Much like my "Must Have Dragon Issues" thread on the Dragon forums, I was wondering what issues of Dungeon people thought had really good adventures in them, and what they would consider must haves, specifically because it would be intersting to see some of the great stuff in Dungeon's that people may have missed so we can snatch up the back issues. Post away.
WaterdhavianFlapjack
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ANYTHING (and I do mean ANY) that Dave Howery wrote. His 'The Leopard Men' and 'The Elephant's Graveyard' were the best adventures Dungeon ever published (including 'The Mud Sorcerer's Tomb'). And 'The Land of Men with Tails' was good, as well. I sent a letter to Dragon once, asking whatever happened to Dave, and they were bummed he didn't keep in touch with them. His The Dark Continent articles in Dragon rocked as well.
WaterdhavianFlapjack, you might do a search for a thread I believe is called "Top 30 Dungeon Adventures". If I recall correctly most of the posters put in issue numbers. As for myself, I think my personal favorite all-round issue was #10, but I like 126 for purely selfish reasons.
GGG
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I have always enjoyed the Champion's Challange issues. The last Challange I had my five different gaming groups go through. I had set it up as a contest to see which gaming group was "best". They all really enjoyed it until real life interrupted things.
Here were the results from the first three rounds.
I think my personal favourite is Dungeon #2 as that was the first one I received through subscription. My mother had it wrapped and under the Xmas tree in '86. Dad was miffed that the $pendy gifts he had bought were ignored while I read that issue cover-to-cover that day. I think I ran every adventure over the following year. The titan's dream adventure sticks in my mind especially. Cool stuff.
I planning on getting some back issues and I need to know which issue it converted to 3.0.
Chadranther's Bane.
Best, most imaginative, most adaptable, adventure ever. I based an amazing campaign around that one.
Old Man Katan also comes to mind and what was the one about the skeletal warrior with the rose garden? A rose for Talkara?
Issue #82 was the 3.0 premier issue in Dungeon.
What was the premier 3.5 issue?
WaterdhavianFlapjack
Thanks, GGG. Seems like I didn't do my homework on this thread. :)
P.S.Guys, do you think from now on you could include issues #? Alot of the adventures sound good, but I don't know anything about them or the numbers.
WaterdhavianFlapjack
I recently fleshed out my collection and now have all 3.0/3.5 Dungeon magazines. I don't think I've found one yet that sucked totally. Each one has something in it that I can use directly or adapt, so I really think that if you try to go out and get all of them (eventually) you'll have tons and tons of adventures and inspiration for your games for many years to come.
I recently fleshed out my collection and now have all 3.0/3.5 Dungeon magazines.
Whoa Wee!!!
How I would love to have so much Dungeon!Mwahahaha!! *evil DM laugh*
WaterdhavianFlapjack
Thanks, GGG. Seems like I didn't do my homework on this thread. :)
P.S.Guys, do you think from now on you could include issues #? Alot of the adventures sound good, but I don't know anything about them or the numbers.WaterdhavianFlapjack
Found it: "How About Top Ten Dungeon Adventures"
http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/dungeon/generalDiscussion/archives/how AboutTopTenDungeonAdventures#4907
And for modules (and just a plain good/fun read:
"What's your Top 30"
http://paizo.com/dungeon/messageboards/generalDiscussion/archives/whatSYour Top30
GGG
I recently fleshed out my collection and now have all 3.0/3.5 Dungeon magazines.Whoa Wee!!!
How I would love to have so much Dungeon!Mwahahaha!! *evil DM laugh*
WaterdhavianFlapjack
Well, I kept up my subscription even before I decided to switch to 3rd edition. Over half of them are still in polywrap. I only had to buy like 5 or 6 of them to catch up.
I actually had no clue 3rd edition was out and had no clue WotC had bought out TSR--that's how out of touch I was!! When I got my first issue (#83 or so) and read it, I was like WTF is this? WTF is this? WTF is this????? However, since I'm a big advocate of "knob-turning" I actually ran several 3rd edition adventures using 2nd edition in 2000 & 2001 before I quit running my AD&D game permanently. Came back to the game with 3.5 late last year and realized that my huge stack of Dungeon magazines still in wrap was a virtual treasure trove!
