. All ran very smoothly with big fun. Lost Caverns was good, but a little long in the dungeon crawl (especially to unlock the main ending room by a lot of backtracking and getting teleported back to spots already explored). Also, the Graeme Morris modules seem to get overlooked here in the US, but Crystal Cave and When a Star Falls seem to be praised on some sites. I need to check those out next...
Here are mine: 10. Expedition to the Barrier Peaks 9. Against the Cult of the Reptile God 8. Vault of the Drow 7. Queen of the Demon Web Pits 6. White Plume Mountain 5. Against the Giants 4. Dwellers of the Forbidden City 3. Tomb of Horrors 2. Keep on the Borderlands 1. The Village of Hommlet.
Hey! Your #5 is actually three separate adventures! Great list nonetheless. Well, maybe your #10 ought to be removed: I think it's actually a Traveller adventure -- or a Star Wars adventure. I think the only D&D thing in it is the Froghemoth!
@@weray7605 I'm aware. I bought Against the Giants at Hungates when I was like...12? Probably in '81. You're hired by the Margrave of the March of Bissel for the Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. That's in Greyhawk, m'man. Also there's Blackmoor, and that had sci-fi elements alongside fantasy. I think the Capt's top 10 included a mod that was technically a collection as well.
Great list Cap! Almost all of these would also be on my top 10 list. Yeah -- top 15 might be easier to do. Notables I think that weren't on your list are S3, S4, U1, and T1 and I've always liked B3 Palace of the Silver Princess. Only one I would for sure left off your list is C2. Good adventure but IMO not a top 10.
Great video as always! I have a reprint of the lost city, and was hoping to get the one from Goodman games, but they don’t make that one anymore and it has been bought up by scalpers and being sold for $300-$400 online. But I shall be checking out your affiliate links!
@@captcorajus agree, I actually thought the 5e dungeon of the mad mage was great as well, I’ve got a party who have made it down to the 21st level of the dungeon and it’s been a blast.
Thanks for this fun video before Halloween tomorrow night, Captcorajus. Happy Halloween everybody! I have been neglecting to wear my eyeglasses. I keep using the excuse that it's because they're bifocals and its awkward whenever I tilt my head and eyes up or down. But now I see why I must wear my eyeglasses from now on. Village of Hommlet shows on the cover art a scorpion claw raised up in front of the face of a cyclops. All this time watching RUclipsrs' reviews I always thought it was a cartoon of Jimmy Darante with his huge nose. Just kidding of course.
While my own list would see quite a few differences, you have a great one and I would be happy to run any of those. B10 Night's Dark Terror and UK4 When a Star Falls would be on mine for sure, as well S4 The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. The Lost City is probably my #1.
My all time favorite is Fate of Istus... Castle Caldwell and Beyond was fun, Castle Amber, I liked the Falcon series, Haunted Halls of Eveningstar, of course T1, Wake of the Ravager, The Great Modron March. I used many adventure hooks from the campaign settings (Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms), Dragon/Dungeon Magazine and Anthologies like the Books of Lairs...
You didn't say Castle Caldwell did you -- that's usually considered to be the worst of the B series modules. Although I absolutely love the cover by Clyde Caldwell. Worth owning it just for the Caldwell cover alone.
UK5 Eye of the Serpent. The PCs are on there way anywhere and a roc grabs them and drops them in its nest. Now the PCs have to get down the mountain. It was made to play lone wolf with the PC playing a Ranger, Druid, or Monk and the rest of the party made up of NPCs. And it's thin and railroady, but such a simple premise. I've used the into SO many times.
Hi captcoragus thanks to you I am trying to collect everything and no I don't want pdf,s. I want originals I am constantly looking on Ebay needless to say it's expensive!
I am humbled by the two likes and the heart my comment got. Thanks. Also forgot to ask earlier. Judging by the sound of his name to my ears Is the evil immortal wizard from White Plume Mountain the same bad guy from the TSR boardgame and vhs tape Dragonstrike?
Heads up you almost missed a click because tge red border on the thumbnail looks like an already watched video. Probably want to avoid red lines at the bottom of the thumbnail
Not trying to be a know-it-all, I mean that sincerely, but I know how much you appreciate accuracy, so I thought I'd add that it isn't Rufus and Burne's stronghold in B1. They are from Hommlet. Quasqueton in B1 was the stronghold of Rogahn and Zelligar.
