The year is 1984. TSR is now ten years old, and is the undisputed king of RPGs, not only with Dungeons & Dragons, but games in a bunch of other genres. Boot Hill, Metamorphosis Alpha, Gamma World, Top Secret, Star Frontiers, Gangbusters, the new Marvel Super Heroes game...but everything was about to change in a way no one had anticipated.
The top-secret plan was to do something D&D had never done in the previous decade: Base a set of adventures around dragons. It makes sense; the game is called Dungeons & DRAGONS, after all. But when you look through the classic TSR modules, including the ones written by Gary Gygax, you won't find many dragons. And you certainly won't find any taking center stage. So, when Tracy Hickman approached the TSR brass about doing a dragon-based series, they went with it.
This was a huge production; the modules were only a part of it. There were novels, calendars, miniatures, Dragon magazine tie-ins, the works. The trade dress for the modules was unique and eye-catching. The cover art was done by men like Larry Elmore, Clyde Caldwell, and Jeff Easley, who were the second wave of TSR artists following the earlier artists like Erol Otus, Jeff Dee, and Dave Trampier. Margaret Weis came in to help write the novels, the first that TSR would publish. It was a new aesthetic, and it worked. Boy, did it ever.
The first novel, based on the first two adventures of the series, became a New York Times bestseller. And while the second adventure rightly gets labeled a railroad, the first one was a magnificent module that combined storytelling with exploration and mystery, things that D&D had always done well.
Dragons of Despair was the first adventure that not only provided pre-generated characters, but expected you to play with them. Not as much as later adventures would expect (it was just recommended here), but the module flat-out says, 'this is a story' on the first page. And it was the first module that tweaked the rules and made the setting feel different from a normal D&D module. This wasn't Greyhawk; this was Krynn. And the setting had rules to enforce that. No clerical magic, no dragons, gold is worthless, and halflings are now kender, and you will be annoyed by them. They even got new special abilities: Immunity to fear and Taunting. So they could be even more annoying.
I'm sure you know the characters: Tanis Half-Elven, Flint Fireforge, Sturm Brightblade, the twins Raistlin and Caramon Majere, and Tasslehoff Burrfoot, later joined by Goldmoon and Riverwind. In time, they would become legends. Here, they're just mid-level D&D characters ranging from 3rd to 6th. Raistlin is the weak link (in more ways than one); he's just a 3rd-level magic-user. Meanwhile, his twin brother Caramon is a 6th-level fighter with more than four times his brother's hit points. Note that the recommended level range for the characters is 4-6. Raistlin just refuses to conform to expectations.
The 'back story' for this adventure is contained on the backs of the tiny character cards. The party, old friends from the town of Solace, have been wandering for five years, seeking signs of the true gods, and everyone came up empty. Now they've gathered together again, and things are about to change. They meet Goldmoon and Riverwind, fight some hobgoblins, and learn of a mysterious blue crystal staff that mysterious armies are searching for. The party has to escape with the staff and find its resting place, where they will then discover the greatest treasure the world has ever known.
The settings in this adventure alone are evocative and amazing to see. The Darken Wood, which terrifies even the most stalwart of heroes; the village of Solace and the town of Haven, the destruction of Que-Shu, and the ruined city of Xak Tsaroth, buried in a swamp and infested with gully dwarves. And of course, the dragon. An ancient black, Onyx is one hell of a challenge for a party of this level. And this is just the kickoff to the saga.
So, why is this my second-favorite adventure of all time? Oh, there are plenty of reasons. First, as I said, it's the first part of an amazing epic series, but it's playable on its own if you really want to do that. There's a definite beginning and ending here, although there's a final bit of boxed text that hints at what is to come.
Second, the maps. Xak Tsaroth is a brilliant design, a dungeon in three dimensions as there are multiple levels all shown on the same isometric map. The elevator, the gully dwarf king, the tube slide...there's so much here. And the rest of the maps are inspirational, too.
Third...the music. Yes, the music. Remember the Castle of the Blind Sun, that had recommended classical music selections? This one does it one better. There is actual sheet music in this adventure. Seriously! And it's playable and sounds great! I'll prove it to you. Check out a live performance of Goldmoon's Song and tell me that doesn't have you feel the D&D oozing through your veins. There were several other adventures that included music; off the top of my head, I can remember songs in DL2, DL4, and DL8.
Finally, the story itself. It was a different kind of adventure from what we'd seen before then. There were stakes that went beyond 'don't get killed while you're trying to loot the dungeon'. And sure, adventures like Against the Cult of the Reptile God had stakes, but that was local stuff. These stakes were world-shaking. And yes, there were some railroady bits here and there, such as the looming dragon armies that would herd the characters in the right direction if they strayed. But let's be honest, the earlier dungeon modules were often railroady in nature as well. You had to get to the Frost Giant Jarl, or travel through the Underdark in search of the drow, or escape from the dungeon of the Slave Lords wearing nothing but a loincloth. This used the railroad aspects to drive the adventure forward; the cool stuff was in Xak Tsaroth anyway, so why not go there?
Now, I know a lot of people dislike this module because of the change in gameplay that it portended. After all, this was indeed a shift, and it was a very popular one. The sales figures were through the roof. People wanted what Dragonlance was offering, so TSR made sure to give it to them in spades. The location-based sandbox-style was diminished, and storytelling gaming became the thing. Was that a good thing for the hobby? Yes and no. It broadened the game's appeal, but it was a change that many old-schoolers never accepted. To each their own; I'm just going by this particular adventure.
So, that brings us to #1. But before I do that, I'm going to post some honorable mentions, modules that I like a lot but don't quite make it to the top ten. In the meantime, Happy Valentine's Day, and game on.
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