Category: Products that are not from Old School Role Playing

Palace of the Silver Princess is a module written for use with the Basic Set for Dungeons and Dragons. It was published by TSR in 1981 and was written by Tom Moldvay and Jean Wells.

The adventure is 34 pages long. The inside covers display two map levels.

The land was peaceful and happy. Princess Argenta ruled the valley and the people thrived. Then one day a warrior rode a white dragon over the castle. Things went badly after that. The palace and the kingdom are now in ruins. Rumors abound about a fabulous treasure lost in these ruins.

What I like about Palace of the Silver Princess

Low level adventures from TSR are actually not that common. Most were written for higher level characters. Granted…this is written for Basic. But it is easily usable with AD&D.

The module has built in a few allies that could help the adventurers at key moments in the adventure. This might be needed.

The disaster was caused not by the appearance of this white dragon warrior but by a gem that was discovered. This ruby had magical properties and was previously owned by a powerful evil being known as Arik of the Hundred Eyes. The ruby has caused the troubles in the kingdom and even caused the crops to fail.

The goal of this adventure is not to kill the bad guy. Although killing bad guys is certainly a bonus. Destroying this ruby is the key to this adventure.

A few new creatures are introduced in this adventure. That is always a plus. Some of these were also included in AD&D. But I believe this module introduced them first.

What I do not like about Palace of the Silver Princess

While this is an introductory adventure for players and dungeon masters alike this module tries way to hard to teach the DM how to play. Now I know that B1 In Search of the Unknown and B2 Keep on the Borderlands did a little of that. But this module goes way over the top.

A lot of space is wasted on things that are clearly explained in the Basic guides. Way too much of it is this kind of crap. It is unnecessary.

Would I recommend this adventure to others?

I would recommend it to anyone looking for a different low level adventure to run. The newbie DM crap gets old after a while when you read it. You need to ignore that stuff if you are going to run it.

Would I run Palace of the Silver Princess with my own party?

Probably not. I have no object to the story itself but B2 and B1 are much cleaner. There is far too much introductory DM material in this one for my taste.

If you enjoyed this article then you might enjoy these:

• Lich Lords
• Zienteck
• Spies of Lightelf
• The Black Ring
• Portals of Twilight
• Portals of Torsh
• Portals of Irontooth
• Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor
• Sword of Hope
• Under the Storm Giant’s Castle
• The First Fantasy Campaign
• The Arduin Grimmoire

Tower of Indomitable Circumstance is a product from Judges Guild for use with their Universal Role Playing System. It was written by Corey Cole and was published in 1981. The module is 32 pages long. No specific level range is given but the author suggests that it be used with “beginning level” characters.

The tower is an ancient temple. It is now inhabited by a group of priests called the “Order of Math.” Math was a powerful neutral wizard aspiring to be god. He is a 30th level wizard and is currently thousands of years old. He considers himself a demi-god now but has greater ambitions.

The tower has six levels and an underground area to explore.

What I like about the Tower of Indomitable Circumstance

There are a few interesting things about this adventure. It is designed for use with beginning characters or for use as a solo adventure. There are not that many solo adventures out there so that is useful if one is looking for such a thing.

This adventure creates a new creature out of an old one. Or, I suppose, it modifies an existing one. Anyway. Tomb of Horrors had a Demi-Lich. This adventure also has one. But they are not the same. This adventure was written just about the same time that TOH came out so it is possible that JG was unaware of the development of the new monster. This version is actually just a lesser form of Lich whose powers are deteriorating from a failure to use all of the necessary magical spells to become a Lich. Obviously this adventure was written before the Von Richton Guides which detail the process of becoming a Lich in more detail. In this adventure the Lich is a 6th level MU/CL.

As in most JG adventures there are a few magical tricks which are interesting. One such trick is a room filled with statues based upon the seven deadly sins. Each statue represents a different sin. Each statue animates when approached and will make an offer to a player character that might result in an unfortunate result for that character.

