White Plume Mountain is a module written for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1st Edition. It was published in 1979. The module was written by Lawrence Schick. White Plume Mountain is another very short adventure. It is sixteen pages long from cover to cover. There is but one dungeon level.
Three magical weapons have been stolen recently. Clues in the form of a poem lead those in power to believe the weapons have been brought to a volcano which was once the hideout of a powerful wizard named Keraptis. These are no mere magical weapons. They are more like minor artifacts. They have powers beyond just hitting and missing.
White Plume Mountain is written for use with adventurers of 5th to 10th levels of experience.
What I like about White Plume Mountain
This adventure is full of interesting encounters and situations. There are puzzles of a sort. There are magical oddities that will confuse and confound the adventurers. Little is as it appears.
Each encounter is carefully crafted. There are situations where if the adventurers just try to use fireballs or lightning bolts to clear the room they will pay a horrible price for it.
The heat induction hallway killed a paladin in my group who was just unwilling to part with his armor for a time. The bubble inside of the boiling lake killed a couple of my adventurers who made poor decisions in combat against the giant crab. The inverted glass pyramid filled with monsters nearly wiped out my entire party. Altogether there are several clever situations in this adventure that may lead to deaths of characters. My players love challenges like this. These are what the game is about.
It is a short, tightly written, adventure. Little space is wasted. The set up and background are about a page. There are a few handouts in the back of the module for the players to learn background information. There are three different paths the adventurers can take in the dungeon and each leads to one of the artifacts. Once the artifacts are recovered there is a final obstacle which might prevent the adventurers escape.
What I do not like about White Plume Mountain
Unfortunately…it is too short. Another level or another ten pages would be nice. But it is well written and constructed. Even as short as it is it will play well for a night or two.
Would I recommend this adventure to others?
Absolutely. This is a classic adventure that everyone should play at least once. I love the puzzles. I love the encounters. It is definitely a good module to run for a couple of nights.
Would I run White Plume Mountain with my own group?
This one is easy. I already have. I ran this adventure with my existing group about a year and a half ago. They loved it. I loved it. It was a classic Dungeons and Dragons experience. I would run it again if I had a group of different players than the current group.
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Assassins in Dungeons and Dragons made their first appearance in the Blackmoor supplement. This was the second Dungeons and Dragons supplement and was named after Dave Arneson’s original campaign. This supplement was published in 1975.
Assassins began as a sub-class of the thief. Assassins, however, were a darker sort of thief with a different set of skills. They could do the same things as thieves but not as well. But their special skill was murder. They had the ability to perform “assassinations” in which their skill might provide for an instant kill.
The Assassin had greater hit points than a thief. And they could use a wider range of weapons. They also had the ability to disguise themselves.
Assassination requires surprise. Do you think this guy is gonna be surprised?
Assassins in Dungeons and Dragons have been present in most editions of the game
In First Edition the assassin appeared as a class in the Player’s Handbook. But it was considered a sub-class of the thief. The requirements for becoming a First Edition more stringent than that of becoming a thief. In order to qualify for an assassin the player must roll a strength of at least 12, an intelligence of at least 11 and dexterity of at least 12.
The First Edition assassin no longer gained more hit points than a thief. Both classes receive a six sided dice for hit points. The assassin had limited thieving abilities. They performed these abilities at two levels lower than a thief would.
Is this crossbow bolt for you?
Like thieves, the assassin, is capable of back stabbing enemies. But the First Edition assassin has to make a choice when making attacks by surprise. Are they going to back stab and use the damage multiplier that they and thieves enjoy for such a sneak attack? Or are they going to attack normally and gain the surprise initiative offered in 1st Edition? Or are they going to attack on the assassination table? This choice is not a simple one. Because each method of attack has it’s own advantages and disadvantages.
In Second Edition assassins were removed from being a standard class. They were later presented as a “Kit” in the Complete Thief’s Handbook.
Third Edition made the assassin a prestige class. In order to qualify the individual had to be able disguise themselves, move silently and hide in shadows and then hunt down a victim to murder in cold blood to prove that they were worthy of the title. These assassins were skilled with the use of poison. They were skilled at murdering others with little risk to themselves. High level assassins could even hide themselves in plain sight.
