Expert SeriesX1 - X13, XL1, XSOLO, XS2

Developed for use with the Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set.

X1 Isle of Dread by David Cook and Tom Moldvay

X2 Castle Amber by Tom Moldvay

X3 Curse of Xanathon by Douglas Niles

X4 Master of the Desert Nomads by David Cook

X5 Temple of Death by David Cook

X6 Quagmire! by Merle Rasmussen

X7 War Rafts of Kron by Bruce Nesmith

X8 Drums on Fire Mountain by Graeme Morris and Tom Kirby

X9 Savage Coast by Merle and Jackie Rasmussen

X10 Red Arrow, Black Shield by Michael Dobson

X11 Saga of the Shadow Lord by Stephen Bourne

X12 Skarda's Mirror by Aaron Allston

X13 Crown of Ancient Glory by Stephen Bourne

XL1 Quest for the Heartstone by Michael Gray

XSOLO Lathan's Gold by Merle Rasmussen

XS2 Thunderdelve Mountain by William Carlson

Modules X4, X5, and X10 form the "Nomad" subseries.

Module X8 misspells the author's name on the cover (and Graeme remains unamused).  It was first used as a tournament adventure at GamesFair 1981 in the UK (where it was titled "TEKI-NURA-RIA: The Mountain of Death").

Module X10 is also compatible with the AD&D BattleSystem rule set (as well as its D&D equivalent, WarMachine), and includes cardboard counters.

Modules X10 and X13 are "bridge" modules between the Expert and Companion rule sets.

The working title for X11 was "Blackheart".

Module XL1 was produced to promote a line of action figures.  The module code "XL" is an abbreviation of "eXpert Licensed".  Interestingly, the map on the inside cover has the compass rose pointed east, instead of north; this can cause quite a bit of confusion when reading the room descriptions. Thanks to Neville Ridley-Smith for this info.

Module XS2 is actually an abbreviated code for "XSOLO2"... it's a solo adventure.

Printing Information

The first three modules in this series (X1, X2, and X3) have distinguishable printings.  X4 and X5 also have two "printings", differing only in the presence of a cardboard header.

X1 is the only module, aside from the "monochrome" modules, that TSR produced in the U.S. with two separate covers (reason unknown).

X1 Isle of Dread

First (1980): Dark blue cover, Jeff Dee artwork.  ISBN on back cover bottom left.  "A Wilderness Adventure for Character Levels 3-7" is printed on two lines, top of the front cover.  "All Rights Reserved" is the last line of text on the front cover (repeating itself).  This was the first full-color-covered module produced by TSR, and was included in the First print of the D&D Expert Set (it was also sold separately, i.e. shrinkwrapped, and is considerably rarer in that condition).  Note:  On all copies we have spotted, the module booklet is copyright 1981, and has a "9034" module code in the lower right (9034 is assigned to B2 Keep on the Borderlands).  The cover, however, shows the correct copyright (1980) and code (9043).

Second (1981):  Dark blue cover (though a lighter-toned cover is also fairly common), Jeff Dee artwork.  On the lighter-toned copies, only the ISBN is on back cover bottom left; the darker-toned copies have both ISBN and Product Number on the back left.  "A Wilderness Adventure for Character Levels 3-7" is printed on one line, top of the front cover.  The repeated "All Rights Reserved" (see above) has been removed.  This print came bundled with the Second print of the D&D Expert Set, and was also sold separately.  The discrepancy mentioned above ("9034" code, 1981 copyright) is sometimes present with this print as well. Thanks to Dave Aho, Matthew Foster, Curt Gould, Dan Harshman, John Justice, and Luca Lettieri for this info, and to Dave Aho for the scan of the lighter-toned version.

Third:  Dark blue cover, Jeff Dee artwork.  ISBN and Product Number on back cover bottom left.  "A Wilderness Adventure for Character Levels 3-7" is printed on one line, top of the front cover.  This print came bundled with the Third print of the D&D Expert Set, and was also sold separately.

Fourth (1983):  Red cover, Tim Truman artwork.  It was bundled with the Fourth and Fifth prints of the Expert Set.  Front cover layout is completely rearranged, in line with the current TSR module style.  Several monsters have been changed/excised, to conform with what monsters are available in the Basic and Expert sets (for instance, the three sharks in the temple were changed to crocodiles).  Also, there is a glaring error on the maps, specifically the outtake diagram next to the map of the first floor of the temple.  The diagram is a sketch, showing how an arched passage leads under the face set in the middle of the wall of the main chamber.  This printing lacks the sketch (present in the first three printings above).  As a consequence, it appears that the dungeon chambers are completely inaccessible! Thanks to Brett Altschul for this info.

