short hardcore style dungeoncrawls [1st-2nd ed.]

[Project_Mayhem]

During a break between campaigns, I've proposed the idea of running a short hardcore AD&D dungeoncrawl, and i'm looking for free/cheap modules I could use for a couple of sessions.

The two modules I have access to are too well known (Tomb of Horrors), or probably too long and and complex (Die Vecna Die). Any suggestions? This will be our first AD&D sesh, but not our first game of that potential lethality - I like running brutal CoC.

[Asbestos]

You might want to check out the "Out Tuckering Tucker" thread in this forum. The people there are pretty much turning Kobolds into the most dug in Viet Cong ever.

[Lert, A.]

Or maybe not. That thread is starting to degenerate into silly excuses why real life Kobolds would never be able to stop PCs.

On topic: Sorry, I don't use modules. The usual is traps and relatively cheap alchemical weapons and such combined with use of proper cover in prepared ambush sites.

[Matthew]

What level range are you looking for, and print or pdf? I don't know whereabouts you are situated, but if you are in and about London town you could probably pick up one of the OSRIC adventures James Boney put together (and probably quite cheaply, last time I was in Orc's Nest they were on sale). The Curse of the Witch Head and the Red Mausoleum are the adventures I am thinking of in that regard. You can find the reviews I wrote for them here. Pod Caverns of the Sinister Shroom is a pretty good low level alternative, but harder to get hold of.

[TheCountAlucard]

...real life Kobolds...

I find this oxymoron to be hilarious.

On that note, I've never really ran any successful modules myself; I've only ever really done well with adventures that I've designed myself.

[kopout]

You might want to check out the "Out Tuckering Tucker" thread in this forum. The people there are pretty much turning Kobolds into the most dug in Viet Cong ever.

I second that, not only because I started that thread, but because these Kobolds are really that bad. If you want to have your PC's up against a guerrilla army than they are your guys .

Or maybe not. That thread is starting to degenerate into silly excuses why real life Kobolds would never be able to stop PCs.

Really thats just FatR being a killjoy, don't listen to him.

[Project_Mayhem]

What level range are you looking for, and print or pdf? I don't know whereabouts you are situated, but if you are in and about London town you could probably pick up one of the OSRIC adventures James Boney put together (and probably quite cheaply, last time I was in Orc's Nest they were on sale). The Curse of the Witch Head and the Red Mausoleum are the adventures I am thinking of in that regard. You can find the reviews I wrote for them here. Pod Caverns of the Sinister Shroom is a pretty good low level alternative, but harder to get hold of.

Unfortunatly I'm stuck up in Yorvik for a term now. Dunno any gaming stores here. I was thinking maybe the Paizo pdf store? Are any of the ones you mentioned in digital form?

Level doesn't matter, although probably anything from 5-10; not so low that they die from falling down stairs, but not so high that it gets all complicated to run.

As for everyone else, I may not have explained myself fully - I know how to run scaley guerrilla midgets, (although thanks for the advice anyway), and I dont have time or the experience to write a good scenario. I'm just after recomendations for modules - i.e. blah blah the temple of elemental evil is what your looking for blah.

[Premier]

www.dragonsfoot.org, and look for the downloads section. Quite a few 1E adventures there of varying styles and character levels. (And also some other goodies, like two whole books' worth of brand new monsters you can loose on your unsuspecting palyers when you start making your own dungeons.

I can personally vouch for the Where the Fallen Jarls Sleep / Beneath Black Towen / Stormcrows Gather trilogy (tetralogy in the making) as being really nice, and sort of even falls within the level range you specified.

EDIT: Oh, and they're tough, especially for players who don't use intelligence and discretion.

[hamlet]

First off . . . Die Vecna Die? Terrible, horrible, repulsive module. Not worth the paper it's printed on.

Second, if you're looking for a "short" dungeon crawl type adventure, you'll want to pick one of the classics.

White Plume mountain is always a good one, loaded with nifty traps, some niftier monsters, and cool situations. Especially if you "fix" the Sphinx's riddles.

A1 Slave Pits of Undercity is always a lark, really.

T1 Village of Homlet is nice, even for groups that will essentially skip over 99% of what's going on in town and just head straight for the dungeon.

You can always check out some old, early copies of Dungeon Magazine. There were a number of really great 1st level modules in those.

[Matthew]

Unfortunatly I'm stuck up in Yorvik for a term now. Dunno any gaming stores here. I was thinking maybe the Paizo pdf store? Are any of the ones you mentioned in digital form?

Level doesn't matter, although probably anything from 5-10; not so low that they die from falling down stairs, but not so high that it gets all complicated to run.

Given that you are in York and Yorvik isn't some random village or small town I have never heard of, your normal gaming needs should be met by the Travelling Man (54 Goodramgate). I have not been in for a while, but I remember it being pretty good last time I was there. I seem to recall another game shop in York, but I don't recall the name off hand.

Anyway... yeah, you can pick up either of those adventures in pdf form; Paizo definitely sell them, or you can pick them up from YourGamesNow. The Curse of the Witch Head is probably closest to your level range, but the Red Mausoleum can probably be done with tenth level characters. Honestly, though, any of the Advanced Adventures series will probably give you a good run for your money. I recently picked up #5-6 and ordered #7 into my local store, but I haven't had time to read them yet.

I would recommend you some older adventures, but to be honest I am not overly familiar with many of them, and those that I am tend to be part of a related series [e.g. A1-4, G1-3, D1-3, T1-4, etecetera].

[Project_Mayhem]

Thanks Matthew - I'll check that shop out.