Sometimes you have to go out on a limb to get the job done
Fourth Edition released the assassin as a class in Dragon Magazine issue #379.
Fifth Edition made the assassin one of the archetype classes of the rogue. Assassins in Fifth Edition focus their training on the grim art of death. This includes:
Hired killers
Spies
Bounty hunters
And specially anointed priests trained to exterminate the enemies of their deity
The Fifth Edition assassin is skilled in:
Disguise
Poison
Stealth
The Fifth Edition assassin gains the ability to assassinate at third level. However, this is not the instant kill from First Edition. Instead the assassin gains advantage on attack rolls on creatures that have not yet taken a turn in combat. At ninth level the assassin gains expertise at infiltration. At thirteenth level the assassin can mimic others perfectly. And at seventeenth level the assassin gains the “death strike” ability. This allows the assassin double damage against an opponent if that opponent is taken by surprise and fails a modified constitution saving throw.
This guy sees his victim and decides to drop down and say hi
Assassins in Dungeons and Dragons were evil (in most editions)
The later editions diverged from this requirement. But the early editions declared that the occupation of killing people in cold blood required an evil alignment. As assassins were hired killers in these editions this sort of requirement made a great deal of sense.
Bet the victim did not see this guy coming
Assassins in Dungeons and Dragons are part of a guild
This is true at least in the earlier editions. Assassins were generally hired to perform assassinations. First Edition even included a nice little table in the Player’s Handbook dictating the minimum price that an assassin would require to perform assassinations against characters and non-player characters of different levels. When an assassin performs an assassination in a town with such a guild the local guild will come calling. They will not be pleased that the assassin has conducted work there without being a member or paying membership dues.
An assassin is not required to be a member of a guild. But all non-player assassins were in the earlier editions of the game. Most towns or cities had such a guild. And these guilds would control territories of from 10 miles to 100 miles from their headquarters. An assassin who is not a member of the guild who enters in this radius will be asked to join. They need not do so. But should they perform an assassination in that area without joining the guild will sentence that assassin to death.
Moving in for the kill
Headquarters of assassin’s guilds located in cities and towns were not obvious. Killing and murdering others is usually illegal in most places. So keeping the guild location secret was essential to professional success. It was usually a nondescript structure that few people would take much notice of such as:
Warehouses
Shop
Shack
Home
Slum dwelling
Tavern or inn
Assassin’s guilds are not looking for notoriety. They are looking to conduct their business in the shadows. They would not be above murdering anyone who discovers the location of their hideout or one who speaks of it.
This chick is ready to kill!
Assassins in Dungeons and Dragons are masters of disguise
A First Edition assassin could disguise themselves as a human, demi-human or humanoid. They could appear of either sex. They could make themselves look taller or shorter. They could resemble any class. And they could appear as any type of worker, merchant, noble or beggar.
The chances of discovery were fairly low for the assassin in the early editions so use of disguise could be quite an advantage over others.
Spying was a role for assassions
Assassins as spies
Another role of the early edition versions of the assassin was as a spy. First Edition provided tables for determining success in spying missions. It also provided a table for determining what would happen if the spy was discovered.
Spy missions might include:
Determining defenses of an enemy stronghold
Troop quantities and disposition
Obtaining maps or documents from the enemy
Obtaining plans of the enemy
Achieving a high level or rank in the enemy army
The more complex a mission could be the less chance of success it might have. Spies were paid to take extraordinary risks. Their survival depended upon their skill.
Looks like this lady found something good
Assassins could use poison
No other class in any of the early editions of this game could use poison. Poison use is illegal in virtually all towns and cities. Use of poison itself is often considered to be an act of evil. Assassins could not only use poison….they could make their own. They were the masters of such substances and were highly qualified to distill such things for their own purposes.
It was possible in the early editions for others to notice poison on another person’s blade in some circumstances. Such notice would almost certainly be immediately reported to the city watch.
Could this be the next grandfather (or grandmother) of assassins? Only time will tell……
There can be only one!
This was true in Highlander. And it was true in First Edition for assassins and monks and druids. There could be only one with the top rank for these classes. That meant that one had to fight their way to the top. In the case of assassins….they could assassinate their way to the top instead.
