Wednesday, February 22, 2017

TSR PDF Release -FRQ1 Haunted Halls of Eveningstar (2e)

I've mentioned before that I cut my gaming teeth on AD&D 1e. I stuck with that to the day AD&D 2e released - because newer is better, right? That all being said, I mostly stuck to 1e adventures when I ran something that was prepackaged. Nothing came close to moving me to 2e adventures until I found Haunted Halls of Eveningstar (2e).

It was a campaign starter, a small setting, a town, a dungeon and hooks for other stuff, assuming the DM was willing to flesh it out. I reused the Haunted Halls many a time. So much to use in a 32 page adventure.

From the blurb:
Welcome to the picturesque village of Eveningstar, nestled at the foot of the Stonelands where the River Starwater winds down a gorge and snakes into the King's Forest. Here, the Knights of Myth Drannor began their famous adventures. Here, the Ladies of the Brazen Blade, The Company of the Singing Sword, The Steel Shield Band, and many other came, clutching royal charters from King Azoun with the ink scarcely dry on the parchment. Some fell, some went on to greatness-but they all came here first; to the Haunted Halls.  
Despite numerous infiltrations, the Halls have not yet yielded all their secrets or treasures. Many dangers lurk as deadly as ever in dark chambers herein, awaiting new companies of eager-eyed adventurers.  
Is it your turn to dare The Haunted Halls? Many come, but few survive to again see Eveningstar's beauty.  
Welcome, then. Enter in, and find in these pages: 
A challenging introductory level dungeon.
A detailed countryside setting, including important local personages, local color, and guidelines for play. Suggested campaign plots and adventures.
New spells.
New magical items.
New monsters. 
A splendid campaign can begin here. Adventurers in an ongoing campaign can stop by for a memorable visit. Those looking for an underground stronghold may even find a home in the Haunted Halls of Eveningstar.
Haunted Halls just released on RPGNow for $4.99 in PDF. Well worth the money if you are looking for a campaign starter.

I'm less impressed with the recent POD releases from the TSR era.

The Ravenloft release is from 3e (and post TSR), and I'm sure the original isnt had to find. Never even heard of The Tree of Life before.


  1. The Tree of Life is an all elf module.

  2. I'm a huge fan of the TSR POD program but I have to admit their logic in selecting books has been mystifying sometimes.

  3. I think the logic is, "Wow, we have a PDF clean enough to do a POD with, run that sucker." I think their process is driven less by what we all want and more by what they can actually prep with whatever clean-up software they are using. That said, it's been pretty nice if you're a fan of B/X.

  4. Ok, Why are they relying on scans of the modules and not making an effort to find the original stuff used for making the modules ???????

    1. Sure it was all thrown away in the TSR era. I remember reading about someone showing up online with stuff they had dumpster dived in the late 80's or early 90's from the Games Workshop office. Which included original art from their books. All the paste up boards and art can take up a lot of space. And at the time I doubt anyone thought it would ever be printed again or held in any regard.

  5. Is there any sort of a running list of what has already been released? I honestly haven't been keeping track, but might want to dig to see if there's something good.

  6. You can filter this link by edition if you want to see what is out so far.


  7. Obligatory chat reminder comment. (I haven't seen the weekly blog post.)




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