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I was recently rereading the 30 best adventures in 116 and started thinking about what were my personal top ten Dungeon adventures while it was under the stewardship of Piazo. These were the adventures that said 'please play me now' and narrowing it down to just 10 proved difficult. I thought I was being over judgemental when I first went through the stack but still ended up with 17. Reducing that to just 10 resulted in some cool adventures being left off, such as Obsidian Eye and Gluttony (come on zombie farm animals, now that is inspired)but I got it down to ten.
1) Ill Made Graves by Kevin Carter 133
-Vikings and a dead dragon, it really don't get better than this!
2) Siege of the Spider Eaters by Tim & Eileen Connors 137
-Except maybe for spiders, if this had vikings as well it would be 1st.
3) The Devil Box by Richard Pett 109
-Just made me laugh and was creepy too.
4) Kings of the Rift by Greg Vaughan 133
-War between giants and dragons, crying out for a big budget movie.
5) Touch of the Abyss by Greg Vaughan 117
-Mad kings and lurking evil, the best adventure in the best arc.
6) The Whispering Cairn by Erik Mona 124
-Was going to run SCAP until this, best face trap since THAT Tomb!
7) Test of the Smoking Eye by David Noonan 107
-How I like the outerplanes, no demon towns but still home of the damned.
8) Cavern's of the Ooze Lord by Campbell Pentney 132
-Juiblex could kick Demogorgon's bum any day.
9) Maure Castle by R Kuntz, G Gygax, J Jacobs & E Mona 112
-Kerzit, Kerzit, Kerzit, mate I want to kill my PCs in this dungeon
10) Here there be Monsters by Jason Bulmahn 142
-The players map in my X1 was so covered in pencil marks, and now it has demon monkeys!
What's your top ten.
The Troll
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Hmm, on the fly and without any further explanation my Top 10 may look something like this:
10) Practical Magic, Jason Nelson, #113
09) Siege Of The Spider-Eaters, Tim & Eileen Connors, #137
08) And Madness Followed, Matthew Hope, #134
07) Shadow Of The Abyss, Greg A. Vaughan, #118
06) The Weavers, Richard Pett, #138
05) Quoth The Raven, Nick Logue, #150
04) The Whispering Cairn, Erik Mona, #124
03) The Prince Of Redhand, Richard Pett, #131
02) Root Of Evil, Mike Mearls, #122
01) The Styes, Richard Pett, #121
2) Siege of the Spider Eaters by Tim & Eileen Connors 137
-Except maybe for spiders, if this had vikings as well it would be 1st.
Didn't we mention that Captain Haven was a viking? Ah well.
Seriously though...thanks for the love. We're honored.
OK. Here's mine.
1) Maure Castle (#112)
2) Fiend's Embrace (#121)
3) Tides of Dread (#143)
4) Vile Addiction (#145)
5) Spawn of Sehan (#146)
6) Dread Pagoda of the Inscrutable Ones (#147)
7) In the Shadows of Spinecastle (#148)
8) Tammaraut's Fate (#106)
9) The Devil Box (#109)
10) The Black Egg (#106)
What? This isn't a thread where you list your favorite adventures you wrote/co-wrote for or ran out of Dungeon magazine?
:(
OK. Seriously.
I can only come up with a top 3.
1) Maure Castle (#112)
So nostalgic. So awesome! So many PCs killed. ;)
2) The Devil Box (#109)
Thus began my great love affair of the works of Master Pett. Such a talented, twisted, and funny guy. Love him!
3) Tammaraut's Fate (#106)
I still occasionally give Greg Vaughan a hard time about that Huge coral snake squeezing through that 6 inch wide window, but all ribbing aside, this was a very fun adventure and gave my players the creeps. They really, really enjoyed it and I had a great time running it. Very well done.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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Hmm, on the fly and without any further explanation my Top 10 may look something like this:
10) Practical Magic, Jason Nelson, #113
09) Siege Of The Spider-Eaters, Tim & Eileen Connors, #137
Glad you enjoyed Practical Magic, and ironically the next one on your list was from an issue where I had another adventure, the slightly infamous "Man Forever."
The one that really sticks out the most for me is Foundation of Flame from Shackled City AP. I ran SCAP from the magazines, and there was no outline of the thing from the start the way there were with subsequent APs. There was lots of speculation (both from my group and myself) about what would happen if / when the "dormant" volcano woke up. Point being, we all assumed it would happen eventually so there was a lot of build up and suspense.... and the longer the build up the harder it is to deliver.
