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Author Topic: Best Introductory OSR adventure?  (Read 16144 times)

RPGPundit

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Best Introductory OSR adventure?
« on: May 31, 2014, 03:11:03 PM »
Which OSR adventure (note: not classic D&D module!) would you think is the very best one to run for a group of complete newbies to gaming?
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Bobloblah

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Best Introductory OSR adventure?
« Reply #1 on: May 31, 2014, 03:16:15 PM »
There is no best one, but there are a number that are good. One I'd suggest is The Sanctuary Ruin from Ludibrium Games. Solid intro module.
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Best Introductory OSR adventure?
« Reply #2 on: May 31, 2014, 03:41:34 PM »
So I guess stuff like The Caverns of Thracia is out? http://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/46078/the-caverns-of-thracia

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Skywalker

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Best Introductory OSR adventure?
« Reply #3 on: May 31, 2014, 03:46:53 PM »
Mortality of Green and Goblins of Mount Shadow for C&C are excellent.

S'mon

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Best Introductory OSR adventure?
« Reply #4 on: May 31, 2014, 03:52:45 PM »
My best experiences have not been with full modules (frankly I've not been too impressed by the OSRosphere modules* I've seen), but rather with seeding a bunch of "One Page Dungeon" contest entries into a small sandbox area. For somewhere to seed those, well Castle Zagyg: Yggsburgh (nominally for C&C) is a great city/wilderness/loads of dungeons campaign setting if you can get a copy, but Rob Conley's various efforts (Points of Light etc) are nearly as good & lots of fun.

*The very worst was Maliszewki's The Dark Chateau, for which I paid a fair bit, too.

Edit: Currently though I'm running OSRIC but using Paizo's Rise of the Runelords, which works great but isn't within question parameters... Lost City of Barakus was great for 3.5e and has a Swords & Wizardry version coming out from Frog God, it's a great campaign dungeon + wilderness + city + loads of small dungeons fandango. I guess that'd be my recommendation for the future.

Skywalker

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Best Introductory OSR adventure?
« Reply #5 on: May 31, 2014, 04:06:57 PM »
Quote from: S'mon;754452
For somewhere to seed those, well Castle Zagyg: Yggsburgh (nominally for C&C) is a great city/wilderness/loads of dungeons campaign setting if you can get a copy...


Yggsburgh is my nominal setting for most old school D&D these days. It's an excellent setting with lots of adventure built in.

P&P

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Best Introductory OSR adventure?
« Reply #6 on: May 31, 2014, 05:22:19 PM »
Short one-shot, Prison of the Hated Pretender; longer sandboxy mini-campaign style of thing, Chaotic Caves.

They're both free downloads so the links go straight to the .pdfs.
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bryce0lynch

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Best Introductory OSR adventure?
« Reply #7 on: May 31, 2014, 05:44:48 PM »
Hated Pretender is ok. I like Gus L's work, but I'm not sure I'd use that. (I reviewed it last year ... because I review everything in the OSR.)

I would suggest perhaps two others.

"The Upper Caverns" from Fight On! magazine #2 [my crappy review] is one of the best adventures ever written. EVER. It perfectly captures what a D&D dungeon exploration is supposed to be like. You know, nostalgia plays tricks on you. You remember things better than they were. This adventure is what you REMEMBER D&D to be like. It's so good it meets built-up expectations. David Bowman was one of the of the best creators in the OSR and Cal ranks right up in the top 5, almost certainly. This, a collaboration, beings the charm of old school dungeon crawl through some caves. I really can't praise it enough. I drew the map on some posterboard and covered it in newspaper, for a con game, and then cut away "torch distance" for the n00bs. I've got some AP reports somewhere I could dig up if you were interested.

The other one I would suggest is Shadowbrook Manor. [My review.] This is a classic old house adventure, ala Tegal, but updated. It's full of charm and exploring an old haunted house may be more accessible for total n00bs than exploring old caves/dungeon may be. It's Tegal done right, on a smaller scale, with just enough in each room to let the DM get a good grasp, without being 1970's sparse.

So, a haunted house that the players will be better able to relate to or one one of the best classic dungeon/cave adventures ever written. Which way do you want to go?


My review of Sanctuary Ruin.
My review of Mortality of Green.
My review of Goblins of Mount Shadow.

