So, an old gaming associate is coming to town in a couple of weeks. I'm breaking out the ol' RC and rocking a short adventure.

Who wants to suggest a B/X or BECMI-compatible module? I'm looking for something self-contained that can be done in a 4-hour session. Preferrably for 4-8 1st-level characters, but I'm flexible WRT level. The more stereotypically D&D, the better; these guys want to kill pig-faced orcs and find swords +1 and potions of healing in trapped chests. It doesn't have to be a dungeon, but I feel a dungeon adventure will have a better time accomplishing this,

I'm a huge fan of the B and X series stuff, but most of these modules are rich, wide open affairs to which a single night of gaming won't do justice (ah, to run B10 in all its glory... one of these days, I swear). I'm considering Castle Caldwell (B9) because the mini-scenarios look like the right length. But I welcome suggestions, especially on the OSR front, which certainly does have a lot of adventures the slipped under my radar. (Grognardia has a few rave reviews of Jim Raggi modules that piqued my curiosity, e.g. Hammers of the God).

B4 The Lost City never steered me wrong!  It is scalable so that you can do the upper tiers in a night or two of play, or use it as a spring board for an entire campaign.  The basic survival setup is awesome for a motivator, and if you want to make it a limited engagement just have the overall goal to get enough supplies to make the desert trek back to civilization.  The presence of multiple potentially friendly human factions in the upper tiers of the ziggurat is just another way to secure these supplies through negotiation or fighting.


-TGA

Quote from: The Good Assyrian;578823B4 The Lost City

Excellent suggestion. I'd go with something like that as well.

X2: Castle Amber.

Come on, who didn't see that one coming?  

The Lost City is highly regarded.  Castle Caldwell?  Not so much.  As in, "this adventure is pretty dumb".  I would also suggest T1 Village of Hommlet if you run out of b/x options.  (it's AD&D, but easily playable)

B5 Horror on the Hill would tick the boxes you mentioned.

Even has a red dragon at the bottom of he dungeon!

Lost City is a beautiful module, but it might not work for this group. Needs more orcs. I'll definitely consider it, though.

Horror on the Hill is looking good! I think we might have a winner.

Any more suggestions? Feel free to suggest modules for other TSR-era D&D editons and their simulacra.

I just recently picked up The Village of Larm for Labyrinth Lord by Brave Halfling Publishing and it is a really good setting location with three mini-adventures attached. It does for Labyrinth Lord what The Village of Hommlet did for AD&D.

Quote from: The Butcher;578854Lost City is a beautiful module, but it might not work for this group. Needs more orcs. I'll definitely consider it, though.

Horror on the Hill is looking good! I think we might have a winner.

Any more suggestions? Feel free to suggest modules for other TSR-era D&D editons and their simulacra.

I ran Horror on the Hill recently. The hill part was not so good. The hobgoblin temple is great though. I'd pick one or two forest encounters but get to the temple as fast as possible. You still wont finish it in 4 hours.

Personally I'd run a one page dungeon though. Or take B1 and populate it with tons of pig faced orcs. This you could get done in 4 hours.

The Village of Larm is not good. I have no idea why people keep saying it is. The adventures are micro adventures where you really only have 3 encounters and the town is painfully generic. Hommlet it aint.

Over on Dragonsfoot you can pick up 'The Haunted Keep' free.

Remember the sample adventure in the basic book? Haunted keep expands on that and fleshes it out. The price is hard to beat too.

Easy one night module is The Lichway, from early White Dwarf. In the Best Of Adventures Vol 1 and issue... 7? 8?

Evil NPC party, xvarts (easily replaced by Orcs), tricks and traps, and a "gotcha" at the end for act-before-you-think types.

Quote from: Exploderwizard;579118Over on Dragonsfoot you can pick up 'The Haunted Keep' free.

Remember the sample adventure in the basic book? Haunted keep expands on that and fleshes it out. The price is hard to beat too.

Ugh.  Free.  :rolleyes:  Jeez, is it in a font I can read?  I hate Times New Roman, and pretty much anything used in RPG books.  If the artwork and maps aren't up to my standards, I will be posting a nasty review on my blog.  'Free' just isn't good enough these days.


(just kidding, for the humour impaired)

Quote from: The Butcher;578854Lost City is a beautiful module, but it might not work for this group. Needs more orcs. I'll definitely consider it, though.

Horror on the Hill is looking good! I think we might have a winner.

Any more suggestions? Feel free to suggest modules for other TSR-era D&D editons and their simulacra.

Just swap out the Cynedicians with orcs.

QuoteOver on Dragonsfoot you can pick up 'The Haunted Keep' free.

Remember the sample adventure in the basic book? Haunted keep expands on that and fleshes it out. The price is hard to beat too.

Thanks for pimping something I helped work on! :cool:

I'm going to light a candle for Castle Caldwell here: if you're looking for some very basic mindless stereotypical-D&D fun, where the plot is paper thin and its mostly about clearing a dungeon, both the main adventure and at least one of the mini adventures (the one about rescuing the princess) are quite good FOR THAT PURPOSE.

RPGPundit

I see your Castle Caldwell and raise you a Shadowbrook Manor.

It's a smaller dungeon than Tegal, but much in the same vein. Perfect for a single night of FUN.


My 11YO drank himself to death trying out potions that were also liquors. NICE!