None of us were disappointed. I think running that session was one of the best times I've had as a DM. And seeing the actual panic (not just role playing, ACTUAL PANIC) on the faces of my players and hearing it in their voices as they ran their chars from one event to the next.... ahhhh... priceless! :)
So many excellent adventures to choose from! Hmmm, off the top of my head I'd propose:
(1) "Chains of Blackmaw" (Logue)
(2) "Wormcrawl Fissure" (Jacobs)
(3) "The Styes" (Pett)
(4) "Champion's Belt" (Leahi)
(5) "Shut-In" (Schneider & Sutter)
(6) "And Madness Followed" (Hope)
(7) "Sea Wyvern's Wake" (Pett)
(8) "There is No Honor" (Jacobs)
(9) "Escape from Meanlock Prison" (Connors & Connors)
(10) "Mask of Diamond Tears" (Logue)
This list is certainly subject to change if I ever get the chance to play the vast backlog of adventures I haven't yet gotten to, but these ones stand out of the ones I've played and/or reviewed.
I don't think I have a top 10, but I could probably think of a top five. When I started thinking of them, though, I realized my favorite Dungeon adventures all had one thing in common. The adventures themselves are as follows:
1 - The Whispering Cairn
Not only a great 1st level adventure (which are hard enough to find), but it's one of the few straight up "treasure hunting" adventures I've seen since 3rd edition hit. Even the raid on the local necromancer is set up as a key step in unlocking the treasure vault in the tomb the PCs are raiding. Original traps, historic discoveries, and treasures that made the PCs feel successful without making them rich made this adventure my all time favorite.
2 - Tides of Dread
The unique city-building aspect and open nature of the island exploration made this a very close second place. From page one it really felt like the PCs were masters of their own fates and key decision makers in the future of the colony.
3 - Touch of the Abyss
Kicked off the best Dungeon trilogy ever with an evocative setting and intriguing plot. Although I feel more could've been done with the plot, I wouldn't give up the mood-setting early adventures for anything.
4 - Prince of Redhand
You could run this adventure almost entirely combat-free. The dragon's lair was a fresh take on the concept, but the real magic was the wicked festivities that challenged PCs with social challenges rather than an easily navigated swordfight. Extra credit for the way the adventure seeded elements for future adventures and encounters.
5 - War of the Wielded
Intelligent swords have always been a part of D&D, but I've never seen duelling intelligent swords before and now I can't imagine a campaign setting without them. Although vulnerable to player greed derailing the assumed ending to the adventure, that risk brings a potential for a great new campaign direction so is worth the risk. The giant, advanced rust monster at the end made me want to run the adventure right now.
The interesting thing about these five is that all of them (sort of) came with a very detailed backdrop article describing the location where the adventure took place. War of the Wielded actually got to ride on the Sasserine backdrop, but Tides of Dread benefitted from THREE articles including backdrops for the Isle of Dread and Farshore as well as an in-character Ecology of the Isle of Dread for PCs. Even when the adventure didn't really use much of the backdrop, the presence of the articles made the adventures richer.
Snakes are SKINNY!!!!!!...oh, nevermind....
It's such a shame that whole fat snake thing spoilt Tammeraut...
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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10) Practical Magic, Jason Nelson, #113I think this one wins the All-Time "WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT" Award, beating out "Centaur of Attention" (#61,62?).
Great adventure, Jason; I never realized it was yours 'till now.
-W. E. Ray
Thanks for the kudos and happy to hear you enjoyed it. I'd be curious to hear what part(s) you liked best.
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Necromantic pragmatism!
The adventure's title says it all. Here's a character who ain't trying to conquer the world (or Cormyr) with the undead he creates but HELP it! He's a contributing member of society and society acknowledges it, even if they don't invite him to dinner.
Organ donars everywhere, myself included if I get into a car wreck, are no different from this guy.
...That his undead can not well do "artistic" or "creative" jobs is just icing on the cake of verisimilitude.
-W. E. Ray
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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Necromantic pragmatism!
The adventure's title says it all. Here's a character who ain't trying to conquer the world (or Cormyr) with the undead he creates but HELP it! He's a contributing member of society and society acknowledges it, even if they don't invite him to dinner.
Organ donars everywhere, myself included if I get into a car wreck, are no different from this guy.
...That his undead can not well do "artistic" or "creative" jobs is just icing on the cake of verisimilitude.
