Edits on Memories of the Future are coming along quite nicely. It’s always a good sign when I’m having fun and enjoying myself, instead of gnashing my teeth and pacing around my office listing all the reasons I suck and should never pick up a pen again in my life. (It happens more frequently than I’d like.) I’m under a lot of pressure to get this and another incredibly overdue essay finished, but it’s a good pressure that feels more like excitement than dread.
Anyway, before I dive back into those projects, I wanted to share something I came across on Reddit earlier this week: The classic D&D module The Tomb of Horrors, updated to 3.5.
If you don’t instantly know what the Tomb of Horrors is, this probably won’t mean anything to you, but I’m going to try: it’s one of the hardest, most devilish, brutal, evil, nasty, deadly, TPK delivering modules ever designed.
It’s also a hell of a lot of fun.
A very brief history of the Tomb of Horrors, from Wikipedia:
Tomb of Horrors is a 1978 adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, written by Gary Gygax. It was originally written for and used at the 1975 Origins 1 convention. Numbered “S1,” the module was the first in the “S” (for “special series”) series of modules.
The module’s plot revolves around the tomb of the demi-lich Acererak. The players’ characters must battle their way past a variety of monsters and traps, with the ultimate goal of destroying Acererak. Tomb of Horrors is considered one of the greatest Dungeons & Dragons modules of all time, as well as one of the most difficult.
I wouldn’t read beyond that if you’re planning to play it, because there are spoilers. Oh, and if you are planning on playing it, I’d suggest having a nice long talk with your character, making sure that you guys are okay with each other, and that there isn’t anything left unsaid or unresolved, because there’s a very good chance you won’t be seeing each other again.
This is probably old news to a lot of you, because it was released in 2005, but it’s new to me, and I thought I’d share with one final caveat. Someone jokingly suggested that I use Tomb of Horrors to introduce a new player to D&D, and I responded with something like: “Ha. Ha. Ha. The idea is to leave him wanting to play D&D again. Starting a new player out with Tomb of Horrors is like introducing someone to Rock Band with Green Grass and High Tides.”
Also: Have I ever linked to the incredible Top 10 D&D Modules I Found in Storage This Weekend at Geekdad? Well, if I haven’t, I just did. (There are several posts in that series. You can find them all right here.)
I ran this for my group back in the mid-80’s. After realizing the number of “Make your roll. Oops, you died.” variations was going to be so high, I “adjusted” it to simply mess up the characters if they did something dumb. Stick your hand in the Sphere of Annihilation at the end of the corridor? You still live, but you pull back a stump. It just got kind of sad towards the end.
Did you happen to see this:
http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/wtf-tomb-horrors.php
Quite funny.
Ah, memories. Frustrating, bitter happy memories.
When Gygax died, I got together with a bunch of people we don’t normally play with, and had a massive run at the 3.5 Tomb of Horrors. A few hadn’t done it before, and the ones who had did a good job of keeping their mouths shut. I killed many a PC that day, just like the old man would have wanted.
I still have that module sitting in my closet. Good times!
Back when Alliance Games Distributor was still Chessex, I had the opportunity to have lunch with Gary at the annual Open House that they have to get retailers and manufacturers together. One of the stories he told at that lunch involved the original Tomb of Horrors. I believe it’s the only thing with a higher mortality rate than the Temple of Elemental Evil.
i always wish i had the chance to play DnD
, i never had friends who liked it though 😛
Thanks for the link to geekdad, they had some other really good articles to read as well as the D&D one. They also had a fun little post about you Wil. 🙂 http://blog.wired.com/geekdad/2009/04/free-wil-3.html
While I had some friends who were interested in the game growing up, they were all either not interested enough to follow through with it or they simply wanted to have characters that were utter bad-asses of total bad-assery. So I’m not sure which is better and which is worse.
Ah, memories. I remember playing this when I was a young’un. Or just reading through it? Either way, it was awesome. And thanks for the geekdad link, I’d totally forgotten about those pictures!
Ah hell, now I just spent an hour going through the list of modules on Wikipedia and remembering which ones are stored in the closet.
I remember hearing about this mod, but due to the fact that I lived in the church-going middle of nowhere, I never got to play it. Now that I’m secure in the fact that my soul will indeed be going to hell in a handbasket, I’ll have to pick up the updated version. Sounds like a real challenge!
LOL! Acererak really is a huge asshole in addition to having a name that is annoying to pronounce. As players you really want to curse him out multiple times during the adventure, but you probably give up because you stumble over the name so much.
