Module Database, S series

S series:

Series overview: This is a set of four modules all taking place in the Greyhawk setting. These modules are all strange in that they are lost tombs, deadly dungeons, space craft or puzzle dungeons

S1: Tomb of Horrors

Setting: AD&D 1st Edition, Greyhawk

Characters: for levels 9-12

Written by: Gary Gygax

Year: 1978

New spells: None

New magical items: None

New creatures: None

What you get: 12 page booklet, 20 pages of illustrations and a cover

Summary: The PCs assault a trap-laden crypt of great evil.

Personal notes

Famed as a killer dungeon , Tomb of horrors has little in the way of monsters and little in the way of action. This is a minefield of an adventure, one wrong move and your dead. While Mr Gygax hardly creates the best atmospheric adventures in the world he can do three things well; bash dungeons (The giants), action packed wilderness (caverns of Tasojacanth) and old tombs (this one!). This module sets its stall out with the first three rooms (pick an exit, 2 result in instant death!) and from that point on it just gets nastier. Perfect for a thoughtful party who want to test their abilities against killer rooms. Gets a little easy in the mid section (a giant skeleton is supposed to bother level 10 plus characters?) but picks up well in the last third (the juggernaut trap and green gem spring to mind). The final encounter is a real nasty one where a young DM may 'bottle it' and fail to carry out the nasty business, stand firm I say, give the players hell.

Value for modern players

Well, its been re packaged as Return to tomb of horrors, it has the original module in it (and you have to go down it just as it was written!) Well worth a purchase, Bruce Cordell has added some great pre tomb encounters and worked in a great ending (even if it is all a little wordy).

S2: White Plume Mountain

Setting: AD&D 1st Edition, Greyhawk

Characters: 4-10 of levels 5-10

Written by: Lawrence Schick

Year: 1979

New spells: None

New magical items: None

New creatures: Kelpie (FF 55, MoM 293)

What you get: 16 page booklet with cover

Summary: An evil wizard has stolen three great items of magic which must be recovered.

Personal notes

At the time I played this I thought that dungeons just couldn't get any better. Features tricks, traps, three paths to wander, great magical items (which you are supposed to return but of course you keep) and great baddies. In the cold light of modern gaming its one of the illogical nonsense dungeons, if you can find a nice way to justify it all then you should play it, itís a blast. Now I look at it and think its perfect for a re writ, white plume has mythical status and deserves it because at the time of it's release it was untouchable.

Value to modern players

Well its clunky in places but if you can do a re edit and workout a reasonable plot line as to why this place exists you could just about get away with it. Hopefully TSR/WotC will do a brush up and re write that will allow us all to explore the plume once more.

S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks

Setting: AD&D 1st Edition, Greyhawk

Characters: for levels 8-12

Written by: Gary Gygax with special thanks to Robert Kuntz

Year: 1980

New spells: None

New magical items: Blaster Pistol, Blaster Rifle, Laser Pistol, Laser Rifle, Needler Pistol, Paralysis Pistol, Grenades, Powered Armor, Anti-grav belt, Underwater Swimming Gear, Gas Mask, Atmosphere Analyzer, Language Translator, Portable Spotlight, Repair Robot Control Box, Power Disc, Wound Healing Cannister, Fire Extinguisher, Hand Pump Spray Gun, Ships Rations. New creatures: Android, Police Robot, Worker Robot, Russet Mold

(MMII 91, MoM 255), Vegepygmy (MMII 124, MoM 256)

What you get: Includes a picture booklet for players and DM with about 60 illustrations.

Summary: This adventure takes place in a ruined space ship which has crashed landed in the mountains. Lots of technological weapons are introduced, as well as many other examples of advanced technology, which you'd expect to find on a ruined spaceship.

Personal notes

Built to be in Gamma world, this was hastily converted to AD&D and pushed out as a greyhawk adventure. Has a couple of neat ideas within it (in particular the logic tabes for working out if PC's can get objects like ray guns to work) Has a load of pictures included in it to show to the players (and thankfully they are passable in the quality department). Most of these modules suffer from the same basic problem, if you or your players do not like the 'theme' (in this case a crashed spaceship) then the module will just not work.

Value to modern players

Every group I have ever played in had at least one person who liked the idea of ray guns in AD&D. This is like eating olives , you like them or you don't.