** spoiler omitted **
-W. E. Ray
Indeed: Delthrin's motto certainly would be "waste not, want not" - TO THE EXTREME! :)
Ironically, the "offshore" encounter was supposed to have been a kopru, but James J told me they had just run a kopru adventure and in an email exchange with him I came up with the
There was another monster I had to replace too; it was originally a chuul, but again they had had too many chuuls lately, so I ended up inventing a new undead/construct monstrosity called the hidrashar that was basically a triple-shark turducken that would have made a great illo... but alas it was too late in the game to get one. Too bad...
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Kopru is better.
Much better.
Kopru screams "Isle of Dread" and to see one in FR -- and not even in Chult -- would've been quite dynamic. Vampire mermaid is original; and I don't doubt that many gamers love the idea and that is more important than anything I regurgitate here.
Well, admittedly, I didn't dislike the idea of a vampire mermaid as much as I disliked a vampire silver dragon -- that was just George W. stupido. Heck, that was a handful of Tarrasques in the SAME adventure (thanks Mr. Arneson) stoopid.
-W. E. Ray
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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Kopru is better.
Much better.
Kopru screams "Isle of Dread" and to see one in FR -- and not even in Chult -- would've been quite dynamic. Vampire mermaid is original; and I don't doubt that many gamers love the idea and that is more important than anything I regurgitate here.
Well, admittedly, I didn't dislike the idea of a vampire mermaid as much as I disliked a vampire silver dragon -- that was just George W. stupido. Heck, that was a handful of Tarrasques in the SAME adventure (thanks Mr. Arneson) stoopid.
-W. E. Ray
Can't help ya with that one. Vampire dragons... I get the concept, but it just never really caught my fancy. It just seems like kinda overkill.
Of course in my younger days I did invent a "wraith dragon" that I thought was pretty neat. It was the first full-scale adventure I ever wrote in toto - I think I even typed it. Never ran it, though. It was based on an episode of the "Blackstar" cartoon, so that tells you how long ago it was if you even know what I'm talking about!
So many excellent adventures to choose from! Hmmm, off the top of my head I'd propose:
(1) "Chains of Blackmaw" (Logue)
(2) "Wormcrawl Fissure" (Jacobs)
(3) "The Styes" (Pett)
(4) "Champion's Belt" (Leahi)
(5) "Shut-In" (Schneider & Sutter)
(6) "And Madness Followed" (Hope)
(7) "Sea Wyvern's Wake" (Pett)
(8) "There is No Honor" (Jacobs)
(9) "Escape from Meanlock Prison" (Connors & Connors)
(10) "Mask of Diamond Tears" (Logue)This list is certainly subject to change if I ever get the chance to play the vast backlog of adventures I haven't yet gotten to, but these ones stand out of the ones I've played and/or reviewed.
woooooot! "Shut-In" was the first adventure I ever worked on... good times....
woooooot! "Shut-In" was the first adventure I ever worked on... good times....
In the interest of full disclosure, it was on the strength of one issue -- the one with "Shut In" and "Champion's Belt" -- that I subscribed to Dungeon and started playing 3e/3.5 ("Vampires of Waterdeep" unfortunately did absolutely nothing for me, but the other two were so good I was hooked). Before the day I idly pulled that issue off the newsstand shelf, I'd been content to write my own adventures for a hybrid 1e/007 game. So, Mr. Sutter, it would not be at all unrealistic to say that all my support for Paizo, and all of my efforts in the Pathfinder playtesting, have been thanks in large part to you.
woooooot! "Shut-In" was the first adventure I ever worked on... good times....In the interest of full disclosure, it was on the strength of one issue -- the one with "Shut In" and "Champion's Belt" -- that I subscribed to Dungeon and started playing 3e/3.5 ("Vampires of Waterdeep" unfortunately did absolutely nothing for me, but the other two were so good I was hooked). Before the day I idly pulled that issue off the newsstand shelf, I'd been content to write my own adventures for a hybrid 1e/007 game. So, Mr. Sutter, it would not be at all unrealistic to say that all my support for Paizo, and all of my efforts in the Pathfinder playtesting, have been thanks in large part to you.
Aww, you sweet talker, you....
Really, though, Wes deserves more than half the byline for that one, seeing as I was a complete n00b at the time (and in fact used my paycheck from "Shut-In" to buy my first set of 3.5 books... I'd been borrowing friends' copies before that :).
