D&D Adventure Tropes

[Bullgrit]

What are the D&D adventures tropes, and where were they first seen in published D&D material?

For instance, is B2* Keep on the Borderlands the first instance of the "damsel in distress isn't what she seems" trope? Would Obmi in Hall of the Fire Giant King qualify as an earlier instance (although not a damsel)?

Were does the "death, no save" first show up? I think there's one in the Giant series, which are among the earliest adventures.

Are the tropes still "supported" in published material today?

Also, are there some things we come to accept/think of as D&D tropes that have actually never been seen in published D&D material?

Edit: B1 is In Search of the Unknown. Typed too fast.

Bullgrit

 

[ExploderWizard]

What are the D&D adventures tropes, and where were they first seen in published D&D material?

For instance, is B1 Keep on the Borderlands the first instance of the "damsel in distress isn't what she seems" trope? Would Obmi in Hall of the Fire Giant King qualify as an earlier instance (although not a damsel)?

Were does the "death, no save" first show up? I think there's one in the Giant series, which are among the earliest adventures.

Are the tropes still "supported" in published material today?

Also, are there some things we come to accept/think of as D&D tropes that have actually never been seen in published D&D material?

Bullgrit

I guess we should examine these tropes and see what makes them D&D in the first place.

The damsel or any other 'not what it appears to be' trope is as old as the wolf in sheep's clothing concept from fairy tales.

A couple things that scream out D&D before anything else are:

carrying around 10' pole 'just because'

using a captured foe or expendable ally to 'test' the unsafe

 

[TarionzCousin]

There is a room of Colored Pools in B1: In Search of the Unknown. The pools affect PC's in different, nasty ways.

Magic Mouths, a pit trap, a pair of teleport rooms to confuse mappers. Lots of good stuff!

 

[Wicht]

For instance, is B1 Keep on the Borderlands ...

nit: Keep is B2

Where did the first pit trap appear?
And Gelatinous Cubes?

 

[Remathilis]

I always thought the "death, no save" trope came from

[sblock]The Face of the Devourer in the Tomb of Horrors[/sblock]

I could be wrong though.

 

[Janx]

I always thought the "death, no save" trope came from

[sblock]The Face of the Devourer in the Tomb of Horrors[/sblock]

I could be wrong though.

this thread seems to be tackling things in the wrong order. Firstly, establish the tropes, then note where they were seen, and then what order.

Otherwise, this is just naming random stuff for the sake of "what did it first"

 

[Doug McCrae]

The beautiful woman who turns into a monster is definitely a trope, one of the oldest ones in the book. There's one that turns into a snake in Greg Svenson (AKA The Great Svenny)'s account of this Blackmoor session in the Winter of '70/71.

The very earliest D&D adventure is Temple of the Frog in Supplement II: Blackmoor for OD&D, published in 1975. The first standalone module was Palace of the Vampire Queen published by Wee Warriors in 1976. 1974 OD&D contains all the basic concepts - the mega-dungeon, monsters, treasure, traps, magic items, secret doors, monsterosity increasing with depth - and some bits that might be regarded as tropes - an underground lake and a cave with giant fungi are mentioned.

 

[coyote6]

TVTropes has a page for D&D, that might be a place to start.

(Insert standard TVTropes warning here.)

 

[Doug McCrae]

Here's my list of tropes:

A mega-dungeon built by a mad wizard - OD&D
The city sewers as a dungeon - Feels Warhammer-y
Temple - Temple of the Frog
Natural caverns - Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth?
Mine - Glory Hole Dwarven Mine?
Tomb - ?
Watery parts - Expedition to the Black Reservoir
Opposed factions - B4 and T1-4 are prob the best examples.
Secret doors - OD&D
Maps and mapping - OD&D
10' by 10' rooms (or multiples thereof) - OD&D
Chests - OD&D
The dungeon itself is alive or has an evil sentience - not sure if this is a trope
Evil High Priests - ? May be older than D&D
Huge treasure hordes - OD&D
PCs start the dungeon captured and stripped of equipment - A4 In The Dungeons Of The Slave Lords
Animating statues - ?
Statues as evidence of a medusa - ?
Underdark: deeper and stranger - D1 Descent Into The Depths Of The Earth
The prisoner who stabs you in the back when you free him - ?
The beautiful woman who turns into a monster - Blackmoor campaign
The McGuffin of Many Parts - ?
Imprisoned Cthulhu-esque god with evil cultists trying to free him - WG4?
The entrance is carved to look like a mouth - ?
Mocking magic mouth spells - ?

 

[Tonguez]

Here's my list of tropes:
Mega-Dungeon
Mad Wizards - Conan
The city sewers as a dungeon -
Temple -
Natural caverns -
Mine -
Tomb -
Watery parts -
Opposed factions -
Secret doors -
Chests -
Evil High Priests - May be older than D&D
Huge treasure hordes - (sat on by dragons?)
PCs start the dungeon captured and stripped of equipment -
Animating statues -
Statues as evidence of a medusa - ?
Underdark: deeper and stranger -
The prisoner who stabs you in the back when you free him - ?
The beautiful woman who turns into a monster -
Imprisoned Cthulhu-esque god with evil cultists trying to free him -
The entrance is carved to look like a mouth -

While I'm disputing that these are DnD Tropes I think that all of these could be considered "Older than DnD"