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WIR S1 Tomb of Horrors [SPOILERS!! SPOILERS EVERYWHERE!!]
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<blockquote data-quote="Stoat" data-source="post: 5698976" data-attributes="member: 16786"><p>What prompted me to start this thread were a number of comments suggesting that S1 was not designed to be inconsistent and that the odds were not stacked against the PC's. Lots of people suggested that the Tomb was "fair," that Acererak gave the players a "walkthrough," and that smart players could figure out the how to avoid the traps using clues presented in the module. </p><p></p><p>As for the module's popularity, I think there are several reasons for it. For one thing, the Tomb of Horrors is <em>old.</em> It was written in 1975 and first published in 1978. In other words, it's older than AD&D. It was there at the beginning, and that fact alone is going to give some cachet. </p><p></p><p>Moreover, and more important, the Tomb is different from the vast majority of published adventures. It is extremely light on combat. So far, the only unavoidable fight we've seen is the grey ocher jelly in Area 19. As far as I know, it is the only classic module based around tricks and puzzles instead of monster encounters. It sticks out, and people remember it for that reason.</p><p></p><p>Further, the encounters we've looked at so far are memorable. We can argue about whether the Great Green Devil or the gender-bending Chapel or the Agitated Chamber are fair, but I think we can all agree that they stick in the mind. The encounters are original and weird. They present unusual challenges, and failing to meet those challenges results not just in death, but in strange and gruesome outcomes. PC's might be disintegrated, they might wind up naked back where they started, they might have their gender reversed, they might get turned into slime. You don't forget something like that. You talk about it for years after it happens.</p><p></p><p>Finally, Gygax talked a big game about the Tomb. Check out a few quotes from Wikipedia: "There were several very expert players in my campaign, and this was meant as yet another challenge to their skill—and the persistence of their theretofore-invincible characters. Specifically, I had in mind foiling Rob Kuntz's PC, Robilar, and Ernie Gygax's PC, Tenser." Gygax wanted to be "ready for those fans [players] who boasted of having mighty PCs able to best any challenge offered by the AD&D game." When Gary Gygax says that he wrote a module to test the most expert players with the mightiest PC's, he's going to get attention.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Stoat, post: 5698976, member: 16786"] What prompted me to start this thread were a number of comments suggesting that S1 was not designed to be inconsistent and that the odds were not stacked against the PC's. Lots of people suggested that the Tomb was "fair," that Acererak gave the players a "walkthrough," and that smart players could figure out the how to avoid the traps using clues presented in the module. As for the module's popularity, I think there are several reasons for it. For one thing, the Tomb of Horrors is [i]old.[/i] It was written in 1975 and first published in 1978. In other words, it's older than AD&D. It was there at the beginning, and that fact alone is going to give some cachet. Moreover, and more important, the Tomb is different from the vast majority of published adventures. It is extremely light on combat. So far, the only unavoidable fight we've seen is the grey ocher jelly in Area 19. As far as I know, it is the only classic module based around tricks and puzzles instead of monster encounters. It sticks out, and people remember it for that reason. Further, the encounters we've looked at so far are memorable. We can argue about whether the Great Green Devil or the gender-bending Chapel or the Agitated Chamber are fair, but I think we can all agree that they stick in the mind. The encounters are original and weird. They present unusual challenges, and failing to meet those challenges results not just in death, but in strange and gruesome outcomes. PC's might be disintegrated, they might wind up naked back where they started, they might have their gender reversed, they might get turned into slime. You don't forget something like that. You talk about it for years after it happens. Finally, Gygax talked a big game about the Tomb. Check out a few quotes from Wikipedia: "There were several very expert players in my campaign, and this was meant as yet another challenge to their skill—and the persistence of their theretofore-invincible characters. Specifically, I had in mind foiling Rob Kuntz's PC, Robilar, and Ernie Gygax's PC, Tenser." Gygax wanted to be "ready for those fans [players] who boasted of having mighty PCs able to best any challenge offered by the AD&D game." When Gary Gygax says that he wrote a module to test the most expert players with the mightiest PC's, he's going to get attention. [/QUOTE]
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WIR S1 Tomb of Horrors [SPOILERS!! SPOILERS EVERYWHERE!!]
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