Greg A. Vaughan's page

My game typically runs large on the number of players (as far as problems go, a pretty good one to have I think), with players of varying experience levels. What I generally do is increase the EL of an encounter by 1 for every 2 extra party members. So if the EL 4 encounter is intended for 4 party members I increase the difficulty to EL 5 for 6 party members of the same level. That way the encounters in the adventure stay in balance (there are still easy encounters and difficult encounters, but they remain commensurate with the party's abilities). It's just a rule of thumb I use and, of course, it doesn't fit every situation, but if I need to tweak things further because the players are having too easy a go of it I just push more encounters between rest periods. That's one of the beauties of the game, time is really subjective when you're the DM keeping track of it.

I hope that's some help. :)

Thanks. That was my computer illiteracy showing.

Wasn't Dungeon of Death done in a Dungeon Crawl module by the same name?

Woohoo!! Got mine in the mail today. The whole hostage thing worked. Not only got my magazine but USPS threw in a box of Twinkies, too just to keep me from getting disgruntled.

Seriously though, everything Yamo says is true. The map is awesome. I can't wait to get the other three.

Sounds cool. I had pictured a dwarven temple in there somewhere for the dwarven transplants living in the city.

BTW, if your PCs are based west of Sterich tell them to watch their step. There's a big hole there BWAHAHAHAHA!!! (Evil DM laugh.)

Excellent and excellent. Now I must lie in wait for my postal carrier and hold her hostage in order to speed up the delivery of my mag. :)

This may have been addressed in some other thread, but is the map hexed like the old Darlenes? And if so, does it have some sort of numbering system like those did so individual hexes could be identified?

coyote6 wrote:
"-What exactly _is_ the Dwarven Court? :)"

Sorry to leave you hanging. I was gone over the holidays and hadn't thought to check back to see if Erik had written anything on this thread.

I checked back in my original notes on the Dwarven Court. Basically, think a dwarven embassy to the capital of Sterich. The marquis has close ties to the dwarven mining clans in the Crystalmist Mountains (especially around the Davish headwaters)since much of the nations economy (especially early on) was gleaned from those mines. The Dwarven Court would be where the representatives of the dwarven princes dwell and conduct their business with the marquis as well as a gathering place for the dwarves of the city to escape humans for a short while to drink ale, eat, drink ale, worship dwarven gods, drink ale, talk dwarven politics, drink ale, talk about drinking ale, and drink ale.

More than that I really can't say because I don't know what all wonderful twists and turns Erik has intended for Istivin, so he may envision it another way in which case all of the above may be patently incorrect.

Either way, I hope that provides some insight. :)

I'm sure that there are more features to it that James will get to in his magnum opus, but what he has described is essentially all you need. Select a font from the drop down menu and just start typing. Then select a new font as necessary for specialized text (room labels, read-aloud text, monster stats, etc.). They're fairly self-explanatory. The last adventure I wrote was the first time I used the styles sheet, and I am fairly computer illiterate so it's not too hard to figure out a working knowledge (though like I said, I'm sure there's a lot I'm missing that James will expand upon).

I think that is a good direction. I look forward to seeing it.

Admittedly I am a dyed-in-the-wool GH fan. It pained me greatly for many years to see the setting seemingly drift away. When I saw an ad a few years pre-3e (in Dungeon magazine actually, I think) that mentioned the reintroduction of Greyhawk along with a classic 0% body fat, Jeff Dee drawing and the caption "What the hell's a baatezu?" I wanted to stand up and cheer. I believe it was around the time of the 25th anniversary when the Return To... modules began coming out. I think the S&S had been missing for awhile. With all due respect to Mr. Greenwood who is obviously a genius, I don't think it was just the avatar crap and historical pornography (I love that phrase) that had ruined the Forgotten Realms for me. In my opinion as a novelist Mr. Greenwood stinks. Perhaps it was the tail wagging the dog, but since my loyalty forced me to buy every new D&D novel I felt like if I saw another high-power wizard duel with a new Elminster Doomsday spell cleverly prepared for just such a situation I think I would've vomited. I don't think he's written anything decent since Spellfire and that was obviously heading in the direction of the Uber-powerful NPC (Shandril Shessair, 16-year-old Dracolich Slayer). His Shadow of the Avatar trilogy actually finally broke me of my habit of buying everything that was printed (which actually saved me a ton of money for which I should thank him).

