Friday, January 6, 2023

An Observation about Gygax's Modules

Between 1978 and 1985, TSR Hobbies published eighteen stand-alone adventure modules carrying the byline of Gary Gygax, starting with Steading of the Hill Giant Chief in 1978. Because it was the first of its kind, module G1 does not include a suggested level range on its cover. Instead, there is an interior section, labeled "CAUTION," that states the following:
Only strong characters should adventure into the Steading of the Hill Giant Chief if the party is but 3 or 4 strong. 6th or 7th level characters are suggested only when the party numbers 5 or more and only if most of the party is of higher level. The optimum mix for a group is 9 characters of various classes, with an average experience level of at least the 9th, and each should have 2 or 3 magic items.

The module's immediate sequels, The Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl and Hall of the Fire Giant King, include similar notes of caution that more or less reproduce what is stated above. When the three modules were collected together under one cover as Against the Giants in 1981, they were given a suggested level range of 8–12, which seems a bit higher than how I read Gygax's words.

Also published the same year was module D1, Descent into the Depths of the Earth, includes its own note of caution:

Those familiar with the previous modules in this scenario will be aware that they are designed for play only by players of above-average ability who have characters of high level – 9th or 10th minimum, counting multi-classed characters as roughly equal to a single classed character two levels higher than the character's higher level (three levels if triple classed) ... The module is designed for characters of about 10th level, with a party size of 7 to 9.

Module D2, Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, offers similar advice, as does module D3, Vault of the Drow. Later reprintings of these modules (again, in 1981) would combine D1 and D2 and peg its level range at 9–14 and D3 at 10–14. (The conclusion to the Giants-Drow series, 1980's Queen of the Demonweb Pits, is largely by David C. Sutherland III but Gygax is given a "with" credit, since it's at least partially based on his ideas. In any event, it too is listed as being appropriate for character levels 10–14.)

I find it interesting, as others undoubtedly have, that the first six modules TSR released for use with AD&D were all aimed at fairly high-level characters – roughly the 8–12 range. The seventh module released in 1978, Tomb of Horrors, doesn't include the same note of caution regarding levels. Instead, only that it is "A THINKING PERSON'S MODULE" with few monsters and whose challenges are meant to be" solved by brains and not brawn." That said, Tomb of Horrors does include a roster of pregenerated characters that range in level from 6 to 14. The later 1981 reprinting opts instead for a 10–14 range. 

In 1979, TSR publishes The Village of Hommlet. Again, it has no level range listed on its cover, but "Notes for the Dungeon Master" explains that "this module is designed for beginning play" and that experienced players "should start new, 1st level characters." The cover of the 1981 reprint – a recurring theme! – states that it is for "Introductory to Novice Level." Later in 1979, Gygax's name would also appear on The Keep on the Borderlands. This is the first of his modules to specify a level range on its original cover, in this case 1–3. 

There's then a gap of three years before Gygax's name again graces the cover of a D&D module of any kind. That's when The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun is published, with a stated level range of 5–10. The next year, 1983, we see Dungeonland and its sequel, The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror, both of which are suggested for levels 9–12. 1984's Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure is for the same level range, while 1985's Isle of the Ape, Gygax's last published adventure module for TSR, is for levels 18+.

Looking at the totality of his published output, as I've just done, it would seem that, by and large, Gygax wasn't all that interested in low-level adventures – or at least he wasn't interested in writing them. This might be because he simply found higher-level scenarios more compelling or because he felt there was a greater need for published examples of what higher-level play could be. Either way, he devoted himself to writing a significant number of modules in the 9th–12th level range, with only a small number of outliers. 

Personally, I find this quite fascinating, if only because it runs counter to the conventional wisdom that Dungeons & Dragons, as a game line and as a product, benefits most from having lots of support for low to mid-level play. If you look at TSR's output over the years of its existence, you'll see lots of adventures in the levels 4–7 range and comparatively fewer at higher levels (though, again, there are outliers here and there). I know that my own personal preference has always been toward a similar middle span of levels and have often felt that every edition of D&D starts to creak after about level 9 or so, though Gygax would seem to have felt differently. If so, it makes me wonder all the more what his version of Second Edition might have looked like.

EDIT: I inexplicably left out both Expedition to the Barrier Peaks (8–12) and The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (6–10), two modules I like a great deal. 

17 comments:

  1. I'll have to dig it up, as I made a list about this some time back, but I am sure that the G, D, and Q series all originally appeared as individual convention modules for various tournaments. The early tournament scene was dedicated to high-level okay, both players and characters. So when TSR suddenly needed to publish modules, based on the success of the Judges Guild modules, they pulled out the tournament modules Gary had run, polished them up a bit, and published them, complete with the pregens used by all tournament players

    Ergo, lots of high level adventures.

