We're Going To Do Return to the Tomb of Horrors and One Player has Freaked Out!

[spectre72]

I will add a different opinion than most....

It sounds like alot of people have never played in either TOH or RTOH (of which TOH is a part).

I have run the TOH several times in every edition of D&D and have played in it a couple of times.

Most of my comments revolve around TOH since I have not played the return.

The player should be scared, and so should the character since it should be a place of legend.

Something like "I heard that Bob the Mighty Barbarian and his 7 companions went searching for the tomb, and they were never heard from again......." repeated many times.

The DM can tone the adventure down, but if run as written (and as intended by being a tournament module) you can wipe the floor with any party of characters since it is designed to kill them.

I recently ran a conversion for a local convention with 8 characters of levels 12 - 16 and it ended up as a TPK both times within 2 to 3 hours.

The comments after the event were along the lines of .....

"We never had a chance"

"That was CRXX and we are only YY"

In todays "Balance" driven games players are not prepared for a session where they are outclassed and outgunned.

I have had conversations with the other DM's in our group and we consider the module appropriate for two things, either a one shot or a campaign ending event.

If you put it in the middle of a campaign then you would have to "Balance" it to keep from killing everyone.

 

[Ravellion]

The DM held up the module for all to see? Smiling, was he?

Has the DM dropped hints lately that he would like to start a new, lower level, campaign?

Rav

 

[Gentlegamer]

Find out if the scared player would rather play a converted Isle of the Ape instead . . .

 

[SamuraiY]

I have to admit, I once threatened to drop out of a game like that and I still feel like an incredible jerk for having done it, but in this case I really think you should listen to him. Roleplaying shouldn't be an excuse to throw away a campaign thats been going on for this long. Unless he has seriously retooled the scenario I would be very woried.

 

[jonesy]

"Gather around one and all, and I shall tell you the secret to surviving the Tomb of Horrors..."

*The sound of someone being skewered.*

"...no no no. Over here. Don't trip on the bodies and..."

*The sound of crushed bones.*

"...oh my, that has got to sting a little. Now if you'll just..."

*The sound of someone going mad and tearing his heart out.*

"...will you all please stop dying long enough for me to tell you the trick! Thank you. The trick is this: Don't lose your head."

*The sound of the storyteller being mobbed by the party.*

 

[BiggusGeekus]

I played a theif in the original TOH. Died in the first five minutes due to a bad roll. I checked for traps, found a trap, attempted to disarm, failed, died. Woo-hoo.

 

[Falkus]

My rule of thumb is that if you, the player, have an overwhelming fear of the PC dieing then it's time for the PC to retire.

There's a difference between being afraid of your chracter dying, and not wanting your character to stick his head in a gullotine and pull the lever.

 

[spatha]

Well we did the module as a campaign ender in 2e days. We made it 3/4 of the way through the module with no loss of life. As a matter of fact my theif/mage was doing extremley well. I unfortunatley couldn't make it to the rest of the games due to work. I believe we only lost 1 of our group of 6 to the module and that was in the final battle. Not that bad actualy just need to play smart and not try to bash your way through it.

 

[Henry]

I perhaps have a different motive, a metagaming motive: I'd send my character in. I wouldn't care.

Why? Because I enjoy gaming. I enjoy all the pitfalls, the highs, the lows, the TPKs, the vast treasure hauls, the winning of kingdoms and the losing of your shirts. When I die, I make another character. When the whole party dies, we make new characters. We play the same game as another up and coming bunch, or we start a new campaign.

I've got at least 5 campaign settings right now I wouldn't mind trying. I've got two I'm playing in that I'm enjoying right now. There's always another concept. All of it's a game, and I'm wasting time if I'm not playing it.

 

[Gentlegamer]

I perhaps have a different motive, a metagaming motive: I'd send my character in. I wouldn't care.

Why? Because I enjoy gaming. I enjoy all the pitfalls, the highs, the lows, the TPKs, the vast treasure hauls, the winning of kingdoms and the losing of your shirts. When I die, I make another character. When the whole party dies, we make new characters. We play the same game as another up and coming bunch, or we start a new campaign.

I've got at least 5 campaign settings right now I wouldn't mind trying. I've got two I'm playing in that I'm enjoying right now. There's always another concept. All of it's a game, and I'm wasting time if I'm not playing it.

Well said!

 

[jodyjohnson]

ToH and RttToH are great modules to read. And probably fun to play with a 1e feel. Lots of henchmen, retainers, hirelings, and a good total of PCs.