All that aside I have to agree with Yamo. The Gray Box for all its disorganization and seemingly incomplete musings was true S&S. I haven't read Lieber, but it really reminded me of Howard (and not the campy Conan modules). However, as FR's popularity surged that feel quickly went away. Enter 2e and all the attendant watering down...

I'm extremely thankful for the direction Dungeon has gone with Erik and the gang (and not just because they let me write some of it). Quite honestly I'd renew my subscription every year even if they were putting out a load of crap (which they have done at times in the past it seems to me) but that's because I'm a junkie. I'd buy, I just wouldn't enjoy it.

Perhaps my views of S&S and GH are colored by the 1e classic adventures seen through the eyes of an entranced grade-schooler, but the inherent aura of mystery that surrounded the Ghost Tower or the secrets in either Saltmarsh or the Slavers Stockade (take your pick) still draw me 20+ years later.

We seem to have a sympathetic publisher in Paizo with Erik and his compatriots at the helm, and I'd like to see more of that style once again. They have shown a willingness to publish it when sent to them. Ultimately I'm enough of a pragmatist to know WotC may never go that direction. I'm also a lover of the game so I don't join the WotC hate-mail club either. As long as they're alive the game's alive. In the meantime Dungeon is doing a great job of supporting that style in addition to a myriad of other things. So I'm going to keep sending in GH material (much of it nostaligic in nature to try and recapture the thrill of a first sighting of Iggwilv's Horn or a Great Green Demon Face) and hope that others do to. To me (and I'm probably in a minority here) all the supplements in the world can't take the place of a fantastically-written adventure that takes your mind away to the Misty Mountains cold or a Lost City of the Elders. Even if it's a 16-page minimalist piece that leaves you wondering, well just exactly what IS in Keraptis' Indoctrination Center?

The whole Mystara boxed set series used audio to supplement the adventures. If you don't have them already they were "Karameikos: Kingdom of Adventure" and the adventure boxed sets "Hail the Heroes", "Night of the Vampire", and "Mark of Amber". The Red Steel series also had two boxed sets with CDs that I know of, the actual "Red Steel" boxed set and the "Savage Baronies" supplement. It's been awhile, but I seem to recall that the Red Steel CD was mainly mood music while the others were actual sound bites for adventures. I also recall there being a Ravenloft and a Planescape boxed set or accessory that had audio with it, but I can't remember what they were called. The Ravenloft may have been something about a Belfry, and the Planescape one was some sort of player supplement providing planar information through a construct device called a mimir. There was a demo CD a long time ago called "Waveforms" from the old TSR that introduced all the audio adventures.

Astrally-Sensitive Extraterrestrial Ombudsman. They have those at Area 51 I hear.

Either that or something about Admin...it's Admin isn't it? It's gotta be Admin...or Artillery...

Funny you should ask about the Gryphon's Arms as I noticed its seeming ommision almost immediately (and then promptly forgot about it or I would have mentioned it my notes above...duh). Anyway, the Gryphon's Arms is the domed building at the NW corner of Gate Square. If you'll notice on the map there appear to two small circular structures in a north-south line just outside the front door. If you look at it with some imagination you'll notice it rather resembles a crudely rendered number 8. It is in fact the numbering for this building. Blame it on my childish scrawl on the original map. Nonetheless, that is the Gryphon's Arms having lost its identity in the cartography translation process.

As to the dwarven court and other details I'll have to defer to my counterpart on the byline Mr. Erik Mona

I think primemover is probably right. My subscription to Oklahoma City usually takes a full 20 days to arrive but occasionally shows up after only 5 or 6. USPS whim.

BTW, I'm pretty sure its irony.

P.S. I'm sorry to hear about your head...being severed and all.

