Return to the Tomb of Horrors....what say you?

[Ridley's Cohort]

In the 1e days ToH was a pretty good model for how high-level play ought to be. I was always of the view that someone who couldn't survive ToH had no business playing a high-level character in any case.

It was only a PC-killer for people who didn't use the correct techniques. But that was a simpler age.

The other side of the coin is that ToH was also a test of the DM and his ability to handle high-level play. Some of these tales of TPKs are more reflective of the failings of the DM than the players, even though they get told as stupid player stories.

 

[megamania]

As a campaign based adventure I would hope the DM dosen't send me in. As a convention game or the such- its a blast.

Not too long ago, the game group I used to play with did this for a con. Play testers included vets and newbies.. All had fun.

The true thing I disliked about it (at least the 2ed, never did the 3rd ed) is so much was save based.

 

[Roman]

I would definitely go for it. Although I have never played it, I sincerely doubt it is much deadlier than the homebrewed adventures of my DM anyway. In fact, the DM has stated that after we finish our current adventure, he would like to try running us through some converted classic adventure - I think he was considering "Castle M..." (I don't recall the precise name). We are currently 12th level and are likely to be 13th level by the time we finish this adventure. What levels is RttToH meant for anyway? If it is somewhere in this ballpark I might suggest it to him.

 

[spectre72]

As a campaign based adventure I would hope the DM dosen't send me in. As a convention game or the such- its a blast.

Not too long ago, the game group I used to play with did this for a con. Play testers included vets and newbies.. All had fun.

The true thing I disliked about it (at least the 2ed, never did the 3rd ed) is so much was save based.

And I was the one who converted and ran it.

See my comments at teh start of this thread.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

Sort of a mini-hijack, but does anyone remember a 1e or 2e module called Lords of the Night (Or Lords of Darkness) by Role-Aids? I think it was about a conclave of liches who dwelt in a dead volcano, and protected by armies of undead servants. I knew a DM who owned and refused to run it, saying he'd feel "too guilty" about all the PC deaths. I begged him to run it, but he refused. So I've always wondered how tough that thing really was.

 

[Desdichado]

. . . in less than 60 seconds!

Waitaminute... are we talking about the Return to the Tomb of Horrors?

 

[Narfellus]

I ran Return to the Tomb of Horrors about 4 years ago. I warned the players up front that it would get VERY difficult later on. They rolled up new 13th level characters (or 14) and off they went. It didn't get incredibly hard until the PC's made it to the Negative Plane. Then, the tricks and traps just to kill them were a turn off for the group, even though i had severely toned it down. Unfortunately we never finished the module and they never entered the final sanctum of Acerak (sp?)

I loved the adventure though. It's one of my all time favorites.

 

[Psion]

Sort of a mini-hijack, but does anyone remember a 1e or 2e module called Lords of the Night (Or Lords of Darkness) by Role-Aids? I think it was about a conclave of liches who dwelt in a dead volcano, and protected by armies of undead servants.

Lich lords.

I had it. I ran it. It had three glorious PC deaths that I am guitly of recounting a bit more than I probably should. Mainly because two of them were, well, mainly self inflicted.

1) The innocent one. Lich casts slay living on the well protected paladin who somehow fails to manage all his resistance rolls.
2) The slighly doughheaded one. I describe a chill shield surrounding a lich. The ubered-up monk charges to the attack and does buku damage. In those days, fire shield did double damage inflicted to the attacker.
3) This one was the most painful to watch, because it was practically suicide. A lich threw up a prismatic sphere which perturbed their efforts to do anything to it. The druid/mage who has a 35% MR from a familiar decided to chance walking into the PS to get at the lich. The player neglected to think of the fact that, in those days, every csater level below 11th was -5% to SR. Also in those days, liches were at least 18th level. 35% - (18-11)x5% = 0%. The character was zapped and disappeared as in a bug zapper.

The party somehow prevailed (I forget how), but some characters had to squander the wishes they received as awards to bring them back.

 

[Desdichado]

I loved the adventure though. It's one of my all time favorites.

I assume somebody must.

Tomb of Horrors was one of those that brought into sharp relief all the problems I had with D&D back in the day, and drove me to look for other games for more than a decade.

 

[Narfellus]

Well, it's not the ORIGINAL tomb that i'm so fond of. It is packaged in the boxed set as if in it's original mint condition, and the players have to go through it again. But that is just a small sequence sandwiched between the module's overarcing storyline. It is much more epic and heroic than the original meatgrinder, although Bruce Cordell threw in some doozy traps. And there's about 60 pieces of art that go with it, some in full color, and intricate journal entries full of clues. It's just a well rounded adventure.

Until you find the instant death switches.