Module B1 - Best D&D Introduction Ever?

[@tombraider862]

So, a few years back I opened up that same exact boxed set, and introduced my son to this D&D. He agreed, much more fun than 5e or any of the newer D&D versions.

[@seanferguson-th6ny]

Happy to see more appreciation of the original D&D game(s) and modules instead of trying to bury the original creators. Keep On The Borderlands was my first introduction but soon after I played In Search Of.... with a rookie DM who clearly did NOT read the preamble and was hostile to players but we've all been there. Nice summary and it shows how much more clear and accessible older D&D really was as opposed to the modern spin that it was incomprehensible.

[@theoldwarlock]

Glad you liked it, thanks!

[@markdickey739]

B1 is one of my favorite modules and I still use it to introduce players to the game. My older brother gave it and the Holmes Basic Book to me sometime around 1980-81. I live about an hour away from Quasqueton, Iowa for which the dungeon was named (Mike Carr once lived and worked in the area) and there is a lot of controversy about the pronunciation. Most of the people in the area just call it Quasky.

[@theoldwarlock]

I did not know there was actually a Quasqueton town. Now I have some research to do. Thanks!

[@AgranakStudios]

Love it!!! May be my favorite dungeontuber channel, love you guys!

[@TheK5K]

This channel and your own are both excellent, choosing paths less trodden to provide content that's original and interesting. Thanks to all for your hard work!

[@theoldwarlock]

Thanks! We love your channel!

[@theoldwarlock]

Thank you!

[@karlbolt7159]

Thanks Old Warlock! Timely as I just bought Goodman Games’ B1-B2. Appreciate the preview.

[@theoldwarlock]

Glad you liked it! Let us know how you like B2.

[@cavalcojj]

Video starts at 0:00

[@pirateofms]

Ahh. Beat me to it!

[@Hewhowantstoknow]

Video starts at 6:30

[@yippeethreeeight]

"Play the music!" I was waiting for the screen to come back from black to find Alex with a black eye (makeup, of course).

[@theoldwarlock]

Of course, Of course! (Good to hear from you Y38.)

[@ScottBaker_]

That was my first D&D set. Played and ran B1 many times. Started when a friend got a copy, pre B1.

[@PatriceBoivin]

Saw the Monster Manual, didn't know anything about the game, went to a local hobby store called Hobbyland in Ottawa Ontario, saw Chainmail, Petal Throne, Tekumel, the White Box, but bought module G1. Had no manuals to play but tried to explain the game to my dad based on what G1 showed. Then bought the Players Handbook, the Basic Set with B1. Played in B1 and DM'ed it. A couple of years later the game had exploded, we had a game group organized at my high school and about a dozen people were playing regularly. We also played on weekends for hours at a time. Good memories.

[@theoldwarlock]

Agreed. The older I get, the better the memories of early D&D get.

[@michaeldrinkard678]

Holmes Blue Book Basic was our introduction to the game back in the late 70's, and B1 was our first experience. We gamed that module multiple times, and then, with a large supply of graph paper from our geometry classes, began designing our own dungeons. Granted, most of them were designed to fill up a sheet of graph paper with as many rooms, halls, and chambers as possible, and we filled EVERY room with a randomly rolled assortment of creatures. I don't think we ever had a room with no creatures, unless it was also filled with traps. We refer to those old original homebrewed dungeons as Monster Holiday Inns. No logic to it, just room after room of critters and traps. We made, and lost so many characters. But, we eventually learned to create dungeons and campaigns that made sense, and it all started with Holmes Basic, and module B1. And here we are, all these years later, still playing this game that we love. :-) Thanks for the video. Oh, and you may have explained this somewhere else, but what do the runes on your shirt say, Jim? Something about taking all of Alex's magical items? 🤣

[@michaeldrinkard678]

OK, somehow I managed to miss the video where ya'll got the shirts which translated them. Much coolness! They definitely need to make more shirts. ;-)

[@theoldwarlock]

Your early D&D mirrors my own. Exactly. And I'll tell John he needs to make more shirts!

[@alberthennen7370]

Enjoy your pieces guys. I don't do modules per se , but I do steal and repopulate every dungeon I can find anywhere. I even get to use some of them from time to time. Looking forward to your video on Basic D and D.

[@theoldwarlock]

Thanks! For years I didn't use modules as they were intended but reused the maps in different ways. Still do now and then. The video on Basic should be sometime after the first of the year.

[@roberttschaefer]

Way back when, I received the Holmes Basic “Blue Book” for Christmas when I was 15 years old. It really was a spectacular introduction to the game. Does anyone remember the horrible quality dice set that came with it? The blue d20 was famous in our group’s campaigns for wonky corners, and constantly rolling 20s.

