RPG Retro Review: Q1 - Queen of the Demonweb pits, Part 1

I'm dividing my Q1 review into 2 parts, part 1 is live! Enjoy!
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[@PFiction24]

I knew D&D influenced A Song of Ice and Fire, but I didn't know George RR Martin also copied their release schedule.

[@redfeildre349]

Imagine what we would have gotten if Gygax was allowed to finish his own work.

[@cliffraeder3049]

Likely, we would have never seen it in print. Mr Gygax was incredibly busy not only writing but also creating new content and (strangely) still DMing massive games. The Blumes were business people, and did not understand the creative process, true, but they also had to give deadlines. If left without a strict timeline, I imagine Gary would still be tweaking and revising his manuscripts and we would not have had half of what we do today.

[@fleetcenturion]

Impressive cover art. That's a pretty fair depiction of a camel spider! Not a lot of people were familiar with what they even were in the late 70's, much less their exact anatomy.

[@anthonyalexander8886]

It sounds to me like the problem was that Gygax overextended himself. The dude was working on a *lot* of projects at once. No wonder he couldn't finish one of them.

[@captcorajus]

He was a beast behind the typewriter. The problem wasn't that he overextended himself though... he got sidelined by the Blooms.

[@opa-age]

In those days this module was always the "final quest" of my campaigns. I think only one of my campaigns ever lasted that long to play it.

[@mikesavill1474]

Good to see you back, was just saying the other day how I was missing my dose of nostalgia and old skool courtesy of your great reviews. Looking forward to Part 2 immensely.

[@jeremywebster7912]

It's great having you back. Looking forward to your comments on 5.0, I played it with my kids and we really enjoy it.

[@davewebb415]

always a fan of your reviews! It's a privilege to have someone thouroughly rounded with AD&D to explain these classic modules. what a treat! THANKS!

[@tonyyourewelcome8086]

Just discovered your series and really enjoying your reviews. This one was particularly instructive for the historical background. I wish Gary had been able to present his version of Q1 at some point. Alas, we'll never know...

[@waltwhitmanleaves]

i always loved this series of the classics. i was always amazed on how complex the maps were. i wish the maps were broader in scope it seemed like looking back they packed tons of rooms into a small network.

[@murphysborounderdark]

Good stuff. Hurry up with part 2!

[@condensermike]

We are from the same era. Amazing references.

[@Stromboly]

Great video, as always, can't wait for part 2 !

[@ColTaylorDyath]

This explains a lot. When I DMed it many many years ago, the players were a bit bewildered as to why they had been fighting servants of the Elder Elemental God and then had to go into the Abyss to fight Lolth, who had little to do with the Giants plot. All I could say was, "well, it's the next module in the series".

[@imperator88vis67]

I wonder if there has ever been any fan made alternative version of Q1 that reframed the module away from being just a boss hunt, back towards Gygax's original vision for the end of the series arc?

[@VhaidraSaga]

I think Greyhawk Grognard has tried.

[@straysod]

awesome... .. love all the history and backgound, cant wait for the next one... thanks

[@johnnyo3535]

The essence of this review is quite powerful my liege.

[@roofields8468]

Love the review and the history behind the magic.

[@ColTaylorDyath]

Some of those doors on the web that lead into other worlds...you could set whole campaigns in them.

[@captcorajus]

Yep! I'll be talking about that in part 2.

[@KeyserSoze1972]

I played this with my players and they did go to those realms.

[@Cyberpuppy63]

And that's exactly what happened, too. Tolenkov's world was changed to Ravenloft.

[@ronaldsanfran]

Hmm... but why did Blume take Gygax off the project? It's unclear why there was a schism here...

[@FPietros]

Nice. Thanks for this review.

[@adamsmith4414]

Capt, love your channel. You are the caretaker of lore which might otherwise be forgotten as we pass the game to the next generations--keep up the important work. Our association is dedicated to playing published adventures, and we've given considerable effort to learning the backgrounds and converting to modern editions many of the classics. Q1 is a module that has eluded us for quite some time, but it's on our list (having done G1-2-3). We recently released material from Temple, Tower, and Tomb (1994), and we'll be converting Tales of the Outer Planes (1988) this year as well. Excited for part 2 of the Demonweb Pits!

[@captcorajus]

The whole reason I started this channel, is that I would talk to younger gamers, and I realized that the things I took for granted as general knowledge were completely unknown to them. The reasoning why things were the way they were in the game wasn't really understood by the newer generation of players. Plus, I really love retro gaming!

[@dragonballtalk8527]

1:15 video begins

[@thorkhammer]

I hope in Pt. 2 you talk(ed) about how the Q1 "went wrong" making Lolth the endgame instead of where the Gs and Ds actually led the characters towards.

[@mikeem09]

I DMed my high school group through part of this, but we never finished it. I still have this module and the revised GDQ1-7. Looking back at it now, I have to agree that this wasn't their best work.

