Tuesday, June 22, 2010

What is the Best Beginner Module?

Which adventure would you say is the best published adventure module for beginning players and characters?

There are rules for this survey:

  • One module. Not a series, not your best three. One module.
  • The module must have been intended for Pre-89 D&D editions, or one of the clone/simulacra or various compatible things.
  • The module must have been published as a physical book.
  • Naming a module you wrote, proofread, laid out, etc is not allowed. Don't be lame.

So name it, and say why you chose it.

27 comments:

  1. I vote Keep on the Borderlands. It has everything... a home base for character interaction, potential intrigue there that can be used or ignored as desired, a little sandbox that reinforces some core ideas of the game: medium-term planning on how to approach an adventure area, picking and choosing your fights, potential for getting in over your head, potential intra-humanoid conflict and the ability to make the setting as complicated or as simple as desired/able, all that fun stuff.

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  2. I have a soft spot for The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, or for the sadistic Little Keep on the Borderlands from Kenzer.

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  3. I vote Keep also. It's not just a dungeon, but an example of setting up an entire starting campaign setup, complete with home base and wilderness.

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  4. I vote for In Search of the Unknown. It's clearly designed as a "training dungeon" containing lots of commonly encountered D&D tropes. I also like the mazy layout and the fact that it's so generic and easily customizable.

    Compared to B2, B1 is less about combat and more about exploration, and I think that makes it more suitable for newbies (in that they won't die as often, and they won't get the impression that D&D is solely about fighting). And it's more to my taste because I personally prefer modules that aren't combat-heavy.

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  5. I'm another vote for Keep on the Borderlands. It is like a little campaign setting. I'm currently using it as a basis for a group of college students I'm DMing.

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  6. Village of Hommlet (the stand-alone version, not the whole of Temple of Elemental Evil). The village is very well fleshed out, with lots of background and opportunity for interacting with the inhabitants, and the Moat House is a nifty little dungeon that's of a perfect size to start off new players. The potential for death is there, but it's not such an enormous place as to be intimidating for newcomers.

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  7. Keep on the Borderlands just edges out Hommlet. Both are solid, but the Keep is where I started so I have to go with it. It sucked me into gaming 30+ years ago so I can't argue with a stat like that.

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  8. Keep on the Borderlands for me too. The perfect, everything you need, self-contained, beginner's module.

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  9. Chalk up another point for Keep on the Borderlands. When we started gaming we never used modules, until we opened this one. Large campaigns were the driving force behind our little group of gamers, and it was amazing to just have a small adventure that we could return. This was really my first sandbox type scenario, and I've never had as much fun with any other modules.

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  10. Young or adult players? New or experienced DM? I see at least 4 possible ideal starter modules.

    young players, new DM = Search for the Unknown (great advice for DMs)
    young players, experienced DM = Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh (every kid needs to learn the lessons taught by Scooby Doo)
    adult players, new DM = Hommlet (superior social environ, simple but challenging dungeon)
    adult players, experienced DM = Keep (multidimensional, open-form social, dungeon and wilderness)

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  11. @Jeff -- I like your summary. I'll have to get a copy of SSoS now. My vote is for the Keep - its a great start at a sandbox campaign. I like the "levels" of challenge and there's a little bit of everything in there. And you can expand it if you want to get creative!

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  12. B1: In Search of the Unknown is my favorite D&D beginners' module. It has a sense of wonder about it that (for me) greatly exceeds that of any other beginners' module. This is enhanced by the monsters and treasures not being pre-assigned, but rather given as rosters at the end of the module for the DM to select and place as he chooses. I also like the fact that the module is relatively forgiving. Great Sutherland art, too!

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  13. My answer depends on whether you're looking for a dungeon module or a dungeon + home base module. If the former, I'd unhesitatingly say B1: In Search of the Unknown. If the latter, I'd reluctantly choose B2: Keep on the Borderlands -- reluctantly, because I think T1: The Village of Hommlet is a better module overall, but it's very specific in its feel and a fair bit more complex to run well than B1.

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  14. I have a soft spot for N5: Under Illefarn, myself. The town-militia setup gives totally new players a little more structure, for starters. Also on the new-players side, there's some wilderness, a solid dungeon, and some opportunities for the players to sneak or talk their way through encounters if they recognize them - or even gain some normally hostile humanoids as allies. On the new-DM side, the base area is fleshed out enough to give a structure for further adventures and it points out some of the small things that make a backdrop feel consistent - the way that the low-level NPC wizards have spell lists drawn entirely from their mentors' spellbooks, for example.

    On the down side, it's more than a little rigidly structured, expecting the DM to present each 'militia assignment' in turn as a lead-in to the independent adventuring in Illefarn (and the players to go along with that.) But I don't see that as a fatal flaw in the context of 'modules for new players.'