Ignoring the goofy parts the remake "Little Keep of the Borderlands" for Hackmaster 4e (AD&D version) is probably the best version of the adventure. Expanded a great deal with modern but similar art.
Hi, can you or anyone else let me know the name of a module that was designed for new DM's to learn from. It had no monsters or treasure so the DM was required to learn how to do it? I watched a review on modules good for solo play and it ranked highly for it but cannot remember the name. Cheers.
I like your list but would leave out Tomb of Horrors for Village of Hommlet/Temple of Elemental Evil. I bet more players would of played the Hommlet over the the Tomb in terms of playing time.
B1 is a great module but take the time (perhaps 8 to 10 hours) and convert it to Advanced Dungeons and Dragons rules. Your players will appreciate the work, and you may surprise them with some rare spells from the 4 wizard spell encyclopedia.
@@captcorajus capt....my memory isn't what it used to be. I used to be able to do this but...if I want to say use a couple 2nd edition monsters or spells I always put it down in writing so months later if a player calls bullsnat! I can show him/her my work and it's cool.
Got some noobs finishing this in the next couple sessions, then A1 (standalone) White Plume, some Judges Guild action from Dark Tower, then the G-series
When I first learned C++ back in the day, we had to write a program to convert roman numerals. Because of that somewhat painful experience, I've always remembered the values off the top of my head like LV. Thanks for the vid, nostalgia is nice. I always liked the modules with the artist booklets inside, especially S3 which is on my top 10 list.
There is a pronunciation key in the first paragraph of the adventure. It helped us all way back in the day. (And it is likely the only Proper Noun in the history of D&D that all of us Grognards pronounce the same!)
You may want to fix your chapter titles. I suspect autocorrect is responsible for you having chapter titles called "Ghost Tower of Infest" and "White Queen Mountain."
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
Awesome video! I love painting minis and binge watching captcorajus for a couple hours on a Sunday.
Wow! Thanks Professor. Good times!
@@captcorajus You saw my Lost City video? I gave you a shout-out. (Sorry--I can't remember so good. )
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 Yes, absolutely! I'm pretty sure I commented on it and said thanks for the shoutout. LOVED IT!! The mini painting and all the work you put into was AMAZING. Great stuff! I'm definitely looking into speed paints as well based on your recommendation.
Thanks@@captcorajus ! I'm sure you did, but I cannot recall. Keep making great videos! Say--when are we going to meet? What cons do you have planned for 23-24?
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 I'm going to TRY and make Gary Con this year. I live in Baltimore Md. There's a few local conventions I plan on hitting (Scrumcon). Zach Howare (Arch Zenopus) usually attends. Its a small local convention.
My favourite module is B10 Night’s Dark Terror. Soooo much fun!
Wow! Not too many people know about this module. I was lucky/unlucky to get one on EBay in the shrinkwrap. Never opened it...its too rare!
I’m currently running my group through that module right now! I still have my version that I bought in maybe 1992? Although it is missing three pages of the handouts.
B1 was my first introduction into D&D. I read that thing front to back many times as a kid
Ditto, I liked the way it helped an aspiring DM by making it semi-unfinished. The art was AWESOME too 8>D
Barrier Peaks and Castle Amber were the ones that blew my mind, growing up.
GREAT modules. I never got to play Barrier Peaks unfortunately
@@captcorajus I’ve never played any of them. I never had a group growing up so I just collected and read them all.
@@captcorajusmy players did not want to do Barrier Peaks...but Amber I've both run and played through well over 5,6 times. To not spoil it for newer players just play a mute character and just do what the elected party leader tells you to do. There can be funny results.
U1. The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh is another classic.
I like the whole series U1 through U3
Absolutely@@TallDude73
Yes. This was my first module and still one of my all-time favorites.
Loved your favorites list, although you confused Rogahn and Zelligar (B1) with Rufus and Burne from (T1).
My bad!! Most of these narrations, I did from memory!
I was just about to mention that too, but I figured someone else probably already did.
I'm glad to see you post another great video! You've been missed!
