What are some good (well written) mods from Judges Guild?
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Post Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 10:48 am 
 

Hello my fello AD&D geeks. I would like a little help on the subject of "What are some good (well written) mods from Judges Guild?". Any one wanna give me a clue? Thanks in advance!

  

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Post Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 11:50 am 
 

Zippanthropus wrote:Hello my fello AD&D geeks. I would like a little help on the subject of "What are some good (well written) mods from Judges Guild?". Any one wanna give me a clue? Thanks in advance!


you could ask this in the JG section chummer :)

imo some of the best written JG items are: Tegel Manor, CSIO, CSWE and Dark Tower.

there are no doubt more, but these are prb up there...

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Post Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 12:13 pm 
 

Killjoy32 wrote, "you could ask this in the JG section chummer."

Uh, yeah. I was, uh, just testing you. Yeah, that's it. It was a contest and you won! Now you have to pick a prize door....there are 3 of them. Choose left, right, or middle.

  

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Post Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 12:56 am 
 

The best so far is Dark Tower, by Paul Jaquays.  It is a bit hard to map and the encounters are uneven in difficulty, but any good DM could easily fix that.  The D20 version by Necromancer is good, but they insulted my sensibilities by not putting Paul Jaquays' name on the cover and not sending him a free copy.

     Verbosh is really packed with adventure and is a fun read...there is enough for a campaign in this one publication.  There is a city, an evil tower, a dead city, a shipwreck, an undercity dungeon and lots of set wilderness encounters.  You can get Verbosh for cheap and it is a must-own.  I love Verbosh.  At under $6 on Ebay it is one of the best values around.  

    Caverns of Thracia is pretty good, if a bit convoluted and hard to map  (in the tradition of 1970's modules).  Also by Paul Jaquays.  Toss in some extra minotaurs to spice up the encounters, or simply read "minotuar" whenever it says "beastman" or "troll" wherever it says "gnoll."  (There is a Necromancer D20 conversion of this module.  See my comments about Dark Tower, above.)

    For straight-up useable adventures you need The Book of Treasure Maps (number one...there are three, in descending order of quality).  The first book is by Paul Jaquays (see a pattern?)  The adventures in this publication are not very even in quality, but two are good and one is really really good.  All of the adventures included could be dropped into your campaign at any time with little re-working.  It often sells for a song.

    There are several city state modules, but the best price for quality is Tarantis.   (They often sell for $6.50 on Ebay.)  This city has a very useable map and a pirate's lair background that appeals to me.
   
    You could also purchase City State of the Invincible Overlord for an interesting read and lots of ideas to loot.  The Necromancer D20 edition manages to maintain the quality of the older publication and is readily available on Ebay.  Hint:  Buy from Fencert.

    Tegel Manor is loved by many.  It has a good map with lots of quirky haunted house things to do.

    The First Fantasy Campaign is a piece of gaming history...although there is not really an adventure in this publication.

    The Maltese Clue is interesting and a good tournament adventure.  It needs work for inclusion in an ongoing campaign and you have to be sure to read the entire module through before using it.

    Restormel, Demons of Dundurn and Raven's Crag are short on adventure and not very interesting or imaginative.  Demons of Dundurn even appears to be missing a page or two of explanation.  However, these three modules were really just written to pose beside their impressive and large castle maps, which are worthwhile in the $4 range.  

    Two modules mentioned here for posterity.....  Beneath the Cloud Giant's Castle is suitably quirky, but the one thing it lacks is....a cloud giant's castle.  You either love or hate this module.  Also, The Treasure Vaults of Lindoran is useable as a drop-in treasure hunt for almost any campaign.  

    Finally, Pegasus #10 has Revenge of the Ant God inside. This is a good hack and slash adventure involving...yes...ants.  Lots of different types of ants to kill...and kill...and kill, combined with a good storyline.  I got mine for $5 from www.dragonstrove.com

    Probably more than you needed, but enjoy.

Mark   8)


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Post Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 3:45 am 
 

MShipley88 wrote:The best so far is Dark Tower, by Paul Jaquays. It is a bit hard to map and the encounters are uneven in difficulty, but any good DM could easily fix that. The D20 version by Necromancer is good, but they insulted my sensibilities by not putting Paul Jaquays' name on the cover and not sending him a free copy.