Thanks for the trip. Right down memory lane. Had the Toomb of Horrors back in the early 80’s. Wish I still had all my old D&D stuff – sadly all lost in one move or another several years ago.
I think Satan has his own version of Netflix for easier home delivery, kindly saving the baskets for those who’ve no idea where they are going.
I was in the same boat as a kid. Then that stupid Tom Hanks movie came out & mom freaked cause poor Kip succumbed to his evil inner necromancer… and I have no sense of reality. [Chortle snort snicker]
So I think that Wil, in his infinite amounts of spare time, could probably make awesome celeb supports a cause win by auctioning a D&D session with him… just sayin…
I never could get into D&D. I played Car Wars once or twice, though.
Had a great time in ’86 playing the original module. My thief was the only one standing at the end – and the treasure? Not wanting to be alone, my character hauled what was left (I was using to sling to take out the litch – ’nuff said) of the loot (and my party). A temple of Heironeous kindly brought most back from beyond the mortal plane. Um, and a Druid was able to Reincarnate our Elf Wizard (1st to get zapped) to an Ogre Mage. Talk about past life issues….
My boss at work swears the original was based on a module he claims to have created and run the year before the tomb was released. I think every old school DM thinks that…
I did run the 3.5 Tomb of Horrors for my sister, her husband, and a couple of friends. The (spoiler omitted) one hit my sis, and the party left before they finished, thinking themselves done and lucky to have escaped with most of their lives.
Advice:
When you run it, have a stack of pregenerated 9th level characters to get people back in faster. (unless you’re playing Iron Man Tomb, where once dead, you’re out and the party is simply smaller).
I’m tempted to convert it to fourth for my Girlfriend’s sake.
I just took the first DM read-aloud room description in this module and used it as a story starter for my Jr. High students. It was great!! And at the same time it gave me an excuse to get my geek on at school….
XD
You know, I’ve been playing D&D since this module hit the shelves, but in all those years, I’ve never played it.
I imagine there’s nothing like playing it in 1st edition (still the edition that holds the greatest memories for me), but I can’t help wonder what it would be like to convert it to 4e…
While I contemplate that further, kindly enjoy the following:
God that sounds like a video game level to me. If you want to play a game with many monsters and a Lich at the end, buy an xbox360 and play Gears Of War. I am so glad I have moved past the adventure in a box type ROLLplaying. I know that Gary Gygax was a big fan of conveyor belt adventuring and this was one of the greatest versions of that type of ROLLplaying. I remember playing “Keep On The Borderlands” and I had a great time. “Oh what a goose I am”
Oh the memories. Thanks for those.
Michael
I REMEMBER THE TOMBS AND THAT SILLY PIT WITH THE VOID SPHERE IN IT. AHHHHHHH! (hah i fell inthe pit because the DM was a dinkus.
Yeah i rolled a 8 on my perception role and couldnt see a deep dark pit, and i was the one holding the torch. I mean, in the dark, i have the light, and i am the one that cant see the pit. Every one in front of me saw it, without a torch… I never understood te need for some roles.
Im glad i dont do that to a player. For the most part my gamer group dont have alot of fatalities like that. They are the moronr that will charge an army, and belive they can hack through them. Lets face it, i even bought a few swords when i had the cash, and made em swing them about (safely) to make the point that the fight they were trying to enguage in was imposible.
I did the same with a backpack full of camping supplies, even took one of them for a hike. i sat in the back of the puckup that they were following, saying. “Give up yet? I was righ tthat your character could carry 300 pounds for 30 miles.” LOL. they usually listen to me when i have a point to make (it helps that im the DM most the time) We have fun and are always looking for new players to break in.
go figure, i usually have a tale to break them into, including my own campaign world… though i really need to write alot more info down. I tend to make up alot of content on the fly. done well enough to make the game fun, and keep them guessing. As long as i can do that, im happy.
OH, and if ya wondered, i have a few of the old D&D books, and stuff for modules. and quite a few years under the dice.
That is so totally awesome! I hope your students know how lucky they are to have you for a teacher.
(the Facebook login doesn’t want to give my name, so I’ll introduce myself – hi, I’m Allen)
I actually ran Tomb of Horrors 3.5 last summer at a local gaming convention. Advertised the name of the mod and everything, along with the warning “DM will be trying to kill you. Be prepared.”
