Uh … Hello all you new people, whoever you are. While these are my favs there are a lot of good adventures not mentioned here. Ask away and I can point you at a few specific to your interests.
I’ve been a bit lax in updating my list of favorite modules. I’ve linked to my RPGGEEK entry where you can get all of the my reviews, archived, rated, and ready to sort, but I should do something on the blog also.
So, here’s my list of my favorite adventures from the OSR:
| Anomalous Subsurface Environment | 1-3 | Gonzo City & Dungeon with a bit of Gamma World thrown in. | |
| Stonehell | 1-7 | One of the few good megadungeons in existence, in the innovative 1–page format. | |
| F3 – Many Gates of the Gann | 5-6 | A weird dungeoncrawl, like days of old! | |
| Rappan Athuk | 1-99 | The closest thing to the platonic ideal of a megadungeon. | |
| Demonspore | 3-6 | A damn fine example of an OD&D feel. Everything seems fresh & new again. Matt Finch is one of maybe three people in the OSR who I trust to consistently turn out good adventures (Bowman, Gabor Lux, Finch.) | |
| Beneath the Ruins | 1-3 | A great ODD feel in a small package. WMLP has the next two levels. | |
| The Shadowed Keep | 1-3 | Kramers take on an evil overlord fortress. Kramer is very good. | |
| Ychyrn The Tyrant | 1-3 | Kobolds in a cave, Kramer style. | |
| Arachnophobia | 3-5 | Bug infestation under a church, ala Aliens. | |
| The Shattered Skull | 2-4 | Orcs tribe in a cave. Kramer is good at everything he does. | |
| Shadowbrook Manor | 1-3 | A haunted house, a bit on on the goofy side. | |
| Tower of the Stargazer | 1-3 | Slow paced exploration of a wizards tower. | |
| Death Frost Doom. | 1-3 | A great, if slow, crawl in a cult temple. Then your campaign ends | |
| Barrowmaze | 1- | Megadungeon features lots and LOTS of undead. | |
| Wheel of Evil | 3-5 | Fungas men always deliver an OD&D feel. | |
| The Thing in the Valley | 3-5 | A nice pace and and an evocative environment for a horror like adventure. | |
| Voyage to Plague Island | 4-6 | A Weird and wonderfully idiosyncratic adventure. | |
| Tomb of the Iron God | 1-3 | There’s two gods and like 500+ monsters in this FIRST level adventure. Good Stuff! | |
| Gone Fishin’ | 3-5 | Great folk tale feel and free to boot! | |
| Monastery of the Order of Crimson Monks | 5-9 | Good expansion of the sample dungeon in the 1E DMG. | |
| The Inn of Lost Heroes | 3-5 | Very evocative. Very horror. Some of Spahns best | |
| Ironwood Gorge. | 2-5 | Better than B2, despite what Benoist says. | |
| The Ruined Hamlet/Terror in the Gloaming. | 1-3 | Interesting situations and evocative detail. | |
| A2 – The Slag Heap | 2-4 | Three examples of failed villages. A nice look at a borderlands village environment. | |
| AA#12 – The Barrow Mound of Gravemoor | 5-7 | Barrow. Atmosphere. Weird. | |
| The Bonegarden | 12-14 | Subplots galore, but suffers from major bloat. | |
| Red Tam’s Bones | 3-5 | Fey, for a more civilized time. | |
| Challenge of the Frog Idol | 3-5 | It’s free. Why haven’t you downloaded it yet? | |
| The Melford Murder. | 1 | A mystery that doesn’t suck and a good adventure to plunder for ideas. | |
| Systema Tartarobasis. | 3-5 | An evocative journey through a hellish Orwellian society. | |
| The Maze of Nuroman. | 1 | Classic tropes. Best for n00b players but could use some gonzo or OD&D weirdness. On the cusp on not making by B cutoff. | |
