Slavers SeriesA1 - A4
The A series was created for the AD&D Open tournament at GenCon XIII (1980, University of Wisconsin-Parkside). The series consists of four modules, which are meant to be played sequentially.
A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity by David Cook
A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade by Harold Johnson and Tom Moldvay
A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords by Allen Hammack
A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords by Lawrence Schick
The entire series was later compiled into supermodule:
Incidentally, the working title for A2 was "Stronghold of the Slave Lords"; it was actually published a short while after module A3, due to each module in the series being treated as a separate project at TSR.
The A series were never published in a "Foreign" edition outside the United States (German versions were in the planning stages but never released). Reasons for this are unclear, but possibly due to the rising sensitivities surrounding their central theme (slavery).
A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity
First (1980): Wizard logo, ISBN (only) on back cover bottom left. Some of the interior illustrations have small circular blemishes on them (on pages 10, 12, and 14). Thanks to Rene Hurka for this info.
Second: Wizard logo, ISBN (only) on back cover bottom left. This printing has minor interior cleanup on the artwork mentioned above, removing the circular blemishes. Thanks to Rene Hurka for this info.
Third: TSR Face logo; ISBN and Product Number on back cover bottom left.
Fourth: Contents identical to Third, but has an orange cardboard header glued to the top of the module, with the AD&D logo and some other advertising. The module itself, separated from the header, is indistinguishable from a Third printing. Further info on header modules is here.
A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade
First (1981): TSR Face logo. ISBN on back cover bottom left.
Second: TSR Face logo. ISBN and Product Number on back cover bottom left. Rumor had it that the grammatically-incorrect Slavers in the title had been changed to Slavers' in this and later printings. This is not the case... the error was never corrected.
Third: TSR Face logo. ISBN and Piece Code on back cover bottom left; Product Number on back cover bottom right.
A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords
First (1981): TSR Face logo. ISBN on back cover bottom left.
Second: TSR Face logo. ISBN and Product Number on back cover bottom left.
Third: TSR Face logo. ISBN and Piece Code on back cover bottom left; Product Number on back cover bottom right. Thanks to Gary Kramer and Hussain Zaman for this info.
A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords
First (1981): TSR Face logo. ISBN on back cover bottom left.
Second: TSR Face logo. ISBN on back cover bottom left, Product Number on back cover bottom right.
A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity seems to have had a slightly smaller print run than the rest, but this is just conjecture based on the relatively few collectible-condition copies that have come up for sale. The Fourth printing, with the header intact, is very rare. SW condition assumes the header is present.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity | Fair$7 | Good$13 | VGood$17 | Fine$21 | VFine$25 | NMint$28 |
| A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity (header) | Fair$186 | Good$335 | VGood$447 | Fine$558 | VFine$670 | NMint$745 |
| A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade | Fair$7 | Good$13 | VGood$18 | Fine$22 | VFine$27 | NMint$30 |
| A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords | Fair$7 | Good$12 | VGood$17 | Fine$21 | VFine$25 | NMint$28 |
| A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords | Fair$7 | Good$13 | VGood$18 | Fine$22 | VFine$27 | NMint$30 |
A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity
1st / 2nd printing
A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity
3rd printing
A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity
4th printing
A2 Secret of the Slavers
Stockade
A3 Assault on the Aerie
of the Slave Lords
A4 In the Dungeons of the
Slave Lords