Running Stonehell Dungeon

I posted yesterday that our Dungeons and Dragons sessions began with B2, Keep on the Borderlands.

I realized, after five players experienced seven PC deaths in the first session, that an exploration and problem-solving adventure Keep on the Borderlands is not. Several of the players are used to a hack-and-slash game anyway (two of them play 4E when they are at home in Victoria, BC) and the monster-laden Caves of Chaos only encourage them to employ the same approach, while using the Swords & Wizardry rule-set. Because characters are far more fragile in old-school D&D, a different approach is required, both from the players and the DM.

Through what the players suppose is the magic of time travel, the players have been transported back in time, with the box canyon of the Caves of Chaos replaced with the canyon housing Stonehell Dungeon. The Keep on the Borderlands is now just a lonely grass-covered hill, with no evidence of recent civilization to be found in the immediate vicinity of Stonehell.

So far, there have been only two combats in each the two subsequent sessions. The remainder of the time has been in exploration and speculation on what each of the discoveries could mean. Questions on what the hell is going on, that has resulted in such an abrupt change in scenery, have been met with shrugs by me -- I tell the players it is as much a mystery to me as it is to them as to what has happened. But they are speculating that something within the Dungeon will provide clues on how to get back to their own time.

They have already discovered a statue of Sir Vispera, the founder of the Knights Imperious within the box canyon of Stonehell Dungeon. Since Vispera died some 300 years before they were born, this has led them to believe that they have been transported several hundred years into the past. They also found an abandoned temple, dedicated to some snake-demon, which they have linked to the Serpent Wars and Sir Vispera.

It will be interesting to see what happens in session four. They have just now entered Stonehell Dungeon proper, having spent two sessions exploring the box canyon itself.

Well, i'm heading back to the beach. I will try to blog some more photos, and another session recap, later today or early tomorrow.

Running Stonehell Dungeon

I posted yesterday that our Dungeons and Dragons sessions began with B2, Keep on the Borderlands.

I realized, after five players experienced seven PC deaths in the first session, that an exploration and problem-solving adventure Keep on the Borderlands is not. Several of the players are used to a hack-and-slash game anyway (two of them play 4E when they are at home in Victoria, BC) and the monster-laden Caves of Chaos only encourage them to employ the same approach, while using the Swords & Wizardry rule-set. Because characters are far more fragile in old-school D&D, a different approach is required, both from the players and the DM.

Through what the players suppose is the magic of time travel, the players have been transported back in time, with the box canyon of the Caves of Chaos replaced with the canyon housing Stonehell Dungeon. The Keep on the Borderlands is now just a lonely grass-covered hill, with no evidence of recent civilization to be found in the immediate vicinity of Stonehell.

So far, there have been only two combats in each the two subsequent sessions. The remainder of the time has been in exploration and speculation on what each of the discoveries could mean. Questions on what the hell is going on, that has resulted in such an abrupt change in scenery, have been met with shrugs by me -- I tell the players it is as much a mystery to me as it is to them as to what has happened. But they are speculating that something within the Dungeon will provide clues on how to get back to their own time.

They have already discovered a statue of Sir Vispera, the founder of the Knights Imperious within the box canyon of Stonehell Dungeon. Since Vispera died some 300 years before they were born, this has led them to believe that they have been transported several hundred years into the past. They also found an abandoned temple, dedicated to some snake-demon, which they have linked to the Serpent Wars and Sir Vispera.

It will be interesting to see what happens in session four. They have just now entered Stonehell Dungeon proper, having spent two sessions exploring the box canyon itself.

Well, i'm heading back to the beach. I will try to blog some more photos, and another session recap, later today or early tomorrow.

Scenic Views And The Meat-Grinder

We arrived at the cabins several days ago, but I have been enjoying the time with my brothers, sisters and the extended family, so have been somewhat remiss in updating my blog. Here is a view of the cabins: most of them are obscured by foliage but you can see three cabins in this photo. There are three more cabins to the right (hidden by the trees) and two more to the left.