| Tomb of the Bull King. | 3+ | It does Greek Epic right. | |
| Tempus Gelidum | 3-5 | A small gonzo lair in which all of the elements work together. | |
| Obelisk of Forgotten Memories | 1-3 | ASE1 graveyard with factions. | |
| Garden of the Hag Queen | 2-5 | A mini-setting with a outpost of an evil kingdom. | |
| Prison of the Hated Pretender | 0-1 | A nice quiet little intro scenario. | |
| The Red Demon of the Vile Fens | 3-4 | Gonzo ASE1 adventure in an old giant tank. | |
| Fight On! | – | Magazine. Generally very good. | |
| Nod Magazine | – | Great Stater hex crawls. | |
| Hex Crawl Classics | – | Line. More great Stater hex crawls. | |
| Blood of the Dragon | 1-3 | This is Swords & Sorcery done right. | |
| The Spire of Iron & Crystal | 5-6 | A classic Finch work. | |
| The Purple Worm Graveyard | 1-3 | ! Bryce luvs monster guts! | |
| My Design Contest! | – | The Six Thousand Steps, Hive of Giant Bees, To Rob a Witch! | |
| Tomb of the Sea Kings | 5+ | is all about the players. | |
| Valley of the Five Fires | 4-9 | gives you a nice mongol environment and adventure. | |
| Beneath is Windowless Tower | 5-8 | And it’s free! | |
| MCMLCXX | 1-4 | … or whatever. I think it’s charming. | |
| The Hidden Tomb of Sloggoth the Necromancer | Low | is a nice baseline for “decent adventure.” | |
| Tower of the Scarlet Wizard | Any | is one of the new old things from Jim Ward. | |
| Blood on the Snow | 8-10 | is some kind of Viking mayhem. | |
| SlaughterGrid | 2? | A great example of dynamic encounters. | |
| Deep Carbon Observatory | Mid | is a master-class example of a good OSR adventure. This is a fine example of the best of the OSR dwarfing older material. | |
| Maze of the Blue Medusa | 1-4/5-10 | is what classic D&D is meant to be. One of the best dungeons, IMO. | |
| The Gnomes of Levnec & A Thousand Dead Babies | 1 | both provide nice little mini-regions with a TON going on. | |
| Sleeping Place of the Feathered Swine | 1 | is horror-ish and evocative without being grim. | |
| Lapis Observatory | ? | kicks so much ass! | |
| Broodmother Skyfortres | ? | is a great tutorial on how to be a DM. | |
| Stealer of Children | 1 | is another great Peter Spahn adventure. | |
| No Salvation for Witches | ? | is a great little LotFP-oriented thing. | |
| Towers Two | 4-6 | channels GWAR, in both a good and bad way | |
| The Marionette | 1-4 | is that rarest of things: A decent Adventurers League adventure. | |
| The Globe | 4-5 | is a nice little self-contained thing inside of a snow globe. | |
| Curse of the Shrine Goddess | 1-3 | (Content Partner) is a great little adventure with nice imagery and a player focus. | |
| An Overwhelming Sense of Loss | 1-3 | is a great little dungeon. | |
| Mines, Claws, and Princesses | 2-4 | cements Oswald as a master of the dungeon design craft. | |
| Echoes from Fomalhaut #1 | 2-4 | has a great 2-level cave from a master. | |
| The Red Prophet Rises | 3-5 | engages in some serious Conan-warrior cult fun. | |
| Kidnap the Archpriest | Low | (content partner service) is a great city/caper sandbox. | |
| Operation Unfathomable | 1 | is a underground system that is one of the most imaginative ever written. | |
| Hyqueous Vaults | 3 | proves that the old ‘standard’ adventure styles are great when done well, and it does it very VERY well. | |
| Grave of the Heartless, Dragons Heart | 1-4 | are good mini-campaign things. | |