What I do not like about Tower of Indomitable Circumstance

Even a 6th level Lich is dangerous for a group of “Beginning Characters.” Perhaps too dangerous. Especially since she is chaotic evil. But there is no real requirement that they fight her so that would be advisable. There is a great deal of low level undead in the tower as well.

Unlike some of the Judges Guild adventures I have reviewed this one uses far too much text to give us history and area descriptions. Honestly it bored me so much I probably skipped over important parts of the story. The adventure is 32 pages but probably could have been a lot fewer.

Would I recommend this adventure to others?

Honestly I would not. This module is rather confusing. It is also far longer than it should be. Part of this is the detailed history and background. Part of this is the inclusion of special rules for solo play. And part of this is that the author just cannot seem to write short area descriptions. Most of the information included is not that necessary or could be broken up into separate paragraphs.

Would I run Tower of Indomitable Circumstance with my own players?

No. This is not the best work I have seen from Judges Guild. I prefer Caverns of Thracia and Dark Tower.

If you enjoyed this article then you might enjoy these:

• Lich Lords
• Zienteck
• Spies of Lightelf
• The Black Ring
• Portals of Twilight
• Portals of Torsh
• Portals of Irontooth
• Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor
• Sword of Hope
• Under the Storm Giant’s Castle
• The First Fantasy Campaign
• The Arduin Grimmoire

Wondrous Relics is a product from Judges Guild which details magic items and artifacts for the Dungeon Master to use in their games. These are not the items from the Dungeon Master Guide but new ones to plug into a game. Ostensibly these are for use with the Judges Guild “Universal System” but it is pretty obvious that they would work just fine for Original or Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. It was written by Rudy Kraft and published in 1982. This product is 32 pages long.

What I like about Wondrous Relics

It provides new artifacts and magic items. The lists in the Dungeon Masters Guide are great but new items are always welcome. Every Dungeon Master wants to put unique things in their game and this affords them an opportunity to do so.

What I do not like about Wondrous Relics

There were very few items in this work that I considered actually using in my own games. In fact I think there were perhaps two. And those would take some modification.

The artifacts presented had no drawbacks which makes them worthless to a Dungeon Master. Artifacts that the player can use at will forever are too overpowered and should never be allowed into a game. Artifacts should have a terrible cost for their use or at least the potential for such. Otherwise they are just an instant win button for the player. Judges Guild did not seem to understand this when they put this out.

Would I recommend this product to others?

Probably not. It is worth reading but I would not spend any money on it. There are better options out there.

Would I use this product with my own group?

With the exception of two items the rest of this had little use for me.

If you enjoyed this article then you might enjoy these:

• Lich Lords
• Zienteck
• Spies of Lightelf
• The Black Ring
• Portals of Twilight
• Portals of Torsh
• Portals of Irontooth
• Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor
• Sword of Hope
• Under the Storm Giant’s Castle
• The First Fantasy Campaign
• The Arduin Grimmoire

Ok. I decided to read and review this one because at one time I was looking for high level adventures for my group at the time which was hitting 14th level with some characters (1st Edition). That group ultimately fucked up and had a total party kill before it became necessary for me to actually play one of these high level adventures with the party. By fucked up I mean they died, as a group, through total group negligence. They did something so incredibly stupid that it wiped out the entire party and left no one standing to go look for wishes or resurrections to bring back the dead. With no survivors at all they re-rolled characters and started over. I began looking at Role-Aids adventures from Mayfair Games because they had a couple of high level adventures that were mentioned on a forum that I read regularly (Dragonsfoot). Two adventures from Mayfair were in the list of these high level adventures. One was Lich Lords which I reviewed previously. The other was The Keep.

