Just musing, I think you likely get the best AD&D experience by focusing on the 1e DMG and its rules for campaign and adventure creation, and avoid running a linear campaign of sequential modules. It's fine to drop in modules to an ongoing campaign, but running *only* modules loses sight of what AD&D has to offer, the exploration of an open world. The DMG has a ton of great material for generating that world, as does the Monster Manual - many of the entries detail whole communities of dwarves, goblins, orcs, elves, Men et al.

That said, a pregenerated home base is good, and a Gygaxian home base like the B2 Keep or Hommlet works well. But then add mostly your own material as you detail the surrounding wilderness.

That's a very good point. I remember my friend dismissing certain other DMs back in the day as "Module Lords." The true 1e experience is a creative DM.

Quote from: Baron on April 25, 2023, 03:15:08 AM
That's a very good point. I remember my friend dismissing certain other DMs back in the day as "Module Lords." The true 1e experience is a creative DM.

I don't understand how a DM using a module or making it up or mixing and matching really matters.

If at the end of the day the players are having fun then that is all that matters.

Quote from: GhostNinja on April 26, 2023, 11:08:37 AM

Quote from: Baron on April 25, 2023, 03:15:08 AM
That's a very good point. I remember my friend dismissing certain other DMs back in the day as "Module Lords." The true 1e experience is a creative DM.

I don't understand how a DM using a module or making it up or mixing and matching really matters.

If at the end of the day the players are having fun then that is all that matters.

There are several ways to use (or not use in some cases) a module.  You may have fun with any of them, but they aren't all equal.  And while there are some value judgments in that evaluation, keep in mind that they are from the perspective of the group.  There is objectively more of a certain kind of fun in some of these.  It's subjective whether the group values that particular kind of fun, and how much.

Some options include:

- Run the module as is, no outside context, no connection with a setting other than what is implied/discovered in the module, and everything ends once the module does.  Might even be with pre-gen characters that are never used again.

- Run the modules as episodes for recurring characters, almost like a TV serial where the cast doesn't really change.  The "A Team" is a good analogy.

- Put the module into your setting, adapting accordingly.  From the GM and player's point of view, it's a module.  From the character's point of view, it's just another place and adventure in the setting.  For those that value this sort of thing, like my main group, there is no higher praise for a module and its running than, "If we hadn't seen you open it, we wouldn't even know it was a module.  It fit right in." Willie Walsh contributed several adventures to Dungeon magazine. It got to the point where after we had played, the players wanted to know if the adventure was mine, Willie's, or something else.

- Adapt your setting around a series of modules.  This is similar to the previous one, but happens more from a "what if?" perspective.  It's kind of a challenge to the GM to make a series of unrelated modules coherent in a setting.

And of course, there are infinite variations on the above, not least of which is mixing parts of modules into custom adventures. 

Quote from: GhostNinja on April 26, 2023, 11:08:37 AM
I don't understand how a DM using a module or making it up or mixing and matching really matters.

If at the end of the day the players are having fun then that is all that matters.

You CLEARLY have never played with some of those Adventurers League DMs if you really believe this statement...some of those dudes are literally devoid of any personality or critical thinking skills, might as well have a fucking robot running the game.