| Statues | 1-4 | (content partner service) is a great urban caper/mad mad mad mad world adventure. | |
| Dungeon Full of Monsters | 1- | is a decent dungeon in spite of some hipsterism rando stuff. | |
| Fever Swamp | ? | comes from the always great Melsonian’s … and is set in a swamp. | |
| The Submerged Spire of Sarpedon the Shaper | 4 | does a great bringing brining the OD&D vibe of an underwater/alien environment. | |
| Tower of the Weretoads | 1 | is just … well … ooky! | |
| Wyrd Ways of Walstock | 1-3 | is about a cult taking over a town. | |
| Fall of Whitecliff | 1- | (content partner service) is a great collection of one-pagers that link to form a campaign. | |
| The Ruinous Palace of the Metegorgos | 1-3 | is … well … mythic? It FEELS Like a place of legend, forgotten. | |
| Sacrebleu! | 1-3 | Goblins with world war one gear. | |
| The Beholder Contracts | 3 | A formatting nightmare with good Stick | |
| To Bring Down the Sky | 4 | Everything for a night of adventure! | |
| The Vanilla Adventure | 1 | Vanilla don’t mean generic. | |
| The Dark of Hot Springs Island | ? | Mega adventure on a weirdo island. | |
| The Barbarian King | 4-6 | More fun from Melan! | |
| Writing with Style … advice for RPG Writers | – | The only design guide approved by Bryce. | |
| (5) Saving Saxham | 3-5 | Social aspects in an adventure?!?! GASP! | |
| The Dragons Secret | 1-7 | Jennell reenters the fray with a new adventure! | |
| (5e) Rats of Waterdeep | 1 | Madcap detectives! | |
| Kellerin’s Rumble | 3-5 | You inherited a warehouse! | |
| The Sunken Fort | 1-4 | Funhouse! | |
| (5e) A Night in Seyvoth Manor | 6 | – | |
| Through Ultans Door #1 | ? | I thought opium was illegal in the US? | |
| The Castle that Fell from the Sky | 3-5 | Funhouse! | |
| DAMN Magazine Spring/Summer 2018 | Low | DCC weirdness with a 3e flavor! | |
| Pollute the Elfen Memory Waters | 4 | Sandy in a fucked up city. | |
| Dead Planet | – | Just what are you willing to do in order to break orbit in this spaceman adventure? | |
| Welcome to Mortiston. | – | Modern zombies, not OSR, but a perfect example of how to set up a social environment in which adventures can take place. | |
| Fever Dreaming Marlinko & Slumbering Ursine Dunes & Misty Isles of the Eld | – | All great places to use to add to your own devices. You need a city, or a region? Use one of these! | |
| The Fungus that Came to Blackeswell | 3 | Why is the village abandoned? | |
| The Harvester from outer Space | 4 | Abducted to another world! | |
| Dreams of the Lurid Sac | – | A truly alien environment. | |
| Fight On!2, 3, 5 and 6 | – | Anything by David Bowman, but these from Fight On! stand out. | |
| Peril on the Purple Planet! | 4 | DCC-Invade another planet! | |
| People of the Pit | 1 | DCC-Invade an ancient pit/cult/monster! | |
| Blades Against Death | 4 | DCC-Invade the afterlife to save a comrade! | |
| The Emerald Enchanter | 2 | DCC-Invade the wizards tower! | |
| Well of the Worm | 1 | DCC-Invade the well to stop the mother worm! | |
| The One Who Watches From Below | 1 | DCC-Invade the gods cave! | |
| Intrigue at the Court of Chaos, | 1 | DCC-In Courts of Chaos YOU are invaded! | |
| The Chained Coffin | 1 | DCC-A more folklore based adventuring environment! | |
| Bride of the Black Manse | 3 | DCC-Save the bride from the demons that carried her away! | |
