Tegel Manor is an old school Dungeons and Dragons adventure produced by Judges Guild in 1977. It was later revised in 1980. Unlike most other publications from Judges Guild this one never states specifically who the author is. The artists are credited. But the author is not. Not in the original version anyway.
Tegel Manor is a massive mega dungeon. Unlike most other Judges Guild products this one has an enormous map with multiple levels. There are tons of rooms and encounters. And there are a wide range of encounter difficulties. The adventure is designed for Original Dungeons and Dragons. No specific level range is specified for play. Encounters in this adventure might range from a couple of rats to a Lich. Not all of these encounters are necessarily hostile though. So this should not be that detrimental as long as the players do not expect to kill everything that they meet.
The original version of the adventure is quite short really given the size of the place and the number of encounters present. Most encounter descriptions are incredibly short…..even for Judges Guild. When I say short…..I mean one or two lines of text at the most.
Tegel Manor belongs to the Rump family. One hundred different members of this family can be encountered in various places in this adventure. Some of them are friendly. Others are not. Some are just insane. Some have become……..something beyond this realm……
The Manor itself is more than just a haunted house. It is more like a fortress. With all kinds of nooks and crannies to explore. There is also a local village presented for the players to retreat to, learn rumors from and recuperate from their wounds.
What I like about Tegel Manor
There are tons of varied encounters. This is a mega dungeon. Not everything met needs to be killed. Some of the encounters are role playing ones. And there are tons of spooky little magical things going on around the adventurers exploring this manor.
You do not really see many mega dungeons produced for publication. There are a few. Not all of them are done well. This one is. There is a wide variety of challenges presented. Some might be challenging for characters of fairly high level. Others might be challenging for low level characters. Either type of party could potentially explore this manor with success as long as they are careful doing so.
This adventure was written before most modules were being printed in color. This one is black and white. It was clearly prepared on a type writer and there are a few spelling mistakes. This was common with many of the early Judges Guild products. And it was part of the charm. They are the very definition of old school. Even the artwork is simple and black and white. As are the maps.
There is no specific set objective to this adventure. It is a sand box for the adventurers to explore. There are treasures to be found. There are monsters to be killed. And there is adventure to be had. The players are not required to do anything but go out and have fun.
What I do not like about this adventure
In some cases, many cases in fact, the room descriptions are entirely too short. A little more information would be useful to the dungeon master.
Part of these short room descriptions are the dimensions of each room. That is what a map is for. It does not need to be in the description.
Not all of the encounters present in this adventure make logical sense to be in the same place. But this is a fantasy game right? Some things can be overlooked.
Would I recommend Tegel Manor to others?
Of course I would. It could easily be used with Original or Advanced Dungeons and Dragons characters. It is very old school and would probably take many days to explore. I would probably recommend that characters be at least a few levels higher than 1st but it is not required.
Would I play this adventure with my own players?
I very well may. My current group is probably a little too powerful to go through this module now but we may restart at some point if I get some new players involved. And this adventure would be a good one to use with them.
A link to Tegel Manor on Drivethrurpg:
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