Here's how dumb I was: I read an adventure with a tiefling in it and I thought it was like a new Underdark Drow Variant race, cause "tief" is the German word for "deep." Ach Du Lieber!
Well, I kept up my subscription even before I decided to switch to 3rd edition. Over half of them are still in polywrap. I only had to buy like 5 or 6 of them to catch up.
I actually had no clue 3rd edition was out and had no clue WotC had bought out TSR--that's how out of touch I was!! When I got my first issue (#83 or so) and read it, I was like WTF is this? WTF is this? WTF is this????? However, since I'm a big advocate of "knob-turning" I actually ran several 3rd edition adventures using 2nd edition in 2000 & 2001 before I quit running my AD&D game permanently. Came back to the game with 3.5 late last year and realized that my huge stack of Dungeon magazines still in wrap was a virtual treasure trove!
Here's how dumb I was: I read an adventure with a tiefling in it and I thought it was like a new Underdark Drow Variant race, cause "tief" is the German word for "deep." Ach Du Lieber!
Man. Crazy.
WaterdhavianFlapjack
When I got my first issue (#83 or so) and read it, I was like WTF is this? WTF is this? WTF is this?????
lol...
I felt the same way. I was thinking..what the hell are all these freaking numbers...bluff +7 wtf?
Took a month or two to get hold ogf a players handbook and makes sense of it all.
For the record..
My fav dungeon adventures are issue 1: Into the Fire (Gotta love Flame)
Issue 83: Eye oF Myrkul..
And I do not recall offhand the number but it was about finding a lost tribe of elves..except they had all died off except for an insane fighter/mage with a kick ass +5 defender and oh yeah, there were was a huge black dragon. Something about a demi-god stuck in a rock known as the stone of gul...
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I really enjoyed "The Wards of Witching Ways" from issue #11. I still like to run it whenever I have a new group. It is quite self contained, and can therefore be placed almost anywhere that you can find an island. The players get caught in a bet between two wizards regarding whether they will survive the wizards' keep. Everything else in that issue is pretty cool, too.
I know that there were a lot of really cool old ones, but issue #100 would top my list of must haves. "The Lich Queen's Beloved" was awesome. Close behind that would be #112 for "Maure Castle."
There was one I played in that I don't know the name of back before the 3rd Ed change. It took place on a cloud where a cloud giant had his castle and my group went up to investigate attacks on villages by giants and every finger pointed "up."
We had to sneak into the castle and find out if they were behind the attacks, but got our asses kicked soundly. Ah, good times.
I let my subscription lapse in the early 50's (issues not years :) ) and only came back shortly after Maure castle and the introduction of the Campaign Workbooks. So I can't really offer much help to folks looking for more recent issues, but for those with access to earlier stuff here's some of my favorites.
1-"Into the Fire"-one of the all time best dragon hunts, presenting Flame, a really nasty red dragon
1-"The Book with no end"-a botched artifact sitting at the heart of a magnificent trap and puzzle filled dugeon, home of the infamous "teleportation throne" (if you push the button you get teleported to safety but the rest of your party gets trapped in the room as it fills with poison gas :) )
3,4,5,6-I don't have any of these issues, but I do recall "The Titan's Dream" (issue #3 I believe) as a player with a great deal of fondness
7-"The Matchmakers"-starts out looking like a Romeo and Juliet homage, but the PCs end up getting duped into kidnapping a young noblewoman and almost delivering her to a murderer... trust no one :)
8-"The Wounded Worm"-a disabled dragon, and fantastically powerful spellcaster, uses intermediaries to try and regenerate itself
9-"The Crypt of Istaris"-perhaps the perfect example of the time limit dungeon (in this case you have four hours to stop the crypt from blowing up)
-"The plight of Cirria"-a pictographic map leads to a cloud giant castle now ruled by a psychotic archmage
10-"Monsterquest"-a nice change of pace adventure ,the PCs get to play the monsters, including such memorable pre-rolled characters as Bert the ogre and Ignatz the wererat.