This was quite controversial. Especially with players….. No player likes the prospect of losing a level or dying when they achieve the experience points necessary to advance. Every player wants the ability to reach the highest levels. But these classes had to fight their way up once they reached a certain level. There could be a limited number after a certain level. And then there could only be one of the very top level.
Lying in wait
For assassins this top level was called the “Grandfather of Assassins.” The headquarters of this Grandfather of assassins could be just about anywhere. Naturally this top assassin would not want his or her whereabouts known to everyone. Especially not to all of those would be grandfathers out there waiting to kill them. They could have their headquarters in a castle, tower, cavern, monastery, palace, temple or anywhere else they chose for their personal security and comfort. They might even keep their headquarters in some deserted areas such as:
Moor
Desert
Swamp
Murky wood
Dismal marsh or fen
Deserted island
Remote coastline
The farther from civilization that this headquarters is the safer the grandfather could be. Upon slaying the old grandfather of assassins the new grandfather must pay all of the remaining followers of the old one 1000 gold pieces per level of experience, destroy the old headquarters and create a new one.
Assassins could be deadly with all sorts of weapons.
Assassins in Dungeons and Dragons are deadly
Regardless of the edition that you play the assassin can be a deadly threat to others. Their skill with the use of poison and their talents for killing others make them someone to watch out for. You would hope that one is not in your adventuring party…..but can you really be sure of that?
Perhaps this guy is plotting your murder……..
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Tomb of Horrors is a TSR produced module for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. It was written by Gary Gygax. And it was published in 1978. From cover to cover this module is 36 pages long. But there are really only eight pages of actual dungeon text. And one of those pages includes the introduction material.
No where could I find anything that specifically spells out a level range appropriate to this adventure. But I was reading from the mono (pink) colored version of the adventure. It is clear that this is a higher level adventure. The encounters are quite deadly. The pre-generated characters that are provided with the adventure range up to 14th level in experience. The green colored cover of the adventure clearly states that characters should be 10th to 14th level.
Technically this was not the first incarnation of this dungeon. Gary introduced a version of this at a convention as early as 1975 for original Dungeons and Dragons. He revised it for publication to use with Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. There is a badly scanned copy of the original version of the dungeon floating around on the web if you really want to look for it.
This adventure takes place in the mystical world of Greyhawk. But it is easily placed just about anywhere in your own game universe. A well known Lich has moved on to a new creature known only as a “Demi-Lich.” Acererak is his name. And he is a fairly well known villain in the Greyhawk world. There are legends for the location of his tomb. These legends are well known.
Don’t do it! That might be the last mistake that wizard ever makes right?
What I like about Tomb of Horrors
First….it introduces us to the Demi-Lich. The Demi-Lich is an incredibly difficult and deadly encounter….unless you know how to defeat it and have the proper tools to do so. When this adventure was published, the Demi-Lich, was not one of the original monsters in the Monster Manual. It was offered later in the Monster Manual II which was like two or three books later. The version in this module is slightly different than the version in the Monster Manual II. The differences that I found from reading the module and then comparing to the Monster Manual II version are as follows:
A shatter spell in TOH does 10 hit points of damage to the Demi-Lich. A shatter spell against the MM2 version does 3-18 points of damage
The TOH states that a “only a fighter with a vorpal blade, a ranger with a sword of sharpness, +5 or a vorpal weapon, or a paladin with the like or even a +4 weapon can inflict damage on the skull”
The MM2 states that “A fighter or ranger with a vorpal blade, sword of sharpness, sword +4, or vorpal weapon; or a paladin with a +4 or better weapon can inflict full damage upon the skull.
That may seem similar but actually there is quite a difference between those two statements.. Because later in the same block of text in the MM2 it also states “any character with a +4 or better magic weapon or a mace of disruption can inflict 1 point of damage upon the skull each time it is struck.
That is actually a huge difference. The upshot is that anyone striking the skull with anything but a sword of sharpness +5 or a vorpal weapon will either do no damage at all or will do one point of damage per strike. But if you are using one of these two special weapons you will do full damage if you are using the right class of character to do so. Those 50 hit points of the creature would go quickly against fighter types using the right weapons. Those without the right weapons, however, are going to do little or no damage at all to the skull.