And here is a photo showing the lakeshore, taken in the opposite direction to the photo of the cabins. It has been a lovely couple of days, though the it has been cool and cloudy. Nevertheless, a cool day at the cabins beats a warm day in the city!

We have played three Dungeons and Dragons sessions so far. We are using the Swords & Wizardry white-box rule-set, and played B2, Keep on the Borderlands for our first session. The result -- five players, seven PC deaths. Among the clues distributed to the players was the need for hirelings and the avoidance of the caves further into the canyon, both of which were ignored. Even with those clues, it is clear that Keep on the Borderlands is not a module in the old-school tradition of exploration and problem solving. This is hack-and-slashery personified. Every player has lost at least once character to this D&D meat-grinder. As a result, I have switched over to Michael Curtis' Stonehell Dungeon, for our subsequent sessions, as it seems to be more conducive to an old-school approach to adventuring.

Scenic Views And The Meat-Grinder

We arrived at the cabins several days ago, but I have been enjoying the time with my brothers, sisters and the extended family, so have been somewhat remiss in updating my blog. Here is a view of the cabins: most of them are obscured by foliage but you can see three cabins in this photo. There are three more cabins to the right (hidden by the trees) and two more to the left.

And here is a photo showing the lakeshore, taken in the opposite direction to the photo of the cabins. It has been a lovely couple of days, though the it has been cool and cloudy. Nevertheless, a cool day at the cabins beats a warm day in the city!

We have played three Dungeons and Dragons sessions so far. We are using the Swords & Wizardry white-box rule-set, and played B2, Keep on the Borderlands for our first session. The result -- five players, seven PC deaths. Among the clues distributed to the players was the need for hirelings and the avoidance of the caves further into the canyon, both of which were ignored. Even with those clues, it is clear that Keep on the Borderlands is not a module in the old-school tradition of exploration and problem solving. This is hack-and-slashery personified. Every player has lost at least once character to this D&D meat-grinder. As a result, I have switched over to Michael Curtis' Stonehell Dungeon, for our subsequent sessions, as it seems to be more conducive to an old-school approach to adventuring.

The Village of Hommlet

There are quite a few old-school Dungeons and Dragons players and DM's who have a soft spot for module T1, The Village Of Hommlet.

I mentioned several days ago that David Trampier illustrated the cover of T1. I don't know that this artwork is quintessentially Tramp, but it is somewhat visually interesting, if not terribly inspiring. The antagonists with the flaming eye emblasoned on their armor and clothes seemed Tolkien-esque.

I'm guessing the armored dude is Lareth the Beautiful (yes, for those who did not know where Lareth comes from, he makes his first appearance in this adventure), but I don't every recall encountering a giant lobster. Is there a giant lobster in this adventure, and did anyone have a memorable encounter with it?

I'm off to the cabin in ... an hour and forty minutes. I will be posting while on vacation, but don't be surprised if one or two of my posts are of scenic views rather than gaming-related posts.

The Village of Hommlet

There are quite a few old-school Dungeons and Dragons players and DM's who have a soft spot for module T1, The Village Of Hommlet.

I mentioned several days ago that David Trampier illustrated the cover of T1. I don't know that this artwork is quintessentially Tramp, but it is somewhat visually interesting, if not terribly inspiring. The antagonists with the flaming eye emblasoned on their armor and clothes seemed Tolkien-esque.

I'm guessing the armored dude is Lareth the Beautiful (yes, for those who did not know where Lareth comes from, he makes his first appearance in this adventure), but I don't every recall encountering a giant lobster. Is there a giant lobster in this adventure, and did anyone have a memorable encounter with it?

I'm off to the cabin in ... an hour and forty minutes. I will be posting while on vacation, but don't be surprised if one or two of my posts are of scenic views rather than gaming-related posts.