The keep is from Mayfair Games and is part of their Role-Aids series. It is written by Denial Greenberg, Samuel Shirley, Gregory Maples and Anne Jaffe. It was published in 1983 and…..believe it or not….it was made into a full length motion picture by Paramount Pictures. I never saw it. But this fact is mentioned in the module. It is 42 pages long.

• The Keep IMDB movie write up and reviews

What I like about the Keep

It is actually not as high level a module as was represented to me in the thread on Dragonsfoot. It is written for characters of 9th to 12 level of experience and for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. Still…there are not that many adventures out there for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons that are challenging for characters reaching levels of that range or higher. So this makes it in select company.

This adventure takes place at three different points in time. This makes it unique as well. There are not many adventures for any version of Dungeons and Dragons that involve traveling through time or adventures taking place at different eras. The Keep ties in a story line with Vlad the Impaler (Dracula) and Nazis! This adventure takes place on our own world not in some fantasy land.

Basically there are three different adventures involving the Keep in this story. The first involves an old temple around the 12th century. The second takes place at the Castle of Vlad the Impaler And the third takes place at a prison during the Second World War. The Nazi’s are in power.

What I like do not like about the Keep

This is a pretty detailed and complex adventure. But putting it all together just does not work for me. Obviously if I saw the movie perhaps I would understand all of the connecting parts but this one is far too busy a story for me to really get. Nazis in Dungeons and Dragons? I just don’t know.

Would I recommend this adventure to others?

If someone were particularly interested in Dracula or the Nazis and wanted to use them in a Dungeons and Dragons story I suppose this could work for you. Otherwise….no.

Would I run the Keep with my own party?

No. I really do not get this one and cannot see how it could work well in a Dungeons and Dragons game. But to each their own.

If you enjoyed this article then you might enjoy these:

• Lich Lords
• Zienteck
• Spies of Lightelf
• The Black Ring
• Portals of Twilight
• Portals of Torsh
• Portals of Irontooth
• Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor
• Sword of Hope
• Under the Storm Giant’s Castle
• The First Fantasy Campaign
• The Arduin Grimmoire

Prey of Darkness is an adventure written by Edward R G Mortimer and published by Judges Guild. It was written for use with the JG “Universal” system. This system is, more or less, compatible with Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. It came at a time when JG no longer had the license to publish D&D material. This adventure was published in 1982.

This adventure is a story about Bandits. The players are presented with the opportunity to hunt down a pack of criminals or join them if they are evil. Bounties are provided for some specific NPCs that might be met during the adventure but there is a dungeon to explore (the hideout) which will provide the real adventure.

What I like about Prey of Darkness

One of the NPCs is a headless Ghost Orc Shaman. That is kind of unique.

The bandit NPCs all have a little bit of story to them which makes them a bit less wooden than some of the NPCs in other adventures. And some of them are not truly all that evil at all. This makes them a little different to play.

There are other bounty hunters out there who might be rather ruthless in their pursuit of these criminals. Anyone standing in the way might also get killed.

A few new creatures are introduced which is always a plus.

What I do not like about Prey of Darkness

The “universal” system of Judges Guild is not exactly AD&D and does require a little bit of work on the DM’s part to make it compatible.

Most of the combatants in the adventure will be human or humanoid bandits. After a while this might get a little old. The deeper that you go into the dungeon the more non humans enemies you will find.

Would I recommend this adventure to others?

It would play well enough to keep the interest of most groups for a while. I think that the repetitive encounters, however, might cause a little boredom after a while.

Would I run Prey of Darkness with my own group?

I probably would not. I have no problem with adventures involving bandits but I know my own players well enough to realize that too many bandit encounters in a row would bore them to tears.