[@ScottBaker_]

My d20 was white. It looks like a marble now. That soft plastic didn't wear well.

[@PatriceBoivin]

@@ScottBaker_ Mine was white too and back then there were not many dice on sale at the store... A couple of years later clear plastic "gem" dice appeared! I bought two sets of those on the spot but already had purchased many more already.

[@theoldwarlock]

I still have those dice. The D20 is takes 20 seconds to stop rolling because the corners are all gone. There's a guy who remade those dice, I believe on Kickstarter, and sold quite a few sets.

[@roberttschaefer]

@@PatriceBoivin you are correct it was the 12-sided that was blue!! (I’m old what can I say)? But yeah, the corners were poorly engineered so the dice weren’t exactly random. Lol

[@TonyAsberry-i2f]

Absolutely loved this module. It was always easy to take it and build on it.

[@theoldwarlock]

I've used it to house many different things. It's simple and fun.

[@FinieousFingers1976]

You had horses? I had to walk 5 miles uphill in the rain each way to school and back. 😓

[@FinieousFingers1976]

Great tips that apply to any role-playing system and universe you are playing in.

[@FinieousFingers1976]

Great video guys. Thanks for covering that addition to D&D, I had never heard of it as far as I can remember. Quite an excellent intro do role-playing games. So, technically I had a little bike I road back and forth to school. Rain or shine (lived in Georgia, first snow flake and school was canceled). But I got a 10 speed at 13 for middle school and thought I was the boss. 😖Nice shirt Jim. Did Alex not do his laundry? Seem to remember 2 shirts, or I could be imagining it. Will Alex wear his McLaren shirt for us if Lando wins the F1 driver's championship?

[@solomani5959]

I had to wake up 1/2 an hour before I went to bed for school.

[@nicka3697]

​@solomani5959 school you had a school we had to work for 26 hours a day for 5 days to buy bricks to build our school with and every weekend the council would demolish it.

[@malfarian]

At least you were allowed to walk! We had to crawl through broken glass!

[@davidfinch7407]

Finally rolled up a Paladin character and wandered into B-1. A few feet in was an alcove with rubbish. My Paladin searched the rubble and was quickly attacked and bitten by a giant centipede. Yes, it had weak poison; but when I rolled a "1", the poison was strong enough, and I quickly find myself in possession of a dead Paladin. So, yeah.

[@theoldwarlock]

Nice intro to B1!

[@grokka]

This was my first introduction. I got the box after the one you showed, but a dog eared copy of B1 was included in it. I have re used it throughout my career as a DM as a lair for Undead, Orcs, A motley crew of monsters, and human warlord. Next? Maybe ALL SLIMES! Guess we will see.

[@theoldwarlock]

I've also used B1 in all kinds of ways. It's been an unknown quantity in my game for decades now since I always change its ownership around.

[@OverlordRising]

Shout out to the shirt!

[@theoldwarlock]

Glad you like it!

[@Cynidecia]

Tomb of the Serpent Kings is the best modern teaching module ive seen. It's a definitive tutorial for beginners.

[@theoldwarlock]

We'll have to take a look at that.

[@deadlyDM]

I own a copy of B1 but have never ran the module. My go to and favorite introductory adventure over the years has always been N1 - Against the Cult of the Reptile God by Doug Niles. I pulled out my copy of B1 as I was listening to this and started skimming thru it. Wow. It very well may be the best introductory module. If I had access to it back when I was a 10 year old not so deadly DM, it would have been my go to! I think I may flesh it out for my current Shadowdark campaign.

[@theoldwarlock]

Using it in Shadowdark... Hmmm....

[@cowpercoles1194]

I think B1 is a great introduction to early D&D, with a focus on classic dungeon crawling. It has good advice on running and stocking a dungeon, making rulings, and handling NPC hirelings. The dungeon design is a mix of wacky architectural surprises, and dungeon ecology/realism. B2 does a better job with how to set up a full campaign setting, because it has a town/home base, ally NPCs, an intro wilderness map, and a multi-level dungeon consisting of levels with escalating difficulty. These are all the ingredients for running a sandbox, in addition to the dungeon crawling.

[@theoldwarlock]

Thanks for the comment! We may be doing a closer look at B2 after the first of the year.

[@karlhayden9834]

I still have my very tattered B-1 copy. It took me forever to figure out you just make up stuff and roll dice. I reread the rules like 6 times. My initial confusion was coming from Avalon Hill wargames and how simple the ruleset is actually. The module was awesome! So was Dawn Partrol! I just started running B-1 on Fantasy Grounds Unity with my original player and other new players. He he still remembers rooms from back then 44 years ago.