Incidentally, in the fight with the Necromancer, I was using my D&D Minis: one Lich Necromancer and two Minotaur Skeletons.

Were the Minotaur Skeletons part of the original design or added in when the editors saw the GoL set list? ;-)

Cheers,
Merric

The minotaur skeleton actually goes all the way back to when I wrote the prototype 22 years ago. I just refer to that as my amazing foresight. ;-)

Alas... Trose didn't make it through the merciless editorial process for issue #118. Hopefully he'll be able to make an appearance in #119...

In the immortal words of William Tecumseh Sherman "War...and the editorial process...is Hell." Or something like that.

Frush O'Suggill, I did a little dance in the shop when i read that name. Very first Character I ever played in AD&D (He was a pre-generated PC in G1-3 Against the Giants, as I'm sure lot of you know). It's little nod's to the past like that, that make me all warm and fuzzy inside. Bring on the rest of the gang, Fonkin, Roaky, Faffle, Beek et al as well. I'd Love to see what the old crew are upto these days.

Glad to hear you liked it. Update on some of the others: Redmod is prince of the Dwarven Court (area 23 of Istivin, which seems to have been inadvertantly left off of the map - looking at my original map it's supposed to be the somewhat triangular-shaped building due south of the x-shaped Tower of Custom), Flerd Trantle and Gleep Wurp both make appearances in "Against the Giants: The Liberation of Geoff". Fonkin Hoddypeak and Faffle Dwe'o-mercraeft both merit brief mentions in that adventure as well. Also Fonkin appears to have been providing quotes for Monte Cook in "Dead Gods" a few years ago.

Kireth Trantle (Flerd's brother) is the high priest of Pelor in Istivin (ironic since Flerd is a cleric of Pholtus). Beyond that, I didn't want to overdo the old references (though you may find a veiled reference to the nastiest hill giant in G1 if you look close).

Finally for you true Greyhawk-philes, I don't know if it made the editorial cut or not, but the next adventure may include an appearance by the perpetually-unfortunate Trose of Istivin. And as old gamers know...it sucks to be Trose.

Similar to ASEO's tree patch example, my party activated a Quaal's feather token-tree in a cramped corrider in the carter ridge mines of the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. The DM ruled that the results were explosive (lots of splinters). In 1E one of my characters activated a wand of wonder summoning a rhino into the tiny xvart tunnels of UK2 The Sentinel. Not as explosive, but very messy.

A creative spell use I was told about probably stretched things a bit. As a readied action, a wizard placed a dimension door directly in front of a dragon's mouth just as he was about to use his breath weapon. The dimension door succeeded in diverting the breath weapon away from its intended targets, and the understrength party escaped. I don't know how realistic this use was, but it struck me as an extremely clever use of the spell.

THANK YOU!!! Being one of my all time favorite adventures, I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what the other sequel was. Best I could come up with was the Glantri boxed set since the d'Ambrevilles figured so heavily into that country's background. (A d'Ambreville is also featured in Return to the Keep on the Border Lands, but that could hardly be considered a sequel to X2.) It never occurred to me to just post the question here on the boards. Thank you, sith lord, for imparting your wisdom to we humble paduwans.

So what do you say Mr. Rateliff (or Mr. Mona or Mr. Jacobs if John Rateliff doesn't peruse these boards), what is this elusive second sequel to Castle Amber that you speak of?

Dr Pepper is the sweet nectar of the gods (Elder or otherwise). Mountain Dew is radioactive waste that makes my pee turn neon, and frankly that scares me.

Cold...cold...and cold! (Hey, even radioactive waste tastes better cold.)

Don't forget Lendor! He's all about this project!

Speaking of Lendor, I don't know if it would be on the first map or not or if it's too late, but hopefully the Lendore Isle locations will appear (Restinford, Garotten, Bone Hill, the Duchy of Kroten-wherever that actually is-, etc.). Was Deep Dwarven Delve located on Lendore? I never got the silver boxed set so I haven't read that adventure to know.

I'm sure you remembered Orlane from N1, but I thought I'd throw it out just in case.

