Knights & Knaves Alehouse

I'm trying to remember if there were any published TSR modules that featured insects with intelligence (or hive intelligence) enough to fight with weapons, take prisoners etc. with the size and proportion of roughly humanoid. Curious to see how it might have been done. My attempts have always been pretty lack luster for some reason, and I'm looking for an example. If not early, later stuff would be good to check out as well I suppose (as long as it doesn't totally suck).

https://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/modpag ... ans/a1.jpg

When I click on your link it says "not authorized to view". Damned circus laws.

It's the cover of A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity.

By the way, that cover also features a bearded female dwarf.

Hope that works. Fun module, though not everyone agrees with me.

I've always been underwhelmed by it, to be totally honest. When I was younger I was a huge fan of A2 and the more funhouse A3. A4 - which is undoubtedly the best design of all the A Series and is imho in the top five best non-Gygax module list - didn't spark the imagination when I was first exposed to it. Of course now I appreciate it much more.

- Wheggi

rredmond wrote:
Hope that works. Fun module, though not everyone agrees with me.

Wow, that one slipped by. Don't recall ever playing or even seeing it. Thanks

AxeMental wrote:
Wow, that one slipped by. Don't recall ever playing or even seeing it. Thanks

My thought exactly, Dork.

- Wheggi

It's A1, it's...how could you never even see that one?!

I don't have any hard numbers to back it up, but I've always suspected A1 is probably the most common and widely-played AD&D module. In part because it's got a pretty cool name and cover picture with the creepy ant-dude, in part because its alphanumerical designation makes it seem like a natural starting-point, and in part because its level-range (4-7) lines up perfectly with people "graduating up" from the D&D Basic Set to AD&D. I1 and C2 also fit into that sweet spot (and were also surely very widely-played) but they don't have the "A1" designation to make them the obvious first purchase for someone still new enough to the game to not quite know what they're doing.

Higher level modules like the G-D series and S series are more famous and iconic (and also have the benefit of having been published first, and of being better adventures) but not all groups made it up to high enough level to play those, while pretty much everyone made it up to levels 4-7. Similarly, T1 loses out by being too low level - groups who started out with the Basic Set and played through B1 and/or B2 and made it to 4th level and are ready for "the real game" don't want to have to start over again at 1st level. In my experience T1 was the "fresh start" module - the one you go to once you've read the rulebooks and realize that you've been "doing it wrong" and want to start a new campaign that "actually does things like you're supposed to." That was definitely the way we used it BITD - a year or so in we retired our first-generation munchkin characters who'd been converted over from the Basic Set and started over with new 1st level by-the-book "native AD&D" characters using T1 as our starting point.

DungeonDork wrote:

AxeMental wrote:
Wow, that one slipped by. Don't recall ever playing or even seeing it. Thanks

My collection is pretty spotty (though I'm surprised I don't have this). I purchased a dozen or so modules back in high school, but the bulk in 1991 in a used book store stuck in boxes with pages falling out (some missing maps, others missing pages etc.). I think most I got for about 50 cents to a buck, but it was a TON (JG and TSR mostly). After that I stopped buying.

The vast majority of stuff we play is home made, so there's really not much opportunity to play what I have (only getting to play maybe every other week). When we do play a TSR module its one we have and is known to rock. Anyhow sad to here this one isn't that good. I like the cover.

AxeMental wrote:I'm surprised I don't have this

The disbelief is in that you've never heard of it. I'm sure the entire Slave series has been discussed here numerous times over the years.

AxeMental wrote:

DungeonDork wrote:

AxeMental wrote:
Wow, that one slipped by. Don't recall ever playing or even seeing it. Thanks

My collection is pretty spotty (though I'm surprised I don't have this). I purchased a dozen or so modules back in high school, but the bulk in 1991 in a used book store stuck in boxes with pages falling out (some missing maps, others missing pages etc.). I think most I got for about 50 cents to a buck, but it was a TON (JG and TSR mostly). After that I stopped buying.

The vast majority of stuff we play is home made, so there's really not much opportunity to play what I have (only getting to play maybe every other week). When we do play a TSR module its one we have and is known to rock. Anyhow sad to here this one isn't that good. I like the cover.

It's pretty good. I ran it a couple times back in the 80s and everybody always enjoyed it. Wheggi's just a module-snob

It was originally written as a tournament so it's very linear and some of the encounters are arbitrary and dumb, but it's got a giant sundew, it's got orcs living in sewers, and most importantly it's got a set-piece battle with the ant-men on balance beams over the titular slave-pits. If you don't think about it too hard you can play through it in 1 or 2 sessions and everybody will have fun. Or if you're willing to devote the effort you can slice it apart and add more context and turn it into something that makes more sense.

See also: this