[@theoldwarlock]

Glad it's still being used and remembered. Part of what I liked was the simplicity of the module. I'm sure there's also a heavy dose of nostalgia there for me, too.

[@Mikethemerciless11]

This was the first published adventure I ever ran, and I need to bring it back to the table.

[@NemoOhd20]

There is another KZbinr named Tabletop Bob who modified it highly including cutting out a bunch of the silly stuff. If you look at Dyson Decahedron there's a modified map that makes a lot more sense but keeps the room of pools and the better bits of the dungeon but cuts out a lot of them useless stuff.

[@theoldwarlock]

It's big on the nostalgia side for me but also just a fun, simple dungeon.

[@Mikethemerciless11]

@@theoldwarlock It very much is all those things. Having re-read this module again, now that I found it in my collection, it's a little bonkers. But, most published adventures, back then, were. Because RPGs were relatively new. Back in the 70s and 80s, if you wanted to play a game with people, the customary thing was a board game. Monopoly, Life, Risk, etc. D&D was exotic, and thanks to the Satanic Panic, and the Steamtunnel fiasco, and that Tom Hanks made-for-TV show Mazes and Monsters, that made us all want to play. And, after a few times playing it, I wanted to run it, and this module was the first thing I found. I was 11 years old. And I loved it. Looking back, the story was just to get us in the dungeon, and that's part of the charm. Today, I'll figure out how to put it in our campaign setting, in a logical, organic way.

[@hydra1396]

Thanks boys i wanted to run two campaigns so knowing where to start with modules is very helpful

[@theoldwarlock]

We hope it helps!

[@CaptCook999]

I have never played in that module. Ours was Keep on the Borderlands. I find it very intuitive that they would want a beginning DM to roll up the monsters and treasure for the various rooms in the dungeon. Even though it may be a little confusing at first, a good DM would figure it out or, better yet, make it up as they saw fit

[@theoldwarlock]

I think a video of Keep on the Borderlands is due for us.

[@nailpounder81]

Wait, you got a horse? I was born in '62 and had to make do with a broke down stegosaurus.

[@theoldwarlock]

I mispoke. It wasn't a horse. I wish it was a horse. We couldn't afford even small dinosaurs.

[@nailpounder81]

@@theoldwarlock man you really had it rough.

[@j.rinker4609]

Nice watch tan, Alex.

[@BXDisciple]

Would love to see a video of a deep dive of Basic D&D and Tower of Zenopus! Awesome video btw on B1!

[@theoldwarlock]

Thanks! Basic is on the agenda for early 2025. And we're trying to work out a way for Chris Holmes (son of Holmes Basic creator JE Holmes) on a podcast pretty soon to discuss it's creation.

[@johnalanwalker]

I got that when it first came out maybe 12 or 13. Read it learned a bit looked at it and started making my own. It sad these days people dont make there dungeons or even worlds.

[@theoldwarlock]

That creative aspect has always been most of the fun for us.

[@Ratenef]

I recently went back and was checking the adventure that came packaged in the Top Secret (1st edition) box set. It also contains great advise on how a game should flow and how best to administrate as the GM/DM. I think that this kind of preamble should be more often included in adventures. To paraphrase Jim Shooter, who said that every comic was someone's first comic, every adventure is someone's first time GM'ing and any advice would be of great value.

[@theoldwarlock]

Very good point!

[@bizzy5439]

I'd love to see a video on Holmes Basic and a dedicated video to just The Tower of Zenopus. I've run parts of the tower before and it's one of my favorite intro dungeons.

[@theoldwarlock]

We may do both after the first of the year. Thanks!

[@kevinkingmaker7395]

I duplicated the entire map of this dungeon, including lighting (fog of war), into Roll20 and ran it for my players. Big hit.

[@theoldwarlock]

That's pretty cool!

[@LeaderDesslok]

Hey guys, another great video. You mentioned a more detailed review of the basic rules...how about a lood at the Rules Cyclopedia? I never had it way back when, but it is a complete list of all the Baic D&D rules from beginner to immortals.

[@theoldwarlock]

Good suggestion! We'll look into it.

[@VideoZivili]

Which runic alphabet is on your shirt ? It’s not exactly futhark or futhorc. Is it runes being used for English words or the original language? Sorry, off topic, but it’s driving me nuts.

[@jjjumpercables8513]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqG6eoOcl9Fqo5Y

[@JohnLee-cc4kx]

I'll have to check the scrap of paper I used...