S4: Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth

Setting: AD&D 1st Edition, Greyhawk

Characters: 6-8 of levels 6-8

Written by: Gary Gygax

Year: 1982

New spells: (From the Demonomicon of Iggwilv) Abjure (C4), Exaction (C6), Henley's Digit of Disruption (C6), Dismissal (M5), Dolar (M5), Ensnarement (M6), Banishment (M7), Torment (M7), Binding (M8). New magical items: Potion of Rainbow Hues, Potion of Vitality, Dagger +2 Longtooth, Horn of Fog, Lens of Detection, Slippers of Spider Climbing, Daoud's Wonderous Lantern (Artifact), Demonomicon of Iggwilv (Artifact), Prison of Zagig (Artifact) New creatures: Alu-demon (MMII 35, MC8), Baphomet (MMII 36, Myth 81), Bar-Igura (MMII 37, MC8), Bat (MMII 15, MoM 15), Behir (MMII 18, MoM 20), Bodak (MMII 19, MC8), Brown Pudding (MMII 102, MoM 297), Cave Moray (MMII 24), Chasm (MMII 38, MC8), Cooshee (MMII 26, MoM 241), Crystal Ooze (MMII 27, MoM 278), Dao (MMII 32, MoM 126), Demi-Lich (MMII 32, MoM 223), Derro (MMII 42, MoM 96), Dracolisk (MMII 55, MoM 14), Dretch (MMII 38, MC8), Dun Pudding (MMII 102, MoM 297), Formorian Giant (MMII 68, MoM 139), Fraz-Urb'Iuu (MMII 39), Fresh Water Troll (MMII 121, MoM 349), Giant Cave Cricket (MMII 23, MoM, 204), Gorgimera (MMII 70, MoM 42), Graz'zt (MMII 39), Kostchtchie (MMII 40, Myth 82), Margoyle (MMII 83, MoM 125), Marid (MMII 84, MoM 126), Mobat (MMII 15, MoM 15), Olive Slime (MMII 111, MoM 276), Pech (MMII 99, MoM 102), Rutterkin (MMII 41, MC8), Salt Water Troll (MMII 121, MoM 349), Slime Creature (MMII 110, MoM 276), Valley Elf (MMII 63, MC5), White Pudding (MMII 102, MoM 297), Wolfwere (MMII 127, MoM 363), Xag-ya (MMII 128), Xeg-yi (MMII 128)

Summary: This a tournament module set in the World of Greyhawk near the border of Ket and Perrenland, between the Velverdyva River and the town of Krestible. The module also contained information on magical diagrams and circles (pentagrams, pentacles, et al). There was also a section on the magical properties of gems.

Personal notes

Gygax can do three things well, bash dungeons, action packed wilderness encounters and tombs. This is an ambitious project to pull off all three! The wilderness is great I love it. A mountain section where you have to follow the pathways, encounters aplenty from stone giants playing catch with rocks, to a gnome settlement. Classic Gygax and worth the module alone. The bash part is not as great, this was out just before the MM2 saw the light of day, in fact the extra booklet has a lot of the MM2 in it! We are treated to a different monster in each room for no real purpose than to use up the new monsters on players. Bodaks live one cave away from formorian giants who live next to a clay golem etc etc. We get very odd spin off adventures (a surreal section with centaurs wearing horseshoes around their necks and a mad Minotaur maze for no apparent reason are just two examples!)

The tomb section is high concept (the imprisoned vampire fighter daughter of the mad wizard) and features a picture that all AD&D players love to death, in fact the pen and ink work by Jeff Easley deserves special mention because it is fantastic, his best black and work stuff is on display here. the last tomb encounter is great but the opening of the doors and the use of trogs to try and scare us is lame. Overall this adventure is an experience, some good , some ok and some (like the mass bash) pure non sense.

Value to modern players

Get it, this is the sort of module you don't get anymore. While it has holes in the construction large enough for a red dragon to fly through, its still a fun play.

S1-4: Realms of Horror

Setting: AD&D 1st Edition, Greyhawk

Characters: ? of levels 5-14

Year: ???

Notes: This module is a collection of the previous four modules.

Personal notes

has some nice trivia included before each adventure, clears up several map bugs and down grades a few encounters to make them easier. The simplest way to own all the collection, you donít get the fancy additions from S4 and the colour pictures of S3 are no where in sight.