-"Secrets of the Towers"-presents something very different from what Dungeon usually presented in that time (in some sense a precursor of the Campaign Workbooks we enjoy today)- a series of towers linked by teleportation nodes, intended to serve as a long term plot thread in a campaign
-"Threshold of evil"-a well down "evil archmage bent upon immortality" adventure which for the first time gave me a full appreciation of the uses of the simulacrum spell
11-"Black Heart of Ulom"-druids attempted to create a group mind out of the trees and animals in a forest but it has been turned evil and the PCs have to destroy it
-"Wards of witching ways"-two spellcasters bet upon the progress of the PCs, one helping the other hindering-when the PCs make it through the dungeon both turn on them for a pyrotechnic fight at the end
12-"At the spottle parlor"-a very odd, but funny adventure set in a gambling den-much of the humor coming from the NPCs who gamble alongside the PCs-especially Shkad (a superstitious lizard man who blames the PCs for his bad luck and tries to bet with fish :) )
-"Huddle farm"-a series of pranks on a farm owned by halflings prompts the PCs to end a feud between neighbors (the only problem with this was that the cover gave away the real culprit, but a leprechuan painting cows green, who could you not put it on the cover? :) )
-In addition to those very funny adventures this issue was also historically significant for two other reasons.
(1)The first Dungeon index, cataloging issues 1 through 12
(2)"Sceptor of the Underworld"-a solo adventure written by a fellow named James Jacobs (whatever happened to him anyway :) )
13-Probably the best issue up to this point it included a number of excellent adventures, if you see it snap it up
-"Ruins of Nol Daer"-a cambion (old time half-fiend :) ) returns to the mortal realm only to discover his wizard mother died over a century ago-he and his minions set out to excavate her stronghold, finding lots of other monsters along the way, lots and lots of monsters... You could spend many sessions clearing this little gem out
-"Moor tomb map"-the best treasure map adventure I've even seen-maps scattered around the area intended to lure adventurers to the tomb of a wizard who planned to possess one of them via a magic jar spell-but things went awry
-"Treasure vault of Kasil"-a brilliant trap filled dungeon
-"Of nests and nations"-political intrigue, a secret threat infiltrating and undermining an entire city, some really neat uses of summon monster types spells (check out the cover a t-rex smashing through the top floor of an inn :) )
That's as far as I went today. Next time I feel like some nostalgia I'll skim another dozen or so :)
When I got my first issue (#83 or so) and read it, I was like WTF is this? WTF is this? WTF is this?????lol...
I felt the same way. I was thinking..what the hell are all these freaking numbers...bluff +7 wtf?
Took a month or two to get hold ogf a players handbook and makes sense of it all.
Ahh. What I missed in the olde editions. There are some disadvantages to starting with 3.5, I guess.
WaterdhavianFlapjack
I have to throw in a nomination for issue #84 -- the one with Monte Cook's "The Harrowing," Jonathan Tweet's "Dungeon of the Fire Opal" (the "full version" of the sample dungeon from the 3.0 DMG), and three other damn fine adventures as well. Very tasty issue.
I have to throw in a nomination for issue #84 -- the one with Monte Cook's "The Harrowing," Jonathan Tweet's "Dungeon of the Fire Opal" (the "full version" of the sample dungeon from the 3.0 DMG), and three other damn fine adventures as well. Very tasty issue.
Amen. The Harrowing was AWESOME!!
I have to throw in a nomination for issue #84 -- the one with Monte Cook's "The Harrowing," Jonathan Tweet's "Dungeon of the Fire Opal" (the "full version" of the sample dungeon from the 3.0 DMG), and three other damn fine adventures as well. Very tasty issue.Amen. The Harrowing was AWESOME!!
Yep, those are the ones I ran as 2nd edition adventures back before I finally made the switch. I think that if I had switched to 3.0 at that point, I might have continued to run my campaign, but I was so burnt out after 20 years of DMing 80% of the time, that a 4 year break and a brand-new game was what it took to get me out of hibernation.
Talking about these older issues is sure bringing back some good memories. Anyone covert the older adventures into 3.5?
I made a version of Below Vultures Point recently - but the background material was dumped as I needed a Kobold lair and not an adventure hook.