If you enjoyed this article then you might enjoy these:

• Lich Lords
• Zienteck
• Spies of Lightelf
• The Black Ring
• Portals of Twilight
• Portals of Torsh
• Portals of Irontooth
• Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor
• Sword of Hope
• Under the Storm Giant’s Castle
• The First Fantasy Campaign
• The Arduin Grimmoire

This review discusses a number of products which have been published under the Castle Oldskull banner. Each has been written by Kent David Kelly. Quite a number of products have been published under this line but I have only read a handful of them so I will only be discussing those. Those products include:

• The Classic Dungeon Design Guide Volume One
• The Classic Dungeon Design Guide Volume Two
• The Classic Dungeon Design Guide Volume Three
• 1000 Rooms of Chaos Volume One
• 1000 Rooms of Chaos Volume Two
• The Book of Dungeon Traps

These products are published by Wonderland Imprints. Presumably the publication date is 2013 for the first products but it is difficult to say for sure since it only lists a publication date range of 2013-2019.

These products are designed to help the Dungeon Master develop a “Mega Dungeon”. By Mega Dungeon the author is referring to one massive dungeon which could easily be the entire campaign for the adventurers. It is a dungeon of more than 12 levels to explore.

Most of these books are random tables. The tables are designed to give the Dungeon Master ideas to think about in developing the ultimate deep deep dungeon for the players to explore. Many of these tables are from one to 1000. There are a ton of ideas presented in a ton of different tables so that every dungeon prepared will be so different than any other.

What I like about Castle Oldskull

Some of these products I really like. Others not so much. I will discuss these in more detail later. But the greatest strength of these products are the random tables. There are tables covering just about any possible thing you would need to think about in preparing a big and deep mega dungeon. From themes to specific rooms to tricks and traps. Just about everything that you need is encompassed in these products.

These products are not free…however. And no…I am in no way affiliated with the author of this series or the publisher. These products are, however, pretty cheap by comparison to other things you might find on Drive Thru RPG. I think that I got them on some kind of sale because I believe I paid quite a bit less than the listed price for them. There are many other Castle Oldskull products which I do not own and if I get any of them later on I may review more of them then.

The dungeon design books are excellent. There are three of these. They basically take you through every element that you might want to consider while developing a mega dungeon. There are a lot of different points made by the author that you would want to consider. About 20 such points in all. And these products give you random tables to give you ideas on just how to make your own version of the mega dungeon. You do not have to roll randomly. You could easily just select one. But rolling gives you ideas that you would have never thought of on your own.

What I do not like about Castle Oldskull

I was less impressed with the Dungeon Traps book and the two 1000 Rooms of Chaos books. The rooms books pretty much just rehashed things from the three volumes of the Dungeon Design series. Nothing particularly new or exciting is added by them other than you can randomly roll a number of different room types. The traps book really added nothing in the way of new traps that I have not seen elsewhere.

Do not expect a lot of flashy graphics with this product. There is a lot of art in it. But about ninety percent of that is public domain artwork. I know because I have used many of the same images on this web site.

Would I recommend Castle Oldskull to others?

I think that if you want to write home brewed dungeons the three Dungeon Design volumes would be very helpful. It provides several kinds of dungeons that one could develop and then provides the tables for designing any of these types of dungeons. The types include temples, tombs, strongholds and caverns. For anyone working on a mega dungeon project this series would be quite useful.

Would I use this product with my own players?

I intend to. And I have begun working on a mega dungeon which I intend to release on Dragonsfoot for free at some point with it. I have published a number of adventures there and elsewhere but none have been a mega dungeon with many deep levels. This will be a new thing for me and I have already begun in earnest. It may take a while to get there. This product certainly helped. At least the three Dungeon Design volumes have.