No particular order. except the first which is my all time favourite.
B1 Keep On The Borderlands. - Perfect introduction to the Basic D&D of the day. Allowing a new DM and new players to learn and grow into their roles. I got the chance to run it at college when we set up an RPG club. Had three groups running it at the same time, in different sessions, so each group impacted the valley structure. As players dropped out (we knew they would... most just turned up to see what the game was all about and only played one or two sessions) and we wittled it down we ended up with one group of dedicated players whose characters joined forces to finish it off and continued playing.
UK6 All That Glitters, - didn't think I was going to enjoy running it for my group of hack and slash teenagers in the mid 80s but it was brilliant.
Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits. - First time running a deity level boss in a published moduleon their own turf, ( I *think* you *can* meet Blibdoolpoolp in the D series...) it was very clever for its time and far dealier than people gave it credit for.
S1 Tomb of Horrors - Brutal and unforgiving.
S2 White Plume Mountain - Short, sweet and can be easily adapted to all manner of situations.
WG6 Isle Of The Ape- never ran this one, but played it, worked out really quickly how the boss' defences worked and my wizard took him down with a Tensers Transformation, a jar of Obliviax, and a couple of first level spells.
X1 - Isle of Dread - not dissimilar to WG6, but more of a "sandbox" Hex Crawl. Excellent intrudction to the Expert Rule set, and a really good vibe of "Lost World" options rather than the typical pseudo-medieval
I6 Ravenloft -Initially found it frustrating, with so much lore and stuff to explore, but an urgency to get through as quick as possible. When I'd run it a few times and tinkered with the timer, allowing the players time to explore more than would normally be possible it became one of my favourite mods to run.
T1 The Village of Hommlet - the perfect way to move from Basic/BECMI intro AD&D, I still love this module almost as much as Keep On The Bordelands. One of the things I loved was that it only gave brief overviews of most of the NPCs. Enough to run them as written, but with scope to personalise the village for extended use.
G1-3 Against the Giants - Cheating a bit, but when I bought them it was in the three mod set. These are just great fun. And if you play them as part of a T,A,G,D,Q campaign, are a bit of a highlight.
Fantastic list, sir! I'm a big fan of "The Lost City."
I've run all of these - often several times, and agree that they are all good to great.
Shout out to my favourites: N1 Against the Cult of Reptile God, X8 Drums on Fire Mountain, and U1-3 Saltmarsh.
What would really slay is if you were to upload sessions of you and some friends running these campaigns. I love this channel so much. It's like a wishlist catalog/journey back in time.
I'd watch it.
I'd also watch it. I've played 2/3ds of these. So much fun.
Its a fun idea, and I've had requests for such but logistically there are problems. I'd really have to create a separate play group just for live streaming as opposed to my regular group.. and then that runs into time constraints. Maybe one day!
Had most of those back in the day. Good times.
White Plume Mountain was always my favorite with Keep on the Borderlands being a close second.
Love the old school modules! Always great video😎👍
Great list. I often go back reskinning these modules to use again. I'd throw in Against the Cult of the Reptile God. The Giant Modules always felt like the epic combat i was looking for in a D&D module.
Reptile God is fantastic. Really an entire mini-campaign and launchpad to greyhawk. I just ran it with my kids and are following up with Tsojcanth. Their first characters all died and they learned the very real dangers of old school AD&D. Low level characters who go to sleep in the wrong inn are basically done for.
Ohhh just found this video. Looking forward to watching!
I love that so many of these adventures are available for 5E now. I am getting to experience some of these old adventures for the first time. I really enjoy how Goodman Games presents the original and the updated and expanded version.
Never ran B2 but did run B1. I started with 1E in 81. Ran the Return to Keep on the Borderlands. Hate Tomb of Horrors. Enjoyed Lost City, Tamoachan and Whiter Plume Mountain, which I have also run. Ghost Tower in a heavy modified way and did play in Depths of the Earth.
My favorite classic modules are L1, L2, UK2, UK3, WG4, EX2, U1, B3, DL1and I1.
About dang time you gave us this!
(Nothing but love, Sir -- we just need a pronunciation guide to your name)
Fantastic video. The Sinister Secret is near the top of my list.