Trampier's Frost Giants

I was surprised to discover two things, as I went hunting for more David Trampier illustrations:

(1) Trampier illustrated the cover of module G2, The Glacial Rift of The Frost Giant Jarl; and

(2) Trampier was not terribly prolific when it came to Dungeons and Dragons module covers.

Trampier did very few module covers: the only one I can recall, other than G2, is T1, The Village of Hommlet.

While Trampier is strongly associated with the AD&D Players Handbook, the Monster Manual, the Dungeon Masters Screen, module T1, The Village of Hommlet and module S1, Tomb of Horrors, Tramp is relegated to back-up and interior artist in many of the other early books and adventures. David Sutherland enjoys more artistic exposure in the AD&D modules, while Erol Otus' art is similarly synonymous with Basic D&D.

I'm saddened by this, since Tramp's style really appeals to me. I wish there was more of his art to appreciate.

There's something special about the cover of module G2. Partly, it's the absolutely non-descript adventurers racing to engage the Frost Giants; this speaks to my image of PCs as average folk, adventuring out of necessity, greed or yearning. And speaking of implied narrative, this is no band of bold and impervious adventurers: we've already got one adventurer down, laying on the ground beside the farthest Frost Giant.

The other thing that I love about this cover is that the Frost Giants appear to be making snowballs: I know it's probably rocks they're preparing to toss, but I laugh that the nearer Frost Giant has a perfectly good sword at his hip. Do the Frost Giants consider mere humans to be pushovers, and are prepared to break into a playful and old-fashioned snowball fight?

Trampier's Frost Giants

I was surprised to discover two things, as I went hunting for more David Trampier illustrations:

(1) Trampier illustrated the cover of module G2, The Glacial Rift of The Frost Giant Jarl; and

(2) Trampier was not terribly prolific when it came to Dungeons and Dragons module covers.

Trampier did very few module covers: the only one I can recall, other than G2, is T1, The Village of Hommlet.

While Trampier is strongly associated with the AD&D Players Handbook, the Monster Manual, the Dungeon Masters Screen, module T1, The Village of Hommlet and module S1, Tomb of Horrors, Tramp is relegated to back-up and interior artist in many of the other early books and adventures. David Sutherland enjoys more artistic exposure in the AD&D modules, while Erol Otus' art is similarly synonymous with Basic D&D.

I'm saddened by this, since Tramp's style really appeals to me. I wish there was more of his art to appreciate.

There's something special about the cover of module G2. Partly, it's the absolutely non-descript adventurers racing to engage the Frost Giants; this speaks to my image of PCs as average folk, adventuring out of necessity, greed or yearning. And speaking of implied narrative, this is no band of bold and impervious adventurers: we've already got one adventurer down, laying on the ground beside the farthest Frost Giant.

The other thing that I love about this cover is that the Frost Giants appear to be making snowballs: I know it's probably rocks they're preparing to toss, but I laugh that the nearer Frost Giant has a perfectly good sword at his hip. Do the Frost Giants consider mere humans to be pushovers, and are prepared to break into a playful and old-fashioned snowball fight?

Old School Products Storefront

Clearly i've been living in a plastic bubble for the last several months. I did not know about this.

Someone has gone, and done-set-up an Old School Renaissance storefront at Lulu, and several of your favorite bloggers and OSR publishers are participating in that publishing group.

What a great way to cooperatively promote the old-school products and approach to gaming!

Old School Products Storefront

Clearly i've been living in a plastic bubble for the last several months. I did not know about this.

Someone has gone, and done-set-up an Old School Renaissance storefront at Lulu, and several of your favorite bloggers and OSR publishers are participating in that publishing group.

What a great way to cooperatively promote the old-school products and approach to gaming!

Stonehell Dungeon: Down Night-Haunted Halls

I've been avoiding writing this, and my review of Legends of Steel, for several days. Why? Because frankly, i'm not sure I can do those two old-school offerings justice. Several far-more-capable bloggers have already described and critiqued both Legends of Steel and Stonehell Dungeon. Nevertheless, as I had made a commitment to several OSR fellow-travellers to provide my thoughts on those books, I give you the following.

