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."