It's so good!! Yes.
Have about half of these in original shrink thanks to EBAY back in the 90s 😊
village of homlet, g-1 the hill giant steading and expedition to the barrier peaks
Watching this puts a tear in my eye! I wish we were neighbors!
I'm not going to be that guy who says 'but how come you didn't include this?!?' We all have our faves, and this is a beautifully comprehensive, diverse list. Well done Cap'n! Happy Hallowe'en!
This list is a treasure trove of gaming goodness. Simply sublime!
@captcorajus you are the reason i got into the OSR and eventually started my own channel, this list hits such a weird part of me. I have no real nostalgia for these adventures as im in my 30s and was introduced to d&d in late era 2e but ive always had love for games, music and films from before my time. I think it comes from my dad, its stolen nostalgia 😂
Would love a "new-school"/OSR top 10 adventures too!
That's a GREAT idea!
We actually ran a campaign in 5e starting at level 1 with keep on the borderlands onto against the slaver lords onto against the giants onto descent into the underworld into against the spider queen taking us all the way to level 20 and beyond. It was my best and most memorable d&d campaign ever and I've been playing since 1992.
I maintain that TAGDQ is the best "campaign" D&D has ever released.
how did it play compared to 1e/2e? my question is in regards to the lethality and danger. eg is darkness food navigation even combat trivialized? i once tried to run something old under 4e and it was a truly stupid experience and ive never even looked at 5e
@@40zed 4E was Hasbros initial attempt to create a D&D that emulated the online experience with a long termview of getting the game online.
It sucked as a table top game and a conversion of an old (A)D&D module would require a LOT of effort on the part of the DM for it to not end up a mess.
(Incidentally the MMO Neverwinter uses 4E as its base combat system,and despite its many flaws Neverwinter has one of the best MMO Combat Sytsems out there.)
I tried 5E a couple of times, and can't stand it. So I wouldn't know about that.
But Keep On The Bordelands is a really basic concept. Start with first level characters... visit the keep and learn things. Venture into the wildenress and explore cave lairs of monsters, kill them, grab their loot and return to the keep. Shower, rinse, repeat, and delve into more dangerous lairs as your characters improve. The DM is invited/encouraged to repopulate lairs, or expand the plots at the Keep at their discretion.
I think that if someone wants to try adapting an old D&D module for a different game, then either B1 or T1 would be a good starting point.
Resource management (food, torches etc) and party mapping were key features of the older versions of the game, andwhileits been a while since I ran it, I don't recall much being trivialised. As far as lethality and combat goes, I do know that if you get cocky and start venturing too far into the tougher lairs before you are ready, you are very likely to die.
@@40zed 5th edition is good, but it is not lethal enough. Poison and undead instant deaths are a thing of the past.
Kind of surprised you included Ghost Tower of Inverness (which you reviewed and had lots of caveats about what would make it a fun & playable adventure) and excluded Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh (which you reviewed very positively on).
I'm very partial to funhouse dungeons which I think my top 10 reflects. The list was just for fun.
@@captcorajus lol, that's what I gathered. I too enjoy funhouse dungeons, but since Saltmarsh was the first adventure I actually played, I have a soft spot for it. Later, when I purchased the module, I found it an excellent read and DM'd one gaming session for it - unfortunately, the players died when they confronted the 4th level illusionist, so they didn't get to partake in the sea adventure portion.
Glad to see B4: The Lost City so high on the list, its my favorite by far.
I think ai can only really give a clear too 5 but I'll edit this comment if I figure out what a top 10 would be. For now though here is what I got so fat:
1. B4:The Lost City
2. X2: Castle Amber
3. B3: Palace of the Silver princess (Green cover)
4. S1: The Tomb of Horrors
5. B1/B2: In Search of the Unknown/The Keep on The Borderlands
Sode notes about my list.
You may notice the pattern that there are a lot of Moldvay modules. Thats because in my opinion Moldvay is one of the best adventure designers TSR ever had. Other modules are short adventures Tom Moldvay writes 28 page campaigns, B3 is a hidden gem that is severely underrated.
I'm also cheating as I always combine B1 and B2 because they fit so well together, I feel B2 provides a great location to hold B1, I feel like it is meant to be that way.
