B1 IN SEARCH OF THE UNKNOWN
by Mike Carr
B1 was the first full-length module released by TSR for Basic D&D. It was written by TSR employee and editor Mike Carr, who was a gamer but not primarily of D&D, preferring historical games such as his Fight in the Skies (later Dawn Patrol). This "outsider" approach helped him tailor the module for players unfamiliar with the D&D rules. Thus, B1 contains a number of pages of guidance for new DMs, as well as some additional rules not included in the Holmes rulebook. This format set a precedent for Basic modules; Gygax's B2 also contains several pages of guidance before the module proper.
B1 was also innovative in that the rooms were, for the most part, not stocked with monsters or treasure. This was left for the DM to complete using lists found in the module. A Dragonsfoot thread started by Geoffrey provides many examples of how the dungeon has been stocked by various DMs. This feature was not continued in future Basic modules. The original (orange cover) version of B3 Palace of the Silver Princess did have some rooms of this nature but these were removed when the module was recalled and revised.
Starting in Nov 1978, B1 was packaged with the 2nd edition of the Basic Set, replacing the Monster & Treasure Assortment and Dungeon Geomorphs. The guidance for new DMs was especially useful in this context. B1 was included in the Holmes Set throughout 1979 before being replaced by a new Basic module, B2, at some point in 1980. In 1981, B1 was revised to match the rules of the new Moldvay Basic Set and given a new, brown-bordered cover with full color art by Darlene. See here for a hopefully comprehensive list of changes between the two versions. In Jan 2013, a pdf of revised version was given away for one week as a free pdf by Wizards to mark the beginning of the re-release of the D&D backcatalogue in electronic format.
The Watchtower of Quasquetonm
detail from the B1 back cover illustration by DCS III
"A single tower was constructed above ground for lookout purposes, even though there was little to see other than a hilly, forested wilderness for miles around" (pg 6 of B1).
The original version of B1 gave the following suggestion for placement of the module in The World of Greyhawk: "the stronghold can be considered within any one of the following lands - The Barony of Ratik, The Duchy of Tenh, or the Theocracy of the Pale" (pg 6). This note was deleted when the module was revised. Another popular suggestion is to place B1 where the undescribed Cave of the Unknown is indicated on the wilderness map in B2.
Demos Sachlas (paleologos of Dragonsfoot) has assembled a mighty B1 Campaign Sourcebook (link is for pdf download; linked here with permission), which is subtitled "a collection of original work and material gathered from the pages of Dragonsfoot and elsewhere on the internet". It contains retrospectives, interviews, reviews, and practical advice for using B1 by various authors; each author gave permission to have his work included. Demos has also compiled a B1 index of forum, website and blog posts, last updated in Dec 2012.
Printing History at the Acaeum
Artists - Original monochrome version:
David C. Sutherland III - cover (as DIS), all interior illustrations
David Trampier - cover (as DAT)
The cover drawing is credited to both artists. See here for Trampier's original drawing which was used for the background.
Revised brown cover:
Darlene - front and back cover
Interior illustrations identical except that a dragon by Sutherland (recycled from a Dragon magazine ad) is added on page 6, replacing a brief section on using the module with AD&D.
Here are Sutherland's illustrations placed in chronological order by bliss_infinite.
Discussion
Dragonsfoot Review by rogueattorney (with 7 pages of comments)
Dragonsfoot Poll by Geoffrey (with 8 pages of comments)
Resources
Discussion of the Quasqueton Tower by Shadow Shack, which can be found in the B1 sourcebook.
DF thread with link to simplified map of the first dungeon level.
Interviews with the author Mike Carr
Q&A with Geoffrey (in the B1 sourcebook linked above) - October 2008
Interview with Harvard at the Comeback Inn - August 2010
Save or Die podcast interview (audio) - December 2010
(Fascinating interview, about 1.5 hours long; B1 is discussed just after 30 minutes in).
Relationship to Original D&D (OD&D)
Discussion of whether B1 was originally written by Mike Carr with OD&D in mind rather than Holmes Basic, which is confirmed by Frank Mentzer here: "Mike wrote B1 pretty much based on OD&D but modified it a bit when Holmes was finalized."
Mike Carr originally played in Dave Arneson's Blackmoor campaign. In the OD&D Discussion Blackmoor forum, aldarron described the links between B1 and Blackmoor. He also previously compiled the rule additions for Holmes Basic found in B1. Based on this, I mused that B1 is the Blackmoor supplement for Holmes Basic, whereas B2 is the Greyhawk supplement.
Deconstructing Quasqueton - analysis by paleologos of the tricks/traps/dungeon features of B1 versus those suggested in the third volume of OD&D.
Trivia
Quasqueton is the name of a town in Iowa.
"In Search of the Unknown" is also the name of a 1904 novel by Robert Chambers. His The King in Yellow is a highly regarded collection of weird fiction, whereas In Search of the Unknown is a collection of lighter stories about a zoologist searching for lost & strange animal species.
The TV series "In Search of..." (1976-1982), hosted by Leonard Nimoy, was on the air at the time this module was written and released in 1978. See this blog post juxtaposing the two.
The format of B1 served as a template for the introductory module included in the Top Secret boxed set, TS001 Operation: Sprechenhaltestelle (1980). The sections of the module and DM guidance mirror that of B1. This RPGnet thread briefly mentions the similar fill-in-your-own monsters & treasure format of TS001 and B1.