I was surprised to find myself in possession of both Stonehell Dungeon and Legends of Steel, several days after Christmas. Santa had already been very good to me, and I presumed that the rest of my Christmas wishlist would be doled out over the next several months, when the opportunities and cash-flows warranted. To my delight, I was handed a box, and discovered that the Lulu items appearing on my Christmas list had been ordered, but too late for Christmas delivery.

Inside the box were Labyrinth Lord, Legends of Steel, and Stonehell Dungeon.

Stonehell Dungeon is authored by Michael Curtis, of The Society of Torch, Pole and Rope fame. Truly, much of the propulsive energy behind the OSR is due to Michael Curtis and a handful of other Old-School Renaissance bloggers. They are actually publishing (commercially) the materials that others have only talked about for the last 10 years.

Not that many months ago, debate raged in our tiny corner of the blogosphere regarding the definition of, and feasibility of producing, a commercially-viable megadungeon. Several bloggers speculated that attempts to produce a commercial megadungeon were ill-advised, fraught with near-insurmountable obstacles and doomed to failure. While I cannot say that Michael Curtis has produced the penultimate megadungeon, his Stonehell Dungeon is a worthy entry to that category.

Stonehell Dungeon is 134 pages, and, while designed for use with Labyrinth Lord, is sufficiently rules-light to allow its use with other versions of the original fantasy role-playing game. Other than a touch of red ink on the front and back covers --used to evoke a blood-splattered look -- Stonehell Dungeon is printed entirely in black and white. The book is punctuated by the occasional black and white illustration, but most of the artwork consists of the dungeon levels themselves. As has been mentioned elsewhere, Michael Curtis employs the one-page dungeon concept, although he spreads each dungeon-section over two facing pages in the book, rather than containing the map (and related comments) on a single page. I appreciate the one-page dungeon approach, as it eases the burden of the gamemaster, by reducing the need to flip pages during play.

Michael Curtis provides some background on the construction and population of Stonehell in his introductory chapter. I understand the compulsion to justify the creation and continued existence of any dungeon, and the author does a remarkable job of creating a believable and intriguing backstory. Had I been advising Michael, I might have suggested putting the dungeon-background in an Appendix: being heavily influenced by systems-theory, I feel that putting the author's backstory at the end of the book would re-inforce the message that Stonehell Dungeon is the DM's, to put their own stamp on things as they wish, with the author's backstory being one of several possible histories.

The upper, ground level of Stonehell Dungeon is reminiscent of the Caves of Chaos from B2, Keep on the Borderlands, as that canyon and its caves might have looked in their earliest incarnations. Michael has remarked somewhere that he had added a few homages and references to early D&D in Stonehell: I enjoyed the reference to the Wolf-In-Sheep's-Clothing as the players pass the Gates Of Hell, and plan to have the related Bunny appear more than once in the games I gamemaster with this setting, and perhaps even in unexpected locations.

As mentioned earlier, Stonehell Dungeon employs the one-page dungeon concept. Since a megadungeon wouldn't be a megadungeon if it wasn't big, Michael had divided each of his five dungeon levels into four 30 by 30 quadrants, with connectioning hallways between them. Stonehell Dungeon has been criticised for the artificial nature of those divisions, and for the overlay of a theme to each of those quadrants. I suppose the criticism is a valid one, from a design perspective. But I wonder if players won't simply be oblivious to this artificiality, at least in the early going?

As for the dungeon itself, the amount of creativity poured into this setting is inspiring, and a more than a little bit humbling. At $13 for this book, I think I got back my money and then some, after reading to the end of the first dungeon level. While I have yet to feel that I paid too much for any of the old-school products I have recently purchased, having finished reading Stonehell Dungeon, I feel guilty for paying far too little.