Great list, brings back so many great memories. S1 is still tops for me - I remember the name alone inspiring dread in my younger self.
YES! Me too. It was legendary
I liked the super modules: Temple of Elemental Evil (it had its own video game), Scourge of the Slave Lords and into Queen of Spiders
S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks.
Hi capt-c... I love the list, and the cool part is that my top three are in your top 4, as far as how they influenced my knowhow about how to DM. I got the (Moldvay) Basic Set for Christmas in 1981 which was the first I ever even know that D&D existed. Blindly, I started reading it and became mesmerized!!! I got through that and before Christmas break was over I got to Waldenbooks (ha!) and got the Expert Set and read that. All of this before I began to play AD&D with a group in late January 1982. So I learned from Keep and Dread everything I needed to know about the practical basic game design for sandbox. Isle of Dread was not to my taste in content, but it was a great learning dungeon. These two modules (provided in those sets) told me everything i needed to know about base town, rumor tables, hex crawls, and dungeon crawls as a DM, and everything I have learned about those things since has just been a refinement on these basic concepts. (Dolmenwood being perhaps the best one I have ever seen!)... The other one is the Tomb of Horrors. I went through this as a noob player, with no idea of its reputation. What I got out of it was that the experience of playing my PC in a mysterious and spooky deathtrap weirdo place, and I found many of the things frightening! When we were teleported to a room and naked (because the mean older players who had high level characters threatened to kill us if we didn't go through the archway as canaries in the coal mine), we had to do something to try to find our way out. We found our equipment nearby, but then soon found Acererak's tomb. The DM described a skull in a pile of dust. As we were trying to figure out what to do with this, one of the guys (Des) goes, "I'm going to tap the skull with my sword." The DM described the skull's eyes light up red and then it began to stir, slowly levitating with a trail of dust swirling underneath until it stopped and said, "I am going to steal one of your souls. Whose shall it be?" OMG, I was 13 years old and absolutely TERRIFIED!!!! We were all like, "Des, why did you do that!!!???" (Perhaps it is why I am so sensitive when players just do things haphazardly and unilaterally without thinking them through with the other players, because their actions have consequences on everyone else!! I see it as selfish and amateurish to play so stimulus-response reactively and carelessly.) What I got out of Tomb my guide for designing adventures: they should inspire a sense of wonder, awe, and fear in the PLAYERS sitting at your table (just as punk rock inspires unbridled rage against the man)....So I love the list!!! WOOOH!!!
S3 will always be my favorite.
Old school adventures, aw yeah!
This is really an amazing channel. Loved every single episode.
PS : Whats the music your using at the beginning of your videos ?
I'd a derivative from several sources is about all I can say. ;)
I think we in the comments ought to share ours, yes?
For my criteria I choose one 'Primary' rubric and one 'Secondary' rubric. First, the adventure HAS to inspire and excite the DM (me); I've learned that the more enthusiastic a DM is about his or her adventure, the more prep will happen and the more that energy will exude out to the rest of the table. The secondary criteria is playability; I may love 'reading' a module, but is it designed to be played by PCs who are just showing up at my house after work ready to let off steam? Tsojcanth is great reading but how fun does it play -- that kind of thing. So here goes (And I can't wait to see everyone else's)
*TSR 1978-1988* (sorry 'Palace, Vampire Queen', 'Tegel Manor,' 'City State' and my favorite 'Dark Tower')
10} "Assassin's Knot" L2
9} "The Lost City" B4
8} "Into the Fire" Dungeon magazine
7} The Village of Hommlet" T1
6} "The Veiled Society" B6
5} "The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth" S4
4} "Dwellers of the Forbidden City" I1
3} "Against the Cult of the Reptile God" N1
2} "Vault of the Drow" D3
1} "Ravenloft" I6
Great list.
GREAT LIST! So many wonderful adventures!
Great stuff Cap! Love your stuff.
I'd probably swap out The Lost City for Expedition to the Barrier Peaks in the same spot. That was the module that made me realize that literally anything was possible in this game.
PT on trying to get my groups over the years to do barrier peaks - but no one liked the idea of swords and sorcery vs. Robots. Damn.
