The BECMI Adventure Path

[@danacoleman4007]

if I could, I would choose to live forever in that evening in which I received my red boxed set. Using a crayon to color in those amazing unmatching dice (some light blue, some green, some yellow if I remember correctly). Then, hiding under the blanket with a flashlight to begin my first adventure and meeting that beautiful cleric lady. Nothing in the almost 40 years hence has even come close.

[@becmiberserker]

See my Aleena and Bargle video if you want to meet her again. 🙂

[@danacoleman4007]

@@becmiberserker I watched it just prior to leaving my above comment. Certainly that's why I was feeling so nostalgic for that time and place. Thank you for that. 😊

[@davidjkelly1971]

I still remember exactly where I was when i read this first adventure too ....1984, front lounge, lamp, armchair.... love at first sight!

[@garyflexon532]

It is good to see someone who seems to be as passionate about the BECMI line and the world of Mystara, as am I. I think in the current climate of discontent amongst gamers dissatisfied with WOTC multiple versions of our beloved TSR conceived game, the BECMI line will enjoy an upsurge in popularity as newer gamers go old school.

[@becmiberserker]

I really hope so.

[@Arasaka]

Great idea, I have often wondered how a BECMI Adventure Path would look. B10 is a must and I agree, it's the greatest TSR module ever written. I'm also partial to X11, a great prelude to CM1. That red box in 1986 at the age of 10 really opened my eyes to amazing artists and mysterious maps and a world that seemed even more interesting and accessible than our own to me.

[@direden]

I agree Night's Dark Terror, Master of the Desert Nomads, and Temple of Death build a solid campaign! However, I think Veiled Society is a better start and has a better narrative connection to the other modules. Anyway, Karameikos is the best nation in Mystara!

[@RB-sz9gv]

Never left BECMI

[@solomani5959]

Did you get to immortal play out of interest?

[@RB-sz9gv]

@@solomani5959 never

[@tommo9757]

I wish I hadn't 😢

[@mykediemart]

In search of Adventure was my first adventure path, my young self thought this book was the coolest thing.

[@docsavage8640]

It's not an adventure path. It's a module.

[@docsavage8640]

Oh, I see they tied all those B modules together? Kind of a weird "path" 🤔

[@bjornh4664]

I plan a more casual and shorter campaign, starting with B2, and then moving on to B4 or B10, finishing with X1. Since it's over 35 years since I DM'd a D&D group (using some house rules at that), I need to get the hang of the game again. The goal is to offer my friends a genuine old school RPG experience.

[@GreasusGoldtooth]

I recently became enamored with OD&D, and Palace of the Vampire Queen was what I used to kick off our campaign.

[@strategicviewpoint6672]

Palace of the Silver Princess?

[@elliotvernon7971]

@@strategicviewpoint6672 Palace of the Vampire Queen was the first D&D module - from 1976 - it was published by Wee Warriors - it was initially sold by TSR before Gary and co realised that they could make money from their own modules.

[@kuriboh635]

Dude awesome. I got replica prints of the 3 wee warriors set. I definitely would love to run them probably twords the end of my next campaign I run.

[@glenndean6]

I like B4 -> X1 -> X4 -> X5 myself. Things tend to stall out beyond that.

[@easygurps]

This overview and break down of your actual experiences are beyond value, and I do not actually know anyone in my area that has ever got this far. Thank you so much for sharing!

[@becmiberserker]

You’re more than welcome!

[@joshcharlottesville]

This is a great idea for a channel. Can't wait for you to go through each module one by one.

[@TheActionAce]

This is my favorite video you have done. My group plays OSE but I miss the true BECMI days

[@becmiberserker]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@kuriboh635]

I can definitely respect this. Seems very well thought out. I might use this line with some modifications for my wife's swords and wizardry campaign I'm writing for her.

[@CMacK1294]

Just here to say: I don't personally play BECMI (I could never get my players to mess around with THAC0 - Including the ones who did it before - or some of the quirkier systems in the game.) but I'm greatly enjoying the content, and I've been leafing through the Rules Cyclopedia because converting BECMI or AD&D content into my Castles and Crusades game has proven remarkably easy and low overhead. So keep up the great work, it means there's always something else I can poke into for inspiration. Got my players building up a dominion (a few levels early, yes, but I wanted to test out the systems a bit) and they're having a blast with the more sandbox-oriented, player-driven nature of things.

[@autographedcat]

Maybe it's just because I was used to it -- I started playing with BECMI back when it was originally out -- but I've never understood why people get so...animated about THAC0. Ascending AC is a *much* better system, but the old way wasn't that confusing. If you didn't want to do the math, you could just make a chart at the bottom of your character sheet ranging from 10 to -10, and consult it as needed. Which is really all THAC0 was intended to be -- a shorthand way of expressing a line on the chart so you didn't have to keep printing the chart over and over for every statblock.

[@rashakor]

Really not that hard! AC10 is essentially the same in both systems from there old AC goes down instead of up. Old AC0 is now AC20 and the negatives you just keep going to -10 which would be an AC30 now.

