Which old D&D module series was the best overall?

RPGPundit · November 17, 2017, 05:42:23 AM

This is not to judge based on a single adventure. Rather, on a series of modules that were tied-together, be it for BECMI or AD&D. Which series of adventures was the best, as a series?

Voros · November 17, 2017, 08:33:10 AM

I think the G series isn't really well connected, feels arbitrary. The D series again is barely connected, I love Shrine of Kuo Toa and Vault of the Drow but they are actually easier to run as seperate set pieces and D1 is only great in spots (the spider statue and vampire/succubus encounter). I have a fondness for the Slave series but haven't revisited since I was a teen.

So I have to go with David 'Zeb' Cook's Master of the Desert Nomads and Temple of Death. Cook's work is the most consistenly impressive of the early American modules for me.

saskganesh · November 17, 2017, 10:00:42 AM

I have a darkhorse candidate: UK2-UK3. Good low-level two parter quest with a tremendous final battle. The A series is really overrated (too linear, repetitive and arbitrary --- you NEED to be captured to run A4).

S'mon · November 17, 2017, 10:58:16 AM

Quote from: saskganesh;1008232I have a darkhorse candidate: UK2-UK3. Good low-level two parter quest with a tremendous final battle. The A series is really overrated (too linear, repetitive and arbitrary --- you NEED to be captured to run A4).

UK2-UK3 do look very good, but only having read them I couldn't say for sure.

Re U1-U3, U1 Saltmarsh is a great start to a campaign but U2-U3 felt like a huge letdown by comparison.

Larsdangly · November 17, 2017, 11:01:23 AM

As a series of actually connected but separately published modules, I might pick I1-3 (published as a compilation in 'desert of desolation').

saskganesh · November 17, 2017, 04:41:00 PM

Re: UK3. What moved this from good-ish to awesome was after the party captured the castle, but were then attacked by the Fire Giant and his Hobgoblin army with pseky mephit air support. It was an unexpected twist (defend the dungeon!) and the players felt way way over their heads. And they loved it.

Dirk Remmecke · November 17, 2017, 06:16:54 PM

Ok, I'll cheat. You didn't say TSR D&D series... so I'll say The Complete Dungeon Master Series from Beast Entz/Integrated Games.
(And it's double-cheating, as this AD&D/RQ double-statted series of modules feels as if it was written with RuneQuest in mind...)

The original boxed sets - with all their bells and whistles, handouts and maps and GM screens - were so much better than the bland Doomstones rewrite for Warhammer.

Steven Mitchell · November 17, 2017, 06:54:24 PM

Quote from: Larsdangly;1008244As a series of actually connected but separately published modules, I might pick I1-3 (published as a compilation in 'desert of desolation').

That would also be my pick, admittedly from limited experience with series. I can't think of any that I actually played or ran as a series, though did many of the series modules in isolation.

Voros · November 18, 2017, 12:39:53 AM

Quote from: saskganesh;1008232I have a darkhorse candidate: UK2-UK3. Good low-level two parter quest with a tremendous final battle. The A series is really overrated (too linear, repetitive and arbitrary --- you NEED to be captured to run A4).

The UK series is excellent, I thought it almost too obvious a pick because of the entire UK series stellar reputation.

jeff37923 · November 18, 2017, 01:01:31 AM

The Thunder Rift series of adventures and boxed adventure games. I didn't come across these when I began playing, but later as I was personally rediscovering how much fun Basic D&D was. I had a lot of fun with those modules and think that they are seriously underrated.

Voros · November 18, 2017, 01:05:50 AM

The Thunder Rift modules I read were good, haven't read them all. Would like to give them a run sometime.

Willmark · November 18, 2017, 05:38:54 AM

Second on UK2 and 3, great stuff there.

Dirk Remmecke · November 18, 2017, 11:12:14 AM

Quote from: Willmark;1008330Second on UK2 and 3, great stuff there.

Yes, that would also be my "non-cheating" answer.

I ran them once as-written (one of the very few times that I didn't feel the need to change anything) in my Greyhawk campaign.
The mountain keep from UK3 I reused in other, non-D&D, campaigns. It's a nice, memorable location.

darthfozzywig · November 18, 2017, 01:06:24 PM

D1-3. I loved the otherworldness of it all: from the underground highway of the main passage, to the terrifying depths of the side tunnels, and the strange faeryland of the Vault of the Drow. Plus you've got a city of Kuo-toa and a depraved Drow city where demons rub shoulders with other underworld tourists.

I could run a whole campaign off those.

Larsdangly · November 18, 2017, 01:37:35 PM

D1-3 is a great series if you treat it as an exotic campaign environment rather than simply a story line. I think a lot of D&D players are excited by the challenge of figuring out how to survive deep underground for months on end!