The TOH version also allows a thief using a sling and throwing certain valuable gems found in the TOH to to significant damage to the skull. The MM2 mentions nothing of this possibility.
The demon faced idol has many admirers….there are several different cool images of this on the web
I love the false entrances. I have used this, myself, in an adventure or two. There is nothing quite as entertaining as having your adventurers, who know that they are looking for such a tomb, find one and then discover this is just a death trap entrance.
I love the demon face on the wall with a fixed sphere of annihilation for a mouth. This is what I like to call the “you are just stupid trap.” If you are dumb enough to stick an arm or a head into this mouth and have it destroyed…well you deserve what you got. I once put a knife on an altar in a dungeon and put writing above it that said something about using the knife to give an offering of blood to some chaotic evil deity. One of my players naturally used the knife and cut their hand. And then discovered that the knife was just a poisoned blade. They failed their saving throw…..
I love the illustrations of the key dungeon rooms for this adventure that are provided. I sometimes use props like that in my own games so that the players can visualize what it is that they are being told. Then when they make a mistake and their character dies….they have nothing but themselves to blame for their mistakes.
This is an adventure with no real random encounters in it. It is designed to be more of a thinking, puzzling, type of place rather than a meat grinder. But of course….it plays very much like a meat grinder. Because mistakes in this dungeon will kill characters. And sometimes they will destroy those characters forever.
This adventure has a lot of those little magical things called “tricks” in the Dungeon Master Guide for 1st edition. I like these and use many in my own games. Many others do not like them so much. It is a question of taste.
Keys! If you have read my article regarding Keys in Dungeons and Dragons then you know how much I love these. This adventure has a couple of them. And they are critical to the success of the adventurers.
The halls of this dungeon are quite peculiar
What I do not like about Tomb of Horrors
Although I love the introduction of the Demi-Lich as a creature…..it is a very complex and difficult creature to run as an encounter. This is not like the other creatures in the various Monster Manuals. There are a lot of moving parts to this creature. And the process of using this creature is not entirely clear from either the TOH description or the MM2 one. The Demi-Lich can either take a wraith like humanoid form or just be a plain dusty old skull with gems for eyes. But either version is extremely deadly to encounter. And some of the deaths caused by this creature may be so permanent that even a wish will not bring the character back to life. The armor class is extremely low and the hit points, although not super high, are high when you consider that most people will not have the weapons needed to do real damage to it.
The Pre-Generated characters offered with this adventure do not have any of these special weapons. Nor are they offered in the adventure. So assuming the adventurers actually find the Demi-Lich Acererak they will probably have zero chance of defeating it in battle.
There are a lot of secret doors in this adventure. And if some of them are missed, and they probably should be if playing strictly by the rules, then huge sections of this special adventure will probably be missed. Don’t get me wrong….I use a lot of secret doors in my own adventures. But I try not to place them in ways that the delvers might miss huge portions of the dungeon or some critical place where I want them to eventually go. In this one the final encounter with the Demi-Lich could easily be missed by failing to find a secret door. That would be a tragedy! Of course…given how difficult it is going to be to destroy him with the pre-generated characters provided they might prefer not to find him…..
The gems in this place are more valuable than you might think…..
Would I recommend this adventure to others?
Absolutely. Who would not love to run this adventure? It is vicious in every way. And it would be incredibly fun to run. I would probably advise, however, using the pre-generated characters rather than destroying those of your own players. If not using the pre-gens I would recommend waiting until reasonably high levels before using this adventure.
The Skull of a Demi-Lich as gems for eyes
Would I run Tomb of Horrors with my own players?
I very well might. If my players make it back up to the levels necessary to run this adventure. Unfortunately my own group recently suffered….misfortune…at the hands of a different Demi-Lich. My player group contains a couple of guys who are well read in Dungeons and Dragons material. I expected them to be familiar with the workings of a Demi-Lich. After all….they are familiar with just about every monster and magical item other than this. But alas….they were not. They made critical mistakes. They had the proper tools to easily defeat this creature. But the mistakes they made cost them dearly. All characters were killed. We rolled up new ones the next time we met.
