Quote from: The Butcher;547397Sometimes I think our community deserves grognards.txt and similar mockery.

Grognards.txt is no better or worse than theRPGsite; it just comes from the other end of the spectrum.

But, come on guys, no recommendations for an OSR first module?  That seems like a terribly important thing that would be helpful for a lot of people.  There's a reason why the B/X boxes came with the modules they did, after all; rulebooks are only half the equation.

Tomb of the Iron God, by Matt Finch, for Swords & Wizardry: "Introductory adventure for Swords & Wizardry (pdf file, $2.50). The Monastery of the Iron God has been destroyed by divine wrath, and its treasure-laden catacombs are ripe for the picking by an enterprising young group of adventurers such as yourselves ... Designed for 4-8 characters, levels 1-2. Note: this pdf does not have much functionality for high-tech use."

Pod Caverns of the Sinister Shroom, Matt Finch. This is an OSRIC adventure, compatible with the first edition of the world's most popular fantasy role-playing game. The Pod Caverns of the Sinister Shroom is 16 pages, saddle-stitched, adventure for 6-8 characters levels 2-4. Strange doings are underfoot in the wild hills bordering the realm of decent and civilized folks! Villagers and cattle have gone missing; woodcutters have disappeared; misshapen beings have been seen shuffling through the forests. Some brave villagers have tracked a group of stolen oxen as far as the rocky banks of a small river in the hills. The trail  disappeared down into a fissure in the limestone rock, where a fast-running stream plunges down to the dark caverns below.

White Dragon Run, by James C. Boney. White Dragon Run is An OSRIC(tm) module designed for 4-6 adventures of levels 2-4. The little village of White Dragon Run is at the edge of civilization - the place where monsters are a constant threat and adventurers thrive. It is here that reputations are made or broken, and deeds are performed only to be set in verse decades after the real story is long lost. On this thin line between country and chaos lies White Dragon Run. The last stop for the civilized before the well-trodden road becomes the weed-infested trail leading to creatures that would rather fight than herd, fish or farm. There's a fortune to be made for the up and coming adventurer with the strength, the wile, and the cunning to strike out against dangers both natural and unnatural. White Dragon Run is the final stop before meeting one's destiny behind the sword, stave, dagger, or holy symbol.

Blood Moon Rising, by Peter C. Spahn.

My review of the product.

Description:

Garanton is a village like any other, except for five days out of the year when it hosts the Feast of St. Garan. During this time, fighters from abroad come to join in the revelry, mingle with other adventurers, and win fame and fortune fighting in the daily games. But all is not well in Garanton this year. Cruel orcs prowl the forest, dark wizards cast webs of treachery and deceit, and bat-winged demons fill the moonlit sky. Does your party have what it takes to ward off this evil before it consumes the entire town?

Blood Moon Rising is a Labyrinth LordTM adventure that is easily converted to other editions of the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game. Designed for 3-6 characters of 1st through 3rd level, the adventure is set in and around the village of Garanton and involves a mixture of wilderness, dungeon, and urban encounters. Use your archetypical frontier village for more than just a rest stop between forays into the wild. Come enjoy the Feast of St. Garan today!

Ben,

Nice work; thanks for putting those all up in one place -- exactly what this thread needed.  (Blood Moon Rising is a particular favorite of mine, now I have to check out the rest of those.)

Butcher: in your taxonomy at the beginning of the thread, you should add Ruins & Ronins under "Derived from OD&D or S&W", and Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea under "Derived from AD&D 1e". I can provide with the short writeups/descriptions if you want.

Also, Dragons at Dawn as derived from pre-OD&D days (1970-1973 paradigm, per author's description).

Also, still at Butcher, you might want to add S&W supplements which act as OD&D supplements and modify the baseline of the game to give you something very different from its baseline (à la Greyhawk and Blackmoor), such as Carcosa and the Majestic Wilderlands (I would put them under your Swords & Wizardry category, after the mention of the Complete rules, still part of the same list).

Does DCC RPG count, and if so, where? Based on the basic structure of the character classes in the game, I'd suggest under "Derived from B/X or BECMI or LL", or based on the Appendix N gig I'd say under "Derived from AD&D 1e" could fit too. It's a stretch in both cases, though.