I still want someone to make miniatures of the police droids and the human looking droids. Luckily I got a Froghemoth from the prepainted minis sets.
Hey man, it's been a minute. I'll definitely watch this when I get the chance. It's good to see a new video. 😺
It HAS been. A crazy month to be sure. I want to get back to a one video a week schedule but it ain't easy!
I get you. Since I started my own channel I don't have time to watch even half of what I used to.@@captcorajus
Thanks!
Thank you!!
Back in the day, the dnd group I played with went through the slaver series (while it was first being rolled out), the giant series (when it was still separate modules, before it was consolidated into Against the Giants) and a number of others. I had the (as I understand now so many years later) I had the privilege of playing in a group with an outstanding, gifted DM. Later, I ran (mostly) the same group through the Desert of Desolation. Those old modules weren't perfect, but they were so good anyway.
Finally, something good to watch in this plataform. Thanks.
I remember and owned most of these they were good fun quite nostalgic, makes me realise how long it has been since I played d&d.
I played Tomb of Horrors at a convention. The people running it said up front what to expect, and kept a running tally of deaths for each session they ran.
ToH is awesome if taken on its own terms. The only thing it really lacks is a foreword explaining that, especially in the 5e TftYP version, including suggestions for how it should be understood and approached. Something like
"In most adventures for the Dungeons & Dragons game, players should expect their characters to survive if two of the following three conditions are met: the players are very clever and careful, the characters are versatile and powerful, and the dice rolls are lucky.
This is not one of those adventures. Survival is unlikely even if all three conditions are met. It is, deliberately, a true death trap, intended to guide a different style of play than usual. Players and Dungeon Masters should approach it as such, bringing as many as four characters per player, expecting all or most of them to be lost."
That way you wouldn't get people innocently trying out an "old school adventure" they heard a lot about and coming away mad,thinking all older modules are like the literal most extreme of them.
A great list and agree for the most part! For my list, I'd need to include Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh and Against the Cult of the Reptile God at the top of the list. We just ran those with Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. All ran very smoothly with big fun. Lost Caverns was good, but a little long in the dungeon crawl (especially to unlock the main ending room by a lot of backtracking and getting teleported back to spots already explored). Also, the Graeme Morris modules seem to get overlooked here in the US, but Crystal Cave and When a Star Falls seem to be praised on some sites. I need to check those out next...
Good on you. Keep on keeping on 😎🤘🍻
Here are mine: 10. Expedition to the Barrier Peaks 9. Against the Cult of the Reptile God 8. Vault of the Drow 7. Queen of the Demon Web Pits 6. White Plume Mountain 5. Against the Giants 4. Dwellers of the Forbidden City 3. Tomb of Horrors 2. Keep on the Borderlands 1. The Village of Hommlet.
Hey! Your #5 is actually three separate adventures! Great list nonetheless. Well, maybe your #10 ought to be removed: I think it's actually a Traveller adventure -- or a Star Wars adventure. I think the only D&D thing in it is the Froghemoth!
@@weray7605 I'm aware. I bought Against the Giants at Hungates when I was like...12? Probably in '81. You're hired by the Margrave of the March of Bissel for the Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. That's in Greyhawk, m'man. Also there's Blackmoor, and that had sci-fi elements alongside fantasy. I think the Capt's top 10 included a mod that was technically a collection as well.
Great list. I'd probably throw B1 In Search of the Unknown in the list. Always liked B2 more than B1, but B1 is up there. X1 is another great one.
man this takes me back...i still have a few of them actually
Great list Cap! Almost all of these would also be on my top 10 list. Yeah -- top 15 might be easier to do. Notables I think that weren't on your list are S3, S4, U1, and T1 and I've always liked B3 Palace of the Silver Princess. Only one I would for sure left off your list is C2. Good adventure but IMO not a top 10.
Thanks for the heart to my Halloween well wishes, Captain.
Great video, ty.
I bet you are a good DM.
All hail old sckool!!!
Great video as always! I have a reprint of the lost city, and was hoping to get the one from Goodman games, but they don’t make that one anymore and it has been bought up by scalpers and being sold for $300-$400 online. But I shall be checking out your affiliate links!
