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Message: <blockquote data-quote="KirayaTiDrekan" data-source="post: 6408841" data-attributes="member: 6755061">C1: The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan Originally published June, 1979Version being read and reviewed: <a href="http://www.dndclassics.com/product/17031/C1-The-Hidden-Shrine-of-Tamoachan-1e?term=Hidden&it=1" target="_blank">C1: The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan</a> (PDF) (PDF added to <a href="http://www.dndclassics.com" target="_blank">www.dndclassics.com</a> January, 2013) by Harold Johnson & Jeff R. LeasonFirst things first - SPOILER ALERT!!!!Still here?Ok, here we go.Indiana Jones meets The Road to El Dorado, with a dash of Hellraiser and healthy dose of The Mummy - this adventure is freaking amazing.This module was originally titled Lost Tamoachan, though I don't know if there were any revisions to the actual adventure itself with the title change.  Regardless, this is written as a Competition or Tournament module, complete with a relatively simplistic scoring system.  There a few notes about running the adventure campaign style vs. tournament style.  Tournament style features a timer of sorts in the form of poison gas that will slowly kill the characters if they don't escape.The tournament version also features three very detailed pregen characters and opens with an intro that has the trio fleeing from bounty hunters and stumbling into the ruins, falling into the Shrine via the ground collapsing under them in the ruined city.  The bounty hunters are not actually featured in the adventure, though the pregen characters' backgrounds provide plenty of material to work with should one want to begin a campaign leading up to this module (which is what I will likely do when I get around to running this).The adventure is heavily inspired by Aztec, Incan, and Mayan culture and mythology is obviously thoroughly researched in that regard.  Everything in the shrine is derived from or inspired by the gods of these cultures, translated slightly into the Olman culture of Greyhawk.  Even better, all of the various names of gods and other beings have a pronunciation guide.  Every room is loaded with fascinating features so I'm going to cover the highlights.  As an overview, most of the creatures here are modified to be intelligent servants of the various deities or are undead appropriate to the nature of the place.  There are also numerous traps as befitting a forgotten shrine such as this one.Room 13 features a nereid, which also has a Monster Manual style entry in the back of the adventure.  Nereids are elemental water beings inspired by myths of sirens and the like - beautiful female creatures or spirits that lure men to their doom.  As such, the nereid is described as rendering male characters unable to attack it.  For our trio of pregens, that means that only the cleric is immune to her charms.  If you've been reading my prior reviews, you know gender issues are of particular importance to me so, I find this particular creature's inclusion to be the only minor problematic issue with this module.  There are a few areas where the party could potentially drown in water but Room 24 features a potential burying and drowning in sand.  Eep.Room 28 has a gas spore, a "gotcha" monster that looks like a beholder but explodes when you hit it.  I'm not normally a fan of "gotcha" monsters, but this one seems to fit in with the theme of the module, representing a sun figure.Room 29 is where I am reminded of the movie "The Road to El Dorado" as it features the game that also plays a prominent role in the movie, a form of basketball where the party must get the ball, that moves on its own and is your opponent, through a hoop.  Room 35 made me squee a bit when I read it.  Xipe Totec, the Flayed One, is the deity referenced here.  In the early Hellraiser comic books, Pinhead is said to be the latest incarnation of that deity.  Here Xipe is a juvenile ogre mage.  And, amongst his treasure, is an intricately carved ivory box that is opened rather like a certain puzzle box.  I am huge fan of Clive Barker and the Hellraiser movie so this was a rather surprising and awesome proto-reference.  This module came out in 1979 but the Hellraiser movie didn't come out until 1987.  The short story the movie is based on, The Hellbound Heart, was first published as part of the Night Visions anthology series in 1986.  So, it makes me wonder if Barker may not have been a D&D player.Room 45 contains a depiction of the land of the dead, with its various levels being a bit reminiscent of Dante's Inferno and other depictions of a multi-leveled Hell, though there is one facet that is more like Elysium.  Room 46 features the debut of the gibbering mouther, a wonderfully grotesque and nightmarish monster and now something of a classic of D&D.  The mouther also gets a Monster Manual style entry in the back of the module. Room 54, the final room, doesn't have a "boss battle" - merely a puzzle of sorts as the characters must figure out how to finally escape the Shrine.  This is fitting as the objective of the module, at least in tournament play, is getting the heck out of dodge.The module comes with a secondary booklet of illustrations, similar to the Tomb of Horrors, that are used as game aids, providing a visual representation of various rooms.  Also similar to Tomb of Horrors, these are very well done compared to the standard art of the time.As noted in a previous review, as a kid I had avoided AD&D adventures as I was under the mistaken impression that they were only allowed to be played in organized play or conventions.  That didn't stop me from skimming through and reading Dragon magazine whenever I got the chance so I was at least vaguely familiar with the S modules, the GDQ modules, T1-4, and even the A modules.  But, the C "Competition" series was a complete mystery to me other than the names.  I barely knew anything about them until now.  And, with C1 at least, it looks like I was missing out on one of the best modules of the time.  I love nearly everything about this little gem and can't wait to run it some day.  There are only a couple of minor negative points - the nereid mentioned above, and some really skimpy amounts of treasure, at least compared to the other modules I've read so far.  Given that I'll be running this with 5th Edition, however, that isn't really a problem at all.Next up: T1: The Village of Hommlet</blockquote>

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