If you enjoyed this article then perhaps you will enjoy these as well:

• Caverns of Thracia Review
• The Maltese Clue Review
• Verbosh Review
• Lara’s Tower Review
• Restormel Review
• The Dragon Crown Review
• Escape From Astigar’s Lair Review
• Hall of the Fire Giant King Review
• Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl Review
• Steading of the Hill Giant Chief Review
• Tegel Manor Review
• F’Deck Fo’s Tomb Review
• Operation Ogre Review
• Inferno Review

Wraith Overlord is an adventure from Judges Guild written for use with their “Universal Role Playing System.” It was written by Scott Fulton and was published in 1981. It is an ambitious creation involving an entire undercity beneath the City-State of the Invincible Overlord. The sewers and storm drains of the City-State are extensive. They are a city unto themselves. There are prisons and dungeons beneath the City-State and these could be explored by daring adventurers. Both the Thieve’s Guild and the Assassin’s Guild struggle for control of parts of this underground domain. Wraith Overlord is 112 pages long.

What I like about Wraith Overlord

It is extensive. It has sewers and dungeons and many different story lines. There are tons of NPCs here detailed. There are jails and dungeons and tunnels and other things that are underground for different reasons beneath the City-State. There are competing factions as well. Overall it is one of the more extensive products released from Judges Guild.

What I do not like about Wraith Overlord

It is a bit convoluted. There is so much presented here you have to wonder why some of it was included. Much of it seems repetitive. I think it could have been quite a bit shorter and this might have improved it a bit.

Would I recommend this adventure to others?

Yes. If you are running a City-State or Wilderlands campaign then adding these extensive under the city elements could only enhance the entire campaign for you. I would absolutely recommend them for that reason alone. And the “Universal” role playing system of Judges Guild is not much different than Original Dungeons and Dragons or Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. It could easily be used with either.

Would I run this adventure with my own group?

I have never run a campaign in the City-State or in the Wilderlands so I do not think I could use it myself. I suppose I could place it under some other large city.

If you enjoyed this article then you might enjoy these:

• Lich Lords
• Zienteck
• Spies of Lightelf
• The Black Ring
• Portals of Twilight
• Portals of Torsh
• Portals of Irontooth
• Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor
• Sword of Hope
• Under the Storm Giant’s Castle
• The First Fantasy Campaign
• The Arduin Grimmoire

The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth is an adventure written by Gary Gygax for 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. It was published by TSR in 1982. The adventure is written for characters of 6th to 10th levels of experience. From cover to cover the module is 70 pages long.

The Arch-Mage Iggwilv died long ago. But some of the vast hoards of treasure that she was known to possess have not yet been recovered. Her ancient lair is still not fully explored. The Caverns of Tsojcanth were her lair for many years. It is possible that her remaining treasures could still be found there. Possibly even…..Daoud’ Wondrous Lanthorn!

• Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth Link

What I like about The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth

There are lots of new monsters here. As well as new magical items. And there are even new spells introduced in this module. A number of the new monsters are new demons including a named one.

This adventure is actually one of the few modules that introduces an artifact into the game. Daoud’s Wondrous Lanthorn is an artifact. It is not a super powerful one like the Wand of Orcus or the Throne of the Gods. But it is a powerful item.

This adventure has both wilderness and dungeon components. This is always a plus in my book. There are so few adventures with good outdoor components in them.

The caverns here are pretty interesting. They have both natural and unnatural areas. By Unnatural I mean that these areas appear to be man made. There is also an underground river which plays an important part in the caverns.

I like the fact that this adventure is about finding the loot. This makes it more of the kind of adventure that I would enjoy playing or running. There are no big goals. Just go explore and have fun.

What I do not like about The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth

I do not especially like the selection of monsters used in this adventure. While I like the introduction of new monsters as much as anyone some of those used here do not seem all that appropriate to the setting. It seems more likely that the author just wanted to introduce them in a module and chose this opportunity to do so.

Would I recommend this adventure to others?

If you are looking for a module for characters in the 6 to 10 level range this would would play well. While I might not like all of the monsters used I suspect that many of them are ones my own characters would not have seen all that often.

Would I play The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth with my own group?

I might. My current group is not yet that level and I am looking at options for them once they are. This adventure certainly is one of those options.