 Verbosh is really packed with adventure and is a fun read...there is enough for a campaign in this one publication. There is a city, an evil tower, a dead city, a shipwreck, an undercity dungeon and lots of set wilderness encounters. You can get Verbosh for cheap and it is a must-own. I love Verbosh. At under $6 on Ebay it is one of the best values around.

 Caverns of Thracia is pretty good, if a bit convoluted and hard to map (in the tradition of 1970's modules). Also by Paul Jaquays. Toss in some extra minotaurs to spice up the encounters, or simply read "minotuar" whenever it says "beastman" or "troll" wherever it says "gnoll." (There is a Necromancer D20 conversion of this module. See my comments about Dark Tower, above.)

 For straight-up useable adventures you need The Book of Treasure Maps (number one...there are three, in descending order of quality). The first book is by Paul Jaquays (see a pattern?) The adventures in this publication are not very even in quality, but two are good and one is really really good. All of the adventures included could be dropped into your campaign at any time with little re-working. It often sells for a song.

 There are several city state modules, but the best price for quality is Tarantis. (They often sell for $6.50 on Ebay.) This city has a very useable map and a pirate's lair background that appeals to me.
 
 You could also purchase City State of the Invincible Overlord for an interesting read and lots of ideas to loot. The Necromancer D20 edition manages to maintain the quality of the older publication and is readily available on Ebay. Hint: Buy from Fencert.

 Tegel Manor is loved by many. It has a good map with lots of quirky haunted house things to do.

 The First Fantasy Campaign is a piece of gaming history...although there is not really an adventure in this publication.

 The Maltese Clue is interesting and a good tournament adventure. It needs work for inclusion in an ongoing campaign and you have to be sure to read the entire module through before using it.

 Restormel, Demons of Dundurn and Raven's Crag are short on adventure and not very interesting or imaginative. Demons of Dundurn even appears to be missing a page or two of explanation. However, these three modules were really just written to pose beside their impressive and large castle maps, which are worthwhile in the $4 range.

 Two modules mentioned here for posterity..... Beneath the Cloud Giant's Castle is suitably quirky, but the one thing it lacks is....a cloud giant's castle. You either love or hate this module. Also, The Treasure Vaults of Lindoran is useable as a drop-in treasure hunt for almost any campaign.

 Finally, Pegasus #10 has Revenge of the Ant God inside. This is a good hack and slash adventure involving...yes...ants. Lots of different types of ants to kill...and kill...and kill, combined with a good storyline. I got mine for $5 from www.dragonstrove.com

 Probably more than you needed, but enjoy.

Mark 8)


Great write up....

Easier to point out the bad than it is too name all the good/great ones with JG though :lol:

Someting along the lines of anything but....


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Post Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 4:26 am 
 

MS: great write up chummer. that apart, Inferno really is a cool piece of work for its time. very usable as well. if youre DMing a venture into the hells, this would give you the perfect opening to build your campaign on thats for sure! and its pretty damn hard too!

also, not mentioned before, The Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor is a fantastic adventure. my mate keith DM'd it once with his group and they went from 1st to 9th level all in that one campaign :)

its a good read too!

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Post Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 5:56 am 
 

Holy guacamole, there's no chance of outdoing Mark's post (love the Robert E. Howard avatar, BTW), but I'll add my three cents.

There's no way you can go wrong with either Dark Tower or Caverns of Thracia — both are excellent. They are at the top of the heap, miles ahead of most JG adventures.

For a shorter gaming session, or just a great source of adventure hooks, either of the Book of Treasure Maps products would be a good choice.

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Post Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 7:58 am 
 

Thanks guys!

Since I can't seem to get a game started (I live in the Capital District Area of NY...), I thought, "Why not feed my brain some great new (to me) adventures?". I can play them out in my head. As long as that damn evil monkey in my closet stays away, I won't need meds either.

Thanks again!

By the way...if you live in the area just above Albany NY....I'm looking for players.

And on that note: www.ZippAnthropus.com

  


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Post Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 9:07 am 
 

Great summary, Mark!

By the way, Revenge of the Ant God is now available for free as a pdf over on the  Judges Guild website. See Plaag's post over in the Judges Guild forum:

viewtopic.php?p=44108#44108

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Post Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 1:51 am 
 

Thanks for the nice comments.  Also, thanks for the tip about the Pegasus pdf files.  I have been over there and downloaded all of them.  I have all of the the Pegasus issues except #1, but it is nice to get a really useable pdf to keep my magazines clean.   8)

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Post Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 1:44 pm 
 

My favorite, by far, is Tegel.  I just sold my Dark Tower, but don't think I'll ever give up my Tegel.