If anyone has a map tag pre-Dungeon 103 that they'd like to see on the map, be sure to post it here and I'll make sure it appears. Otherwise, it's between me and the clock. ;)

Erik, I don't know if it survived the edit for issue #118 or if you even noticed, but I included the locations of Adakkan Strold and Strathern Point from "Incident at Strathern Point" in issue #21 as a sort of trivia throwback to the old days on the Istivin hinterlands map. I don't know if that is where Matt Maaske originally intended, but it seemed to fit okay to me.

Also, all the neat locations in Hold of the Sea Princes from the old U (Saltmarsh) and UK series of adventures(specifically Crystal Cave, Sentinel, and Gauntlet)would be neat, though you may have covered that already.

ASEO...It's an acronym for a position I held while in the military. What that position was…that’s my secret.

Very mysterious...but I will not be thwarted.

One Meellion Dollars (insert Dr. Evil voice here) to anyone who can tell me what ASEO's job in the military was and what the acronym stands for. Okay actually $1.37, but hey, I'm good for it!

(One time when I had latrine duty for a week in Basic Training I carried the auspicious title Colonel Urinal.)

- A Rose for Talakara - I seem to remember a high body count, but had fun anyway.

Don't be fooled. He ran the adventure. The bodies were all mine.

No-one died during the session, but they haven't finished with the module yet - and they can't heal Lukas!

The half-flooded tunnels have been great fun to play in. The best bit was when the PCs didn't want to kill the zombies in "Roots and Limbs" - they suffered a few attacks as they made their way through the chamber, before the paladin turned the ones guarding the way out. :)

I've been adding the details of the session to my blog:
http://www.3rdedition.org/merricb/greyhawk/greyhawk.htm

The module isn't finished yet, though it'll be a fortnight before they can return to it. It's been a lot of fun, though!

That's great, Merric. I'm going to check out your blog. Incidentally, one of my players suggested I remove the Roots and Limbs after the playtest. Like I said, a bunch of pathetic losers. Well, I actually didn't say it, but I thought it. This guys name was Joe; I may have mentioned him before.

P.S. If anyone sees Joe don't tell him I've been saying bad stuff about him on the messageboards. :)

Thanks, Woontal. That was my intention when I wrote it off that adventure hook all those years ago. It's nice to know it actually came out as intended.

P.S. Don't listen to anything BV210 says. He's still sore about the Double Retributive Strike Incident (see Top 30 Adventures thread). Come on BV210, it's been 20 years fer cryin' out loud! ;)

I like your style ASEO. :) Maybe they could let you write a column. At least it would be funny. How often do you get to hear about somebody's dumb, vomiting cat? Keep up the good work.

By the way, what does ASEO stand for?

The first character I played was a 1E ranger and it remains my favorite class today. I don't know why.

Maybe it was the 2d8 hp at first level and the fighter Con bonus. That rocked!!! No first-level character could touch a ranger in 1E. After that it sorta' equalized out, but it was a great start for any 1st-level campiagn. Quite literally the usual "Last Man Standing".

As to bards, they're just tough to play right. I'm in two regular campaigns; each party has a bard. Both ae played by a different person. The typical encounter begins and when their initiative comes up it's usually, "uh...I start singing." And it's usually the most efffective contribution because of the great bonuses across the boards. However, I'm sure it gets old for the player. True the fighter usually does the same thing, but at least they get to kick some butt in the process which is it's own reward. IMO, every party needs a bard ... I just don't want to be it.

My favorite is fighter, much as Greyson mentioned above. I really like the idea of the "historical" game (low magic, gritty realism, no easy wins) and the fighter fits perfectly. It works in any cultural setting. I could run a campaign with a party of 10 fighters and still enjoy it (along with the attendant high mortality rate). They're just so versatile. They can do anything and none of it well...except fighting. Plus it also works well in the more typical high fantasy game through aquiring soem basic magic items. Maybe it's just easy and I'm lazy. I do get tired of aquatic elf/tiefling thief-acrobat/sorcerers and the half-elemental/half-dragon tattooed monk/dragon disciple. I think true genius lies not in developing a character from Mars with all the bells and whistles but rather developing a simple bread-and-butter character (who maybe just worships Mars) into something of interest. Give me a guy with a chain shirt and a battle axe anyday. But to each his own. I'm the only one like that in my groups, so I'm maybe I'm all alone in this.

