Dungeon Masters Kit — Number 1: Palace of the Vampire Queen is an adventure module produced by Wee Warriors and distributed by TSR in 1976. It is notable as the first ever stand-alone D&D adventure module.
Content[]
Backstory and plot[]
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Development and release[]
Development[]
Palace of the Vampire Queen was produced by Pete Kerestan and Judy Kerestan, with interior art by Brad Schenck.
Release[]
Palace of the Vampire Queen holds the accolade of being the first standalone adventure module product published for D&D. It was produced independently by Pete and Judy Kerestan with permission from TSR, and initially distributed by TSR.[1]
The initial printing was dated June 1976, and published by Judy Kerestan's cousin Jerry Wellfonder's print shop. This printing had a black folder with foil-stamped red printing, which Wellfonder provided at a discount. The print occasionally had missing pages, which TSR fixed by providing photocopied pages.[2]
A third printing was made at another print shop, distributed by TSR and Lou Zocchi. These versions lacked the black foil-print cover. The fourth through sixth printings were distributed by Wee Warriors themselves.[2]
Games Workshop in London sold copies of the module in December 1977, for £2.75.[3]
The module was played at the AD&D Game Open Tournament at Council of Five Nations '85, held in Schnectady, New York from October 11-13, 1985.[4] Frank Mentzer also ran the module at Gary Con 2009.[1]
Reception and influence[]
Critical reception[]
In 2007, a copy of the module sold at auction for over $1,000.[5] According to The Acaeum, a copy of the first printing in near mint condition is valued at over $2,500.[6]
Influence on other works[]
Wee Warriors produced two more adventure modules in the Dungeon Masters Kit series: Dwarven Glory{{UnknownBook}}, distributed by TSR; and Misty Isles, which was not distributed by TSR.
External links[]
- Palace of the Vampire Queen - The Acaeum
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Q&A with Frank Mentzer. part 1, page 148. Dragonsfoot, March 6, 2009.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Palace of the Vampire Queen - The Acaeum
- ↑ White Dwarf #4 (Dec 1977/Jan 1978) p.23.
- ↑ RPGA Network Tournament Winners List, Polyhedron #31 (1986), p.22.
- ↑ Q&A with Frank Mentzer. part 1, page 79. Dragonsfoot, August 22, 2007.
- ↑ Module Index - The Acaeum
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