[@MrChupacabra555]

Interesting to hear some of the background concerning these modules (all those years reading Dungeon/Dragon and I never knew any of this). I always thought Lolth's 'Spider Ship' was kind of a strange tangent from the fantasy feel. I remember when "Spelljammer" came out I kind of retconned the ship to be a Spelljammer she was building (still a bit silly, but at least it fit into the 'cosmology' of the game at that time). Despite its faults, though, it was the series that introduced us to perhaps the most iconic of villains for the game, the Drow, which eventually lead to the most liked (or disliked, depending on who you ask ^_^) characters of the setting, Drizzit Do'Urden. For that it will always hold a place in my heart.

[@PungiFungi]

I like Lolth's Spider Ship...it is something unusual as you should expect from Lolth and the Abyss. The alternate module Skein of the Death Mother reduced Lolth's palace to a simple boring dungeon crawl.

[@rrrrw999]

My favorite module and series

[@ricardocastillo5485]

I have a soft spot for DCSIII, such a great artist in the earliest days, got totally screwed over by TSR like most of their talent. So much creativity in the early days, so many opportunities gone to waste.

[@GoShanePlays]

Good stuff

[@PaulGaither]

I am new to all of this, as I have said in my comments on the other videos, and am thankful for these. So, before I move on to Part 2, it sound like Mass Effect 3: The rumors I heard were that ME3 was going to have an amazing branching ending, but was thuroughly leaked and spoiled online, so Bioware and EA scrambled to change the ending and made a shit show of it. So... we end up with an amazing adventure with a disapointing ending. Kind of like Lord of the Rings too. An epic adventure that ends with unstoppable ghost pirates showing up to save the day and a side character slipping and falling to his death and the destruction of the mcguffin. Multiple examples of the journey being far more important than the destination.

[@waltwhitmanleaves]

cap what is the website you go to for old school information again. you mentioned it in a few of your reviews

[@captcorajus]

You mean this? www.acaeum.com/index.html

[@waltwhitmanleaves]

@@captcorajus i think so. thanks

[@waltwhitmanleaves]

@@captcorajus cap i think it started the site with the letter Z

[@captcorajus]

@@waltwhitmanleaves Oooohhh... You mean Zenopus Archives. zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/

[@waltwhitmanleaves]

@@captcorajus thats it

[@noobiesnacks1636]

Hey I love these reviewS! xD Im just about to run my first DM session with my daughters this weekend starting the on the Eye of Traldar for oldtimes sake! Any recommendations for the next module to consider?

[@phildicks4721]

Words cannot even come close to much how much I hate this module. I'm a bit of an arachniphobe, and this module gave me the heebie-jeebies! I soldiered through it once back in the late 80s and never attempted it again.😉

[@Cyberpuppy63]

Unfortunately, this seems to high light just how toxic, and bothersome the background "noise" going on behind the scenes. Back in the 1990's I'd heard rumors among some gamers that an employee of TSR (some say "a secretary") deliberately shafted a portion or part of TSR with political infighting and complaints. Later, I'd heard there was also tirades from the feminist faction (either letter writers, or legal "contributors") who took issue with "the physical Strength table" limitations of female characters. It's not a perfect set of gaming works, obviously. Not counting the idiotic "fundamentalist" angst and anger that assailed the company as well.

[@captcorajus]

I don't know if I'd say it was 'feminists' that voiced concern over the silly strength table. This game is frequently about power fantasy. Women have power fantasies just like men do, and if you're trying to grow your audience, its just good business to get rid of something that from a gaming standpoint doesn't really ADD to the fun. I've seriously had commenters say that the couldn't play the game without it because it wasn't 'realistic' or some other such nonsense. To which I have a few replies to. First... this is a game with wizards, dragons and trolls, but a woman with an 18/00 strength breaks your immersion.... Sorry... but that's a reflection of the player. Second, if you sit down with a player.. say my daughter... lol.. .and she rolls an 18/00 strength, am I going to tell her she can't because she's playing a girl? I don't think so. And yeah, the Satanic Panic was ridiculous.

[@condensermike]

Where does that funky intro come from? Love it.

[@captcorajus]

Its called 'Blue Break' and its from the copy right free music pool that youtube provides to its content creators.

[@stevenwintersnight1036]

Varg we have to quit meeting like this :D.

[@lindy9196]

I always hated this module!

[@biffstrong1079]

It did seem Unplayable.

[@tj1993rx7]

Gary can come off as egotistical old guy and like many older men, over value their own opinion. In particular, when he was ousted, doesn’t think anything the was produced without his oversight or touch wasn’t that good. He helped create a great game but his attempts of née games after D&D were turds.

[@GravesRWFiA]

The irony is the boss hunt for lolth doesn't make sense-the giants were stirred up by the political enemies of her followers. you were doing her a favor by trashing them