Totally with you on The Lost City. My group of 30-year-olds had their minds blown in '82 when we played it. I've DM'd it since with a group of teens, who also loved it. It is extremely well organized and clear for the DM, and compelling for the PCs. We're still playing D&D, old school style (brutal, thrilling). We've played almost all of the original D&D and AD&D modules, but the Lost City still ranks as our favorite.

I quite like Rahasia and Blizzard Pass. Plus I love the art on the cover of B1-9 In Search of Adventure and I like how it’s much cheaper than buying the modules separately.

B1-9 hits home hard I was so excited to pick that up, hoped for a super connected campaign, nope. Horror on the Hill was the first module I bought, that wasnt in a ruleset. B10 is really good, I have never played lost city but Im going to hunt that one down. DTRPG has it so hunt is over. I enjoy hearing your blunt reviews that put aside nostalgia and calls out the crap that was in some of the "classic" modules.

B10 is awesome! I am currently playing it through it now (recap vids on my channel). Regarding price its available for Print on Demand for a reasonable amount which is how I got mine! Great video. I have a soft spot for Castle Caldwell though. THe first two adventures are silly light hearted fun (we played them at the start of the campaign - great introductory dungeons for new players, as in players that have never played any rpg ever) Be interesting to see you revisit this in the future when you have played them all ;D

Excellent breakdown. There are still several of the B series I do not have and some that I do own that I have never played or run, but you are spot on about B2 and B4. The Keep falls into what I call the "monster hotel" type of module with too many creatures in too small of a space, and no reason to be together. Lost City was a blast. I have been on both sides of the screen for that one and if my niece decides she wants to play (she's been thinking about it and trying some of the choose your own adventure books) that is one I will take her through.

I love B3... for all it's faults, it can be addapted/modified and form the basis of a larger/better campaign... (change the White Dragon for a Griffin, expand the cult, etc)

Well done! I agree with a lot of what you say, though I think that you have B2 too high and some others too low, though they are ones that you admit that you know nothing about so they can sit in the tie spot. B9 was very useful to me as I used its adventures, with some modifications, for one shots or days when half the players were unavailable. It was my back pocket backup, as it were. And it served some decent use as that. B1-9 was a waste. It was lazy and more haphazardly stitched together than Frankenstein's monster: the first draft. 😀I still own it, but haven't opened it since I last read it on the week I bought it, so there's that. B7 was a well done adventure. I loved it, though the only time I "ran" it was when I used the maps and some of the encounters as an adventure for a much higher level party, replacing the others with more appropriate opponents. It is a complex dungeon, so probably not good for fresh level 1 characters and there needs to be a place nearby for a beleaguered party to rest and recover. B1 is still my favorite, as it taught me so much about including atmosphere in a dungeon to evoke something beyond the all-too-often kill/loot/continue mindset. It was also my first basic adventure in my Holmes boxed set, so there's a little nostalgia perhaps, but it was a solid and deep adventure setting beyond almost any other I've seen. But I can't fault you for having B4 in your top spot as it was impressive in its own rights.

Great fun as always! Thank you, Sir! We’ll never see eye to eye on B3, but who wants to live in a world where everyone is the same? Boring! Look forward to your next one. Cheers 🍻

Another good review. I am slowly buying the old modules from Drive Thru to fill gaps in my original collection. I think you are right to be critical. I find they are most use as inspiration to the DM, rather than running them as written. I think it's been said elsewhere, but B9 is fine with kids. I ran it for my wife and 5 yr old and they enjoyed it. B8 seems a bit naff, but I am tempted to run it as a precursor to B10 and have a heavily modified Rock to be an old Hutaakan site. Thus linking to the Hidden Valley in the later module. B11 is nothing exciting, but the DM advice in there is pretty good. I wish I had it back in 87 when I was starting as I would have been a lot better as a DM! I saw a comment on a forum or elsewhere on YT from some guy who mashed up the Isle of Dread with the Lost City. It sounds pretty awesome to pull off. He put the Lost City instead of the Kopru temple, but you could add the latter as well. After all, there's a vague similarity between Zargon and Kopru. You could even get the rules for Kopru PCs from PC3 The Sea Peoples for some really challenging villains. Possibilities, possibilities... 😃

B10 Night’s Dark Terror is not only available 2nd hand. We can also buy it as a PDF &/or Print On Demand hard copy on DMs Guild, a.k.a. Drive Thru RPG.

A good list. B4 and B10 have only risen in people's estimation over the years and with due cause. I really love B2. I understand how people inevitably compare it with T1, but I like the openness of it. I like how the NPCs and the Cult of Evil Chaos are left for the DM to fill-in with the details. I'll chime in with other commenters about B7. It was the first module I ran, and although there are some typical Hickman-isms in it, I think it's a strong thematic module with its exotic elven temple and three witch sisters. B5 is one that I didn't play or run back in the day, but I've recently discovered. It is indeed a tough-y, but it's a classic dungeon crawl.

You can get b10 as a print on demand. It's a poor substitute for the real thing but it's a damn sight better than nothing.

