A lot of people cut their teeth on module B2, The Keep on the Borderlands. My first D&D sitting was a homebrew adventure called the Orc’s something (can’t remember). But the first D&D product I ever purchased was the Expert Set, which contained X1, the Isle of Dread. So while it wasn’t my first, for quite some time it was my only module and it got plenty of play and it’s also the main setting for Dungeon Magazine’s latest campaign path.
In a lot of ways, the Isle of Dread was one of the first open ended adventure. I know the Keep on the Borderlands is close (you can pick your cave), but the Isle of Dread presented one of the first open AND outside settings.
The first thing I notice about this adventure are all of the maps. You have an overall map of the Isle of Dread but then you also get several maps that provide much more detail on the appropriate sections. You also get a map that’s simply called “the continent” because it provides a setting for you to start the party’s sea travel to the Isle of Dread. The adventure starts when the party discovers an old scroll that details a ship log that talks about the Isle of Dread and after the party does some research, they decide to set sail for adventure.
There’s not a ton of detail on what happens when the party travels to the Isle of Dread. It discusses the party getting lost or getting lost in a storm, but there’s no overseas encounters.
Then at that point, it’s all about the Isle of Dread. You get a description of all of the appropriate places worth nothing but there’s no detailed path the party is supposed to take. You’ve got a ton of dinosaurs, some dragons and even some zombies on the wandering monster table. There’s a pirates lair and a lizard men lair but the ultimate destination is the the central plateau (which has a gold vein and a small village) along with Taboo Island, who’s temple provides a neat little dungeon crawl.
There’s an appendix that provides some extra goodies and adventure paths and then you get the low down on all of the dinosaurs. This is definitely a classic though and I thought Dungeon made a great choice for their campaign adventure path when they chose the Isle of Dread.
October 31st, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Yes, this was the first for me to play and dm for. I have Broken arrow, black shield,test of the warlord as well. I think they are some of the best stuff. The new D@D is ok, but im old school.I will say I take some of the new and add it to the old ways to make it work. Isle is one of my favs and always will be. It reminds me of good time sitting with friends late at night getting into the the story and having fun without getting into trouble.
February 19th, 2011 at 12:40 am
You got that right. Marathon game sessions when we were snowed in… Oh the good old days. I have all my old stuff and I am teaching my kids to play the old rules, then I will let them decide which they like better when they grow up… sort of like religon… your folks try to get you to follow theirs…then you grow up and make your own choice, but at least you have a foundation. Wow, that was deep.