[@mightyfp]

Listening to people opine about confusion when it's the same underlying system has bugged me since 2000. For my group a lot of confusion was dispelled when every player was given a PHB

[@FlameQwert]

OSE has a great way to convert THAC0 and descending AC into the modern Attack Bonus and ascending AC: simply convert all [19-THAC0]=Attack Bonus. And [19-Old AC]=New AC

[@mightyfp]

@@FlameQwert should be 20 but yeah

[@davewilson13]

Never seen B10, thanks for the tip!

[@strategicviewpoint6672]

Favorite Basic Module: B5, Favorite Expert Module X10, Favorite Companion Module CM1

[@nordicmaelstrom4714]

This is the wonder of BECMI. You truly have campaigns that grow the character's power and influence in the world and make real changes to the world around the characters. I love that epic feel that this system gives. I can honestly say that my favored book in my Dungeons and Dragons collection (which only consists of TSR products) is the Rules Cyclopedia which is hands down the best book ever made for Dungeons and Dragons. Maybe someday I will track down the box sets and add them to the collection.

[@becmiberserker]

Check out my Rules Cyclopedia video if you haven’t already. I love that book. Thanks for commenting!

[@nordicmaelstrom4714]

@@becmiberserker I definitely will give that a look right now actually. You are quite welcome! I love the book as well as the charm of Mystara.

[@michaelmiguelsanchez]

My favourite published adventure as a player was Five Coins for a Kingdom.

[@ChristianDoiron]

Thank you for this channel!

[@meatballwanger]

This is the best thing I ever saw.

[@luisesteban9770]

Thanks for starting this channel. Great timing but also long over due ;-). I, as many other here, started with BECMI (or B/X before there was C ;-) ). I tended towards this initial story arc, when I ran ongoing sessions: start with B2, but after Gaz 1 came out, I have Thyatian characters start where their Gaz 1 character generations say they start, but I aim to have a Cleric start in Specularum with a mission to investigate "religious issues" or something a little vague-ish at B2. Session 0 gets the characters to meet and go to the Keep. I have a main story arc for B2 that gives plausible reasons for everything in B2 (like why are all these orcs, kobolds, ... clumped in a set of caves near the Keep?). There are a variety of complications and story threads that the players can trigger by their choices, but overall the evil leader at the caves will escape. The players can try to follow, and through role playing they decide to either head towards B4 (in Ylaruam) or B6 (in Specularum). Then, depending on events (and desires) aim for: B10, X1, X2, (maybe X4/X5/X10 or X11), CM1, (maybe CM4 and DA1 to DA4), (maybe M1 just to introduce M-series), M5, and finally, if we ever get there IM1 to IM3 (I've never run or played these). I have not yet settled on the "ultimate" plan, or even the ultimate plan for a given amount of time. That's one thing I am looking forward to discussing from this channel. Somehow I always wanted to run every module from B1 right up until IM3, but I have never even gotten close. I eventually realised that it's not possible for several reasons.

[@goodbuddy7607]

BECMI Berserker, I hope you'll do Ask Dungeon Masters with Questing Beast.

[@becmiberserker]

That would be a privilege.

[@williammoore9794]

I have been toying with a campaign inspired by B10 but taking the story further. Using other modules involving ancient ruins and temples to seed the idea of the Hutaakans before B10 starts (B2, B8, and perhaps B11 are possible candidates). Once B10 is over then pick up the fight against the Iron Ring. This could adapt the Slavers series (A0-4), and fit those dungeons across the Sea of Dread and Karameikos (with help from X1, X7, X8 and X12). It needs lots of work, but i think could be suitably epic.

[@becmiberserker]

It sounds like a brilliant campaign!

[@nosafewords]

I’m using the known world and 5e rules with morale thrown in. I’m kind of using the idea and skeleton of Call of Cthulhu’s Masks of Nyarlatothep as a framework and the imprisoned immortal, Arik, as the big bad. With that, I’m using various artifacts for the characters to gather for an ultimate world war of Red Arrow Black Shield. So Eye of Traldar - Veiled Society - Hail the Heroes - kill Bargle/Save Aleena/Castle Mistamere (introduced as one of the interrogating clerics in Veiled Society) - night’s Dark Terror - Palace of the Silver Pricess - Keep on the Borderlands - Lost City - curse of Xanathon - Crown of Ancient Glory - Saga of the Shadow Lord - back to Master of the Desert Nomads - Temple of Death - Red Arrow Black Shield. Then on to Test of the Warlords. There are cultists in many of these that become Cults of Arik and I may shoehorn in Matt Colville’s Castle Rend as Korziegy Keep and Legacy of Blood to give some of the characters land and therefore higher stakes when the Master’s armies invade and move X4 and X5 earlier to space out the war with the Master’s earlier exploits. After all that, I may send them to the Isle of Dread to tame and claim the new land as their own. We’re early in, and it’s a lot to cover. Basically an excuse to play all these old modules I never got a chance to play.

[@sadwingsraging3044]

Yep,,, 1981 and B2 is where it all began for me. I started my campaign with that one and X4 but from there it went totally diffrent.

[@Eruidraith]

This sounds like it would be a great series of adventures to play through!

[@LangeloScuro]

I used Keep on the Borderlands as well, except that I ported in The Village of Hommlet and The Temple of Elemental Evil my first and third adventures for my players. It gave them a base of operation to explore the region. After the B Series I led them to The Isle of Dread to begin broadening their potential opportunities.