  

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Post Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 2:28 pm 
 

I bought a Tegel in the late 80's for pennies.  I had no idea....   8)


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Post Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 1:18 pm 
 

I don't think Necromancer Games did the D20 conversion of Dark Tower. That was done (by Quiklink Interactive, I think) before Judges Guild even hooked up with NG. Interestingly enough, I remember hearing that some of the encounters weren't even converted to D20.

  

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Post Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 3:36 pm 
 

dcs wrote:I don't think Necromancer Games did the D20 conversion of Dark Tower. That was done (by Quiklink Interactive, I think) before Judges Guild even hooked up with NG. Interestingly enough, I remember hearing that some of the encounters weren't even converted to D20.


   You are right...I just dug out my copy and it is by RPG Realms.  There is some sort of Necromancer connection, however....I will have to research it on their site.  Either way, Paul Jaquays is not credited on the cover....and he wrote me that he had to purchase his own copies of the remakes of both Dark Tower and Caverns of Thracia.  This seems like a thoughless discourtesy to an author...even if he sold the rights his name should still be credited on the cover.

    You are also right about the encounters.  The monsters are just names and hit points.  This sufficed in earlier versions but is inadequate for 3.0 and 3.5...since every monster has abililites and can be uniquely dangerous in 3.5.

   Part of the fun of this module can be using the random generation tables to create your own "Son of Set."

Mark


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Post Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 6:40 pm 
 

MShipley88 wrote:You are right...I just dug out my copy and it is by RPG Realms.


Yes, I think RPG Realms and Quiklink Interactive are/were the same company.

There is some sort of Necromancer connection, however....I will have to research it on their site.


NG may have bought the remaining stock of the module . . . they have said that they won't reprint it unless/until that stock is gone. I'm sure they could do a better job than the former company -- they did a great job with Necropolis (much as I don't like 3e).

  

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Post Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 11:49 pm 
 

Zippanthropus wrote:Thanks guys!

Since I can't seem to get a game started (I live in the Capital District Area of NY...), I thought, "Why not feed my brain some great new (to me) adventures?". I can play them out in my head. As long as that damn evil monkey in my closet stays away, I won't need meds either.

Thanks again!

By the way...if you live in the area just above Albany NY....I'm looking for players.

And on that note: www.ZippAnthropus.com


Added to the masterful list above, I also enjoy Wraith Overlord quite a bit.  A lot of the encounters can be lifted out and put into your owncampaigns.

Zipp, I have a great "floating" solo AD&D campaign I've been running off and on for several years.  I wouldn't say it's as fun as playing for real with real other people, not by any means, but I can kill an hour or two on it occasionally.  I run all the characters, and use the Core Rules CD rom for random monsters and treasure to populate rooms.  There are random programs for dungeon generation available online, I used to use those, but the last couple of years I just use the random dungeon chart in the back of the 1st ed DMG, along with the Dungeon geomorphs (collected version) and the quite excellent Dungeon Builder's Guidebook (quite an excellent resource in any case) to generate the funkiest looking random dungeon ever created, now it almost fills a gigantic sheet of graph paper (as big as a small table) and has several sublevels.  Out of my original party of 5 characters (created randomly with the AD&D core rules program) I think 3 are still active (the other two having been killed off) and they are about 3rd level or so now (told you I don't play it very much).  I roll up random hirelings as needed.  All in all, it would probably be better just to play Diablo or Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights or Icewind Dale or whatever, but I like playing "real" AD&D when I can. It actualy can help you remain sharp during the periods of a few weeks or months when you don't have a regular game going.  I've never actually run a pregen that way, but most JG dungeons seem to lend themselves to that sort of adventuring pretty easily, you might try it.

Mike B.

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Post Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 12:25 am 
 

I was just writing a review of Wraith Overlord over on Killjoy's site when my cable connection wavered and I lost my work.     :x   I shall have to return to finish.

    Wraith Overlord probably should have made my list.  It is full of good ideas and interesting side adventures.  The only thing it really lacks is (ironically)....a wraith overlord.  You have to provide your own "Terror Beneath the City State."    :lol:

    Wraith Overlord is the work of Scott Fulton, who was one of Judges Guild's best writers.

    There are two copies of Wraith Overlord over on Killjoy's site...both in shrinkwrap!    8O

Mark    8)


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