Hommlet was published in 1978.
Sterich was published in 1978 (right?)What else was there?
Saltmarsh came out "way" later in 1981.
-W. E. Ray
What was Sterich published in? Module? Which one?
G1: "Steading of the Hill Giant Chief" I think.
I assumed your talking about a detailed town right? The Steading of the Hill Giant Chief only contained the Steading....unless your talking about the non-colored cover copy (1st printing), I don't have that one. I have the second printing (1981), the 1st printing (1978) might have included a town but I've seen it in stores and I don't recall one. As far I remember, the 1st and 2nd printings of the Steading were the same. The big difference being the 1st printing included just the Steading while the 2nd printing included all 3 giant modules and all three together were only 32 pages long, although it was condensed pretty well, as were all the old TSR molules.
Either way, Sterich is a country, not a town/village... right? But I think you have it right... Hommlet probably is the oldest detailed town/village in D&D.
wasnt blackmoor published way earlier? im not at home to verify, also, werent there alot of judges guild stuff published before that? or are we just talkin tsr?
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Dang it ALL, the OP is SUPPOSE to say Istivin -- NOT Sterich. I always say Sterich when I mean Istivin!
As far as "Steading of the Hill Giant Chief" goes, that's why there's a question mark in the OP; I'm not completely sure when Istivin is first mentioned.
Hommlet, as far as I know, IS the first. And it's specifically a village description to begin a campaign, not really an adventure at all. But I have that Hommlet and Istivin mentioned. I'm looking for the other "first" towns/villages in the early days of D&D.
Thanks everyone!
-W. E. Ray
Blackmoor? Anyone got the basic info?
I believe Judges Guild's first ever print was "Dark Tower," 1980; it does not have a town. However, Judges Guild examples are fine as are other non-TSR materials.
Blackmoor was Dave Arneson's original campaign - the one he created before D&D even existed (prior to 1968). It consisted of multiple towns. Blackmoor is currently available in d20 form from Goodman Games, I think. Gygax borrowed from Arneson's work when creating the first version of D&D. In fact, one of the original supplements was entitled 'Blackmoor'. The country called Blackmoor in the Greyhawk setting bears very little resemblance to the original of the same name, and is based (loosely) on a 'future' version of Blackmoor that Arneson created rather than on his original version.
Sterich is a country, and there was no detail on it in 'Steading'.
judges guild advertised a nameless city that one could get by becoming a member ofm the judges guild in dragon #3, october 1976.
city state of the invincible overlord was advertised in dragon # 6, April of 1977.
i think judges guild wins.
T1 also mentions Ostverk, another small village, and Nulb, a small settlement six miles from Hommlet which I think was detailed in The Temple of Elemental Evil.
I'm just skimming, so I may have missed it, but I can't find mention of any specific village or country, no Istivin or Sterich, in G-1-2-3 Against the Giants.
The village of Barovia was detailed in the module I6: Ravenloft, but that wasn't until 1983.
I pulled out a stack of old modules and flipped through them. Good times.
Of course, if you're talking about D&D in the truest sense, the original set included some discussion of Greyhawk City. Technically, that would be the oldest published town site, though there's very little detail.
All the Judge's Guild stuff was published starting in 1976 (perhaps '75. I don't have my JG stuff handly).
For those interested in checking it out, Goodman Games is republishing several JG titles in d20 format. Dave Arneson's site also has a number of Blackmoor articles, including a picture of the original map for his campaign.
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So we have (in no preferential order )
Hommlet (village)
Blackmoor (country?)
Greyhawk (city) *Duh, how could I forget?!
Eponymous Keep (fronteer fort) *another "Duh"!
Ostverk (village)
Nulb (village)
"Invincible Overlord's City State" (any name at all available?)
Now, Istivin may not be mentioned in G1 but it is, or was later revealed as, the city from which the original adventure started -- is this not correct?
-W. E. Ray
So we have (in no preferential order )
Hommlet (village)
Blackmoor (country?)
Greyhawk (city) *Duh, how could I forget?!
Eponymous Keep (fronteer fort) *another "Duh"!
Ostverk (village)
Nulb (village)
"Invincible Overlord's City State" (any name at all available?)Now, Istivin may not be mentioned in G1 but it is, or was later revealed as, the city from which the original adventure started -- is this not correct? ** spoiler omitted **
-W. E. Ray
So... are you simply looking for the oldest named town in D&D, or the oldest published/detailed town? Hommlet likely still wins in the latter category.
The Judges' Guild village of Modron came out around 1977, as did the City-State of the Invincile Overlord.
Dark Tower came out later (1980), but gave a fair amount of detail on the village of Mitra's Fist (If I recall the name correctly)
Hommlet was published in 1978.
Sterich was published in 1978 (right?)What else was there?
Saltmarsh came out "way" later in 1981.
-W. E. Ray
Depends on what you mean by published. If you limit it to towns with maps and some description then Saltmarsh don't count (no map) and Istivin IIRC is not even mentioned in G1.
This is what I came up with,
1976 Thunderhold-Castle of the Dwarven King from Judges Guild
1977 Modron from Judges Guild
1977 City State of the Invincible Overlord from Judges Guild
1979 The Keep B1 "The Keep on the Border Lands"
1979 Hommlet T1 "The Village of Hommlet"
1979 Byrny "The Mines of Custalcon" Judges Guild
1979 Trollslore "The Mines of Custalcon" Judges Guild
1980 Mitra's Fist "Dark Tower" Judges Guild
1980 Badabaskor "Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor" Judges Guild
1980 Lightelf "Spies of Lightelf" Judges Guild
1980 Palewood "Spies of Lightelf" Judges Guild
The early 80's D&D grows heaps and you start to get all sorts published an early one the people have left out is Restenford from L1 "The Secret of Bone Hill" 1981 a great module that we had a lot of fun playing at the time.
If you think that Mitra's Fist "Darktower" is more dungeon that town that that will also rule out Badabaskor.
Also all of the above can be purchased as downloads either here at paizo or through drivethru plus undated d20 versions of Thunderhold and Modron can be got from Necromancer for free.
The Troll