[@Rashman101]

What a wonderful career advancement arc for your characters! Love the BECMI/Mystara campaign setting and I don't know why It's not getting more love from WOTC.

[@becmiberserker]

I’m kind of wondering if it is. The BECMI part at least. Their recent announcement about weapon mastery had me raising my eyebrows…

[@luisesteban9770]

> I don't know why It's not getting more love from WOTC. I think WotC have embedded too much into (or perhaps the metaphor is squeezed out of) the current version, that it is now too hard to turn back. BECMI or B/X was always deadly. WotC are obviously focused on sales (not quality, not continuity of adventure, ...). It seems to me that whenever they want a new injection of cash, they publish ever increasing powered characters because people think they want more power. Maybe WarHammer? Anyway, going back to weak characters and deadly adventures is probably an anathema by now. It's hard to balance everything so that there is an exciting challenge. I've been B/X and BECMI since it started. And, just before the OGL, I decided that I'll finally convert everything to 5e. But now, I've decided revert that decision and remain with RC, especially since I saw this channel and I hope that there is new life being imbibed into BECMI. It's all about balance and WotC have imbalanced D&D in more ways than one.

[@Rashman101]

@@luisesteban9770 Good luck with your campaign. I played many of these modules when they were new (showing my age). In my current group, we're playing Mystara with 5e character generation. I think that the campaign setting was the true star and TSR and WOTC both spent the better part of 30 years simplifying and streamlining the rules set. For the ease of my players, we went with the most readily available rules set.

[@johnharrison2086]

I agree with you that BECMI is the greatest edition of D&D I always start with Castle Mistamere and then move onto X1 and X2. Sabre River is another favourite. I intersperse a lot of homebrew inbetween.

[@becmiberserker]

It’s the in between stuff that makes the campaign. Great choices by the way.

[@yvindheilo229]

What a joy to hear of this fantastic campaign! What a priveledge to be able to experience a campaign of this scope! It is a dream of mine and it might be I have the right party for it atm. We've played regularly for about five years now in the fantastic YoonSuin campaign world. Highest level is level 6 though, so it's slow, but we are slowly creeping into dominion play! If I were to get a new group going, my plan is to start a game in Karameikos using about eh same procedure as you propose here, but I always wanted to get a second chance running the Isle of Dread as it was the first proper module I ran back in 92 or 3. I guess I'd try to slip it in after Nights Dark Terror. Perhaps trying to see if I'd be able to dip the campaign into the Hollow World after this, at least for a while, before giving the players the opportunity to return to the Known World.

[@neillennon5694]

Interesting choices in modules! You missed out two of my favourite modules - B5 Horror on the Hill and X1 The Isle of Dread. I have this ambitious idea to one day run Mystara as a grand sandbox campaign with the locations from the original modules fixed in place awaiting discovery. Instead of plots drawing the characters to these locations they can discover them through exploration and investigation. There is so much detail in the Gazeteers this is my version of the perfect campaign.

[@becmiberserker]

Great idea!

[@ianlamont9434]

I started my campaign with B2, then via a portal in a wardrobe took then into The Quest for the Silver Sword in the Thunder Rift setting. I changed the scale of the valley map to make it large enough to set a proper campaign in and they stayed there, claiming Baraks Keep as their base and completing most of the Thunder Rift modules along with some stuff from Goodman Games and a fair amount of homebrew shoehorned in for good measure.

[@derekthomasanderson9761]

BECMI = Superior Rules

[@carmillachoate]

I ran B1-9 In Search of Adventure that compiles, predictably, B1-9 and it was a lot of fun. I ran it in 3e but it played just as smoothly as if I'd used BECMI. The party was well more than level 3 by the end but it was still a fun campaign. The adventure showed me a good way to take published adventures and rather than place them in a linear campaign arrange them in a flowchart The X4-5 Desert Nomad series is a lot of fun. I ran those a couple times in late 2e and early 3e. When I ran it in 3e I was using the Diablo II books that were released and it slotted in really smoothly My last campaign was based mostly around X1 Isle of Dread and it was a blast. I ran it in 5e and added the plot elements from the Dungeon Magazine Savage Tide adventure path, since that was an Isle of Dread adventure path anyway. The party started at level 3 and I ran a Savage Coast game before they got to the Isle around level 5 or 6. They adventured on the Isle, built a keep and town and such all the way up to level 15. One of the most fun campaigns I ran and it shows how expansive some of the bare bones adventures like Isle of Dread can be A really fun BECMI adventure that could go on the end of your path is M3 Twilight Calling. I played and ran it a few times back in 2e and it is a lot of fun

[@becmiberserker]

Great choices!

[@agilemonk6305]

You do such a wonderful job with your videos.

[@DiversityDragons]

Great video! Love seeing some of these adventures we never got to get highlighted!

[@KameronFranklin]

I never ran an extended campaign beyond Expert. I rotated through B1-B4 as starters, the usually into X1 or X4 & X5.

[@robbabcock_]

Great review, and may I say a great channel! It's awesome to see someone carrying the torch for the true old school RPG fantasy game!

[@erc1971erc1971]

I won't be using B1 (because it is only half complete) or B3 (because I ran my group through it last year), but I am planing on doing every Basic, Expert, Companion, Master, and Immortal module as a mega campaign.