I don't see how a gamemaster, or aspiring fantasy adventure or setting author, can go wrong with the purchase of Stonehell Dungeon. If you are in either of the above categories, you owe it to yourself to own a copy of this book.

Stonehell Dungeon: Down Night-Haunted Halls

I've been avoiding writing this, and my review of Legends of Steel, for several days. Why? Because frankly, i'm not sure I can do those two old-school offerings justice. Several far-more-capable bloggers have already described and critiqued both Legends of Steel and Stonehell Dungeon. Nevertheless, as I had made a commitment to several OSR fellow-travellers to provide my thoughts on those books, I give you the following.

I was surprised to find myself in possession of both Stonehell Dungeon and Legends of Steel, several days after Christmas. Santa had already been very good to me, and I presumed that the rest of my Christmas wishlist would be doled out over the next several months, when the opportunities and cash-flows warranted. To my delight, I was handed a box, and discovered that the Lulu items appearing on my Christmas list had been ordered, but too late for Christmas delivery.

Inside the box were Labyrinth Lord, Legends of Steel, and Stonehell Dungeon.

Stonehell Dungeon is authored by Michael Curtis, of The Society of Torch, Pole and Rope fame. Truly, much of the propulsive energy behind the OSR is due to Michael Curtis and a handful of other Old-School Renaissance bloggers. They are actually publishing (commercially) the materials that others have only talked about for the last 10 years.

Not that many months ago, debate raged in our tiny corner of the blogosphere regarding the definition of, and feasibility of producing, a commercially-viable megadungeon. Several bloggers speculated that attempts to produce a commercial megadungeon were ill-advised, fraught with near-insurmountable obstacles and doomed to failure. While I cannot say that Michael Curtis has produced the penultimate megadungeon, his Stonehell Dungeon is a worthy entry to that category.

Stonehell Dungeon is 134 pages, and, while designed for use with Labyrinth Lord, is sufficiently rules-light to allow its use with other versions of the original fantasy role-playing game. Other than a touch of red ink on the front and back covers --used to evoke a blood-splattered look -- Stonehell Dungeon is printed entirely in black and white. The book is punctuated by the occasional black and white illustration, but most of the artwork consists of the dungeon levels themselves. As has been mentioned elsewhere, Michael Curtis employs the one-page dungeon concept, although he spreads each dungeon-section over two facing pages in the book, rather than containing the map (and related comments) on a single page. I appreciate the one-page dungeon approach, as it eases the burden of the gamemaster, by reducing the need to flip pages during play.

Michael Curtis provides some background on the construction and population of Stonehell in his introductory chapter. I understand the compulsion to justify the creation and continued existence of any dungeon, and the author does a remarkable job of creating a believable and intriguing backstory. Had I been advising Michael, I might have suggested putting the dungeon-background in an Appendix: being heavily influenced by systems-theory, I feel that putting the author's backstory at the end of the book would re-inforce the message that Stonehell Dungeon is the DM's, to put their own stamp on things as they wish, with the author's backstory being one of several possible histories.

The upper, ground level of Stonehell Dungeon is reminiscent of the Caves of Chaos from B2, Keep on the Borderlands, as that canyon and its caves might have looked in their earliest incarnations. Michael has remarked somewhere that he had added a few homages and references to early D&D in Stonehell: I enjoyed the reference to the Wolf-In-Sheep's-Clothing as the players pass the Gates Of Hell, and plan to have the related Bunny appear more than once in the games I gamemaster with this setting, and perhaps even in unexpected locations.

As mentioned earlier, Stonehell Dungeon employs the one-page dungeon concept. Since a megadungeon wouldn't be a megadungeon if it wasn't big, Michael had divided each of his five dungeon levels into four 30 by 30 quadrants, with connectioning hallways between them. Stonehell Dungeon has been criticised for the artificial nature of those divisions, and for the overlay of a theme to each of those quadrants. I suppose the criticism is a valid one, from a design perspective. But I wonder if players won't simply be oblivious to this artificiality, at least in the early going?

