1E Modules - My Top 10

Most of the feedback I had through Facebook regarding my module poll and the short summaries I used to present the top 30 countdown was very positive, with a number of people asking me what my own personal top 10 is, and to summarise them... Seeing as you asked for it, here it is - but it's a bit of a cop out, I'm grouping a few series together, and I'm not listing this in any particular order, well not quite, this is *roughly* my order, but that can change on a whim.


Firstly, the low level classic that I have run more often than any other module - a perfect intro for any campaign it is U1 - The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh:

Has there ever been a module more perfectly paced? Which introduces novice adventurers so gently, and then gradually ramps up the difficulty in such a cohesive manner? Which teaches good play and then also rewards it when it is required? Add to this a loving attention to detail, logical maps that are easily reusable, touches of humour, and a plot that builds perfectly and you have one of the finest products TSR ever published....







Next up, it's a module from my own shores, UK4 - When A Star Falls:

There's a full review of this here, but I will summarise this once again. I LOVE this adventure. While it is on the surface little more than a simple 'fetch and carry', the storyline has some lovely touches, and as with U1, the attention to detail is exemplary. Graeme Morris was a master of creating authentic-feeling locations, and also incorporating some of the lesser-used rules in the 1E DMG - in this adventure we see the rules for Sages used. The UK series came a little too late to gain much of a foothold in the main US market and that is a real shame, as this is a true gem.





Third on my list is yet another UK-written module, UK3 - The Gauntlet:

The second part of the 2-part Alderweg series, The Gauntlet is another I have reviewed in more depth here. It's another Graeme Morris written module, which, as with UK4, displays his ability to make the game environment believable. Most of the action takes place inside a fairly small, cramped, claustrophobic Keep, which the party will need to map out and utilise carefully if they are to survive, as they will need ALL of its defensive strength. Again he brings in little-used rules - this time it's intoxication. Despite being fairly short, this adventure packs one HELL of a punch. Play UK2 The Sentinel 1st to get the full experience, and enjoy the challenge.



Time to cheat a little and bring in a trilogy that really *should* be viewed as one, it's G1-2-3 Against the Giants.

 I often see this trilogy criticised for being too 'hack and slash' - sorry but that is pure nonsense, if your game turned out that way it's your fault - either bad DMing or a 1-dimensional approach to play. All 3 adventures in the series are true masterpieces of module design, the maps are intelligent, the descriptions have just the right amount of detail, and they are bursting with atmosphere, plot hooks, and roleplaying opportunities. Bona fide classics, all 3 of them.







Here's the one that finished 1st in our poll, I'd not put at the top spot, but it's fully deserving of a position in the top 10, it's S4 The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth.

Lavishly presented, with stunning artwork through, this one puts many of its contemporaries to shame and shows what TSR *could* achieve when they could be arsed. It was very much a showcase of what was to appear in the MM2, but made the most of those new creatures in a mammoth dungeon crawl, backed up by a solid wilderness trek. As with G1-2-3, there's a lot of meat here, plot is kept to a minimum but it doesn't need one, there are plenty of snippets for a good DM to play with.

Great value for money, packed with memorable encounters, it's good, simple, honest AD&D at its finest.


Following on from S4 I'm including its sister module, WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun, which was designed to be played alongside its more famous sibling.

Though it was intended to be played with S4, WG4 was a very very different beast. It suffered from poor artwork, and it's overall structure and editing gave the feeling that as a product it was rushed - and I believe that was actually the case. But delve beyond the initial impressions and you find a superb adventure - at least the Temple itself is, the wilderness section was very forgettable.

The initial battle to gain access to the Temple is a showstopper, and worth the price tag alone... digging deeper however you find a Cthulhu-esque nightmare, an atmospheric dungeon crawl with genuine horror elements.

If Otus and Easley had done the artwork, and the editing team actually done some work on this one, it would be hailed by the industry as one of the all time classics. A shame really. It's still damn good.


There are 2 main functions of an adventure module, one is to save the DM time giving them a cohesive self contained adventure, the other is to give them an inspirational framework. This is probably the greatest example of the latter, it's D3 - The Vault of the Drow.

Having introduced the Dark Elves at the end of the G series, D3 was the module which gave us an insight into their sordid society, before the Realms over-used them and later editions of the game made them redeemable - and both combined to make them feel mundane.

The Drow of D3 were anything BUT mundane, and D3 was a license for a DM to really go to town in portraying their vile and sadistic society. It was a lot of work for any DM to do justice to this classic, but hell, it's worth it.

Only adult gamers need apply.



Next on my list is T1 - Village of Hommlet.

Check out my review here to see why I rate this classic campaign intro very highly indeed.















I dislike its sequel, I'm not a fan of the setting it spawned, but there's no denying this next one deserves classic status, it's I6 Ravenloft.

Ravenloft was truly ground breaking when it was released, mainly due to the fact that it incorporated a *proper* villain. No longer did bad guys wait in their lairs for the party to come and get them, Ravenloft screamed its mantra from the rooftops - "he's intelligent, PLAY him that way". And what a bad guy he was, scheming and deadly, but with personality and motivations.

It oozed atmosphere, helped by lush presentation - Clyde Caldwell's inner artwork is among the best ever seen in D&D.

Whatever you might think of its legacy, the original Ravenloft must be experienced at some point in their gaming life by every D&D player.



Choosing those 9 was an easy job, picking the 10th is not, so many 'nearly' modules, but I'm going to go for the one that had the biggest impact in my opinion on my current gaming group, and that is S1 - Tomb of Horrors.

Other modules have given us much greater playing time and more memorable stories, but nothing really espouses the ideal of testing 'player skill' over 'character skill' as much as Gygax's famous 'screw you' module.

I used this to teach my current group the basics if 1E AD&D, they got slaughtered, so what - the module did its job. It is often criticised for being unfair - it is not. It simply requires the players to be able to use high level PCs to their maximum potential. Of course my group could not do that, that was expected, it was a one shot with pre gen characters so it did not matter. Nothing wrong with any of that - at all.

As with I6, this one should be on every gamer's bucket list. Iconic in every sense of the word.


So what missed out? Honorable mentions to my next 10, in no particular order:
S2 - White Plume Mountain
N1 - Against the Cult of the Reptile God
I3 - Pharaoh
I4 - Oasis of the White Palm
C1 - Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan
UK2 - The Sentinel
D1-2 - Descent into the Depths of the Earth
I1 - Dwellers of the Forbidden City
UK1 - Beyond the Crystal Cave
A1 - Slave Pits of the Undercity