[@becmiberserker]

Prepare to be busy for a few years. 🙂

[@SimonAshworthWood]

Gonna knock PC levels down with level draining undead, to keep players level appropriate for all of the B series? 😉😈 (There are level draining undead in some of the B series, BTW. 😉)

[@erc1971erc1971]

@@SimonAshworthWood We will just do a slower level progression so we can get through all of those.

[@Enricopoli78]

My default is: B2 (or some other good Basic module, such as B3, B4, B5, Eye of Traldar) => B10 => X1 (or X2) => X8 => X4 => X5 => X9 => X10 => CM1 => CM2 => CM3 => M1

[@newtpondskipper]

I still have my poster of the Death Knight on dragon, such good stuff. We're actually running Keep on the Borderlands right now, such a great module.

[@Desirestolearn]

Knocking it out of the park! This stuff was all way before my time, but it is one of my hopes to get a good group to enjoy all of these with. A hope I share for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and The Enemy Within as well!

[@LoveProWrestling]

I will always use one if not all of the following...Curse of Xanathon, Skarda's Mirror, and Drums on fire mountain.

[@becmiberserker]

Great choices. Curse of Xanathon is a great way to get players into the Northern Reaches.

[@lordkakabel76]

Skarda's Mirror really captured my 12-year-old imagination. A nice twist on the mirror of life trapping, and the idea of being hit my an immortal's ancient thoughts is just so cool.

[@deathsaves4310]

I just finished running veiled society for my group, they are now taking on the incandescent grotto which will roll into nights dark terror. I made one of the enemy NPCs from the veiled society a merc with a treasure chest containing some good loot and also a note describing his next job, which puts him against the players yet again when he shows up with the iron ring. The merc will be happy to see the iron rings loot is safe with the players, which gets him off the hook for its value. I do want the players to try and convince him to join them, he will as the iron ring aren’t great people even if they do have coin.

[@serosen-yx1ci]

I suspect that one of the reasons why I like Adventurers League so much is that play sessions are episodic and have required downtime between them. Granted, Adventures League remains a 5e game, but it has retained these BECMI features.

[@p-leif630]

Great info love it even if I try to get more into DCC

[@APaganPerspective]

I like this

[@becmiberserker]

Good enough for me! :)

[@FelipeVerdugodaSilva]

Incredible video man. I've been binging your content non-stop. Earned a new sub

[@becmiberserker]

Welcome aboard!

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

Excellent! Doing a B/X campaign currently and though it is largely homebrew, I’ve been looking at X4/X5 as potential modules to use once we get there.

[@becmiberserker]

X4 does require a bit of manipulation to get it to make sense to your campaign. Just a heads up. 🙂

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

@@becmiberserker yup! I’ve read through it and have some ideas. It’s a challenge I enjoy. We’ll see what the players are doing at that level to see if it happens. My first campaign was three Ad&d modules mashed together in and around a steampunk city and that worked well, so I have a little bit of experience with that kind of modification, though would never put it past myself to completely botch it 😁

[@MarkHyde]

Amazing campaign arc and knitted together with your own narrative etc this would be awesome to play really. I'm starting a Basic Fantasy RPG run through of B1-9: In Search of Adventure LOOSELY - with lots of side stuff home brewed in. I like your choices with a broader range of content across all the released 'Basic D&D' modules. Thanks for your video.

[@raymondlugo9960]

B1-9 seems like a great deal. B10 was great. I don't remember playing X1 but i I do remember having fun with X2.

[@stevenkennedy4130]

How fun! All to the good!!

[@totalpartykill999]

i still enjoy the idea of open world sandbox hexcrawls, where the players are travelling mercenaries out for nothing more than XP and loot, where the world is this cross between a Tolkienesque high fantasy mixed with a gritty psychedelic metal sword and sorcery edge to it.

[@starshiplazyboy475]

This is a very ambitious campaign indeed! I think I'd like to run my group through these modules with Basic Fantasy RPG.

[@filkearney]

Great walk-through! love seeing how adventures can be chained together, and how easily dominion and war is integrated through BECMI.

[@solomani5959]

This is very useful. Thank you.

[@JRChiossi]

Well, this is simply great. I might borrow quite a bit from your path for my first BECMI campaign. I intended it to start with the same 2 modules anyway 😂

[@mofumyon]

I think it would be interesting to see how a more modern adventure path could be run using BECMI's rules. The "Scales of War" AP from 4e in particular feels like a shoo-in for BECMI gameplay, as it revolves heavily around the players forging alliances with disparate polities in many worlds, and 4e innately supports gameplay all the way to 30th level. Some adventures in particular, such as "Tyranny of Souls", would fit right in with the War Machine (or Sea Machine, perhaps) rules. The final capstone of the AP, "Last Breath of the Dragon Queen", might also be an interesting segue into Immortal gameplay, as the death of one immortal could lead to the birth of one (or five; this is Tiamat, after all) new ones.

[@midnightgreen8319]

I really hope they allow a Print on Demand for Where Chaos Reigns soon! It looks fantastic!