Sadly, the players arrived *very* well prepared, and were perhaps too suspicious of the innocent rooms I placed before them. (My cackling probably didn’t help). They were also amazingly lucky (and I can’t blame it on them reading ahead, as I’d scrambled some of the layout just in case). Only managed two kills, remarkably enough, although I did get to use my Gelatinous Cube mini that I had tracked down for just such an occasion.
I can see how ToH got it’s reputation – it’s chock full of deathtraps. But a lot of it’s tricks have become tropes or cliches over the years, and modern players seem to look at the room and say “yeah, like I’m gonna touch *that*, Mr. DM.”
Any idea where I can get my hands on a “Rudy the Undead Hound” T-shirt.
Wouldn’t that be awesome?
That’s why we just nicknamed him “Acehole”.
I never got to play Tomb of Horrors, and I don’t think I regret it too much. Okay, maybe a little. I hope there’s a 4e adaption, because I think I’m going to get to play again over the summer.
I’m severely disappointed that Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth didn’t make the list. I must’ve played through that one two or three times. It was like a toosie pop – a sticky surprise in the center!
unless you have a decent DM, its not worth it.
Personally i prefer making things a bit easier, and with more story to it.
usually at that level the players are ready to take on demi-gods. Mine tend to retire at name level. Then again, they typical 1st level player and the 9 level player is something like 128 times more powerful. But then again i still play 1st edition.
Idone see the need to update because i just work around the out of date rules. granted, if i were just getting into D&D, that would be different. then again, howmany people you know have most the 1st edition books?
Time for a new shirt.woot to replace the recently-departed?
WOW, i remember seeing that advertisement in my first box set.
Flashbacks are good or bad? heh heh
I remembe rwhen the game was still in three lil books, and was called “Chainmail”
Oops i better be careful, im dating my self again.
i think was 8 when that came out…
You may have just made the nerdiest/greatest analogy ever.
“Green Grass and High Tides forever…”
A friend of ours updated the 3.5 TOH as an epic adventure… the only thing that bugged me (okay, to be fair, the only thing I’m going to go into detail about) was the Gygaxian (and I don’t mean this adjective in a good way) nature of the Demilich: if your Cleric has exactly the right spell prepared or available, you win. If he doesn’t, everybody dies.
It reminded me of why I had so little fun in 1st ed, and only slightly more in 2nd. I’m happy staying with 3.5, so I will.
I remember SOOO clearly just how furious I was running that adventure. My character actually made it to the lich…and the real fight wasn’t with him, but with the DM during and after…hehe, we were so pissed.
It’s definitely an old school DMs module. When the idea of collaborative story telling wasn’t quite fully developed and the DM/Player relationship was far more adversarial. Man…good times.
Say Wil:
Just wanted to tell you that for the past 3 months I too have been digging through my old DnD modules from first edition. In fact, I started looking through them about the same time your firs series of Penny Arcade podcasts came out, so I sort of felt the “synchronicity” of the moment back then. It’s continued as you’ve referenced the top ten modules, Tomb of Horrors, and so forth.
I happen to own most of the modules listed in your top ten list, but I wanted to tell you about a few others that I loved: One was “Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan,” which was super sickly cool because of the illustration boooklet (featuring a very sexy nereid to pre-pubescently drool over), but also because it had pre-rolled tournament characters and rules. It was practically ready to go.
The other – which I thought you’d especially dig – was S4 – Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. There’s strange monsters and nonsense going on in a far-off duchy, but what you stumble upon is an eons-old starship unearthed by strange forces. The ship is vast and has an entirely custom-built series of monsters, technology, and especially weapons. Plus, S4 had a slick illustration booklet too (but no hot nymphs, alas).
Anyway – just wanted to say I’m a huge fan. Plus, I like your Douglas Adams twitter today – Don’t Panic… seems apt.
Take care,
JP (John)
Sure, I might have spent a little time (like, a year-and-a-half) getting my characters killed by Acererak and embarrassing my brother with my howls of rage and frustration… but it was the 80s! Who DIDN’T?! 🙂
My favorites were the Slave Pits modules. We did a lot of family camping when I was a kid, and I still can’t unpack my REI tent without thinking of those. DnD (and TNG, actually) is so imprinted on my childhood memories. I can’t think of one without rolling a saving throw against the other.
This is one of the time tested and still viable adventures. When my Swords & Wizardry players need to feel a bit of pain I will introduce them to this particular flavor of agony. Luckily they haven’t been through it before and I am not going to tell them the name of the adventure, they will just find out the hard way.