That said its only really a beginners adventure for Newbies. My party was pretty green and they went through it like a hot knife through butter. Kobolds really can't handle a first level party even with numbers on thier side - even when the kobolds hit their itty bitty slings combined with a strength penalty make damage about 1-2 points a hit. Not enough to phase a first level character of any stripe except a mage. I even buffed up the Urd to a third level kobold with wings and put him on a 20' foot ledge - they could barely hit him but they just dispatched the rest of the kobolds while absorbing his annoying sling hits without much trouble.
It was fun but not much of a challange. Worked as the first adventure of low danger for players and a DM just learning 3.5 and rusty on their D&D but I can't say its much of a challange for a veteran group as it stands.
P.S. when upgrading 1st or 2nd edition material keep an eye on those spiders. Their freaken big - in fact the 3.5 DMG gives and example of a spider that lands on a characters shoulder - unless that was a tiny spider or smaller that can't happen. Wimpy spiders in this edition are massive beasts. I got in trouble from a player when I ambushed a player that fell in a pit with the spider that lives there - needless to say I had not realized that a Medium Monstrous Spider in 3.5 is something like a 4' foot tall creature and would have almost certianly been seen by the player when he fell in.
My fav dungeon adventures are issue 1: Into the Fire (Gotta love Flame)
Issue 83: Eye oF Myrkul..
Not that I'm overly interested or anything :-), but I think "Eye of Myrkul" was Issue #73. And I'm glad you liked it.
--Eric
Oo! Oo! I want to second the vote for Old Man Katan! I loved the look on our faces when we encountered the little squeaky voiced critters!
I also rather enjoyed (forget the name of the adventure) the one about the woman and her pet tiger who were immortal, but not really. They were alone on some island, and there was lots of spooky organ music!
Not that I'm overly interested or anything :-), but I think "Eye of Myrkul" was Issue #73. And I'm glad you liked it.
--Eric
My bad..issue 73 it was. I did like it..I liked the whole mere of dead men idea and it was the perfect capstone module. That issue (just dug it up from my pile) also had awesome cover art..black dragon brooding over the ruins of uthtower with puny adventurers cowering below.
WaterdhavianFlapjack,
You may have noticed that Paizo has just found a few copies of issue #11 and have put them up for sale. Seems like fate to me--I would highly recommend picking one up.
-k13
Thanks. Checking it right now!
WaterdhavianFlapjack
Lots of my faves have already been mentioned above (Edit and I see that I still manage to repeat some that have already been talked about - not my intention as generally if some one above has mentioned a module as being good I agree). Here are some others I like - warning though I often modify my modules heavily so some of them I like not so much for the adventure as written but because the adventure has a really unique twist and makes a great starting place for designing a new adventure around it.
Issue #8 In Defense of the Law - While the real reason to pick up issue #8 is The Wounded Worm mentioned above this module is quite good in its own right. I modified it so that the evil party was not an ally but working for the other side and had the bad guys make good use of their abilities to make a fighting withdrawal.
Issue #10 Threshold of Evil - This was a bonanza issue. Secret of Towers is already mentioned by another poster. Anyway Threshold of Evil pits the party against a very interesting Chaotic Neutral Wizard in his own lair with Slaadi allies. As the title of the module makes clear our neutral wizard is just on the Threshold of Evil because of his recent choices and an obsession with immortality. This allows for a number of interesting role playing encounters. Maybe more importantly this baby taught me how to run bad guy magic users. If I ever run it again I'm going through the wizards spell book with a fine toothed comb and considering every spell he has in terms of whether he could use it in some manner to beef up his defenses. The mantra every spell has a use goes for the bad guys as well.
Issue #12 Huddle Farm - 'cause the villain paints the farmers cows green. Most lovable villain ever.
Issue #18 Tallows Deep - This issue also includes Chandranthers Bane which, in an expanded format, I consider to be my all time favorite adventure. I expand on that in This thread. However Tallows Deep was also an excellent adventure from this issue. Coming out of the 'make wimpy goblinoids smarter' movement that swept the D&D community around this time and possibly culminated with The Dragon of Firetop Mountain. These goblins have made a truly 3d dungeon thats loaded with traps and ambushes of very innovative nature. If you really want to slaughter your party swap out the goblins and make them Dueragar.
Issue #25 A Rose for Talakara - My lowly prose can't do this module justice. Some modules drip atmosphere - this one is an atmosphere fountain. Possibly a better read then actual module though in the hands of a really skilled DM this could be the adventure of a life time.