[@LoveProWrestling]

you can find it if you go looking....👀

[@solarus2120]

We can thank Mr Hickman and his Dragonlance modules for the beginnings of this trend of epic narrative play. There was a small amount of stand-alone or site-based back in 3.5, but the move since 4e seems to be towards these narrative campaigns. I suppose its because WOTC are trying to double dip. As you've said in the GAZ series, TSR were primarily selling to DMs. With the inclusion of new player options in the campaign books, both players and DMs are likely to buy.

[@mkmfeatures]

My BECMI path back in the 1980s: Bargle Solo Adventure + Castle Mystamere (with homebrew), B2, X1, X2, then more homebrew. Even had my main character get randomly ported to Boot Hill for a shoot out.

[@becmiberserker]

That sounds amazing! I hope he won.

[@mkmfeatures]

Yes. I got lucky with the dice roll. The villain gave my character a chance to learn to handle a revolver first. My DM gave me a bit of a break on it. Could have easily been the end of that main since Boot Hill was so dangerous in those days.@@becmiberserker

[@williammeek7218]

Your campaign sounds incredible. I’d love to be in a similar campaign.

[@yegenek]

Attention Spoiler following I planned a somewhat similar path for my players. However I started with Rahasia and Silver Princess for the beginning levels then Nights Dark Terror for the transition. Castle Amber was next and I hoped to use "Master of Desert Nomads" but our game ended during Castle Amber as some of the players had to move to other cities. My ultimate plan was to transport them to Glantri play some rule between the conspiracies of wizards, travel to underground and discover the Radiance and Shadow Elves. The following adventures would transport them to Hollow World or Alphatia and Thyatis. A good climax point is Darkmoor DA series of adventures with a more pulp science-fantasy approach where they travel to the past and see how all things came together.

[@becmiberserker]

Great path. 👍

[@engbama]

A comment for ... reasons. Thanks for another video.

[@Tysto]

You suggest that “an adventure for characters 2-4” means they start as level 2 & by the end have advanced to level 4. My understanding was always that it meant the party could contain some characters that were level 2, some level 3, & some level 4. This is because classes advanced at different rates & if you had a character die, you might roll a new character a level lower.

[@wanderinghistorian]

Imagine a time when D&D actually HAD consistent and interesting adventures for even the highest level characters.

[@dezopenguin9649]

I would always work B7 (Rahasia, my all-time favorite BECMI module, just nudging out B10, which I agree is incredibly amazing) into the sequence, either before, after, or during the course of B10 (which is full of side adventures anyway, especially in its hex-crawl portion). X2 was usually my first Expert module following B10, and X11 became a favorite. I never played a campaign into Master level, though.

[@eladavni580]

I like to start with King's Festival, Queen's Harvest, and then Night's Dark Terror. After that the character will be famous adventurers in Karameikos.

[@jaybakata5566]

Now I want to watch you DM'ing your group thru these. Where are the videos? I am guessing this all happened years ago, which means no video. Great video as always, keep it up!

[@matthewesch8758]

Sounds like it was an awesome campaign. I'm missing a couple of those modules, but could replicate a good bit of it.

[@JackJammer]

I really like this adventureing format. I started a 5e campaign based of a oneshot of candlekeep mysteries and we kept the group, since we worked/played together very well. since then we're playing every sort of oneshot adventures from various sources, all tight up together in episodes, which are seperated through long downtimes/timeskips. (and here i must give credits to you, Berserker, since some of your videos helped my creating wonderful options for my players in terms of what to do in these downtimes) i must say i love it, it feels much more entertaining and real than playing one long campaign, in which the party goes from novice adventurer to world wide known savior of humankind in less than 6 (ingame) months (or most likely even less). My group has time to think, how their characters grow, get a place in the world, even change their goals and motives when a downtime is long. another benefit is, that so much more can happen, when you play it like this and we have an upcoming final villain, which the players unknowingly are helping to get strong through several years. I mean i like some settings of 5e adventures - out of the abyss for example is pretty neat in my oppinion and has a really interesting start - but i prefer this way of having shorter adventures, since it goes away from the now typical "and in the end of it all, you will have saved the world and are known as more than just famous heroes" into a more realistic and meaningful way.

[@becmiberserker]

Sounds brilliant! And thanks for the credit. 🙂

[@wheeloftime-hl7pb]

i always link b1 (in search of the unknown), b2 (keep on the borderlands) and b5 (horror in the hill, with its baby dragon) into a sort of beginners sandbox that i have run with different rules along different editions over the years ... its always a blast .... if classes and races werent mixed, id still be playing becmi

[@MrRourk]

There is a good map out there that places all the B series around Threshold to a workable scale

[@danacoleman4007]

Okay. Links?

[@MrRourk]

@@danacoleman4007 just search Detail of the Threshold Region by Simone Neri

[@danacoleman4007]

@@MrRourk ok. Thanks!

[@spartaninvirginia]

You've convinced me to try BECMI. I went looking through all the D&D items I've collected over the years. I, somehow, have the Basic and Expert books, and two modules (X1 and X8). I don't remember buying them. Probably going to pick up the Rules Cyclopedia and B1-9 from DTRPG. Any other recommendations?

[@becmiberserker]

I would always recommend B10 Night’s Dark Terror. Great adventure that fits so well with Gaz1 The Grand Duchy of Karameikos.