The mistakes my players made:
They did not run away when it was completely obvious they were getting their asses kicked badly
They had both a sword of sharpness and a vorpal blade in the party….and chose to use neither of them. Instead they chose to use a +4 weapon which did only one point of damage each time it was swung
By the time they were all dead they had done a combined 5 points of damage to the Demi-Lich
They had access to a sage and did not ask any questions about how to defeat a Demi-Lich. Even though they knew that they were going to be encountering one…..
But I love this module. Yes….it is truly evil and depraved….it is defintiely a death trap. But I probably would elect to use the pre-generated characters rather than the beloved characters of my party members. That is too cruel even for me. And I am pretty cruel…..
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Citadel of Fire is a Judges Guild adventure written for original Dungeons and Dragons. It was published in 1980. Citadel of Fire was written by Marc Summerlott and Bob Bledsaw. It is 32 pages from cover to cover inclusive of maps and illustrations. The adventure includes six levels of tower and five levels of dungeon.
The adventure is written for higher level characters. No specific level range is mentioned but some of the encounters are quite high level.
A wizard built a dark tower to live in and study magic. Over time he made deals with goblins and others to populate his tower. He passed the tower on to his heirs which continue to rule the tower in conjunction with goblins that have dug deep dungeons beneath it. One such heir of the wizard still runs the tower today. The partnership with the goblin king also continues.
It is an old school adventure. It is fairly short by Judges Guild standards at only 32 pages. The encounters areas are brief at about 3-4 lines on average. The background is also very short at about half a page. Brevity is always welcome as long as the necessary information is passed along.
The primary bad guy in this story is the newest wizard to take control of the tower. His location will be determined randomly (at any time) by the dungeon master using a series of tables. This is a unique idea that I have not seen in other adventures (including other Judges Guild ones).
Judges Guild adventures are known for their very simple illustrations. Usually they are in black and white other than the covers. Some of the illustrations are still quite good. Others not so much. The ones in this adventure are pretty good for the most part. Even some of the maps have illustrations of monsters integrated into them. It is kind of cool.
What I do not like about Citadel of Fire
For a high level adventure there are a whole lot of small encounters with goblins. Characters of levels high enough to challenge Liches and high level wizards are going to find little trouble at all destroying the goblins in this adventure. Those encounters make up many of the dungeon level encounters and are hardly challenging to characters of upper levels.
One thing that confuses me…..in several Judges Guild adventures…..is the idea that one can be cruising along fighting bad guys and then find…..a tavern…. or something along those lines in a dungeon room. This has always been a mystery to me. It makes no sense at all. Yet this adventure has such an encounter on page 20 in the lower levels of the dungeon. This is seriously inconsistent and does not belong. There is even a dentist office in one place in the dungeon. Of course….the dentist is a troll!
There is not a lot of variety in this adventure. The tower has mostly humans. Fighters and magic users. The dungeon has mostly goblins. Lots of them. There are other monsters of course. But not really that many when you boil it all down. Too many of the same thing tends to bore players. It tends to bore me too.
The level ranges in this adventure tend to be wide. One room might have four goblins. The next might have a Lich. There is little consistency here.
Would I recommend this adventure to others?
If one is playing original Dungeons and Dragons Citadel of Fire might well fit into the campaign. I do not think I would recommend converting it to Advanced Dungeons and Dragons and trying to run it with a group.
My biggest concern is the level range gap. For high level characters there are far too many rooms with creatures that will not challenge them at all. For low level characters there are plenty of easy encounters and then a few hard ones which would likely lead to a total party kill unless the party runs away. In some cases they probably will not escape.
Would I run Citadel of Fire with my own group?
No. I probably would not. There are other adventures which are more consistent and which have more appropriate level encounters for higher level characters.
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Rust Monsters in Dungeons and Dragons came into being while Gary Gygax was developing and playing Chainmail. He was on the lookout for potential new monsters and began looking through dime store toys for inspiration. He came across a bag of “prehistoric monsters” which gave him ideas for new creatures. From this same bag of creatures he developed the Rust Monster, The Bulette and the Owlbear. Three great monsters from one bag of cheap plastic toys!