Sorry, this has nothing to do with the post, it's just the first time I saw Boredflak's name on the boards. That's awesome! I had forgotten all about Finneus Fingers and Boredflak the Boltlobber. You have really brought back the memories, man.

They are light on clerical magic, though they look pretty heavy on fight. Maybe they should attack in waves...one half catches its breath while the other half fights.

Yeah, it's a lot easier to hide a leechwalker from a lower level party. +22 Spot is tough to beat.

I'm glad you're using the BoVD. I originally used a little more from it, so you're on the right track with the Zombie Master. Grim revenge sounds nice. ;) BoVD is one cool book (and underused in my opinion). Very nasty bad guys. I thought the fused spinal column morning star was appropriate for guys like that.

I love your illusory vampire/vat of green slime. Very mean trick. I think I'll use that on my guys sometime. It reminds of the original Temple of Elemental Evil where the party finds a vampire in a coffin and possibly stakes him only to discover it is an illusion covering a paladin they are supposed to rescue. Some days it just doesn't pay to be an adventurer. It's good to be a DM, though. >:) (evil grin).

Thanks much.

I hear you on the tricks/traps/roleplay stuff, though. Unfortunately it stems from the fact that I tend to write long and have a serious hate issue with my regular players. ;) What that equates to is I try to create encounters to beat them as much as possible, giving them little time between crying and bleeding to roleplay encounters. But seriously I do tend to write more combat than other encounters as a personal taste (my apologies) and I do write long which means much of my less-active material must fall under the editor's knife due to space constraints. (Hey, I'm just happy to be published!)

Hints to soup it up for your guys...
1. If you have the MM2, replace the tendriculos altogether with a leechwalker lurking under the water in room C1 (advance it if necessary). Allow it to Hide under the water to avoid notice and then begin tracking the party through the catacombs. Give a few subtle hints (a feeling of being watched, a sloshing sound down the passage they have just come from, etc.), and then have it attack with surprise when a party is already engaged in a battle or when recovering after a battle.

2. (My personal favorite) I originally wrote C16 as a potential TPK room. Here's how. Fill it with water all the way to the ceiling (nice, clean and clear because of the filtering of the surrounding limestone bedrock). You'll notice the room is colored blue on the map--completed before the details were removed in the final edit so it still shows the flooding. The everburning torch is around the corner at the far end of the room (no air pocket)so the glow is visible and it appears the flooded room opens into another passage beyond above the water level. The brave party (or better yet, a lone scout...i.e.sucker) swims down into the room to check out the light. The G Cube in its alcove is virtually invisible underwater and a distracted swimmer has little chance of noticing it. Said swimmer(s) go right past the cube and discover the torch is magical and also underwater. Meanwhile the cube slides out and completely blocks the exit, and is still virtually undetectable in the distorted vision underwater. The party is now trapped underwater with a G Cube blocking their only way out. Even better, the first one swimming back is likely to unknowingly swim directly into the cube subjecting themselves to an automatic engulf attack and possible paralysis (nothing like being paralyzed underwater). Then the party has to hack its way through to escape and get back to the air. Of course a party of the levels you are running probably has some water breathing magic handy, but it'll still be more challenging
(Some even meaner tactics:
1.An engulfed character a)provides cover for the cube, or b) takes some of the damage from attacks directed at the cube.
2. Even after killed the cube is still in the way, so require the characters to inflict damage equal to its hp once again in order to hack a passage through.
3. Advance the cube as you already have and apply it to the underwater scenario.)

You can see why my players hate me and in turn I have even greater malevolence towards them (it's a vicious cycle). Fortunately, I am in counseling. (Let's see you trip a gelatinous cube with that spiked chain, Joe!) Sorry that stuff just slips out sometimes.

Anyway, thanks for speaking well of the adventure. I hope you're players enjoy it as much as I enjoy killing mine, I mean as much as mine did.

