The format is the same as the new AD&D book reprints. It is a reproduction of the S modules interior from the late 70s/early 80s. Unlike the Realms of Horror, the 1987 compilation of the the S series, these are exact replicas. The book has been re-paginated to accommodate the newer format.
The pages are a bit glossy and remind me of the newer D&D 4 books, like Tomb of Horrors below.
You might not be able to see this as well, but the print on the new book is darker and a little less clear. The picture of the Aludemon was the worse example I could find. It's not bad, just a little harder to see the details.
The portions of the modules that were "pull out" like maps, the visual guide to Tomb of Horrors and Expedition Beyond the Barrier Peaks and the new monsters and spells booklet for S4 are all bound in int he book. The 87 Realms of Horror had it as a seperate booklet.
So what is the verdict?
Well it's mixed. The S series were "my" modules. These are the ones I ran in my group in High School and I recently had so much fun with them when I took my kids through White Plume Mountain and The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. One day I will take them through the Tomb of Horrors, I have a copy for every edition of the game and certain the Barrier Peaks. So yeah, I love these crazy ass adventures.
But this book is not the best way to the run them.
It's a great book for the 40+ year old geek that enjoys reading these things. I love that these books are getting made. I also enjoyed the new introduction by Lawrence Schick that gave some insight to the writing of the modules.
Honestly I think the best modern form of the old modules are the ones you can get from DnDClassics.com.
I can buy the PDF for cheap and print out what I need. Often I print out player's maps and I usually print out a page per sheet (not a page per side) so I can write notes on the blank backsides of the pages. I can then through the whole thing in a 3-Ring binder with any other material I need (such as monster page from the Tome of Horror).
Still though. I am still considering getting the others. I know the A series is up next. I never owned copy of the original modules so I might get that. I have not seen the GDQ modules on the products page, but I grabbed the PDFs.
Still though. Tomb of Horrors in it's original 1st deadliness. That's gotta be worth something.
2 comments:
Return to the Tomb of Horrors is an excellent adventure in the old module style.
The Equation book
Yeah, they really need to do a reprint of GDQ. I'd also dig seeing a Desert of Desolation compilation with I3-I5, and a Ravenloft compliation with I6 and I10, the latter perhaps revised to better reflect ways of running the Ravenloft scenarios simultaneously.
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