Really, though, Wes deserves more than half the byline for that one, seeing as I was a complete n00b at the time (and in fact used my paycheck from "Shut-In" to buy my first set of 3.5 books... I'd been borrowing friends' copies before that :).
Heh. So, what you're saying is that it's ultimately Wes' fault that both you and I ended up playing 3.5. Hmmm... isn't there a saying, along the lines of "no good deed should go unpunished" ?
Mad God's Key (1st level/Dungeon #114) - Jason Bulmahn
The Whispering Cairn (1st level/Dungeon #124) - Erik Mona
There is No Honor (1st level/Dungeon #139) - James Jacobs
Home Under The Range (3rd level/Dungeon #134) - Michael Kortes
The Stink (4th level/Dungeon #105) - Monte Lin
Zenith Trajectory (6th level/Dungeon #102) - David Noonan
Mellorn Hospitality (7th level/Dungeon #107) - Russell Brown
The Hall of Harsh Reflections (7th level/Dungeon #127) - Jason Bulmahn
Lost Temple of Demogorgon (14th level/Dungeon #120) - Sean K. Reynolds
The Abyss series (11th-12th level/ Dungeon #117-#119) - Greg A. Vaughan
My faves though not in any particular order.
Here's a question guys. My friends and I have a yearly gathering we call JohnCon. I get rid of my wife and kids for a 3-day weekend of nothing but gaming. The guys come over and (generally) no one leaves until Sunday afternoon (Thursday evening through Sunday afternoon). In years past I have run one massive marathon game that I DM'd for the entire weekend, and that was a bookend session wrapping up a multi-year campaign. However, as can be imagined, that was a massive undertaking and sucked the life out of me. This year we are breaking it up and having multiple games with multiple GM's.
Thursday (evening): a High level 4E 1-shot
Friday (all day): Playtesting a 3.5 setting we are working on
Saturday (morning): Robotech
Saturday (evening): I am running a Castles and Crusades session
Sunday (morning-afternoon): continue playtesting the 3.5 setting
Anyway, the point...
Since I am using Castles and Crusades you can guess I am going for an "old-school" feel. I looked at a few really, really old school modules, one is "R2 - The Investigation of Hydell" which was the second in the RPGA modules and looks like it was printed in 1982. However, I am thinking now that the levels (5-7) may be a bit too low so I was looking for other modules, in the 9-12 level range. Ideally I need them to either be doable in one 8-12 hour session, or have a piece of the adventure that could be completed in one 8-12 hour session.
I am also tending towards running a classic adventure since most of the players did not start until late in second edition and I know they did not play in them. The only restriction, as I said, is that it has to be doable in 8-12 hours.
Does anyone have any suggestions? It can be from Dungeon magazine also.
Here's a question guys. My friends and I have a yearly gathering we call JohnCon. I get rid of my wife and kids for a 3-day weekend of nothing but gaming. The guys come over and (generally) no one leaves until Sunday afternoon (Thursday evening through Sunday afternoon). In years past I have run one massive marathon game that I DM'd for the entire weekend, and that was a bookend session wrapping up a multi-year campaign. However, as can be imagined, that was a massive undertaking and sucked the life out of me. This year we are breaking it up and having multiple games with multiple GM's.
Thursday (evening): a High level 4E 1-shot
Friday (all day): Playtesting a 3.5 setting we are working on
Saturday (morning): Robotech
Saturday (evening): I am running a Castles and Crusades session
Sunday (morning-afternoon): continue playtesting the 3.5 settingAnyway, the point...
Since I am using Castles and Crusades you can guess I am going for an "old-school" feel. I looked at a few really, really old school modules, one is "R2 - The Investigation of Hydell" which was the second in the RPGA modules and looks like it was printed in 1982. However, I am thinking now that the levels (5-7) may be a bit too low so I was looking for other modules, in the 9-12 level range. Ideally I need them to either be doable in one 8-12 hour session, or have a piece of the adventure that could be completed in one 8-12 hour session.
I am also tending towards running a classic adventure since most of the players did not start until late in second edition and I know they did not play in them. The only restriction, as I said, is that it has to be doable in 8-12 hours.
Does anyone have any suggestions? It can be from Dungeon magazine also.
Try this to start:
http://intwischa.com/dungeon/
Try this to start:
http://intwischa.com/dungeon/
Thanks! That's certainly helpful and I'll bookmark that for future reference. Does anyone have any specific suggestions though on specific adventures that can be completed in one long evening? Edition doesn't matter as much because I can convert if necessary.
Just black-dotting for future reference.