By the way, look for another adventure in issue #117 with a much greater percentage of roleplaying/investigation vs combat.

I usually get to enjoy about three weeks of suspense +1 day before I get mine in the mail. The +1 day means if I ever calculate the three weeks to end at about the time when I have a business trip or vacation or something when I think, 'hmm...this will give me a great opportunity to sit down and read through it without interruption,' it invariably arrives the day after I leave so I get to wait another week or so to even see it.

BTW...What?...no spoilers about the #1 adventure from the lucky few who have received their issue? Or does the issue cover say it all...

Also the same party went north and did a great adventure routing out some frost giants, and picking up a great evil dwarven co-hort we kicked around for awhile. I believe the Chraal in the new MMIII made it's first appearance there, though i can't remember the name of the adventure...
Also there was one we did right after against a frost giant family (the art was done by Tony D.) This was also a killer adventure in which I believe my PC's ended up kidnapping the frost giant's child and holding it for ransome... one of the best solutions I've ever seen for ending the raids and getting treasure... IF you're EVIL that is!!!

You're speaking of "Mertylmane's Road" in #76 and "The Winter Tapestry" in #78, respectively. Both good, solid adventures though I never got to play either one.:-(

And Arnwyn, good call on "The Dark Place" in #49. I had forgotten about that one. It gave my party fits tracking down and fighting the gacholoth. Very spooky atmosphere.

I think Vin Diesel has said what his favorite character's name was.... I have no idea where, tho... I think it started with an M tho.... So sayeth Taricus... or sumpthin' (I'll have to find that reference.... Just think... I could be Sage Taricus--rivaling the power of the current sage, but mastering random D&D trivia, instead of game rules.... Ah... The POWER! I could take over WORLDS!!! MUAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH! oh wait... maybe not....)

The sage Taricus boggleth my mind with all the .... business. But I think the character's name was Malkor and he had it as a tattoo on his chest or back in Triple X. Wasn't Malkor Sauron's old boss or something?

The one time I've used a phase spider in 3e, the party was forced to use readied actions with ranged weapons and spells just as you mentioned. I haven't seen another way to do it (other than becoming ethereal yourself, of course), but I, too, would like to see any suggestions anyone has.

I'm sure it was a Dungeon adventure. I think it was called "The House of Midnight" or something similar.

Yep, "House on the Edge of Midnight" in #76. I stand corrected. The Frankenstein reference threw me. I was thinking of Victor Mordenheim. This one actually involves Blake Ramsay, Ravenloft's other Dr. Frankenstein interpretation.

Unfortunately I have no head for titles...the curse of the rotten memory! But there was one, right before 3rd edition came out, styled in a southwest-Mexican-bandito sort of setting...there was a wizardess who set a wand of paralyzation in a crossbow stock. Extremely cool.

I also liked a Ravenloft adventure about a Dr. Frankenstein trapped on a small island surrounded by darkness, trying to recreate his daughter. I ran that and it went great.

You're thinking of "Fortune Favors the Dead" in #80 (great spaghetti-western title). The Frankenstein one doesn't come to my mind in the pages of Dungeon (but I could just be having a brainfart). It does sound like one in an old Ravenloft compilation called RR2 Book of Crypts entitled "Bride of Mordenheim".

Oh, I forgot to add my total agreement with GGG on X4/X5, great stuff.

And in college I did my own campaign on B4 The Lost City updating it to 2e and 15-20th level characters. I repopulated all 100 rooms trying to keep the original feel of the monsters and traps as much as possible (Zargon became the avatar of a demigod!)and detailed out and populated the caverns beneath (especially the various faction strongholds). I plopped the whole thing down in southern Anauroch in the Realms (The Empty Quarter) and recreated the background for Cynidicea as a lost and degenerate survivor state of one of the floating enclaves of old Netheril. The religious factions became primeval cults of Tyche, Mystryl, and Amaunator. The entire civilization had secretly fallen under the sway of the phaerimm trapped beneath Anauroch who using their unfathomable powers managed to create and deify the Zargon and its cult as the puppet force of their hidden rule. Then I wrote a complete overland adventure to bring the party to it involving a race between the players and the Zhentarim to (of course) secure a trade route across southern Anauroch. (185 pages handwritten - I still can't straighten my fingers out). Incidentally part of the overland adventure involved a huge Zhentarim attack on their caravan (we spent an entire 8-hour session running this battle) inspired by none other than the bandit attack in X4 Master of the Desert Nomads (though much grander in size and complexity). Some classics never die.