As for the dungeon itself, the amount of creativity poured into this setting is inspiring, and a more than a little bit humbling. At $13 for this book, I think I got back my money and then some, after reading to the end of the first dungeon level. While I have yet to feel that I paid too much for any of the old-school products I have recently purchased, having finished reading Stonehell Dungeon, I feel guilty for paying far too little.

I don't see how a gamemaster, or aspiring fantasy adventure or setting author, can go wrong with the purchase of Stonehell Dungeon. If you are in either of the above categories, you owe it to yourself to own a copy of this book.

Quests For Legendary Gems and Jewels

I purchased the double-disk set of Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer last week, and we watched "the Barbarian" friday night.

In Conan the Barbarian, Conan, Valeria and Subotai steal the legendary "Eye Of The Serpent" jewel from Thulsa Doom's Snake Cultists, and Valeria keeps it.

That got me to thinking about gems and jewels in Dungeons and Dragons: specifically, the lack of quests or adventures related to the recovery of legendary gems and jewels, and the absence of named jewels and jewelry. In D&D, most jewels and jewelry are immediately fenced and converted into cash, or, used as cash themselves. The jewels and jewelry treasures are usually described fairly generically, with, at most, the type of jewel or jewelry and the gp value disclosed. I can't think of very many ocassions where the jewels and jewelry were kept by the characters, for their own pleasure, or where the players discovered that the items had an interesting backstory.

This is unfortunate, particularly considering the classic image from the cover of the original AD&D players handbook, showing several thieves prying a huge gem from the eye of the temple's idol. Shouldn't those jewels have had some interesting name or backstory?

Magic Realm, one of my favorite games, has several named jewels and pieces of jewelry that the players can discover. Those include the "Eye of the Moon", "Blasted Jewel", "Dragonfang Necklace", "Eye of the Idol", "Glimmering Ring", "Glowing Gem", "Regent of Jewels", and the "Timeless Jewel".

I think it would be interesting to give backstories and names to the larger jewels and more valuable pieces of jewelry, and plant rumours periodically on where they may be found. Players may be more apt to keep those items if they have some interesting history behind them, or at least appreciate them more, prior to selling them off.

Quests For Legendary Gems and Jewels

I purchased the double-disk set of Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer last week, and we watched "the Barbarian" friday night.

In Conan the Barbarian, Conan, Valeria and Subotai steal the legendary "Eye Of The Serpent" jewel from Thulsa Doom's Snake Cultists, and Valeria keeps it.

That got me to thinking about gems and jewels in Dungeons and Dragons: specifically, the lack of quests or adventures related to the recovery of legendary gems and jewels, and the absence of named jewels and jewelry. In D&D, most jewels and jewelry are immediately fenced and converted into cash, or, used as cash themselves. The jewels and jewelry treasures are usually described fairly generically, with, at most, the type of jewel or jewelry and the gp value disclosed. I can't think of very many ocassions where the jewels and jewelry were kept by the characters, for their own pleasure, or where the players discovered that the items had an interesting backstory.

This is unfortunate, particularly considering the classic image from the cover of the original AD&D players handbook, showing several thieves prying a huge gem from the eye of the temple's idol. Shouldn't those jewels have had some interesting name or backstory?

Magic Realm, one of my favorite games, has several named jewels and pieces of jewelry that the players can discover. Those include the "Eye of the Moon", "Blasted Jewel", "Dragonfang Necklace", "Eye of the Idol", "Glimmering Ring", "Glowing Gem", "Regent of Jewels", and the "Timeless Jewel".

I think it would be interesting to give backstories and names to the larger jewels and more valuable pieces of jewelry, and plant rumours periodically on where they may be found. Players may be more apt to keep those items if they have some interesting history behind them, or at least appreciate them more, prior to selling them off.

