Revisiting Dungeon Magazine #1 - The Elven Home
When people talk about running Dungeons & Dragons today, the focus is usually on official Wizards of the Coast hardcover adventures. While those are polished and widely available, they’re far from the only resources out there. In fact, if you look back through the archives of Dungeon Magazine, you’ll find dozens of short, flexible adventures that can easily be converted for modern 5e play — and best of all, they’re floating around online for free.
Why Revisit Dungeon Magazine Adventures?
Free & Accessible: Many old issues have been archived by fans and are easy to find online at no cost.
Short & Flexible: Unlike modern hardcovers that span months of play, these were written as drop-in adventures, perfect for filling gaps in your campaign or spicing up travel.
Creative & Quirky: Early authors had fewer restrictions and often experimented with strange environments, odd NPCs, and moral dilemmas. They weren’t afraid to be weird — and that makes them timeless.
Breathing New Life into The Elven Home: Converting a Classic Basic D&D Adventure to 5e
Back in the earliest days of Dragon Magazine, Anne Gray McCready penned a charming little side trek called “The Elven Home.” Published in Dungeon #1, it was designed as a short wilderness encounter for 1st–3rd level Basic D&D characters. The scenario was simple but flavorful: wandering adventurers stumble upon an elven dwelling hidden inside a hillside, where the trees, elves, and even a guardian treant thrive on the mysterious power of a bubbling underground spring.
As with many early modules, the framework is flexible, the flavor is strong, and the mechanics are firmly rooted in their era. But how do you take such a gem from 1986 and bring it into the modern age of D&D 5e? That’s exactly what I set out to do—here’s what I found, and how I reshaped it.
Why The Elven Home Still Works Today
At its heart, this adventure isn’t about combat or treasure hauls—it’s about atmosphere and roleplay. It’s a snapshot of elven culture tucked away in the wilderness, a chance for your players to engage with something magical and different during their travels. Instead of a dungeon crawl, the tension comes from choices: do the adventurers make friends with the elves, anger their treant guardian, or plunder the home and risk elven retribution?
That kind of flexible, sandbox-y design makes it timeless. But mechanically? It needed a facelift.
Converting to 5e: The Key Adjustments
Here are the main areas where I would update McCready’s adventure for 5e compatibility:
1. The Energy Gas
In Basic D&D, characters inhaling the gas got bonus hit points and Strength. In 5e, I translated this into:
Gain 1d4 temporary hit points.
Gain advantage on Strength checks and saves for 1 minute.
Rebreathing resets the effect, but it doesn’t stack.
Simple, elegant, and perfectly in line with 5e’s design philosophy.
2. Monsters and NPCs
Treant: The guardian treant became a standard Treant with some “gas-empowered” boosts (extra temporary HP and damage while near the spring).
Young Elves: Instead of “elf adventurers” with odd stat lines, I rebuilt them as Apprentice Wizards and Scouts with a few spells added. Repo, the show-off swordsman, is a Scout with Magic Missile and Invisibility.
Stirges: Already in 5e, no conversion needed.
3. Treasure and Trinkets
Silver Daggers: A small but potent boon in 5e, since silvered weapons are rare.
Elf Brew: Now grants elves advantage on attack rolls for 1 hour, but causes exhaustion if they drink more than one mug.
Color-Shifting Vase: Reframed as a Wondrous Item (Uncommon), functioning as a magical calendar with possible ties to greater quests.
4. Exploration and Skills
Old-school “find secret door” rolls became DC 15 Investigation or Perception checks, and surprise rolls were replaced by 5e’s stealth vs. passive perception system. Clean, modern, and easy to adjudicate.
The Bigger Picture
The Elven Home is just the beginning. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be revisiting more adventures from the pages of Dungeon Magazine, reformatting and updating them for modern play. These are adventures full of charm, danger, and originality — and they prove you don’t need to wait for WotC to publish a $60 hardcover to find fresh material.
There’s a world of free, forgotten D&D content waiting out there, and it’s more than worthy of a seat at your table.
Next time you need a travel encounter, a quirky side quest, or a low-prep one-shot, skip the DMs Guild scroll. Dust off an old Dungeon Magazine instead — you might just find your new favorite story.
Next in the Series…
We’ll be tackling more adventures from Dungeon Magazine, issue by issue, updating them for 5e and showing how to slot them into modern campaigns.
Stay tuned for Dungeon #6, where another forgotten classic waits to shine at your table.