Of course, he was looking in other places, as well. Fantasy stories, Tolkien, Sword and Sorcery stories and pulp fiction were some of the sources. As was ancient mythology. Nothing was spared to come up with the hundreds of monsters later included in the various Monster Manual and Fiend Folio editions.
A hungry rust monster having a snack
One particular monster from this bag of plastic toys drew Gary’s attention more than the rest. These toys were from Hong Kong and were representative of the Japanese “Kaiju” films which included Ultraman and Godzilla. One of these creatures had a propeller on the tail and looked sort of like a lobster. This creature became the Rust Monster.
The rust monster consumes metal. It has an almost insatiable hunger for this substance. It can smell metal and will just about always go in search of this smell. Ferrous metals such as iron and steel are it’s preferred sources of food.
Armor and weapons do not last long around rust monsters
Rust Monsters in Dungeons and Dragons various editions
Rust monsters were with us from almost the very beginning. They were first introduced in Dungeons and Dragons with the Greyhawk Supplement in 1975. The creature was described as “inoffensive” but the “bane of metal with ferrous content.”
The rust monster was included in Basic as well as the black box rule book.
In Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1st Edition the rust monster appeared in the Monster Manual. The picture showed a slightly different monster than that of the plastic figure seen by Gary Gygax. This one shows a creature with two antennae and four legs with a tail and a propeller on the end of the tail The body is shaped like a low mound of rocks with two small eyes in the front and a small mouth.
Later editions made rust monsters look more insect like
The first edition rust monster was about three feet high and five feet long. It would consume any metal but had a preference for ferrous metals. Copper, gold, platinum and silver would still be at risk near such a creature. It could smell such metals at 90 feet and would run, quite quickly, towards metal when sensed nearby. For such a small creature it could move extremely fast. Far faster than most adventurers. The movement rate was 18″. And a heavy armored adventurer would move at much lower rates of speed.
The second edition Monster Manual slightly changed the appearance of the creature. The propeller was changed to a small paddle. The colors were changed to yellow/tan for the underneath and reddish brown for the top. The creature was described as smelling like rusty metal.
Avoid the antennae if you want your armor to stick around
Third edition changed the appearance again. Now the antennae were made to look more feather like. The legs were made more insect like. And the speed was reduced to 12″. This made them far easier to run away from.
Fourth edition continued the appearance from third edition but doubled the movement rate. Now the creature was difficult to run from again. The creature appeared in the Monster Manual II for fourth edition.
Fifth edition changed the appearance a little more. The head looks almost insect like. The feather like antennae continued but the end of the tail looks even more menacing than before. It looks almost like a spiked weapon. No longer does the creature look like a mound of rocks. Now it looks almost snail like. Movement rate is now 40 feet.
How does one escape from a Rust Monster in Dungeons and Dragons?
Well. Clearly running won’t help. At least not in most of the editions. The movement rate is faster than the slowest members of most parties. The slowest members are typically the fighter types wearing heavy armor. The non armored members of the group are at far less risk. It is the fighter types that will desperately want to get away from this creature. So how does one get away from it?
As the creature loves metal it is advisable to give it some. Throwing down gold, silver or platinum may satisfy the creature for a little while. Throwing down steel or iron might be more satisfying. Old weapons and armor would be good choices. Iron spikes are another possible choice. And if all else fails….treasure will do. They will just about always stop for a round or two to eat when offered such metals.
The appearance of rust monsters has changed over the years
What other attacks can a Rust Monster in Dungeons and Dragons make?
None. They have no claw attacks. Their bite does no damage. And their tail is only harmful to metal. These creatures are basically harmless. But they are quite harmful to the weapons and armor of the party members.
Originally the rust monster had a propeller at the end of the tail
Rust Monsters in Dungeons and Dragons are dangerous to metal
Metal is the source of food for these creatures. Any metal touched by one of the antennae of the rust monster is corroded instantly and turned to dust and small chunks of metal. This dust and small chunks of metal is then easily consumed by the Rust Monster as food. They prefer refined metal over metal ore when given the choice.