Quote from: Harley Stroh;547386Goodman is releasing two short adventures for the DCC RPG. I'm not sure what the Trolls are up to.

Lots of good folks are participating:

http://www.freerpgday.com/

//H

Here's the list from the website:

• Blue Panther - Sample (1 per box), Dice Tower
• Catalyst Game Labs - Gold (10 ber box), A Time of War: BattleTech RPG/Shadowrun Quickstart flipbook
• Catalyst Game Labs - Gold (10 ber box), Cosmic Patrol RPG Quickstart
• Chessex - Silver, 4 Commerative Dice For Store Owner
• Columbia Games - Platinum (15 per box), Harn setting material with world map
• Dice Candies - Sample (1 per box), Set of 6 chocolate polyhedral dice

(Final shape of chocolate NOT guaranteed with delivery)

• Eden Studios - Silver (5 per box), Conspiracy X Quickstart & Adventure
• Fantasy Flight Games - Gold (10 per box), Warhammer 40K Roleplay Only War Adventure, "Eleventh Hour"
• Gaming Paper - Sample (1 per box), "Slavers of the Sunken Garden", Pathfinder Adventure
• Goodman Games - Silver (6 per box), Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG Quickstart & Adventure
• Jon Brazer Enterprises - Bronze (3 per box), Pathfinder, "Shadowsfall: Temple of Orcus"
• Louis Porter Jr. Design - Bronze (3 per box), NeoExodus Pathfinder Adventure
• OffWorld Designs - Sample (1 per box), "Ask me about Free RPG Day" T-Shirt (XL) for employees.
• Paizo - Platinum (15 per box), Pathfinder Adventure, Dawn of the Scarlet Sun
• Pamean Games - Sample (1 per box), Brass & Steel Quickstart
• Q-Workshop - Gold (10 per box), Unique Dice
• Troll Lord Games - Sample (1 per box), Castles & Crusades Adventure
• Wizards of the Coast - Platinum (15 per box), D&D 4E Adventure, "Dead in the Eye"

The Trolls don't say, and I'm having a difficult time finding anything on the Net beyond a "Castles and Crusades Adventure".  However, one of our local game stores has a Learn to Play event for Castles and Crusades.  Perusing the other games to sign up for, there's two Dungeon Crawl Classics events you can sign up for.

Hmm... There's even a D&D Next game, but you have to have signed up for and gotten the materials beforehand, naturally.

Quote from: Aos;547350The RPG Site, because, motherfucker, if the horse didn't want to get beat, it wouldn't have fucking died.

Hey, i'm still alive and kicking, baby!

Quote from: Harley Stroh;547386Goodman is releasing two short adventures for the DCC RPG. I'm not sure what the Trolls are up to.

Lots of good folks are participating:

http://www.freerpgday.com/

//H

Hey, welcome man and please hang around!

We exchanged e-mails about writing adventures for Goodman a few years ago - well, actually about the time when 4e was coming along the rails.

'Tis good that Goodman folk are starting to post here. Gives me the warm and fuzzies.

Still @ Butcher: consider checking out this list of retroclones to complete the taxonomy as well.

Matthew's Publishers & Products list over at Dragonsfoot is a very impressive resource.

Quote from: misterguignol;547368Does anyone have any suggested beginning modules for OSR play?

There are a lot of free adventures out there, but what are the really excellent ones that are geared toward a Great First Adventure?

If only there was a website devoted to OSR module reviews ...

These all have slightly different feels (gonzo, fairy tale, etc) so I suggest reading the in-depths to figure out which feel you like best. They are all starting adventures (some without bases, but you can grab a Harn village for that) that rank very high with me.

ASE1 - http://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=63

Stonehell- http://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=648

Shadowbrook Manor - http://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=509

Yrchyn, the Tyrant - http://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=614

Tomb of the Iron God - http://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=528

The Ruined Hamlet/Terror in the Gloaming - http://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=556

Pod Caverns of the Sinister Shroom - http://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=353

Ghosts from the Dark Wood - http://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=568

Quote from: bryce0lynch;547443If only there was a website devoted to OSR module reviews ...

Or a website for discussing all Vintage Games.