SPALDING WARGAMING CLUB
classic 'old skool' D&D: underground labyrinths, lots of fights in setups where the bad guys have a tactical edge, a few traps and the odd occasion for parley and trickery OK, I'm an old codger and I played Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D or '1st edition' as they call it now) back in the day and I've never really moved on. I've got a copy of 5th edition on my shelf. But I stick to the version I love.
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When we decided to run a D&D Tournament, there was only one option to my mind. The venerable Dungeon Module A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity from 1980. In 24 pages, author David Cook lays out a two-level slaver lair in a ruined temple and sewer system, packed with monsters, orcs and ogres, horrible alien insectoids and their larvae and a high-level Thief masterminding the whole operation. Two teams of players tackle the dungeon on alternate weeks and get scored based on how far they get and how they handle the threats.
The teams choose from a roster of pre-generated heroes with odd names. They enter the ruined temple through a secret back door and quickly run afoul of undead ghouls, collapsing floors, a weird gooey giant sundew and a small army of orcs with flamethrowers, led by an evil priestess. Both teams did pretty well against these threats, making good use of magic items and spells to sow confusion, but alas Blodgett the Halfling Thief died in one of the sessions.
Down in the sewers, things get nastier. Both groups showed fortitude and tactical savvy against the orcish shaman and his crossbowmen (with one group collapsing the roof on pursuers). Once the insectoid Aspis showed up, the groups' fortunes diverged. One group managed to get someone across this area to take control of the traps but the other group got caught up in a punishing melee. This meant that one group was able to advance on the Slave Lord's lair and survive the bloodthirsty melee awaiting them, shooting the bad guy as he fled. Their rivals didn't get that far.
This is classic 'old skool' D&D: underground labyrinths, lots of fights in setups where the bad guys have a tactical edge, a few traps and the odd occasion for parley and trickery. The module was created to be a tournament adventure for GenCon XIII back in 1980, but there's a lot more in here if you want to run it as a normal D&D adventure where the players aren't stuck following the breadcrumbs on a linear path. There's not much scope for characterisation, moral dilemmas or NPC interaction and this motivated me to run another D&D mini-campaign later in the year.
Nonetheless, it made us laugh! There were great character moments, some dramatic swashbuckling, desperate throws of the dice and a few newcomers were introduced to D&D (and indeed RPGs generally) and loved it.
Nonetheless, it made us laugh! There were great character moments, some dramatic swashbuckling, desperate throws of the dice and a few newcomers were introduced to D&D (and indeed RPGs generally) and loved it.
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