[@spartaninvirginia]

​@@becmiberserker Thanks for the recommendations. I'm really enjoying your channel.

[@karithay]

Feels a bit of a disservice not to mention that the mega module In Search of Adventure provides one means of stringing together the first nine B series modules.

[@becmiberserker]

Many in the comments have chosen that route and it’s a good one.

[@curtiswatkins2581]

How do you feel about Isle Of Dread after The Keep?

[@becmiberserker]

That’s a close second, but Night’s Dark Terror is so strong. Love Isle of Dread though.

[@Bluecho4]

With the cancellation of DUNGEON Magazine and the consolidation of adventures into big, expensive hardback releases, there's a distinct lack of modular releases among official D&D material. Literally the only way to acquire _A Dungeon_ or _A Quest,_ at least from WotC, is if you can get your hands on Adventurer's League modules. Even then, most of them are tied, season-wise, to whatever the new big release is. One is almost forced into the third party sphere, or to delve into older adventures, to get that original modular experience. Though admittedly, that's probably a good idea in any case, even if you DO like to use 5th edition.

[@sculptor682]

Hi! 1st time subscriber and commenter. I wanted to say that I was drawn to this upload for it's inclusion of The Night's Dark Terror and Where Chaos Reigns. Both are excellent products created by the oft under-appreciated TSR UK team. I'm commenting here to strongly urge you to create a video that highlights the TSR UK division and all their contrabutions to D&D. From the superior quality of their art and writing, to the further careers of the individuals who worked for them. I think it's a facinating topic and one that MANY D&D lovers know little about.

[@becmiberserker]

I share your perspective, and that’s an interesting idea. I’d need to do a little more research to do the topic justice though. Definitely one to consider.

[@becmiberserker]

Oh and thanks for the sub! 🙂

[@lionofthemorning7997]

The Keep is perfect for a sandbox campaign. It’s very obviously modeled upon Arneson’s Blackmoor. Also, thanks for introducing me to the Weapon Mastery concept in the Master’s book. I’m currently adapting it to replace the standard XP system for levels. Giving out xp has always been an annoying task. I like the idea of randomizing it. So far, it looks good on paper.

[@PvtSchlock]

I'm an odd duck I guess, but I rolled B2 and T1 (yes it's AD&D but with so many weak points that you may as well take the good parts out and add it to B2) with the marsh enlarged. I played up elements like the bull & serpent (medusa/minotaur=female/male power) as a subtext and background theme. An evil Cult is present in both, so... more or less it can be a small campaign. B10 is begging to be a campaign even more than B2/T1. Karameikos never had the witches, wolves and blood feuds that a Carpathian reskin deserves. No Roma either, which B10 can easily accommodate. The Traldarians needed to be three clans, or say kingdoms or something so you have the south coastal line, the central forest/river and northern hills. Feuds, lost kingdoms, secret networks... it's easily a multilevel campaign (with work). I absolutely love Clarke Ashton Smith so X2 Castle Amber is my other go to. How this one isn't expanded I'm not sure. But for something high level and out of this world, Amber is all that Jack. Nutter than squirrel shit too. I like to loop back around too, so I'm prone to reuse B2 as a stronghold for players (sorry "domain") and with T1 tied in, you got a tower for wizards, and it's gonna need churchmen, so in my opinion full circle is great. Plus, this time the players are in the driver's seat (more or less). Great video and nice commentary, thanks!

[@becmiberserker]

Sounds a really exciting campaign. 🙂

[@AXSLA3]

Were Chaos Reigns reminds me a little bit of Needle module for AD&D 1st edition. (Not all of it, but partially).

[@DD8842]

I miss modules

[@SeanRI]

Watching this, I started wondering if it'd be possible to create a full continuity (i.e., no leveling gaps) levels 1-36 "adventure path" for BECMI using only official modules. As in, once you completed an adventure with a maximum level of (say) 3, the next module would have to have a minimum level of 3. The answer, it turns out, is "no" but I thought the reason why was interesting. I took every BECMI module and listed them out by min level and max level, removing the ones that didn't fit the data style, like the solo modules or the ones like CM 1 that just said "level 15+" with no cap. That left me with 62 modules. Out of these, 47 of them exist in the "minimum level from 1 to 10" range. There are all sorts of paths to map through those that can get you from level 1 to level 10 with no gaps in level range so I'm not going to go into detail here apart from pointing out that most of the B series max out at level 3, whereas there are a lot of options for getting from level 3 to 10. However, once you hit level 10, you only have five modules with a minimum level of 10: the DA series and X10. Each of these are level range 10-14, and this is where the "sequence" breaks: there's no adventure with a minimum level of 11 through 14. The next minimum level is 15 (four adventures, all in the CM series), and those bring you to level 19 or 20. There's one min level 17 module, two level 18, and none with a min level of 19. To keep "continuity", you have to take a 15-20 (two options) or the one 15-25 module. There's only one min level 20 adventure (M5), and that takes you to level 25. The sole min level 25 adventure (M1) takes you to 30, and the sole level 30 adventure (M3) takes you to level 35. So while you have a lot of paths to get to level 10, after that your options become much more limited. So a rough BECMI "official-ish adventure path map" would be: (Any of the B1-B9 adventures to get to level 3) -> (Various paths from level 3 to level 10) -> (one of the DA series or X10 to go from level 10 to 14) -> one level gap (14-15) -> (CM2 or CM8, takes you to level 20) -> M5 (level 20 to 25) -> M1 (level 25 to 30) -> M3 (level 30 to 35) -> one level gap (35-36) -> Immortals. Obviously this wouldn't be completely practical since, like you pointed out, it's not like the modules are designed to get you exactly to the end of their level ranges, plus I didn't really dig into the adventures themselves so it's not really about narrative connectivity, but I still thought it was an interesting thing to map out.