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  15. I've missed out on most of the old modules, so I'd have to nominate the only one I ever owned, played or ran (incidentially, one of the three modules ever translated into Finnish), Castle Caldwell and Beyond. Yes, I am aware it is a crappy module, but nostalgia is a very powerful thing. Speaking of adventures and not just modules, I'd nominate the Mentzer edition solo adventure.

    So, where can I get my hands on this Keep on the Borderlands every is raving about? ;)

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  16. I never ran B2 or played it or ever really wanted to.

    I never ran or played B1, but it inspired me (and continues to inspire me) to do it myself.

    I have run and played T1 and am always tempted to so again.

    Thus, if you are after something that teaches, I have to go with B1. I cannot emphasize how large an influence this module plays in the way I think about D&D.

    If you are after something that you want to actually play over and over again, I'd have to tip my hat to T1 because it is just awesome.

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  17. >>So, where can I get my hands on this Keep on the Borderlands every is raving about? ;)

    Psshh. We can play it if you really don't know anything about it. :D

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  18. I'm going to buck the trend and toss out The Caverns of Thracia by Paul Jaquays for consideration.

    It may by the best-designed dungeon ever published; it's enigmatic and evocative; and it's welcoming to new players. (As I can aptly demonstrate.)

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  19. For what it's worth, I think they're all good suggestions. Let me throw my hat in the ring to say that, in the hands of an experienced DM, I think B4 The Lost City is a great intro adventure for beginning players/characters - provides instant motivations (explore of starve/die of thirst), it's linear enough to begin with (with nice clues for what might be beyond) and opens up nicely as the adventure progresses. Lots of combat, puzzle and roleplaying opportunities. This is probably not for the hands of an inexperienced DM, though (I know I botched it when I first ran it - really? 28 years ago? Wow...) Anyway, I recommend it because it limits the options at the beginning (for beginning players - who might not really even know which die to use to check for traps) with the options broadening as written - and with some DM prep, the options become limitless... Plus it's an awesome module :)

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  21. Hate to be repetitive, but keep is the best intro- module in most contexts.

    It is so influential it established the givens of the game we consider now as cultural Mores.

    James, you ran me on my first ever game actually, and it was Hommlet I believe. Still good enough, like asking if I like rubies or diamonds.

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  22. I'm excited that someone else mentioned B4. It'd get my vote as well. First D&D adventure I ever ran and I still love the set-up even today. This is a great adventure, with lots of layers and it's just weird enough to really feel different.

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  23. My answer is obvious given that I just started Back to the Keep to document what I'm doing to get a Borderlands campaign going using Labyrinth Lord. B2 was the first module that my oldest gaming group played. I've been looking for a similar sandbox-style dungeon since, only to be disappointed many times. The dungeons in the Caves of Chaos stage very well for different parties, whether they are just starting or have been on a few adventures. The NPCs, intrigue and social interaction possible in the Keep itself are great and could be worth hours of gaming on their own. And there are enough encounters outside the CoC to give the players some variety instead of always going back into the caves. The keep has everything.

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  24. Ok, I'm going to throw my vote for The Village of Larm! This is an excellent choice for beginner players since it gives you a nice little village and three bite size "dungeons".

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  25. Very tough call. There are many good, low level adventures.

    However, based on recent experience with beginning players/characters, I have to go with Keep on the Borderlands. Everything is so "spelled out" for the players...even moderately experienced "beginners" balked at what to do with N1: Against the Cult of the Reptile God, even though I think it's one of the best low level adventures around.

    I will say, there's a ton to recommend White Plume Mountain, if you give players some pre-generated characters. Traps, tricks, monsters, undead, crazy-ass treasure and situations...all in a fairly short (one or two session max) self-contained dungeon. Plus, a new player might like a slightly larger spell selection for a 5th level magic-user than a 1st level one. I've run S1 many times as an "intro" to D&D.
    ; )

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  26. I'm going to give the opinion of one who considers himself a beginner all over again. When i was about to first start a D&D group this year, I had very little experience with premade modules and decided to go with B1 on James' and Paladin in Citadel's recommendation, it worked spectacularly.
    While I've also been using Keep, I find B1 had a few advantages for me, b/c

    1) The advice given at the start is invaluable (or very valua...however your supposed to say it)
    2) It seemed to allow for more tricks traps, and dungeon exploration (this is only IMHO)

    3) It gives great future inspiration ideas

    4) It dives right into the dungeon which is what the players I had wanted
    Not to say I didn't like B2, but the town interactions weren't something my guys really wanted for the first game. So I have to vote for B1 if introducing D&D to new players maybe B1 inches out B2 for the "just start at the dungeon factor"

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  27. Another vote for B4.

    (Although B1, B2, T1 are all very good as well.)

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