| Dead Planet | Your spaceship is Stranded! Also, this place is crazy … | ||
| The Keep of the Broken Saint | 9 | Non-simulationist! Still FEELS real! | |
| Witchburner | ? | Its every witch burning adventure evar | |
| Trollback Keep | 5 | Well rounded place to get in to trouble. IE: What every D&D adventure should be. | |
| Winters Daughter | 2 | Fey themed solid effort with playful formatting | |
| Book of Terniel | 1 | Pathfinder! Easily one of the best for that system | |
| Beneath Dark Elms | 2 | A dark forest with T&T charm of old | |
| Eyrie of the Dread Eye | 7 | 8 factions. Emergent play. A REAL expedition adventure | |
| The Magician’s House | 2 | Mini-vignettes without reaching set piece territory | |
| Masque of the Worms | 1 | 5e. Evocative. Creepy as fuck. | |
| The Withered Crag | 2 | Compact, efficient, effortless in its support os exploration, roleplay and interactivity. | |
| Bone Marshes | ? | Impishness & usability | |
| Highfell | 1- | Megadungeon! On a floating island in the sky | |
| Acid Metal Howl | 6 | Great layout and organization | |
| Temple of the Blood Moth | 4 | Ripe with unique monsters and treasure and evocative writing and … | |
| Everyone Plows the Graveyard Farm | 2 | Sandbox in a small rural community | |
| Hole in the Oak | 1 | Well supported dungeon with a fanciful air | |
| Spiral Isles | 1 | An adventure for when you die | |
| Saving Throw Fanzine | ? | A bunch of great adventures in this | |
| The Mud King of Stoney Creek | 6 | A lair adventure firing on all cylinders | |
| Temple of Old Faith | 3 | Dungeon with evocative test, interesting situations, and usability | |
| The Tomb of Black Sand | 4 | A GLORIOUS vision of a lich’s lair | |
| The Howling Caverns | 1 | Builds tension well in this small dungeon | |
| The Lost Treasure of Atlantis | 7 | Finally, something that lives up to a Swords and Sorcery promise! | |
| Castle Xyntillan | 1-6 | The best adventure locale ever written. Seriously. An 11 out of 10. | |
| Ragged Hollow Nightmare | 2 | PACKED. FUCKING. FULL. | |
| Chalice of Blood | 5-6 | Interesting dungeon with … BLOOD! | |
| Shield of the Hidden Lord | 3 | I wonder if they will release those undead at the end? | |
| The Ghoul Prince | 3 | Interesting experiment in perspective | |
| The High Moors | 1-9 | Mini-campaign hexcrawlish | |
| Caverns of Slime | High Levels | Not as slime heavy as the name would imply … | |
| The Lair of the Lamb | 0 | The giant hairless cow-thing calls out Father when wounded | |
| The Tombs of the Whispering Worms | 1 | Solid low level dungeon | |
| The Obsidian Keep | 1-32 | Tremble in the presence of Joseph Robert Lewis! | |
| Lorn Song of the Bachelor | 4 | Small asian/jungle region to interact with | |
| Tomb of the Frost-Walker | Mid Levels | Cold themed, as the name would imply | |
| Darkness at Nekemte | 5-6 | Solid serpent-man jungle dungeon region | |
| Bonepicker’s Tower | 2-4 | It FEELS like someplace you want to explore | |
| Desert Angel Fiasco | 2 | PACKED. FUCKING. FULL. | |
| A Shadow Over the Greatwood | 5-7 | Like a MERP region, but fun | |
| From Beneath the Glacier | 5-7 | Unfreezing glacier means unfrozen horrors released | |
| The Secrets of Skyhorn Lighthouse | 5 | Modern D&D dionne right. lol | |
| Xanadu | 2-3 | Lots of creep in this one | |
| Kraken Corpse Delve | 1-3 | Mythic, but not in an epic way | |
| The Seers Sanctum | 1-4 | Chocked full of eyeball monsters! | |