[@mitryanderson3874]

“It was not I did not…?” Hard to tell exactly what it says.

[@JohnLee-cc4kx]

@@VideoZivili yes that is correct, now you need heirgyplic book, or check previous episode...

[@tmpape01]

Heh good episode but just a side note I was born in the early 1960s in a rural area and did ride a horse to school when the school bus couldn’t make it to our house. 😊

[@theoldwarlock]

Glad you liked the episode! Do you still own horses?

[@tmpape01]

@@theoldwarlock Sadly no. After college I moved to “the big city” and our neighborhood isn’t zoned for livestock. Family still owns the farm (about 170 years in the family now) so get to see what few they kept when I go visit

[@Privateer_24]

Didnt catch the full names of the host, but ironically, with talking about 1970’s and ‘80’s D&D, the younger host, ‘not Jim,’ reminded me of a younger Eric Bloom from Blue Ouster Cult. Funny how that works.

[@theoldwarlock]

Loved this comment. He's now been said to look like everyone from Jeff Lynne of ELO to Eric Bloom of BOC.

[@Privateer_24]

I cant speak much about ELO but BOC, yeah I can tell you album and side of almost any song. Was thinking about making Saltmarsh vampire a nosferatu type vamp. Maybe even make him a nemesis of Strahd from Ravenloft. Will be interesting how that plays out.

[@Damnationization]

I replayed this converting it to 5e. I let the players roll for the creatures and treasure randomly. The players rolled orcs in the hallway at the start and rolled high. One of the players actually died, bad death saves. I let him keep his character, since it was the first encounter.

[@dane3038]

It just occurred to me that the deeper and undefined level of The Caves of Chaos ( keep on the Borderlands ) is called "The Caves of the Unknown". So, has anyone ever used the Caves of Chaos (B2 ) as a setup or fist part of In Search of the Unknown?

[@HarrLeighQuinn]

I never played B1. B2 The Keep on the Borderlands was the adventure in my first boxset. B2 had a complete map, but had a section that encouraged the DM to make their own. The area designated for the DM to make their dungeon is called the Cave of the Unknown. I wonder if it's a call back to B1. WotC seems to be wanting to make an AI DM for their new VTT, because it seems like fifth Edition has a DM crisis. I think it's mostly speculation, but people point to WotC/Hasbro hiring AI programmers as proof. I can understand the shortage, though! Playing 5e is great! You're so strong and can vanquish enemies like a super hero. But when I DM, I'm usually annoyed by how much work it is to DM for 5e. Personally, I pronounce it "QUASQUETON". Had to include this to make Alex right. lol

[@theoldwarlock]

We'll be doing a dive into B2 soon. I'll see if I can find an intended link to B1 via Cave of the Unknown. And, no, I think it's pronounced "Quasqueton." KYSAF HLQ.

[@roumonada]

I just tell people that D&D is just playing pretend but for adults and that it’s very therapeutic.

[@wizardsofthetower3802]

Video Time start starts at... PSYCH!!!

[@Wraithing]

So are you advocating that everyone learning D&D should have access to module B1, or have access to a Deborah Ann Woll? Not sure B1 would win! LOL I've only run B1 once when I was 12. Were sunny days actually longer at the beginning of the'80s? I remember we enjoyed it. PCs got lost, some died in Zelligar's Laboratory and one eating mushrooms. I definitely taught players to be more cautious. Teachers interrupted a combat, because we played on school lunch breaks. I got a detention for expressing my annoyance!! Turned out to be useful for planning level 2! Rebellious individual 😁 KYSAF

[@theoldwarlock]

No, no - DAW should be using B1 to teach D&D.

[@Robocopster]

Mike Carr!

[@theoldwarlock]

Really creative individual!

[@LeaderDesslok]

I think modern game designers have forgotten the part about D&D where sometimes the best action is running away. I hate how everything must be perfectly balanced with no negatives, that's not really fun to me.

[@theoldwarlock]

Agreed!

[@JohnLee-cc4kx]

Water Pit Trap dropping Players to lower levels! Oh I hate those! They should be outlawed!

[@theoldwarlock]

Where have you seen those?

[@petegiant]

0:28 That clip you speak of is the worst introduction to d&d I have seen.

[@Talwyn22]

B1, for a beginner DM, is not a good module to start with. Too much work has to be done to flesh out the adventure whereas B3, The Lost City, is an almost fully realised adventure that has the potential to be turned into a full blown campaign once the DM becomes familiar with the module and system as the module has plenty of hints and hooks to take the characters down into the underground city.

[@roumonada]

2:17 My car too.