I was looking at the Chaotic Caves just on Friday. I decided not to review it right now, because it appeared to be SUCH a knock off of B2. Ironwood Gorge did something similar,but instead too inspiration from B2 and created something new & different rather than the close emulation that Chaotic Caves did.

The OSR is indeed full of crap. People get excited and want to share, but their visions don't make the translations to the written page. Or, they don't understand what the vibe of OSR D&D is. Then again, most things written for all games are crap. I've weeded out some of the GREAT ones on my "Best List."
« Last Edit: May 31, 2014, 05:58:05 PM by bryce0lynch »
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Doughdee222

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Best Introductory OSR adventure?
« Reply #8 on: May 31, 2014, 06:15:43 PM »
Hmmm... not certain what the difference between OSR and "classic D&D" is. But I'll toss in a vote for two of my favorites: Village of Hommlet and Palace of the Silver Princess. Both are excellent adventures for noob players to practice on.

For sci-fi I liked the original Star Frontiers series Volturnus adventures (as I recall the first one came with the SF box.) Plenty of action on an alien planet for the beginner player and GM.

aspiringlich

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Best Introductory OSR adventure?
« Reply #9 on: May 31, 2014, 06:18:07 PM »
Quote from: bryce0lynch;754480
The other one I would suggest is Shadowbrook Manor. [My review.] This is a classic old house adventure, ala Tegal, but updated. It's full of charm and exploring an old haunted house may be more accessible for total n00bs than exploring old caves/dungeon may be. It's Tegal done right, on a smaller scale, with just enough in each room to let the DM get a good grasp, without being 1970's sparse.

One of my all-time favorites. It really rewards smart playing over hack-n-slash, and it's peppered with a lot of humor without falling into gonzo land. If I ever DM a con game, this would be the adventure I'd run.

JeremyR

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Best Introductory OSR adventure?
« Reply #10 on: May 31, 2014, 06:39:04 PM »
Quote from: bryce0lynch;754480

The OSR is indeed full of crap. People get excited and want to share, but their visions don't make the translations to the written page. Or, they don't understand what the vibe of OSR D&D is. Then again, most things written for all games are crap. I've weeded out some of the GREAT ones on my "Best List."


Crap is in the eye of the beholder (or smeller?). Shadowbrook Manor is pretty lame, IMHO, and why I stopped taking your reviews seriously. Maybe you like your adventures full of modern culture references, but I find them annoying. But it's mostly boring.

I'd go with Morgansfort, for Basic Fantasy. It's a Keep on the Borderlands rip-off, but well done.

http://basicfantasy.org/downloads.html

Or Menagerie of the Ice Lord

It covers the same ground as Shadowbrook Manor (dead Wizard's mansion), except it's done much better.

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/110195/Menagerie-of-the-Ice-Lord?src=FrontPage

Akrasia

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Best Introductory OSR adventure?
« Reply #11 on: May 31, 2014, 06:51:58 PM »
Quote from: RPGPundit;754441
Which OSR adventure (note: not classic D&D module!) would you think is the very best one to run for a group of complete newbies to gaming?

(Bold added)

Quote from: Doughdee222;754484
Hmmm... not certain what the difference between OSR and "classic D&D" is. But I'll toss in a vote for two of my favorites: Village of Hommlet and Palace of the Silver Princess. Both are excellent adventures for noob players to practice on.


*sigh*
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Akrasia

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Best Introductory OSR adventure?
« Reply #12 on: May 31, 2014, 07:02:42 PM »
Quote from: S'mon;754452
...seeding a bunch of "One Page Dungeon" contest entries into a small sandbox area...


This is certainly a good strategy!
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everloss

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Best Introductory OSR adventure?
« Reply #13 on: May 31, 2014, 07:06:48 PM »
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Akrasia

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Best Introductory OSR adventure?
« Reply #14 on: May 31, 2014, 07:08:09 PM »
By "introductory" does the OP means "campaign starter" or "introduce-people-to-OS-gaming"?  Because the former will be limited to adventures appropriate for 1st level characters, whereas the latter could be a 'one shot' adventure for higher-level PCs.

Assuming that the OP means "campaign starter," I think that Peter Spahn's Blood Moon Rising (for LL) is rather good.  I also like Grimmsgate (for S&W) by Matt Finch.
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