My favourites too, except for Descent into and Keep. I've got In search of at number 1 ❤️
I always liked I1: Dwellers of the Forbidden City, though it takes a lot of work to really make it into a usable adventure.
Great video. Some of my favorite are labyrinth of madness (the 20th anniversary adventure), undermountain and dragon mountain
I LOVE Undermountain. My favorite 2nd edition supplement.
@@captcorajus agree, I actually thought the 5e dungeon of the mad mage was great as well, I’ve got a party who have made it down to the 21st level of the dungeon and it’s been a blast.
Secrets of bone hill or isle of dread.
Thanks for this fun video before Halloween tomorrow night, Captcorajus. Happy Halloween everybody! I have been neglecting to wear my eyeglasses. I keep using the excuse that it's because they're bifocals and its awkward whenever I tilt my head and eyes up or down. But now I see why I must wear my eyeglasses from now on. Village of Hommlet shows on the cover art a scorpion claw raised up in front of the face of a cyclops. All this time watching RUclipsrs' reviews I always thought it was a cartoon of Jimmy Darante with his huge nose. Just kidding of course.
Great Vid as always!
While my own list would see quite a few differences, you have a great one and I would be happy to run any of those. B10 Night's Dark Terror and UK4 When a Star Falls would be on mine for sure, as well S4 The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. The Lost City is probably my #1.
ABSOLUTELY! Night's Dark Terror is a great one. I never ran that or played in it back in the day, however. One of those our group 'missed'.
Great list.
Thanks!
Love this list!!!
My all time favorite is Fate of Istus... Castle Caldwell and Beyond was fun, Castle Amber, I liked the Falcon series, Haunted Halls of Eveningstar, of course T1, Wake of the Ravager, The Great Modron March. I used many adventure hooks from the campaign settings (Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms), Dragon/Dungeon Magazine and Anthologies like the Books of Lairs...
You didn't say Castle Caldwell did you -- that's usually considered to be the worst of the B series modules. Although I absolutely love the cover by Clyde Caldwell. Worth owning it just for the Caldwell cover alone.
Advice, take it or leave it. Don't use red borders in your thumbnails. On PC, it looks like I've already watched it. (red line under thumbnail).
This is such a basic thing but so many people do this
Same
UK5 Eye of the Serpent. The PCs are on there way anywhere and a roc grabs them and drops them in its nest. Now the PCs have to get down the mountain. It was made to play lone wolf with the PC playing a Ranger, Druid, or Monk and the rest of the party made up of NPCs. And it's thin and railroady, but such a simple premise. I've used the into SO many times.
Looks who's back!
Would love to see a review of dragon warriors rpg. My first FRPG in 85 loved it. Now on drivethrurpg.
Ty as always!
If you need any more cred for Tomb of Horrors, read the book Ready Player One to see how iconic it is.
This is true. I was stunned to see it mentioned in that book.
"City-State of the Invincible Overlord!!" 🕳️
A classic to be sure!
@@captcorajusclassic but Judges Guild, not TSR
@@danielk7774 Exactly, which is why it's not on the list!
Hi captcoragus thanks to you I am trying to collect everything and no I don't want pdf,s. I want originals I am constantly looking on Ebay needless to say it's expensive!
I am humbled by the two likes and the heart my comment got. Thanks. Also forgot to ask earlier. Judging by the sound of his name to my ears Is the evil immortal wizard from White Plume Mountain the same bad guy from the TSR boardgame and vhs tape Dragonstrike?
I don't know if its the 'same guy' but certainly they used the name.
@@captcorajus Thanks for the heart and the reply to my inquiry, Captain. Very much appreciated. Take care and have fun tonight.
Everyone take care and have fun today.
Nice List
Heads up you almost missed a click because tge red border on the thumbnail looks like an already watched video. Probably want to avoid red lines at the bottom of the thumbnail
Not trying to be a know-it-all, I mean that sincerely, but I know how much you appreciate accuracy, so I thought I'd add that it isn't Rufus and Burne's stronghold in B1. They are from Hommlet. Quasqueton in B1 was the stronghold of Rogahn and Zelligar.
Lol, yes. I misspoke on that one! I wrote this pretty much off the top of my head. I should have double checked that!
