In Search of the Unknown

"WHO DARES ENTER THIS PLACE AND INTRUDE UPON THE SANCTUARY OF ITS INHABITANTS?" 

"ONLY A GROUP OF FOOLHARDY EXPLORERS DOOMED TO CERTAIN DEATH!"

TSR Adventure Module B1: In Search of the Unknown is an introductory module designed to help teach novice gamemasters. Back in the 1980s, just about everyone who played D&D had run it at some point because there were so few modules and because it was in the blue box version of the rules.*

I did not drop it into my B/X campaign until my player’s characters were around the 4th level so rewrote it more than most. But everyone rewrote B1 because it has the unique feature that most of the dungeon stocking was up to the DM. A list of 25 monsters and 34 treasures was made available for stocking the dungeon (not all of which was designed to be used) so everyone’s dungeon would be slightly different.

In the published In Search of the Unknown, the players find a map to the lair of a pair of famous adventurers of questionable reputation who are reputed to have died far to the north some time ago. Hints in the text suggest that their stronghold, Quasqueton, may have been abandoned up to three decades ago. All that remains now are some of the former inhabitants, human berserkers, orc slaves, and kobold slaves and creatures that have wandered into the caves.

When I ran the adventure using the B/X Moldvay rules in 1982 I stocked the dungeon for levels 3-6 (the original was for levels 1-3) and I had a background plot to make sense of the monsters that the players came across.

I also redrew the maps. I do not remember exactly why I bothered because looking at a copy of the maps now they are not a lot different.  I am posting my maps here.

My Version of Quasqueton

The big difference in the plot in my version was that the owners, Rogahn and Zelligar, had very recently returned. But in their absence, the stronghold had been overrun by Orcs belonging to a tribe the pair had been fighting in the north. The orcs trapped the pair in a magical vault in the cavern level of the stronghold. It was up to the player’s characters to discover that the pair had returned, what had happened to them, and how to release them.

Reading through my version of the adventure I am not very impressed. If I was to redo it now, and it occurs to me that I might, I would go back to something closer to the original plot. Perhaps the kobolds worked for Zelligar and the orcs worked for Rogahn. When their bosses disappeared the Orcs wanted to take over but the kobolds remained loyal and blocked access to the upper levels. Now the orcs use the lower level secret entrance as the main entrance (it is two way now). The orcs have been raiding the local valley and the players’ characters follow their trail up into the hills to the lower level entrance, not even aware that this was once Quasqueton. They have to fight past orcs and then kobolds to gain access to the best treasure in the upper level of the stronghold.

Perhaps it would make something interesting to run online now that we are all trapped indoors because of the pandemic. It would certainly be easy to write up.

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*I was lucky enough to purchase a copy of the 1979 printing in the 1990s when I bought a battered blue box version of the rules at auction.