So many, so many...
CM2 was cool and led to the only double retributive strike I've ever witnessed. (During a power gamer phase my brother's uber-magic-user failed a teleport roll at the entrance to Orcus's temple and appeared embedded halfway in the ground. Also embedded his staff of power and staff of the magi - like I said, power gaming - resulting in both being broken, which took off the front half of the temple and made even Orcus pause and say ,"whoa...").

My all-time favorite though, B10 Night's Dark Terror.
This low-level gem had everything - wilderness, dungeon, goblin tribes, lost cities, cursed forests, thugs in back alleys, a magical map, an Indiana Jonesesque lost civilization, a monster from the depths of H.P. Lovecraft's psyche called the kartoeba, and even a huge miniatures battle for a siege set on a poster map...WOW!

Kudos to TSR UK because they also brought the UK series (about half of which were sheer brilliance - including UK3 The Gauntlet) and the Saltmarsh series (never trust a man named Ned Shakeshaft.)and O2 Blade of Vengeance ( a good solo with great characters)

I also really like the Slavelord series (especially A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade, my first true love), the Temple of Elemental Evil, and the Giant/Drow adventures. I loved how they connected them all into one super campaign. Thank you Monte Cook for building on them (and The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun) and tying up all the loose ends with Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. See Dungeon issues 117, 118 amd 119 for my own humble homage to the masters.

S4 The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth which basically launched at least two new rules books by Gygax.

I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City - my second favorite of all time. Love the city map and all the factions. Great campaign fodder. Introduction of the yuan-ti. Plus doesn't every adventure need primitive natives warning you about "the demon-men" in the "haunted city"?

The Desert of Desolation series (I3-5) which prompted me to write a super-long sequel (419 pages, single space-college rule, hand-written...Aaagh hand cramps!) for a campaign of my own (which got me writing adventures seriously - typing actually, thank God).

I6 Ravenloft (pure genius)

DL 1,2,4,6,7 and 8. Less foo-foo than the others in the series, though they could have described a couple more rooms in the high clerist tower (much later I actually populated it myself, modified it, and moved it to Myth Drannor as Castle Cormanthor for a campaign in college)

And I really liked the Night Below and Return to the Tomb of Horrors boxes. More down to details like the old adventures rather than the more nebulus Undermountain, Myth Drannor, Dragon Mountain type adventures where you had to make up half the stuff yourself.

One more, Return of the Eight is a great revisit for a Greyhawk freak like me.

Not in any particular order, but these are the ones that really stood out to me. Most of them are older issues from my younger days when I would inhale each issue of Dungeon and practically memorize the adventures. My older brother and I actually played about 75% of the adventures in the first 50 issues back in junior high.

1. Wards of Witching Ways #11 (My first introduction to Dungeon. Older brother killed half of my party.)
2. Falcon's Peak #3(simple and to the point but allowed a great launching point for an entire campaign based on the lost bandit hold.)
3. Vesicant #16 (cool pirate city [Suderham with goblins]; my first TPK on my brother. Actually got to run it twice with a second party bent on revenge.)
4. Elephant's Graveyard #15/The Leopard Men #22 (cool setting and premise)
5. The Moor-Tomb Map #13 (maybe my favorite of all time, that map at the beginning rocked.)
6. The Ghost of Mistmoor #35 (very well done haunted house. The best since Saltmarsh.)
7. Horror's Harvest #38 (I love Ravenloft. One of the best and scariest written.)
8. Kingdom of the Ghoul's #70 (A bit too grandiose to be contained in a simple Dungeon adventure, but wow...it even has Lovecraft quotes.)
9. Mere of Dead Men series #69,70,71,72,&73 (I love a good series. And it has a great background - vintage Realms.)
10. N'bod's Room #51 (maybe the best piece of adventure writing I've ever seen and probably the most overlooked. Up in the air with Moor-Tomb Map for my overall favorite.)