Issue #29 Ex Libris - OK in all honesty I can't say I like this adventure all that much as written. Basically I recommend simply using its premise. Essentially its one of the coolest ideas for a Dungeon ever conceived. Use that as a base to create a fantastic adventure around. Basically treat this as the location that comes with a phenomenal concept and flavor text to boot. Just add monsters and a plot line. Its a library so probably your players are looking for a book...
Issue #33 The Siege of Kraty's Free Hold - A pretty innovative small scale siege scenario that emphasizes McGuyver tactics. Players try and beat off a siege thats rigged so that their brawn alone can't win them this battle. Can they figure a way to make odds and ends around this fortified farm even the odds? How would you use chicken feathers to beat off an orc attack?
Issue #34 The Lady Rose - Basically this very potent warship starts harassing the coastline and the players have to deal with it. The ship and its crew are really cool. The adventure has to be placed with thought though as such a powerful warship disrupts the status quo of the campaign world. Could also serve as the start for a whole series of adventures. Alternatively this makes a great encounter to spice up any long sea journey - especially one where the players are not near their home continents main sea lanes.
Issue #44 A Hot Day in L'Trel - as written the adventure probably needs work but if you modify it to your campaign it can be brilliant. Consider making it one of the first adventures you run as it can very easily be the opening act in a whole campaign.
Issue #47 Fraggarts Contraption - A Tinker Gnomes wet dream. A Gnome inventor makes a super duper machine and the players have to put a stop to it. Some pretty good hummer in this one and a cool machine. The loads of magic wands available in this adventure seem like less of a problem in 3rd edition as well - 3rd editions generally more powerful monsters and characters make magic items 'relativity' weaker so if the PCs get all these wands its not the campaign breaker that was a problem with this adventure.
Issue #78 Lear The Giant King - I felt I needed to modify this here and there but the basic premise and story line where excellent. Lots of fun to read and nicely showcases some cool Giants.
My two personal favorite old issues are #17 and #37. Minus the OA adventure in #17 I have run every adventure multiple times.
In #17 The Pit and Out of the Ashes (the return of Flame with a Hand and Eye of Vecna tie-in) are fabulous adventures. One of the most halarious Necklace of Missiles stories I have ever encountered took place in the Hunt in the Great Allindel.
Beside containing the Mud Sorcerer's Tomb issue #37 has two other great adventures including Serpents of the Sands and The White Boar of Kilfay (an awesome adventure if one of your PCs has a healthy fear of bulette).
Almost every other adventure mentioned in this thread I have ran personally or played in and all have great memories.
dextro is right about "the White Boar of Kilfray"..the writer (willie walsh i believe) had a great run in dungeon at this time. we strung his adventures into a great-low fantasy campaign in the Thillronian pennisula (conveting from celtic to nordic cultures). anyone know what he's doing now?
Do a search of his name. He actually checked in and made some comments on these boards recently.
Senior Software Developer
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#90 Tears for Twilight Hollow is one of my favorites. I had the party chasing ghost for 2 sessions before they figured out who the villain was. I enjoyed DMing a paladin who tried to convince a mob of angry villagers that they, the party, didn't bring this curse to their town.
#90 Tears for Twilight Hollow is one of my favorites. I had the party chasing ghost for 2 sessions before they figured out who the villain was. I enjoyed DMing a paladin who tried to convince a mob of angry villagers that they, the party, didn't bring this curse to their town.
Totally agree - that was an awesome issue - Totentanz was splendidly wierd, a great Tim Hitchcock short 'Prey for Tyrinth' as well as the Elfwhisperer and Twilight Hollow - which must rate as one of the best adventures ever to grace Dungeon.
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To Phoenix--it was Lady of the Mists from #42. I ran it our Greyhawk campaign and also in Ravenloft (where it worked even better)....wonderfully written adventure---i believe there was a follow up to it but can't remember what issue
That was a great issue! It was the first issue i bought and I ran an entire campaign with the adventures in that one issue. maybe I'll dig it out and use it with my current group.