[@becmiberserker]

Wow! That’s dedication. 🙂

[@edwardmemwah1610]

Thank you so much for doing this!!

[@x.davidwilliams83]

Huzzah

[@mrhed0nist]

I'm familiar with most of these modules up to Warlords. No Isle of Dread? Though I suppose it can be very time consuming and leaves little room for other expert level adventures. i have to recommend my personal favourite Quest for the Heartstone for anyone to the game. Can be slotted into a campaign or played as a standalone with premade PCs. Flaming Swords required :D

[@becmiberserker]

I've just uploaded a Short of that module. :)

[@mrhed0nist]

Great stuff :)@@becmiberserker

[@eclatshwartzbaumcybertune2063]

When i make adventures… i want them long … but that can be hard to do … so now im making shorter … and that seems better . Today i made one but I wanted it more padded… but it still seemed short ..

[@sumdude4281]

I'm doing KOTB to Horror on the Hill to finale being Tomb of the Lizard King. CM-1 Test of the Warlords is an amazing adventure. How long did it take your group to do this path?

[@becmiberserker]

Years! There were lots of in-between quests and encounters, as well as the fun had with stronghold and dominion building. BTW, Horror on the Hill is an excellent game.

[@jwkrayer]

Out of curiosity how long did that game take? I've recently decided to abandon 5E in favor of AD&D but back in the day we didn't do gold for XP which meant levels moved slowly. In retrospect probably a mistake but I'm left uncertain as to the pace of the game.

[@becmiberserker]

The game was over a couple of years, which I have oversimplified for the sake of demonstrating an example adventure path. There was lots of side quests in between, but in terms of the core publications we used, they were these. There were a few level drains here and there as well as a number of deaths. All the fun of the fair. 🙂

[@anarionelendili8961]

I was somewhat surprised how quickly your campaigns seems to have gone. Were you giving loads of exp and treasure, or have I just forgotten how quickly characters gain levels in BECMI? Personally, I'd like the 'default' start at Threshold (Karameikos), with the In Search of Adventure. Sure, some of the adventures in there are... less than ideal for 1-3 levels, but I figure I could take those out and maybe re-skin them as higher level adventures later on. For example, The Lost City is just begging to be upgraded to an expert level adventure in the deserts of Ylaruam. The Silver Princess and the Hall of Rock would probably also work better at higher levels. The Veiled Society might work better as a slightly higher level as well, given its significance. I have been pondering that once I finish up some other campaigns, I might do a deep dive to BECMI and really make a campaign path of about one adventure per level, and see where I can get with my players.

[@becmiberserker]

Great ideas. As for how long this all took. It was quite some time. 🙂

[@anarionelendili8961]

@@becmiberserker It was mainly because you mentioned a module and then the characters were 2-3 levels higher than before, implying that they had gained those levels while playing through the module. Hence my question if you had added some treasure/exp to the modules or was my memory so wrongly calibrated on how quickly you'd gain levels? Or did you have some homebrew adventures mixed in as well?

[@becmiberserker]

@@anarionelendili8961 There was quite a bit of ‘intrigue’ in between adventures. As I mentioned in the video, I made a tenuous link between them all, but there was quite a bit of homebrewing going on as well. Sorry if that wasn’t clear. 🙂

[@sunsin1592]

I've done this twice and the main issue here seems to be that your progression is too fast. We had to run through almost all the Expert, all the Companion, and all the Master level modules just to get into the mid-30s in levels. X13 got them into domain play (and is one of the best expert adventures) and as a result, we shifted the Companion adventures to the Northern Reaches. We never cared for the unwieldy Immortals rules so the PCs just retired at that point.

[@becmiberserker]

The campaign actually took ages. As I mentioned in the video, the path was tenuously linked. There was loads of in between scenario play, side treks etc, not to mention dominion shenanigans at high level. I’ve simplified the use of the modules for the sake of the video just to give some ideas. Thanks for commenting.

[@frons79]

Well that depends of the DM to rise the difficulty of encounters and the general level of threat to the campaign, if it sees that the party looks OP. Rules provides all the tools to do so, they just need to think outside the box and not follow the chapters word by word. By the way, tweaking and fixing adventures has always been a top notch priority for DMs, since day 1. Actually if I had to go for some more old-school I'd not return to BECMI or retro clones or refurbished products with different labels, but I'd go for Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC), which has the look and flavour of old-school D&D, but with more logic and skillfully tested mechanics that make a lot of sense.

[@becmiberserker]

I like DCC, but after 3rd level characters get overpowered, in my opinion. Anyway, thanks for commenting.

[@GamerKatz_1971]

Any plans to cover the Dawn of the Emperors box set?