| Colossus Wake | 3 | Gotta fetch quest hem all to stop the colossus! | |
| Hideous Daylight | 2? | Great sandbox example | |
| The Pit in the Forest | 2-3 | to find THE DEAD ZONE | |
| Shadow of the Beakmen | 1 | Harley knows how to write a fucking adventure! | |
| The Palace of Unquiet Repose | 3-5 | Oooozing with baroque evil vibes | |
| Star Spire/The Bruja, The Beast and the Barrow | 1-2 | Evocative, imagined, interactive in the crystal-verse | |
| The Waking of Willowby Hall | 3 | A classic dungeon full of situations | |
| Halls of the Blood King | 3-5 | Factions in the interdimensional vampire-kings palace | |
| The Incandescent Grottos | 1-2 | A more grounded Operation Unfathomable | |
| Pestilence at Halith Vorn | 4-6 | Multiple levels of a cult | |
| The Final Voyage of Draengr Thar | 3-5 | Great vikings! Great horror! | |
| The Carnivorous Caverns | 2-4 | The big mimic doing some pod people | |
| Zjelwyin Fall | 2-3 | An astla plane adventure that DOES fit low levels | |
| Cult of the Sky Titans | 1 | Cavemen in a weird world | |
| Souls for Qovahe | 2-3 | Battle Royale chaos that actually works! | |
| Beneath the Moss Courts | 2-3 | More from the weird ass Gus world | |
| Slug House | 1-3 | A realistic overrun wizards house? | |
| Through Ultans Door #2 | 2-3 | Catacombs of the Butchers Guild | |
| Treasures of the Necropolis | 3-7 | Delightfully idiosyncratic | |
| Ave Nox | 1-3 | The promise of Lost City fulfilled | |
| The House Under Moondial | 3-4 | A busy little regional full of situations | |
| Bastard King of Thraxford Castle | 3-4 | A perfect little mini-adventure of undead | |
| Black Blade of the Demon King | 1-3 | A mythic vibe in the north | |
| Slyth Hive | 14+ | Ants/Borg/Aliens vibe | |
| Valley of Flowers | ? | A magnificent region with TONS going on | |
| Constant Downpour | ? | Rain on Venus of the horror variety | |
| Standoff at Sandfell Sea Fort | 4-7 | What a small region should be | |
| Scorchfire | 7-9 | Escort through a wildfire | |
| Cloister of the Frog-God | 4-6 | An underground worthy of The Frog himself! | |
| Webs of Past & Present | 4-5 | That OD&D vibe | |
| Echoes of Fomalhaut#10 | ? | Results Vary | |
| Great Mansion Heist | 1-2 | Situations in a stealth raid | |
| The Mythic North | ? | Mudcore Hexes! | |
| Curse of Ganshoggr | 1 | A level one dragon kill | |
| The Well of Frogs | 1-2 | Neighborhood Above and dungeon below | |
| Hobbs & Friends #1 | 2 | Magnificent chaos! | |
| Hounds of Hendenburgh | Low Levels | Town/Region/Dungeon Standard | |
| Tomb of the Twice-Crowned King | 8-10 | A varied, interesting dungeon | |
| Stirring of the Slumbering God | 3-5 | Rantings of the deluded entice! | |
| Shrine of the Small God | 3-5 | Interesting flavour in a petty god | |
| Baphomet’s Son | 3-4 | Well supported dungeon for play | |
| Odious Uplands | 1+ | Upper Mastondonia. Nuff said | |
| Caverns of Steel | Mid to High | Machine themes megadungeon level | |
| Secret of the Black Crag | 1-5 | Islands & Dungeons | |
| The Forest of Gornate | 3-5 | Terse & Evocative | |
| The Dragons Gullet | 3-5 | The Classic Dungeon Level | |
| Tites of Weeping | 2-3 | Lair side trek | |
| Gilded Dream of the Incandescent Queen | 3-5 | Two level sky castle | |
| Aberrant Reflections | 1-4 | Finally, a decent puzzle dungeon | |
| The Creeping Terror | 3 | Sea Cave with OD&D vibes | |
| The Oneiric Hinterlands | 1-7 | A real deal big adventure | |