Trap dungeons and even the high level game illustrate why I'm starting to respect the huge parties of 1e vs. the 3.x 4 player party.

To show off traps and all those cool monster abilities you need 'red shirts' to use them on.

Losing a trusty henchman or hireling to 'super cool unavoidable blade of death trap' is tragic but not a session ender.
Having 1/4 of the party killed by said trap is not so cool. And 'realistically' once you lose a PC you retreat (end of session).

The fun of trap dungeons and special creature abilities is getting to show them off. The problem lies in the dynamics of what happens when they work.

I would do either of these with an ongoing campaign. However, the normal 4 person party gets beefed up to several times its normal number in pets, cohorts, hirelings, and NPCs. With 1/2 the party as an acceptable loss and no perma deaths for PCs the party can play through and recover. I'd run a much higher level party. RttToH has at least 2 creatures that have Epic write-ups in 3.x. And with the number of encounters the majority would need to be a EL much lower than the party to avoid: 4 encounter, rest. 1 encounter, rest. 3 encounter, rest. I prefer each locale to be a 'day' of adventuring rather then 10 minutes of adventuring and 23 hours of recovery, repeat.

 

[SweeneyTodd]

You know how a lot of people hype things up to make them sound a lot worse than they are?

We're not doing that.

Dude, none of you are going to make it through with your characters intact. Just do a search on here for "Tomb of Horrors". Nobody survives.

Well, enjoy!

 

[Henry]

ToH and RttToH are great modules to read. And probably fun to play with a 1e feel. Lots of henchmen, retainers, hirelings, and a good total of PCs.

Trap dungeons and even the high level game illustrate why I'm starting to respect the huge parties of 1e vs. the 3.x 4 player party.

To show off traps and all those cool monster abilities you need 'red shirts' to use them on.

My friend, back in Gary Gygax's day, all those characters WEREN'T NPCs. At times when the game was new, he'd be DM'ing for twenty people at a time! Also, character creation time for gameplay was much quicker for the average player.

To look at it another way, they were ALL red shirts...

 

[jodyjohnson]

To look at it another way, they were ALL red shirts...

Or perhaps one was the plucky comic relief.

 

[jrients]

What is he? Chicken?

*bawk*
*bawk*
*bawk*

That was my reaction. Here's an opportunity to show what he's made of as a player and what he's made of apparently is 100% grade 'A' wuss. I'd jump at the chance to take a veteran PC through the Tomb of Horros. Yes, my guy would probably die horribly, but what if he made it through alive? "Hi, I'm Nerdenkainen the Wizard." "The one who made it out of the Tomb alive?" "The same." "Dude! You roxxor!" "Why, yes. Yes, I do. How kind of you to notice."

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Yes, my guy would probably die horribly, but what if he made it through alive? "Hi, I'm Nerdenkainen the Wizard." "The one who made it out of the Tomb alive?" "The same." "Dude! You roxxor!" "Why, yes. Yes, I do. How kind of you to notice."

Dying horribly is one thing. Dying casually is another. There are a lot of save-or-die rolls in this module. It's insanely hazardous.

Frankly, I'd invest in a wand of summoning and have a kobold walk through every door and touch every object first.

 

[rogueattorney]

How in the world did he make it to 15th level if he was afraid his pc was going to die?

PC's were born to die. The only question is how much damage they do on the way. Are they on their way to Valhalla or on their way to Limbo? Are they legend or are they forgotten?

If he doesn't want his 15th level character to die, that character should retire.

R.A.

 

[Gentlegamer]

Frankly, I'd invest in a wand of summoning and have a kobold walk through every door and touch every object first.

Funny that you mention that: that is almost exactly how Lord Robilar made it through the original Tomb of Horrors . . .




[That is, HE PLAYED SMARTLY!]

 

[Bregh]

I'm with Henry and rogueattorney.

It's a game. Step up to the plate and show what you've got--having played this PC from 1st level means he should know the ins and outs of his abilities and should have a strong group dynamic with the rest of the party.

It's a test of player mettle. I'd jump at the chance to take this on with boon companions--win or lose, it'd be a tale worth telling afterward.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

How in the world did he make it to 15th level if he was afraid his pc was going to die?

There's a difference between, "It is very, very important that my character do X, and while doing so, he may die," and "It is very, very important that my character do one of the following 4 things, and if I do the last, he absolutely will die before he can attempt the other three."