    Caves was designed from whole cloth as a starter adventure. It has been well established, however, that Hommlet was from Gary's Greyhawk campaign (with the moat house replacing the original monastery ruins later used in the DMG). The major NPCs in T1 were all former PCs from his campaign.

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  2. Ah, I misremembered. The D series is also from whole cloth, but G and Q were tournament modules. But the D series was built as a bridge, so still in the same vein as G and Q.

    The whole list is at the bottom of this blog post:

    http://adventuresingaming2.blogspot.com/2022/05/how-to-be-best-dungeon-master-for.html

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    1. The point is well taken nonetheless. Many of Gygax's adventures were written for use as tournaments and that definitely skews the level ranges.

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    2. Whoops, wrong post!

      http://adventuresingaming2.blogspot.com/2022/06/how-to-be-best-dungeon-master-for.html

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    3. Only G1-3, D2 and the first half of D3 were tournament modules (i.e. not D1 or Q1 - which isn't Gygax anyway). S4 is a mostly rewritten tournament module (same map, new text), whereas S1 is not only pretty much the original tournament adventure (it's a rewrite of Alan Lucien's adventure), it is also the first ever tournament adventure. Then there's a switch - T1 says its from his home campaign (but is mostly new/rewritten), B2 is basically a fleshed-out rewrite of Sunstone Caverns from CSIO (though great), but the last 4 are faked home campaign stuff that probably has little in common with the actual stuff that he ran.

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  3. Yes it is a puzzle, and it put me off buying Gygax authored AD&D modules for my BX game back in the mid-80s as most of our play was at low to mid levels.

    The Gygax statement "players of above-average ability who have characters of high level" is very interesting to me. Back in the day I would have said that a good player was one with a high level character, but I realise as an adult that that isn't at all the case. It isn't even meta gaming the game system. Did Gygax say anywhere what he considered to be examples of above-average play? With all your years in the game, what would you say was above-average play? Is it the same at all levels?

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    1. Gygax talks extensively about "superior play" in various sections of both the DMG and his columns in Dragon. By those standards, I am not and never have been an above-average player.

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    2. Thanks. I'll go and have a look at the DMG more closely. Can you recall what advice was given in Dragon? There's no way for me to access what was said in the past, but I am still interested to hear what Gygax said on the topic.

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    3. I think some of the "superior play" comments are in the context of tournament play as well, at least for the modules. What constitutes "superior play" in a tournament vs an adventure vs a house campaign would vary at least a bit, i think.

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  4. That tracks with my own experiences. My group were playing BECMI back then. We had no problem inventing our own adventures for Basic and Expert levels, but once we got into the Companion levels we started using modules. By the time we got to Master levels I think it was pretty much all modules. We just didn't know how to design an adventure for characters that were near gods.

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    1. Your comment makes a lot of sense. The highest level PC I ever had was a CE fighter who reached 12th level. All I wanted for him was to build a big castle, have a goblin army and be able to punish anyone who would challenge his domain. But after I paid for the castle we didn't do any adventuring.

      What was needed from TSR was more guidance and tools to support creation of your own dungeons and adventures generally. Tools such as Monster & Treasure Assortment, Dungeon Geomorphs and NPC charts are much more useful to players who have went through B1, B2 & the Jean Wells B3.

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  5. I find this funny, as our campaigns never got anywhere, and were always restarting. we needed more low level stuff (we played the everloving crap out of t1) and the high level stuff got bought but generally not played.

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  6. Gary's modules typically have a discrepancy between the level ranges on the cover vs. those specified in the text.

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  7. Ah the memories. Circa 1983, my Ranger hacked his way to 11th level by serving on the team that defeated Nosra, the Jarl, and Snur all in gritty melee combat.

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  8. I find fascinating that he's suggesting parties of 7-9 players (or, at least, characters). That's way bigger than the parties my characters found themselves part of.

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    1. Our usual party size has always been 6-8 as most players always run multiple characters. That's partly due to lethality. I can't conceive of trying one of those Gygax modules with only 4 PCs like all the new modules suggest.

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  9. Gygax's modules are pretty much my favorites, for the most part. That might also be why my personal "sweet spot" is adventures for characters of levels 8-12. I like playing and writing the high level stuff. Recently I've come to appreciate the ease of DMing low level stuff, but I still like playing higher level PCs albeit with fewer magic items.

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