Palace of the Vampire Queen: The First Ever D&D Module with Pacesetter Games - Episode 293 - 7/31/2026

Shane Plays Geek Talk Episode #293 – 7/31/2026

Bill Barsh of Pacesetter Games holds forth on Pacesetter Games updates and the 50th Anniversary of Palace of the Vampire Queen, the first module ever published for Dungeons & Dragons. Palace of the Vampire Queen isn’t just the first published D&D module; it’s also the first published megadungeon. What are Pacesetter’s plans for the 50th anniversary of Palace of the Vampire Queen? (hint: they’re cool). Shane’s inner 13-year-old asks the obligatory question that a 13-year-old would ask about the Vampire Queen. Bill gives his definitive answer on whether the Vampire Queen would own Strahd.
OTHER COOL STUFF IN THIS EPISODE: Bill’s market view is that people are playing a lot of 5E but aren’t buying a lot of new 5E product. Bill predicts the timeframe for the new version of D&D to come out. A surprising amount of B/X D&D is being played vs “Red Box” and BECMI at cons. The third edition of the BX RPG from Pacesetter is unleashing. Dungeon X is coming… Dungeon X is taking the best of D&D from the last 50 years and molding it into a new game. Choose-Your-Own-Path Stories are a new choice on the market. Solo adventures (one play only, not a duo between DM and player) definitely have a place in the hobby. Pacesetter runs one of the longest-running consecutive D&D tournament series at cons. There was a time when TSR thought publishing adventure modules was a terrible idea with no market. Let’s be real, OD&D is super important to the hobby, but it’s not the most organized and readable set of rules. What game does Shane declare as THE “D&D” success story of the past couple of years?

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SHOW NOTES

Palace of the Vampire Queen at Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_the_Vampire_Queen

Pacesetter Games
https://pacesettergames.com/

Kickstarter: Adventures from Farrador Keep: Choose-Your-Own-Path Stories!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pacesettergames/adventures-from-farrador-keep-choose-your-own-path-stories

Save For Half Podcast: Original Dungeons & Dragons, Edited by Greyharp
https://saveforhalf.com/2022/08/29/episode-42-original-dungeons-dragons-edited-by-greyharp/

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Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games 2nd Edition
Shane’s book! Co-authored with Matt Barton of Matt Chat
Order on Amazon now:
https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Desktops-History-Computer-Role-Playing/dp/1138574643/

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