I think I'm gonna go with White Plume Mountain - I read the 3.5 remake, and it looked pretty cool. I also know that its pretty much all dungeon, so pretty much what I'm after. One of my players reckons he's a riddle buff, so I'm going to try and get him with the Sphinx.

How lethal is it? Say, compared to ToH?

[Matthew]

It can be pretty brutal; probably not quite the meat grinder that Tomb of Horrors is, but when you have wights as wandering monsters it is generally a good indication that the players are going to have to be pretty cautious and quick witted to survive!

[Project_Mayhem]

It can be pretty brutal; probably not quite the meat grinder that Tomb of Horrors is, but when you have wights as wandering monsters it is generally a good indication that the players are going to have to be pretty cautious and quick witted to survive!

Sweeeeeeet

[Tacoma]

Regarding Hommlet:

I was going to suggest Temple of Elemental Evil. The original one, not the more recent Monte Cook crapulence. It should be in PDF in a store somewhere, but you can still occasionally find them used in places like Half-Price Books.

When I ran it though I had a player who had been through it before as a DM years and years ago, and he was raving about how difficult it was. I felt that I needed to ramp it up because many of the encounters in the temple itself were kind of lame. This meant the party had to be higher level when they entered, so I created a few side adventures before Nulb and the Temple.

If you want a short dungeon crawl, try some stuff from Dungeon or Dragon magazine. I recall one excellent treatment of Baba Yaga's Dancing Hut which is always nice, and very easy to insert your own rooms and switch things around. Have the first few rooms be stock, to lull any players with knowledge of the module into a false sense of security. Then, BAM! Were-donkeys. Don't get bit.

Dragon magazine also had an arctic adventure in a place they called the "Scholia" which was some kind of monastic school. Some were-tigers or something had taken it over. When the PCs arrive the school is deserted except for the occupying were-tigers who are doing something in the caves behind it and a few hiding students.
If I'm remembering it right and they were were-tigers ... I'd replace them with were-lynxes or something. It's the arctic after all. If you're really interested and you can't find what I'm talking about, PM me and I can try to regurgitate what I remember.

Grab a bucket.

[Project_Mayhem]

Problemn with ToEE is thats its gonna take way too long to run. I only have about 2 weeks, and people have hectic schedules.

I think I'm gonna stick with White Plume Mountain, coz I'm looking for a crawl, Its short and tricksy, and (most importantly) I just paid for it. Thanks for the advice anyway though - I may follow it up when we inevitably want to do more later.

On another note, I'm planning to start 4 odd players at around level 10. What should I allow them in the way of equipment? I can think of several monsters they cant touch without at least +2 ...

[Matthew]

Probably three or four permanent magic items each, such as:

Great Sword +3, Platemail +2, Large Shield +1, Ring of Fire Resistance,

There was actually recently an interesting thread on just this subject over at Dragonsfoot, which may save you some time: Pregenerated Characters for White Plume Mountain.

[Tacoma]

http://dnd.wikia.com/wiki/Dungeon_Crawl_Classics

Might be interesting.

Also, I'd suggest giving them options as to what to choose, but a roleplaying session might need to be devoted to that unless you just make it a big list they choose from. I've found it to be moderately successful to make a list of what you want the party to have and let them sort out who gets what. It's like treasure division before they've had to kill anything.

I did it by giving everyone one choice from column A, one from column B, two from C, and four from D. Column D was potions, the others were Offensive, Defensive, and Miscellaneous magic items. Column D could be taken any number of times, and there were up to two of each item from column C. But if two people wanted the same thing from A or B they had to roll to see who got it. The loser had to pick a different item from that column.

Fill out the columns A-C with enough items for double the number of players, to give plenty of variety. Anything not chosen is gone - they never actually had EVERYTHING on the lists, just their choices. And after your brief description of the dungeon setting (or for experienced players, just the name of the module) they can choose items based on that. Heck, if they see a Dragonslayer +2 in there they'll probably pick it up just because it's a good indication a dragon is coming.

[Project_Mayhem]

There was actually recently an interesting thread on just this subject over at Dragonsfoot, which may save you some time: Pregenerated Characters for White Plume Mountain

Wow, thats pretty darn convenient. Thanks!

[hamlet]

Probably three or four permanent magic items each, such as:

Great Sword +3, Platemail +2, Large Shield +1, Ring of Fire Resistance,

There was actually recently an interesting thread on just this subject over at Dragonsfoot, which may save you some time: Pregenerated Characters for White Plume Mountain.

PFT!

With that list of magic items, a 3rd level fighter could conquer a kingdom!

[Tacoma]

PFT!

With that list of magic items, a 3rd level fighter could conquer a kingdom!

Orly?

...

It does seem like a lot for a 3rd level fighter. I didn't see where he said what level his adventure would be.

Also, OP, you can short them a little on starting equipment and beef up the loot during the adventure to even it out. This way it feels to the players like they're getting a lot when they really aren't.

[Matthew]

PFT!

With that list of magic items, a 3rd level fighter could conquer a kingdom!

Orly?

...

It does seem like a lot for a 3rd level fighter. I didn't see where he said what level his adventure would be.

Project_Mayhem said he is starting them at tenth level; I am mainly going by what kind of gear the pregenerated characters for the Tomb of Horrors have available.

[hamlet]

Project_Mayhem said he is starting them at tenth level; I am mainly going by what kind of gear the pregenerated characters for the Tomb of Horrors have available.

I really meant to point out that, compared to a two-handed sword +3, Blackrazor (one of the coolest swords going IMO), looks like a toothpick.

I am a great believer in less is more in terms of magic items. Too many magic items leads to golf bag D&D which just gets silly.