The Beholder In D&D Adventures: The Fell Pass

The Beholder makes its first appearance in the pages of Supplement I: Greyhawk, in 1975.

We would have to wait until 1979 to see a Beholder appear in a published adventure. That adventure was "The Fell Pass", which was published in The Dragon magazine, Issue #32, in December 1979.

The Fell Pass is a dungeon crawl. It reminds me (a little) of the episode from The Hobbit, where the Dwarves are captured by the Goblins, and Bilbo first encounters Gollum. Since it is a mountain "pass", the party may enter the dungeon from either side, and make (or fight) their way through to the other side.

The Fell Pass is interesting, as it can be played simply as an attempt to make it from one side of the pass to the other, without dying. Alternately, you can also treat it as your standard dungeon crawl, or have a patron assign the cleansing of the pass to the party. In any event, there are no over-arching themes, no BBEG to kill, just some good old-fashioned tricks and puzzles, and mindless hack-n-slashery.

That is not to say there are no challenging adversaries or mind-blowing dangers in The Fell Pass. It is a dangerous module, and was probably informed by the other early modules of the day, including that most infamous of killer-dungeons, The Tomb of Horrors.

As for the Beholder, well, let's just say that Xorddanx is a wily and crafty opponent, and the Players will have a difficult time defeating him, as he uses the terrain and his followers to great advantage.

While The Fell Pass is not an "official" D&D module (you will not find The Fell Pass on any list of officially published adventures) it certainly could have been, it has that early D&D module quality and feel to it.

The Beholder In D&D Adventures: The Fell Pass

The Beholder makes its first appearance in the pages of Supplement I: Greyhawk, in 1975.

We would have to wait until 1979 to see a Beholder appear in a published adventure. That adventure was "The Fell Pass", which was published in The Dragon magazine, Issue #32, in December 1979.

The Fell Pass is a dungeon crawl. It reminds me (a little) of the episode from The Hobbit, where the Dwarves are captured by the Goblins, and Bilbo first encounters Gollum. Since it is a mountain "pass", the party may enter the dungeon from either side, and make (or fight) their way through to the other side.

The Fell Pass is interesting, as it can be played simply as an attempt to make it from one side of the pass to the other, without dying. Alternately, you can also treat it as your standard dungeon crawl, or have a patron assign the cleansing of the pass to the party. In any event, there are no over-arching themes, no BBEG to kill, just some good old-fashioned tricks and puzzles, and mindless hack-n-slashery.

That is not to say there are no challenging adversaries or mind-blowing dangers in The Fell Pass. It is a dangerous module, and was probably informed by the other early modules of the day, including that most infamous of killer-dungeons, The Tomb of Horrors.

As for the Beholder, well, let's just say that Xorddanx is a wily and crafty opponent, and the Players will have a difficult time defeating him, as he uses the terrain and his followers to great advantage.

While The Fell Pass is not an "official" D&D module (you will not find The Fell Pass on any list of officially published adventures) it certainly could have been, it has that early D&D module quality and feel to it.

Before B2: The House On The Borderland

Before B2: The Keep On The Borderlands, you have The House On The Borderland.

To quote Wikipedia,

"[The House on the Borderland] was first released in Britain by Chapman and Hall, Ltd. London in 1908. Its most popular version was by Arkham House Press, Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1946 as part of The House on the Borderland and Other Novels, the same publishers that brought out many books by other authors of weird fiction, such as H. P. Lovecraft."

There are several interesting things about this book.

(1) It was reprinted in 1946, in Wisconsin, by the same publisher that printed weird fiction, in the Lovecraftian vein.

(2) The House on the Borderland left an impression on, and likely influenced, H. P. Lovecraft's writing, and Lovecraftian writing influenced the development of D&D.

(3) It features a protagonist who explores a cave, after having visions of devils and "swine-men" (pig-faced orcs?). He battles several of those swine-men in the cave.