Foreign Editions:  Click the link to view editions of this module released outside the United States.

X2 Castle Amber

First (1981):  ISBN (only) on back cover bottom left.

Second:  ISBN back cover bottom left, Product Number back cover bottom right.

Third:  Identical in all respects to the Second print, but affixed with a blue cardboard header on top of the module, with the D&D logo and some other advertising.  Note that without the header, this print would be indistinguishable from the Second print.  Further info on header modules is here.

Foreign Editions:  Click the link to view editions of this module released outside the United States.

X3 Curse of Xanathon

First (1982):  TSR Face logo.  Text in top border ("X3  Adventure Module For Characters Levels 5-7") is in light blue ink, which doesn't contrast well with the dark blue border itself.

Second:  TSR Face logo.  Text in top border is now white.  Otherwise identical to First print. Thanks to Michael Dann for this info.

Third (1982+):  Angled TSR logo.  Text in top border is white.  Booklet cover also has the new Angled TSR logo; unknown if there's any internal differences.

Fourth (1982+):  Identical in all respects to the Second print, but affixed with a blue cardboard header on top of the module, with the D&D logo and some other advertising.  Note that without the header, this print would be indistinguishable from the Second print.  Further info on header modules is here.

Foreign Editions:  Click the link to view editions of this module released outside the United States.

X4 Master of the Desert Nomads

First:  Angled TSR logo.

Second:  Identical in all respects to the First print, but affixed with a blue cardboard header on top of the module, with the D&D logo and some other advertising.  Note that without the header, this print would be indistinguishable from the First print.  Further info on header modules is here. Thanks to Michael Deaton for this info.

Foreign Editions:  Click the link to view editions of this module released outside the United States.

X5 Temple of Death

First:  Angled TSR logo.

Second:  Identical in all respects to the First print, but affixed with a blue cardboard header on top of the module, with the D&D logo and some other advertising.  Note that without the header, this print would be indistinguishable from the First print.  Further info on header modules is here. Thanks to Michael Dougherty for this info.

Foreign Editions:  Click the link to view editions of this module released outside the United States.

X6 Quagmire!

Foreign Editions:  Click the link to view editions of this module released outside the United States.

X7 War Rafts of Kron

Foreign Editions:  Click the link to view editions of this module released outside the United States.

X8 Drums on Fire Mountain

Foreign Editions:  Click the link to view editions of this module released outside the United States.

X9 Savage Coast

Foreign Editions:  Click the link to view editions of this module released outside the United States.

X10 Red Arrow, Black Shield

Foreign Editions:  Click the link to view editions of this module released outside the United States.

X11 Saga of the Shadow Lords

Foreign Editions:  Click the link to view editions of this module released outside the United States.

X12 Skarda's Mirror

Foreign Editions:  Click the link to view editions of this module released outside the United States.

XL1 Quest for the Heartstone

Foreign Editions:  Click the link to view editions of this module released outside the United States.

XSOLO Lathan's Gold

Foreign Editions:  Click the link to view editions of this module released outside the United States.

XS2 Thunderdelve Mountain

Foreign Editions:  Click the link to view editions of this module released outside the United States.

Thanks to Leonard Riotto for the scan of X6, Richard van Tol for the scan of X7, and to Adrian Newman for scans of X4, X5, X9, and X10.

X1 Isle of Dread, 1st printing

X1 Isle of Dread

1st printing

X1 Isle of Dread, 2nd/3rd printing

X1 Isle of Dread

2nd / 3rd printing

X1 Isle of Dread, 4th printing

X1 Isle of Dread

4th printing

X2 Castle Amber, 1st/2nd printing

X2 Castle Amber

1st / 2nd printing

X2 Castle Amber, 3rd printing

X2 Castle Amber

3rd printing

X3 Curse of Xanathon, 1st printing

X3 Curse of Xanathon

1st printing

X3 Curse of Xanathon, 3rd printing

X3 Curse of Xanathon

3rd printing

X3 Curse of Xanathon, 4th printing

X3 Curse of Xanathon

4th printing

X4 Master Desert Nomads, 1st printing

X4 Master Desert Nomads

1st printing

X4 Master Desert Nomads, 2nd printing

X4 Master Desert Nomads

2nd printing

X5 Temple of Death, 1st printing

X5 Temple of Death

1st printing

X5 Temple of Death, 2nd printing

X5 Temple of Death

2nd printing

X6 Quagmire!