Honorable mention: I agree with Paul above. I've got to give it up to The Pit #17, Deception Pass #23, and The Lady of the Mists #42/My Lady's Mirror #52 (interesting storyline by different authors), too. Those were all excellent.

Realizing I included no 3e adventures I guess I should probably call those my favorite historic adventures. I'll have to come up with a list of my favorite modern ones (3e and 3.5) another time. I haven't gotten to play many of those though due to time constraints (growing up sucks). I normally just get to read them so I haven't developed the same attachments.

Thanks, Torpedo and Dryder.

Dryder wrote...

(Man, how much time have you got, when your'able to prepare so much adventures?

...

There is never enough time. Wife, job, 2 little girls, and life always come first (football season tends to intrude as well this time of year). Leftover time tends to be divided between gaming and writing. Fortunately, they overlap some, since the guys I game with also graciously playtest for me. Unfortuately, I just get to sit and watch at those times and take notes instead of playing.

Actually the wheels of publication tend to run slow for me. "Torrents" was written (well, rewritten...)summer 2003. "Tammeraut" was actually sent in spring 2002. There's several more sitting with Paizo in the meantime, but I don't know what their time table is

Dryder wrote...

You said the adventure has been chopped down! You couldn't probably send the "whole thing" via eMail to me? (Or is this against the rules from paizo (if so, I'm sorry asking for it in the first place).

...

Actually I have no idea about the legalities and ownership issues with that. Maybe if one of the Paizo guys came on the boards and said it was okay, I could. Otherwise I'd rather not risk incurring their wrath.

As to the final question, I haven't had any say in who is the cartographer for my adventures. However, Rob Lazzaretti, who has done it with both adventures, has done an awesome job! I've always been kind of a map freak so I typically put a lot of detail in to them, and Rob has been so true to them that they are virtually identical to the originals (though his manage to look much, much better). I was curious how well they would do with the catacombs map in "Torrents", which is extremely detailed and I guessed would be very difficult to reproduce. Rob blew me away. He captured it all perfectly down to the most minute details and even managed to illustrate the different types of bedrock surrounding various parts of the dungeon. Wow.

Thanks so much for your kind words. I love hearing how others handle things in the adventure and what they think about it in general. I'm glad the rickety balcony got somebody. If you ever run it again, you might consider making your players hum the theme song to the A-Team while they're preparing for the undead assault. :)

If you liked it, you might check out "Torrents of Dread" in issue #114. It's another atmosphery adventure (though it took some pretty good hits on the editing chopping block - about a third of its length as near as I can tell). Anyway, it's got a different feel but still has an island flavor (even moreso considering it's on the Isle of Dread).

Thanks again for your feedback. I'm glad you guys have enjoyed it.

I'm glad you're enjoying it. It's always nice to see feedback from others who have played it.

As written the adventure is for four 6th-level characters who can possibly reach 7th level before the underwater showdown with Syrgaul. The final encounter itself is EL 10, so I would imagine that it alone, not to mention the monks who can soften PCs up a bit and the difficult circumstances for the battle, should probably mince a 5th-level party. However, you know best your group's abilities and playing style, so of course it's possible. Frankly I'm impressed they survived the monastery intact. Every 6th-level party I have run through it has had trouble not feeding the chuul at least one of their number.

First of all, I am so glad that you now have a forum. I will be here often, I am sure.

Second, I have noticed that there is a severe lack of epic and psionic adventures. Will Dungeon feature either of these types of adventures in the future? It is possible that the Shackled City adventure path might get an occational addition in the form of an epic adventure? Now, That would be great!

Thanks,

Neomorte

I submitted a proposal for a psionic adventure about a month ago. I haven't heard anything back yet, but maybe there'll be one soon (fingers crossed).