| Wyvern Songs | 1-6 | With a Wyvern. Go figure | |
| The Saint of Bruckstadt | 1 | Five levels dripping with flavour! | |
| The Mall | ? | Finally, some modern horror | |
| Ascent of the Leviathan | 2-4 | Undersea that is truly alien | |
| Witches of Frostwyck | 1-4 | Terse, evocative situations | |
| Peril in Olden Wood | 3-5 | GREAT situation in a multi-level dungeon | |
| Holy Mountain Shaker | 5-6 | JAM packed with things to do | |
| Call of the Toad | 1-2 | Intense real world vibe | |
| Imperial Vault 19 | 3 | Standard points done right | |
| Echoes of Fomalhaut #9 | Various | Just auto buy the fucking things | |
| Battle for Carrion Vale | 6-7 | After the mass battle come the problems | |
| Wavestone Monolith | 3 | Pyramid with a Chthonic vibe | |
| Palace on the Pink Waves | 3 | Floating jetsam island | |
| The Frost Spire | 3 | Fey abduct Children | |
| Surgerock Vault | 7-9 | A decent little one | |
| Gravestone Deep | 3 | Great example of a small page count | |
| The Keep of Dragon Turtle Greth | 2 | On the back of a dragon turtle | |
| Guimond’s Light | 2 | Great example of terse and evocative writing | |
| Treasures of the Troll King | ? | The Mork Borg promises pay off | |
| The Cauldron | 3-7 | Isle of Dread vibes | |
| Bottomless Pit of Zorth | 3-5 | Reverse Pyramid of Weirdness | |
| Tomb Robbers of the Crystal Frontier | 1 | That signature GusL vibe! | |
| Monkey Murder Manor | 1 | Funhouse in the best sense | |
| Cursed Scroll #1 | 1 | Classic exploration dungeon | |
| City of Bats | 4-6 | Effortless effort | |
| The Sepulcher of Seven | 5-7 | Multiple zones, subplots, and mysteries | |
| Temple of 1000 Swords | 3 | SERIOUSLY sword themed | |
| The Bone Alchemist | 1-3 | Not a Complete Fucking Idiot | |
| Ominous Crypt of the Blood Moss | 2-4 | Otherworldly Horror | |
| Orbital Vampire Tower | 3 | Palace of the Space Vampires, with great NPCs | |
| The Forsaken Wilderness Beyond | 3-12? | Real Deal Basic Hexcrawl | |
| The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford | 1-3 | An almost whimsical wilderness | |
Update!
Hey, do you have impossibly high standards that make your life a living hell? No? Then maybe you’d also be interested in the ‘C’ rated-adventures! I have always felt a twinge of regret in these. They are good, but just not THE GREATEST THING EVER. So, here’s the list:
Bryce’s List of No Regerts adventures …
View Comments
Cheers for theses recommendations.....just celebrated my birthday and got ASE1, stonehell and demonspore and am not disapointed.
Bryce you are a godsend and have saved me from parting with my hard earned dosh (well the wifes actually) on the everyday inane crap that passes as an OSR adventure.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks for this great list.
Is there a place where we could easily find other Bowman modules?
RPGGEEK KNOWS ALL!
http://rpggeek.com/rpgdesigner/20618/david-bowman
Why can't Jaquay publish something else?
@98mph: She hasn't written anything in 20 years, it seems pretty unlikely.
you need to add dcc harley stroh adventures here :p
You have been away for far too long Bryce. I miss your blunt and honest criticism, and the occasional sweaty rant! Come back soon! :)
Damn it , I meant sweary! Bloody auto-correct!
Sweaty rants are good too
No Scourge of the Demon Wolf?
Where's The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence?