X10: Red Arrow, Black Shield, by Michael S. Dobson, was the first adventure module I ever owned. If I recall correctly, it was purchased for me by my otherwise evil grandmother at a mall Waldenbooks, along with the Expert Set box. This was contrary to the wishes of my mom, who was sketched out by the panic around D&D. It was also contrary to common sense, which would dictate you start with the Basic Set. I took what I could get, though.

Personal history aside, X10 is a terrible first module to own.

The idea is that the players have to rally a defense against the invading army of that old bugaboo from X5, the Master of the Desert Nomads. They go from region to region of the Known World, enlisting the aid of various rulers and armies until they run out of time and have to, you know, fight a war. Sounds cool so far, right?

The war sets aside the D&D rules for a strategy game with a big map and lots of chits. This is also a cool twist, but the rules, ugh. You can run the strategy portion with the War Machine rules from the Companion Set box, or add in the BattleSystem rules, both of which have short summaries in the module. Both are complicated and, honestly, pretty dull (full disclosure: I have a special, irrational loathing of BattleSystem that I will explain some other time). At least Young Stu found those chits fascinating.

Because it was my first module, I both love it (because come on) and hate it (because it was confusing and I never played it), so I have exactly zero critical distance on it. If you played it and loved it, by all means, tell me! Most importantly, though, in the historical context, I suspect X10 is a clear forerunner of Greyhawk Wars, a D&D/strategy game hybrid that I like quite a bit.

Anyway. I like the choice to illustrate much of the module with historical engravings of medieval warfare. I also get a chuckle out of the fact that the cover art depicts Sturm Brightblade fighting draconians with nary a desert nomad in sight.