I am a big fan of issue 35 because of "sleeper hit" The Ghosts of Mistmoor. It's a great gothic horror/mystery outing (not set in Ravenloft, although it would fit there seamlessly). Very little combat and a focus on puzzling through the mysteries (and red herrings) of a sprawling haunted mansion. Great stuff.
#90 Tears for Twilight Hollow is one of my favorites. I had the party chasing ghost for 2 sessions before they figured out who the villain was. I enjoyed DMing a paladin who tried to convince a mob of angry villagers that they, the party, didn't bring this curse to their town.
I had almost forgotten that one. Let me second that as well. Great issue, with Tears for Twilight Hollow being especially good.
I am a big fan of issue 35 because of "sleeper hit" The Ghosts of Mistmoor. It's a great gothic horror/mystery outing (not set in Ravenloft, although it would fit there seamlessly). Very little combat and a focus on puzzling through the mysteries (and red herrings) of a sprawling haunted mansion. Great stuff.
Hmm...Funny - its the only module in that issue I have never actually marked to be run at any point in my DMing career. That said I just finished skimming it and it certianly looks like it has real potential. I'll have to sit down and give it another look. Its possible it was just too old for me and my players when I originally got it - some adventures seem to age really well and are equally good for all ages adn others often seem better either for younger or older groups, IMO. This one might appeal more to an older crowd.
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here's two more great adventures that can be used in both ravenloft & greyhawk: "Khamsa's Folly" from issue 40 is a wonderful (very dangerous) desert adventure; i ran it as a side trek during I3-5 (Sea of Dust modules) & in Har Akir as a lead-in to "Touch of Death" (TPK)-- "Tomb It May Concern" is a solo adventure for a paladin who awakens in a tomb w/amnesia & a horde of undead (in ravenloft it should be run with an entire party).
I remember a lot of the adventures mentioned on this thread with a great deal of fondness (and the same adventures keep on making an appearance). All this nostalgia has led me to think of a number of questions, though:
1. Have the adventures in Dungeon gotten less memorable since the conversion to 3rd Edition?
2. Is the quality of the adventures not as good, or better?
3.Are the adventures from the early issues of Dungeon more imaginative than the adventures from the more recent issues?
Just a few thoughts.
I remember a lot of the adventures mentioned on this thread with a great deal of fondness (and the same adventures keep on making an appearance). All this nostalgia has led me to think of a number of questions, though:
1. Have the adventures in Dungeon gotten less memorable since the conversion to 3rd Edition?
2. Is the quality of the adventures not as good, or better?
3.Are the adventures from the early issues of Dungeon more imaginative than the adventures from the more recent issues?
Just a few thoughts.
I suspect the material is, on average, just as good. But Dungeon adventures face a problem similier to writing in that there are only so many ways one can tell a story. I think this is greatly exaberated in D&D rollplaying. There is only so much room and one can't have a complex political story line. Even something like a murder mystery often seems to be relitivly simple since there is little room for it to get really long.
So the Mud Sorcerers Tomb is cited as an exceptional adventure by a lot of us. But in many ways its just the first really good example of a 'return to our roots' dungeon crawl. Other similier adventures came after but they don't tend to stand out as much simply because they were now more of the same instead of retro and exciting.
I don't think it has anything to do with 3rd edition. When one looks at the best of the best lists a lot of us old timers are citing adventures from issues #1-#50 but very few examples of adventures after #50. Well 3rd edition did not come out until issue #90 or something so its improbable that this is the cause otherwise we should see more of a spread of picks including many from issues #51-#89.
Basically I think its really tough to wow us anymore because most of the plot lines have already been taken - everything being done since around issue #51 is simply derivitive. It might still be very good but its rare that its really unique.
Also even if it is pretty cool and unique its a hell of a lot harder to blow us away - the old timers I mean. Sure we all love to read modules. Hell most of us have read hundreds...but when you have read hundreds even cool and unique looses its edge. The bar has been raised so high that its damn near impossible to create something that absolutely astounds us anymore.
Thinking on this there where a series of adventures that were very good - Challange of Champions or some such. Basically they consisited of really well thought out puzzles. Great stuff...but even excellently designed adventures like that don't make my must have list simply because, by the time I read them I had become so jaded that this sort of thing just did not stop me in my tracks the way say A Wounded Wyrm did.