@@captcorajus Keep doing what you're doing! I love your stuff and the memories it brings back!
Ignoring the goofy parts the remake "Little Keep of the Borderlands" for Hackmaster 4e (AD&D version) is probably the best version of the adventure. Expanded a great deal with modern but similar art.
I have that module too. lol
I also have it...its a thick book.
Keep on the Borderlands is the only correct answer.
B1 Search of the Unknown Dungeon was created by Rogahn and Zelligar Not Rufus and Burn
lol.. yup!
Would you be open to do a new list that includes all TSR RPGs? Ie Top Secret, Gamma World, Star Frontiers, etc
9:06 Troll Backhand!
Thrones of Bloodstone. Perhaps the most ridiculous high level module ever made.
LOL.. yes.. for 100th level characters! I remember going 'WTF'? when that was published.
Yeah...bot those full colored maps are FIRE!
What's the name of the raggae type song that plays after your intro song?
Blue Break. A link is in the description
@@captcorajus TY!
B&W art > Color art
Great vid
Hi, can you or anyone else let me know the name of a module that was designed for new DM's to learn from.
It had no monsters or treasure so the DM was required to learn how to do it?
I watched a review on modules good for solo play and it ranked highly for it but cannot remember the name.
Cheers.
I think you're wanting B1 - In Search of the Unknown.
I like your list but would leave out Tomb of Horrors for Village of Hommlet/Temple of Elemental Evil. I bet more players would of played the Hommlet over the the Tomb in terms of playing time.
1st amego ... feel like havent seen you in a while ... i miss ad&d
as do we all :)
B1 is a great module but take the time (perhaps 8 to 10 hours) and convert it to Advanced Dungeons and Dragons rules. Your players will appreciate the work, and you may surprise them with some rare spells from the 4 wizard spell encyclopedia.
8 to 10 hours? What? I just convert 'on the fly' even running it in 5E. :)
@@captcorajus capt....my memory isn't what it used to be. I used to be able to do this but...if I want to say use a couple 2nd edition monsters or spells I always put it down in writing so months later if a player calls bullsnat! I can show him/her my work and it's cool.
@@guyfrattallone6029 lol.. that's cool. As for me, I'm perfectly fine with, "I've altered the monster. Prey I don't alter it further." lol
"It's not fair!" It's the Tomb of Horrors, what did you expect?
Now save vs tears for your dead paladin. 😁
Got some noobs finishing this in the next couple sessions, then A1 (standalone) White Plume, some Judges Guild action from Dark Tower, then the G-series
My friend thinks that thaco was 2nd edition....I say - see the list of monsters in the DMG.
SWEET!.
When I first learned C++ back in the day, we had to write a program to convert roman numerals. Because of that somewhat painful experience, I've always remembered the values off the top of my head like LV. Thanks for the vid, nostalgia is nice. I always liked the modules with the artist booklets inside, especially S3 which is on my top 10 list.
Yeah, me too! Definitely something they should bring back!
My compliments on pronouncing 'Tamoachan' in the old Meso-American linguistic way!
There is a pronunciation key in the first paragraph of the adventure. It helped us all way back in the day. (And it is likely the only Proper Noun in the history of D&D that all of us Grognards pronounce the same!)
i don't know why Tomb of Horrors was ever Taken off DTRPG. Only way to get it now is via Dungeons of Dread.
Yeah, its really annoying. It was available for POD a few years ago, and I purchased as my copy is falling apart.
no on talks about THAC0 anymore ... the simplicity was what made it great ...
idk I quite like the AC being the number needed to hit .. this and Advantage/Disadvantage are basically the only two Wizbro things I use :)
Word. THAC0 is the best combat system. 🤟🤟🤟
i think it was the balance of the 0 AC and how the 20d just fit from 10 to -10@@anon_laughing_man
Thaco is not "simple"
@@wizzlewazzle9202it is for the players because they never have to worry about it. Only the DM ever needs to worry about THAC0
Just a reminder. When you see a list like this ALWAYS roll through comments. There are a lot of great suggestion there too!
You may want to fix your chapter titles. I suspect autocorrect is responsible for you having chapter titles called "Ghost Tower of Infest" and "White Queen Mountain."
lol. That's hilarious.