The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan - your experiences?

[Quasqueton]

Twenty-seventh thread of a series on the old classic Dungeons & Dragons adventure modules. It is interesting to see how everyone's experiences compared and differed.

The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan

Did you Play or DM this adventure (or both, as some did)? What were your experiences? Did you complete it? What were the highlights for your group?

Quasqueton

 

[Quasqueton]

Wow. So no one here played this module? It even had a picture book and everything.

Quasqueton

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

Actually, this was one of the few that despite my ownership of it, I never got to run. I recall wanting to run it but recall that the theme was very Mezzo-American in feel and since I was in Greyhawk could not really find a way to easily put it in.

 

[DarrenGMiller]

I ran this adventure back in the very early 80's. I don't remember very much about how it went (we're talking 20 years here), but I remember having fun with it and scaring them with the picture book.

DM

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I've owned this one for twenty years, and always thought it kind of sucked, so I never ran it. As a competition module, it assumes three PCs trapped by a cave in who die to poison gas if they don't escape in a certain amount of time.

Unlike C2, which allows for exploratory play outside of the competition setting, or A4, which used the forcing mechanic in a creative way, this module always felt a bit too contrived and forced to me.

 

[diaglo]

Wow. So no one here played this module? It even had a picture book and everything.

Quasqueton

not with that crappy cover.

it is definitely a Convention module.

meant to kill or incapacitate large numbers of PCs.

it is meant to be played as a team. each class or pregen character has an important part they "shine" and have to survive to accomplish that task so the party can go further.

the Hacks who wrote in the late 2edADnD Dayes tried to tie all of these modules into a cohesive bunch.. the LOst TOmbs Series.. even trying their own hand and failing at making a similar adventure.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

I haven't played it yet, but thanks to the new Dungeon Greyhawk map this month, I now know where it is.

 

[Greenstone]

Used this as a one-off over 20 years ago, and it went very well using the pre-generated characters.

And it fits perfectly well into Greyhawk, at least for me... I set it in Hepmonaland, which I'd always thought of Greyhawk's Mayan/Inca-style area.

Anyone agree?

 

[Melan]

This is my second favourite module (just behind Dark Tower by Judges Guild), and depending on my current mood, sometimes the first. I ran it about a year ago as a one-off. Every single character was killed, because they couldn't get it into their heads that they need to get out as opposed to get a lot of treasure. They found the vampire right at the beginning... Things went downhill from that point. Still, a good time was had by all, so no harm done.

 

[Quasqueton]

not with that crappy cover.

Oh? So you played with this crappy cover:

Or this one:

Looking at early D&D illustrations, one would think the game started in the early dark ages.

Quasqueton