I don't recall seeing either this author, or this book, listed in the infamous AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide "Appendix N". Perhaps it is mere coincidence that there is an early D&D module with a similar name, and that the early D&D orcs are pig-faced.

But I have a hard time believing that there is no link between this book and the early development of D&D.

Before B2: The House On The Borderland

Before B2: The Keep On The Borderlands, you have The House On The Borderland.

To quote Wikipedia,

"[The House on the Borderland] was first released in Britain by Chapman and Hall, Ltd. London in 1908. Its most popular version was by Arkham House Press, Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1946 as part of The House on the Borderland and Other Novels, the same publishers that brought out many books by other authors of weird fiction, such as H. P. Lovecraft."

There are several interesting things about this book.

(1) It was reprinted in 1946, in Wisconsin, by the same publisher that printed weird fiction, in the Lovecraftian vein.

(2) The House on the Borderland left an impression on, and likely influenced, H. P. Lovecraft's writing, and Lovecraftian writing influenced the development of D&D.

(3) It features a protagonist who explores a cave, after having visions of devils and "swine-men" (pig-faced orcs?). He battles several of those swine-men in the cave.

I don't recall seeing either this author, or this book, listed in the infamous AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide "Appendix N". Perhaps it is mere coincidence that there is an early D&D module with a similar name, and that the early D&D orcs are pig-faced.

But I have a hard time believing that there is no link between this book and the early development of D&D.

B2: The Keep On The Borderlands

Back in March 2009, JM over at Grognardia wrote a retrospective of Module B2, The Keep on the Borderlands. JM provided a fine retrospective of that module, I certainly recommend that you read his comments.

Several weeks ago, a young poster on the WOTC website provided his own review of B2, which he had converted to, and reportedly played using, the 3e/4e rules. He also provided a reference to his website.

Here is an excerpt from his WOTC review.

"First thoughts: I like the Erol Otus back cover painting with the adventurers approaching the keep in the sunset. But the module is pretty… well, “basic.” One player told me an unverified rumor that a proofreader at Wizards (sic) back in the day was reading “The Keep on the Borderland” and marked it all up with red ink, saying “This is the stupidest adventure ever! It’s just a list of all the low-level monstrous humanoids in the game, living in caves right next to one another, waiting for the PCs to come in and kill them!” Apparently he didn’t notice that the author byline read “Gary Gygax” and he didn’t last much longer at the company."

I have never heard this story before. Considering that B2 was published in 1979, and the principals at TSR were well known to each other, it seems unlikely that this actually occurred. Interesting and fun urban legend though. His review got me thinking about what might have inspired Gary Gygax to write this early D&D module.

Now i'm going to create another urban legend of my own.

B2: The Keep On The Borderlands

Back in March 2009, JM over at Grognardia wrote a retrospective of Module B2, The Keep on the Borderlands. JM provided a fine retrospective of that module, I certainly recommend that you read his comments.

Several weeks ago, a young poster on the WOTC website provided his own review of B2, which he had converted to, and reportedly played using, the 3e/4e rules. He also provided a reference to his website.

Here is an excerpt from his WOTC review.

"First thoughts: I like the Erol Otus back cover painting with the adventurers approaching the keep in the sunset. But the module is pretty… well, “basic.” One player told me an unverified rumor that a proofreader at Wizards (sic) back in the day was reading “The Keep on the Borderland” and marked it all up with red ink, saying “This is the stupidest adventure ever! It’s just a list of all the low-level monstrous humanoids in the game, living in caves right next to one another, waiting for the PCs to come in and kill them!” Apparently he didn’t notice that the author byline read “Gary Gygax” and he didn’t last much longer at the company."

I have never heard this story before. Considering that B2 was published in 1979, and the principals at TSR were well known to each other, it seems unlikely that this actually occurred. Interesting and fun urban legend though. His review got me thinking about what might have inspired Gary Gygax to write this early D&D module.

Now i'm going to create another urban legend of my own.