If you enjoyed this article then you might enjoy these:

• Beholders
• Mind Flayers
• Undead
• Intellect Devourers
• Displacer Beasts
• The Underdark
• The Astral Plane

Oasis of the White Palm is the second module in the Desert of Desolation series. This adventure is written by Philip Meyers and Tracy Hickman. It was published by TSR in 1983. The adventure is 37 pages long from cover to cover.

The characters begin this adventure lost in a desert sand storm. They find a cave which they can use as shelter and safety from the storm. Once the storm ends and the party departs the cave they see smoke in the distance. Perhaps there are people near! They set off towards this smoke in order to investigate……

This adventure basically has three areas to be explored. The Oasis itself is one of these. But there is the Temple of Set nearby as well as the Crypt of Badr Al-Mosak. But first the players must find their way through the desert sands to the Oasis. And that alone is no certain task.

Like the preceding module each encounter area is defined with the following headings:

• Monster
• Treasure
• Trap/Trick
• Lore

As I stated in my previous review I am not a fan of this aspect of these modules. I think these encounter areas could be clearly described with a lot less text without these headings. To me it just adds a lot of unnecessary text.

• I4 Oasis of the White Palm Link

What I like about Oasis of the White Palm

Desert adventures are interesting. There are not many in the library of TSR products so that makes this series kind of unique. Desert are full of emptiness. But when one meets another in the desert it is entirely possible the other party will be some desperate villain. Bandits, dervishes and other such people escape to places like this to avoid the forces of law.

As a desert adventure series the use and carrying of water becomes an essential element of the story. The characters must carry water or they must find it. Otherwise they will die. Animals that are used for packing heavy loot will also have the same issues.

The oasis itself is basically just a town or village in the desert. This gives the adventurers a place to retreat to for safety and resupply. It gives them a place to find rumors and discover information about nearby places to explore.

There are two places nearby to explore. The Temple of Set and the Crypt. Both give lots of opportunity to find treasure and glory.

There are tons of tricks and traps in this adventure. There are far too many… in fact. But some of them are interesting enough to steal and use in other stories.

Naturally for a desert adventure certain types of undead seem to be called for. And they are found in abundance in this adventure. Mummies, specifically, belong in such a story. And this story has some. Along with Efreeti and some other creatures from desert lore. Even a Djinni.

What I do not like about Oasis of the White Palm

Like the previous adventure there are far too many tricks and traps. This is one of my beefs with the heading system of this module. I believe that having these words in every encounter has caused these authors to use them in every encounter. Tricks and traps are usually my favorite element of modules. But not when they are highly overused as they are in this series. They are hardly confounding when one finds them in every room.

Also a similar complaint to the previous module is that there seem to be far too many cultists, slavers and other humans to fight. While I have no problem with using human villains in adventures I think the players tend to find it boring when they fight them too often in an adventure. This is a fantasy game and they expect to fight fantasy creatures most of the time. Now spell casters, of course, are more interesting as monsters to fight. But regular cult type guys and guards and such get a little old after a while. But I guess for a desert adventure the designers must have felt this added some element of reality to the story line.

Would I recommend this adventure to others?

If you are looking specifically for a desert adventure this one would do. There are many elements that I do not like about the series. But there are few competing adventures in this sort of a setting. So this one would be as good as any to run if that is what you are looking for.

Would I run Oasis of the White Palm with my own players?

I think the adventure series is flawed and I do not think my own players would find it all that interesting. While the setting is different than the normal game world of fantasy the monsters are not really all that different than those found in other settings.

If you enjoyed this article then perhaps you might enjoy these:

• Under the Storm Giant’s Castle
• The First Fantasy Campaign
• In Search of the Unknown
• The Arduin Grimoire
• The Forest Oracle
• Keep on the Borderlands
• The Illheidrin Book
• Temple of Ra: Accursed by Set
• Modron
• Night Below: An Underdark Campaign
• Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill
• Ravenloft

Pharaoh is the first adventure in the Desert of Desolation series. It is written by Tracy and Laura Hickman. The adventure is written for use with Advanced Dungeons and Dragons and was published by TSR in 1982. Pharaoh is 34 pages long including the covers and maps.