X6 Quagmire!

 

X7 War Rafts of Kron

X7 War Rafts of Kron

 

X8 Drums on Fire Mountain

X8 Drums on

Fire Mountain

X9 Savage Coast

X9 Savage Coast

 

X10 Red Arrow, Black Shield

X10 Red Arrow,

Black Shield

X11 Saga of the Shadow Lord

X11 Saga of

the Shadow Lord

X12 Skarda's Mirror

X12 Skarda's Mirror

 

X13 Crown of Ancient Glory

X13 Crown of

Ancient Glory

XL1 Quest for the Heartstone

XL1 Quest for

the Heartstone

XSOLO Lathan's Gold

XSOLO Lathan's Gold

 

XS2 Thunderdelve Mountain

XS2 Thunderdelve

Mountain

Current Market

Though current auction prices do not reflect it, the Fourth (last) printing of X1 Isle of Dread, with the red cover, is substantially rarer than its earlier-print brethren.

Rarity increases with module X6 and later, due to shorter print runs (with the exception of X13 Crown of Ancient Glory, which was apparently over-printed... copies were available from the Wizards of the Coast website well into the new millennium).

X10 Red Arrow, Black Shield fetches perhaps the highest amounts of any of the X modules.  It is a thicker module, and more susceptible to damage than its brethren, as well as being compatible with the BattleSystem rules (typically, anything having to do with BattleSystem goes for high prices).

Of all the X-series, X12 Skarda's Mirror is perhaps the most difficult to find.

The "header" versions of modules X2, X3, X4, and X5 are significantly rarer -- and often sell for several times more -- than their headerless brethren. The values below assume the cardboard header is present and intact. Since the cardboard is attached to the shrinkwrap, the normal SW-value "enhancement" doesn't apply (i.e., if there's no shrinkwrap, the header won't be present, either, making them indistinguishable from headerless copies).

The following represents The Acaeum's current valuation of these items, dependent upon condition (multiply by 3x-10x if shrinkwrap is present).  Values are updated at the beginning of the month, provided there were new public sales.  Click the titles to view active eBay auctions!

  Fair Good VGood Fine VFine NMint
X1 Isle of Dread Fair$6 Good$10 VGood$14 Fine$17 VFine$20 NMint$23
X2 Castle Amber Fair$8 Good$15 VGood$19 Fine$24 VFine$29 NMint$32
X2 Castle Amber (header) Fair$250 Good$450 VGood$600 Fine$750 VFine$900 NMint$1000
X3 Curse of Xanathon Fair$7 Good$13 VGood$17 Fine$22 VFine$26 NMint$29
X3 Curse of Xanathon (header) Fair$250 Good$450 VGood$600 Fine$750 VFine$900 NMint$1000
X4 Master of the Desert Nomads Fair$7 Good$13 VGood$18 Fine$22 VFine$27 NMint$30
X4 Master of the Desert Nomads (header) Fair$250 Good$450 VGood$600 Fine$750 VFine$900 NMint$1000
X5 Temple of Death Fair$8 Good$15 VGood$20 Fine$24 VFine$29 NMint$33
X5 Temple of Death (header) Fair$250 Good$450 VGood$600 Fine$750 VFine$900 NMint$1000
X6 Quagmire! Fair$9 Good$17 VGood$23 Fine$28 VFine$34 NMint$38
X7 War Rafts of Kron Fair$11 Good$19 VGood$26 Fine$32 VFine$38 NMint$43
X8 Drums on Fire Mountain Fair$9 Good$17 VGood$22 Fine$28 VFine$34 NMint$37
X9 Savage Coast Fair$15 Good$27 VGood$36 Fine$45 VFine$54 NMint$60
X10 Red Arrow, Black Shield Fair$16 Good$28 VGood$38 Fine$47 VFine$57 NMint$63
X11 Saga of the Shadow Lord Fair$15 Good$28 VGood$37 Fine$46 VFine$55 NMint$61
X12 Skarda's Mirror Fair$15 Good$26 VGood$35 Fine$44 VFine$52 NMint$58
X13 Crown of Ancient Glory Fair$21 Good$38 VGood$51 Fine$64 VFine$77 NMint$85
XL1 Quest for the Heartstone Fair$9 Good$17 VGood$22 Fine$28 VFine$34 NMint$37
XSOLO Lathan's Gold Fair$9 Good$16 VGood$21 Fine$26 VFine$31 NMint$35
XS2 Thunderdelve Mountain Fair$12 Good$22 VGood$29 Fine$36 VFine$43 NMint$48