Merric's Erratically Updated Reviews of old D&D adventures

MerricB · Sep 7, 2012

I've reached 1982!

Let's start with
I2: Tomb of the Lizard King

Cheers!

MerricB · Sep 11, 2012

Scrivener of Doom · Sep 11, 2012

MerricB said:
S4: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth

I've always wanted to like this but, like most of Gary's stuff, it needs some work.

the Jester · Sep 11, 2012

I like your last two reviews quite a great deal. I love both the Lost City and DitFC, but every time I have played them, the dm has really run with them and the experience has been fantastic.

TerraDave · Sep 11, 2012

MerricB said:
S4: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth

Or as I like to call it: the Caves of Chaos on acid....

This plus Tharizdun plus Ravenloft, in Transylvania, were the backbone of my college/grad school game. Good, good times. But I did weary of the caverns eventually, and worked to put more "story" in, as was the fashion of the time (and that it really needed).

Would love to run it again with a fresh eye. After running many of the other things reviewed here, of course.

MerricB · Sep 14, 2012

TerraDave said:
Or as I like to call it: the Caves of Chaos on acid....

Necropolis is Tomb of Horror on crack.

Necropolis is actually one of the best Gygax adventures, simply because it manages to combine a plot with some great dungeon crawls and role-playing opportunities. Oh, and curses.

This plus Tharizdun plus Ravenloft, in Transylvania, were the backbone of my college/grad school game. Good, good times. But I did weary of the caverns eventually, and worked to put more "story" in, as was the fashion of the time (and that it really needed).

Would love to run it again with a fresh eye. After running many of the other things reviewed here, of course.

Cheers!

MerricB · Sep 14, 2012

U2: Danger at Dunwater

Cheers!

Scrivener of Doom · Sep 14, 2012

Great review again, [MENTION=3586]MerricB[/MENTION].

Actually, I would love to see an adventure you have written if you have any.

Animal · Sep 14, 2012

Enjoying your reviews so far.
One suggestion: Could you maybe add some kind of a rating system to your OP? E.g. The lost City : idea:6, encounter design:5, etc. Or any other scale you think appropriate. In case we don't have time to read all the reviews and just look for an adventure with cool monsters and encounters or one with non-traditional mechanics, etc.

MerricB · Sep 15, 2012

Scrivener of Doom said:
Great review again, [MENTION=3586]MerricB[/MENTION].

Actually, I would love to see an adventure you have written if you have any.

Alas, I can't find the pdf of "The Oracle of Fate", which is the one adventure from my home campaign I actually posted on the web. [MENTION=1613]grodog[/MENTION] might have a copy, but it was quite a time ago and the website it was on has passed into oblivion (and it's not even stored on the wayback machine

)

I did some of the conversion work on The Eight Kings, the final of RJK's Maze series, but there's not that much of me in it.

Mind you, there's a group-designed AD&D dungeon currently being constructed at RPGgeek, though whether it actually gets finished is anyone's guess. I've volunteered to do one of the levels; I'll be working on that in the next couple of weeks. There isn't an overarching plot, so it's far more of "funhouse dungeon" style (which I quite enjoy, actually).

Here's one of the very few encounters I've written for it:

15. ENTRANCE USHER
The door to the west is in two parts, with an upper section (generally) swung aside revealing the room beyond. In the room sits Grendhal, the henchman of the grand wizard Ulidan, reviewing any who enter this level of the dungeon. Grendhal is an officious sort, and very much by-the-book. He has been ordered to take the names, races, professions and purpose of all visitors to this level, and will become very peevish if unable to. If treated respectfully, he will give visitors a copy of the library key with instructions to return it when they leave. If they key is not returned, it has been cursed to lower the offending character’s Strength to 3 the next time they sleep, and will then return to Grendhal. A remove curse spell will negate this penalty.

Grendhal knows that this level contains the library of the Grand Wizard Ulidan, and that all are free to explore and enjoy the mysteries of this library. If attacked, a command word will slam shut the upper section of the door and cause them to be arcane locked (at the 9th level of experience). If this does not deter intruders, he will ring a bell that summons 8 Gnolls to his aid, and will then fight to the death.

Grendhal sits at a desk on a leather-upholstered chair, and he whiles away the time writing his memoirs, “Life of a Muscle-Bound Fool”. (Grendhal is not foolish in the least!) Two volumes of his memoirs are finished and are on a bookcase on the north wall, the third is currently being written, and a large stack of papers is on the desk.

Grendhal (Ftr 8, AC 0, hp 68, #AT 3/2, D 1-8, MV 9”, Str 17, Int 13, Wis 14, Dex 15, Con 16, Cha 12, AL LN, platemail +1, shield; longsword; ring of sustenance)

Cheers!