I got a good chuckle listening to your insights....My favorites were/are B-1, B-2 and B-4 The rest of them I can take or leave for similar reasons that you give. I recently stumbled on your channel through a friend of mine and I have to say I'm happy I have found it. Be well! 😊

I'd honestly take constant back to back Castle Caldwell adventures above anything released for 5th edition (or even most of 4th). Either we were incredibly spoiled back then, or incredibly deprived now. Or perhaps both.

Would love to see you do all the UK series as well. Keep up the great reviews.

I would have put B2 ahead of B1 but you sold me on it. Going to have to give In Search of the Unknown another look. As for B4, YES! Only criticism I have of The Lost City is I think the map could use some work. Other than that it is an under rated module.

Great vid. I always like contentious lists. It's not that the lists are, it's the reaction to them. Everyone has a different ranking. That said, I agree with quite a few of yours. Not that I'll rank my preferences, but I do love B1,B2,B4, and B6; and I do like quite a bit of B5 (although I dislike the name Fort Guido, but that is easily fixed). I've yet to read B10, but I hear it is a masterpiece. Rumour also has it that B11 and B12, by Carl Sargant are superior, as well. I once read a review that B9 was intended as a children's introductory adventure and that if it was advertised as such it would have attracted far less criticism than it has. The same review suggested that those 5 short adventures are rather whimsical, as well. I haven't read it, so take that statement with a grain of salt. All in all, I'd say that the B series issued better modules overall than most of the other series. X has a quite a few, but of them only a few invite the same nostalgia as the Bs do. I must say that I've never liked early dungeon layouts, though, and was wont to take the essence of the modules and reskin them. But so many of those classics found their inspiration in classic pulp era fiction, didn't they? Note that B3 did not make my list; so if some people beat you up on your dislike for it, rest assured, I was not one of them. I believe Moldvay, indeed the whole of TSR, did Wells a disservice scrapping so much of her work. Dropping her sandbox was the worst sin. As I noted in your review, my take-away, my great love of that work, is Duchess and Candella, and they were Well's creation. God love Jean for them!

I don't fully agree with your list and I think some deserve to be lowered on the list. However I definitely agree with number 1 B4:The Lost City is by far my favorite module of all time. B4 is such a great module and severely underrated, it is the only module I've ever seen to fully utilize and represent the alignment system and still haven't had a chance to run it yet. Also its name is brilliant B4: The Lost City sounds like Before The Lost City, so it almost has a double title both of which make sense as you learn about what happened before and what is going on now. It is truly a module made perfectly for BX which is why I kind of have issues with the goodman games version but still a masterpiece. I look forward to seeing more of your channel.

Just a correction, Harry Nuckols is actually a real person. He's better known for being a professional bridge player

Never heard of Castle Caldwell. Had Journey to the Rock. Useless to play. Dont know the 5 you listed together. I liked Palace of the Silver Princess. I reskinned it as Princess of the Silver Palace with even more of a fairy tale feel .She was about to marry a gnome when the curse struck. The red glow enchantment affecting vegetation and the animals/people of the area became more like the problems from J.G. Ballard's "The Crystal World". As written the module had a few cool monsters , the decapod comes to mind , and a few good traps. I did have to totally rework it. Horror on the Hill was enjoyable, easy to run. I had a party of geologists who would invariably bushwhack and come up on things from the side or behind. We had a lot of fun and the prep was minimal. I can see you getting beaten up on B2. I along with anyone else who started with this set, loved the Keep and the wilderness and the Caves. I built in a big overarching bad in the Cave of the Unknown that was running the Temple of Evil. The temple was organizing and recruiting the various tribes of beast men to raid supply caravans coming to the keep. The Caves I had built up as a response to a Keep of Law built too far in to a realm of Chaos. The creatures in the cave are like antibodies or huge white leucocytes attacking the Lawful infection in their area. The ecosystem is nonsense so I tried to give it a reason. Here is a module that is actually my favourite. I can run it at the drop of a hat and tailor it to almost any group. There is no D&D module I am more comfortable with. You are right that nostalgia fuels most of this regard. Come on ,how much fun is the fact that Bree Yark in Goblin supposedly means "We Come in Peace" ? Nostalgia I don't like Hommlet as much. I find the Dungeon weak and am a little annoyed at the overpowered NPC's who do nothing. I like Into the Unknown another product I reskinned and beefed up and gave a story. I liked the Mushrooms and the teleport puzzle and a couple other party splitting ideas. B10- I have never played Nights Dark Terror. I will seek this out. Thanks. Enjoyed the Lost City, loads of fun and lots of role play and bizarre moments. Its number 14 on my List . I do see where you are coming from. My group's problems with role play made this one tougher than it needed to be but it also brought out more role play than I had ever gotten from my group before.

I honestly have to agree with you. I only got a copy of B2 a couple of years ago, I didn't grow up with it. While it's a great example of a teaching adventure, B4 is above and beyond as a dungeon crawl that can easily become a whole campaign.

So from Keep on the Borderlands to The Forest Oracle.

love your vids

One of the rare channels where I have notifications on

Wasn't a fan of you not knowing a thing about nearly half the modules listed and yet you still ranked them. Not sure what the value here is, especially compared to your other excellent videos.

What is this ranking? A 5-way tie near the bottom by modules you've never read? Why rank them? That preceded by a book literally being judged by its cover. It seems like you should at least read these books before ranking them, no?

🤨 how are you reviewing modules you've never player or read?! 😂