[@becmiberserker]

That will be the final one of my Known World Series.

[@WonderGoon]

I'm curious, do you cut magic items or gold from published modules to control the rate of power gain in your games, or do you just give out what the PC's find and call it a day? I tend to keep magic rare, and low powered, at lower levels; no +2 swords at level 2, for example. How does everyone else do it?

[@markhill3858]

hey Berserker .. where did you get that little viking head for your avatar? great style a bit like a woodcut

[@becmiberserker]

Link in vid description.

[@markhill3858]

@@becmiberserker its nice :) i thot you mighta drew it yourself or known the guy

[@woolybooger7770]

How many sessions did it take to run all these Adventures good sir? Sounds like a few years of weekly games to me.

[@becmiberserker]

Indeed it was, with many one-on-one sessions sporadically spread between them to adjudicate dominion play. One of the best campaigns I’ve played in. Incredibly immersive.

[@woolybooger7770]

@@becmiberserker sounds awesome

[@danilanglois6785]

Did you use B1 In Search of the Unknown for the Cave of the Unknown in B2? Or did you players not explore that part of the map?

[@becmiberserker]

I ran it separately, but have come across this idea and think it's a good one.

[@RuiSaltao]

Question: the levels listed in the adventure modules, weren't they the recommended level range for characters, rather than the expected progression?

[@becmiberserker]

Yes, but I found that the characters progressed through those recommended levels, mainly because these modules were written for groups much larger than what you might typically have at home.

[@sketchasaurrex4087]

So what's the big difference between cobbling adventures together and creating a narrative for your players and having a campaign that weaves a bunch of adventures together? Cause I'm not seeing what you claim. There's plenty of downtime in the campaigns and the scale & scope grows ever larger just as you described in cobbling small adventures to one another.

[@becmiberserker]

Please let me know what I’m claiming and I’ll try to answer your question.

[@sketchasaurrex4087]

@BECMI Berserker that 5e campaigns are non-stop with no downtime and the becmi adventure paths are the best way to run a game where you can dip in and out of playing. What you describe in the video is pepsi to coke, just a different flavor of the same thing. Or am I missing something after listening to it again?

[@becmiberserker]

@@sketchasaurrex4087 Thanks for the clarification. I guess it comes down to publication format. Apart from Tales from the Yawning Portal, WotC 5e adventures drive player/DM behaviour towards a big boss endgame. What I was trying to demonstrate in the video was the episodic format of BECMI edition modules. These were completely unconnected. There was a minimal amount of thread between them. Therefore, they lent themselves much more to being inserted into an ongoing campaign of whatever making, rather than a publication being the central campaign plot and focus of the game. This episodic format also allowed for more flexibility in campaign management, as a DM could be more agile with their adventure choices than being funnelled towards a particular publication’s conclusion. I hope this helps, but let me know if you still have questions. Always happy to answer them.

[@sketchasaurrex4087]

@BECMI Berserker so your, for lack of a better word, complaint is campaigns are too linear? Not to defend wotc but there is adventure league that is in seasons and free to play where there's small disconnected adventures like you prefer

[@becmiberserker]

@@sketchasaurrex4087 Perhaps too linear, definitely too long. Characters can potentially reach 10 to 15th level in a matter of months, weeks even (game time), which I’m not enamoured with. In my video, I didn’t actually make a complaint, I just stated a difference between the old format of published adventures to the modern one - not everyone wants to join the Adventurers League. That said, Adventurers League adventures can be inspirational, like the mini-adventures found in Dungeon Magazine in the past.

[@wmcduff]

Have you looked at Old School Adventures at all?

[@becmiberserker]

The website? A little bit. 🙂

[@wmcduff]

​@@becmiberserker Been looking at the website and reviews, and people are comparing it favourably to the BE of BECMI. Dunno...

[@DeltaDemon1]

One of the first modules I purchased was B2 because it was cheap (used) and because I had been told it was the best module out there. The fact that my used book store had a dozen for sale used (compared to very little else in duplicate) should have been a indication of things. This module is horrible nonsensical crap. It was THE reason why I never played BECMI and avoided all BECMI modules for years since I figured all BECMI modules were junk. I later, much later, found out that there were indeed good BECMI modules to be found it's just that B2 is not one of them. Horrible waste of paper.

[@becmiberserker]

In its defence, and the defence of D&D publications at the time, TSR was still learning HOW to convey the concept of a roleplaying game to players, of all levels of experience. This is obvious from the language used in both B2 and B1. RPGs were a niche curiosity back then, which I’m guessing you already know from your experience. In my opinion, the writing improved in the subsequent years, which enabled players to go back to B2 and make more sense of it, once they understood the concept of RPGs better. Great comment though. You made me think about my actual experience at the time versus my more experienced use of B2, so thank you for that.

[@SimonAshworthWood]

B2 is a nice module for people who like combat & tactics. Negotiations, scheming & diplomacy can be used by the PCs, but much of that requires the players and/or DM being pro-active to ensure it happens. (I haven’t played the module yet, so my assertion me above are based on reading it.)

[@freddaniel5099]

The only way to achieve a specific "effect" is for the entire "story" to be experienced in a single setting - Edgar Allan Poe said that.