This particular adventure has an Egyptian theme. In particular, the god Amun-Re, figures prominently in the story line. There have been several Egyptian themed adventures for Dungeons and Dragons over the years. It is a popular pantheon to use as an adventure theme. Sometimes it works out well. Other times it does not.

The adventurers begin this adventure surrounded by a large group of soldiers. One of the leaders of this band reads a decree from the local ruler of this barren wasteland which basically hijacks the players and forces them on a mission. They are to chase down some raiders who seem to have fled to a nearby desert to escape justice.

The adventure is written for characters of 5th to 7th levels of experience.

• I3 Pharaoh Link

What I like about Pharoah

I like the idea of using various ability checks with a D20. I use them in my own games from time to time. Generally I use a harder method of rolling 4D6 under an ability score but it really depends upon how difficult I want a check to be. Ability checks have obviously become a more important part of the game with later editions. But in AD&D 1st edition no such system was offered. Many DMs home brewed such systems into their games for things that could not be anticipated.

It is a desert adventure. These are fairly uncommon in the catalog of adventures for AD&D. Eventually, of course, it ends up underground. But there are wilderness elements to the adventure.

There is boxed text with this adventure. Fortunately it is brief. And it is not filled with the stilted speech you often see with such text.

What I do not like about Pharoah

When I saw that this was written by the same authors as Ravenloft I thought that this could be another gem. Unfortunately….it is not a gem. Not at all. I am not a fan of this adventure for a number of reasons.

If you have read my previous reviews, or any of my own adventures, then you know that I love using tricks (as defined in the DMG on page 216. I use them in most of my adventures. And there are always a few in just about every TSR or Judges Guild adventure. So I know that I am not alone in loving these. The problem in this adventure is, believe it or not, there are just too many of them. They are in every room just about. In some cases there are more than one in a room. They are hardly confounding or surprising when you encounter one every ten feet.

I do not especially like hijacking players and forcing them on a mission. This is too railroady for my tastes. This alone is enough to immediately turn me off from an adventure. I realize that this sort of fiction is used in a few other notable tourney modules but this is not one of those. I can live with it in a tourney module because the players do not have a lot of time to discuss what they would like to do.

I do not like the format of the room descriptions. Early on the adventure tells you that encounter rooms will follow a format that has bold headings of Play, Monster, Trick/Trap, etc. I do not really dig the idea of the module telling me in each encounter how to play it.

There is a lot of lore and writings on walls and such in the dungeons. This is shown with a different font to make it obvious to the dungeon master. They picked something Egyptian looking (I guess). Unfortunately it is not easy to read.

A whole lot of the monsters in this adventure are repetitive and boring. Right off the bat there are many rooms with dervishes in them to fight. Yes some are variants. But still….that gets a little boring quickly. Later on though it does start giving you some new and more interesting encounters.

Would I recommend Pharoah to others?

If you are looking for an Egyptian themed adventure this one might be right up your alley. But I have seen a few better ones out there. So I think I would shop around a bit before settling on this one. I know that one of my readers was interested in the Desert of Desolation series and wanted me to review this one. So I read it. I have not yet read through the other two modules so I cannot say with certainty that I would not like either of those. I might. We will see.

Would I run Pharoah with my own group?

I probably would not. I think that there are better adventures for characters of this level range and I would choose them before this one.

If you enjoyed this article then you might enjoy these:

• Sieges in Dungeons and Dragons
• Sleeping in Dungeons
• Kicking in doors in Dungeons
• Running Away in Dungeons and Dragons
• Division of Treasure
• Negotiation in Dungeons and Dragons
• Secret Passages
• Treasure in Dungeons and Dragons