D&D 5E Mud Sorcerer's Tomb - Crappy adventure? Or CrappiEST adventure?

[delericho]

Strange. I'd always heard high praise of Mud Sorcerer's Tomb.

Dungeon #116, in the "30 Greatest D&D Adventures of all Time" has a separate countdown of the top 10 Dungeon adventures, and rates MST as #1. Having read neither the original nor the playtest version, I have no idea how this latest version compares, though.

 

[Hussar]

To be honest, trap dungeons are often like this. Pretty random string of events with little tying them together. I think a lot of it comes from how the DM frames the adventure. If I go in thinking that this is going to be, say, Caves of Chaos, then I'm going to be very disappointed. OTOH, if you go in with a sort of Rubic's Cube mentality, it can be a lot of fun.

For me, I loathe this sort of gotcha thing with a passion, so, I don't think this is a good adventure for me.

 

[KidSnide]

I think WotC is trying to release playtest adventures to cover the classic adventure "genres." They started with dungeon exploration with Caves of Chaos and then did wilderness exploration with Isle of Dread. I think they just wanted to do a Tomb of Horrors style game, but felt that they had redone Tomb of Horrors so recently that they needed a different example of the genre.

Unfortunately, the "trap-filled nightmare" genre is small and there aren't many good examples. (Some argue there aren't any.)

But, yes, Mud Sorcerer's Tomb isn't a good adventure. The genre itself is problematic, since -- by its own terms -- there is no time pressure or active adversary. So to make it work, the puzzles and traps have to be really really good. Mud Sorcerer's Tomb has some good ideas in it, but there is far too much that is arbitrary or nonsensical.

-KS

 

[Wycen]

So, to be clear, there are 3 MST versions. The original, a "return to" 3.5 version, and this 5E version. I've only read the 3.5 version, but I don't remember anything about design, just the flavor bits. Perhaps it is the flavor bits, probably missing from a playtest, that make it great to many people.

 

[Morrus]

I'm sure there are plenty of adventure writers who'd gladly write a D&D Next module for you to include in your future playtests.

There probably are, Ryan - but I bet 0% of people who call WotC writers "stupid" get hired.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Funny thing is...until the 5Ed playtest, I'd never heard of it.

 

[jrowland]

If anyone has read "Necropolis" by Gygax (the original for Mythus or the 3E version) or Desert of Desolation, you know what a *GOOD* trap dungeon would look like. Mud Sorcerers Tomb, is similar to Tomb of Horrors not only in that its deadly and pointless, but it is also unfinished. There is supposed to be a lot of surrounding fluff that was simply "assumed" DMs would flesh. MST is NOT a dungeon crawl. Neither is Tomb of Horrors. They are meant to be solved, over time, with many forays, research, perhaps "side" adventures.

MST has a dead language...learning that language can be an adventure itself.

MST represents the barest bones of a dungeon. Approach it from a 1E mindset for best results.

 

[RangerWickett]

The playtest version of MST won't unlock once you're inside until you make it to the end. And you cannot teleport out.

I'll admit, I just ran it as written. But even if there was a story surrounding it, the actual challenge of the dungeon is lacking.

 

[howandwhy99]

I've been rereading the 2e & 3.5 Dungeon Magazine versions over again in preparation for an upcoming playtest session. There are problems with the design in this case (like locking players inside, probably making the time limiting factor being food & supplies), but the Tomb-style adventure module is hardly a genre unknown to D&D. I haven't read the D&Dn conversion yet, but I don't think they even have rules for water or earth much less mud. Without detailed environmental rules modules like this could be turned into meaningless dice rolls. It's not just an issue with the module, but the game design as it stands.

 

[SkidAce]

Funny thing is...until the 5Ed playtest, I'd never heard of it.

We really enjoyed the original from the Dungeon Magazine.

I should start a thread about some of those classics. I still use that big red dragon and his lair in my world...was that the first Dungeon?