Any metal is at risk. They prefer ferrous metals but they will settle for any other metals if that is all that they can get. In 1st edition the metal receive a saving throw if it was magically enhanced. The chance of success as ten percent per plus of magical enhancement. Metal failing the saving throw instantly fell to pieces and was then consumed by the creature.
Finding one of these in the dark would terrify any fighter
These creatures like dark places
Subterranean places are their preferred residence. They roam these places in search of food. Tombs, crypts, dungeons and other such places are their favorite homes. Caverns will also sometimes have rust monsters in residence. A lair will typically have one or two rust monsters. Occasionally they might have one offspring in the lair. These creatures are also often found in the Underdark.
Later versions of the game changed the tail to look more weapon like
Treasures of Rust Monsters in Dungeons and Dragons
As metals are used as food the creature rarely has any treasure other than rocks. But some of these rocks are often gems of some value. Dwarves and gnomes hate these creatures with a passion as these races are known for their metal working and mining. Rust monsters work against such races as they tend to eat the profits….literally….
The original rust monster
Rust Monsters work well and play well with others
The rust monster is not an aggressive species. Creatures and races that are not concerned about metal are often known to live among rust monsters. Rust monsters often are the cleaners of dungeons and they eat all of the discarded metals. Carrion crawlers are known to live in the same places as rust monsters eating all of the organic material as well. And with a gelatinous cube in the dungeon the floors are likely to be completely swept clean daily.
A 5th Edition rust monster
These creatures will ignore those not wearing or carrying metal. Wizards have been known to walk right up to these creatures and not even be paid any attention at all by them. But anyone wearing or carrying metal will find a far different response. The creature will act aggressively and try to touch the metal with it’s antennae.
Rust monsters tend to get along with many creatures not dependent on metal for their survival
Rust Monsters are the one thing that strikes fear into every fighter (or ranger or paladin)
The rust monster will always choose the biggest source of ferrous metal when given options. When they encounter a party with more than one person wearing armor and carrying weapons they are likely to go after the person wearing full plate mail. And since this person is likely to be the slowest member of the party…..they will probably get caught by the creature.
These creatures are the bane of adventurers. They do not mean to be. But they are. No dungeon delver is safe once their armor has been eaten and their weapons are taken for dessert! Be wary of these creatures for even though they are not evil or aggressive they can still be quite deadly whether meaning to be or not.
Armor and weapons are tasty morsels for these creatures
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The Dark Tower is a Judges Guild Adventure written and illustrated by Jennell Jaquays. It was published in 1979. This was one of a series of adventures written by Jennell Jaquays for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. It was very much a “Mega” Adventure in that there are many levels and two separate towers detailed. There is also a local village presented. All in all it is seventy pages long from cover to cover.
This was one of the earliest attempts to design adventures for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. The rules were still new. Many of the monsters were new. Some of the creatures presented in this adventure are not exactly the way there were presented in the Monster Manual. But the flavor of the adventures definitely old school. Where no clear rule exists it makes up what it needs. That is the nature of the old school game.
Like most true mega dungeons this one has many layers. There are opposing factions in these towers. Notice how I say….towers. The title suggests but one. But there are actually two here. A “dark” tower and a “light” one. Playing these factions off of each other is possible. But more likely is direct alliance with the one that most closely fits the alignment of the party.
Some new monsters are presented here. As are several new artifacts. The artifacts in this adventure are not the Wand of Orcus type of thing that will totally unbalance a game. These are much more toned down than that.
This adventure is about the constant struggle between two deities and their clerics and minions. Set and Mitra are the opposing forces in this adventure. There are many clerics and minions of each presented here. Clerics aligned with either of these deities gain powers and advantages.
As stated….it adds new monsters and new artifacts. Artifacts themselves are a fascinating addition to any adventure. This adventure has many of them. None of them are overpowering or unbalancing to the game. The new creatures are specific to this tower and would not likely be used in other adventures. The new artifacts are creative and interesting.
This adventure has lots of those special magical rooms and objects that are referred to in the Dungeon Masters Guide as “Tricks.” If you have ever read any of the adventures written by me you will know how much I love these. Some of these are creative. Some not so much. But there are tons of them in these towers.
The history and background is short. I like short when it comes to these. Nothing bores me more than having to read twenty pages of background to play an adventure.
The adventure includes a nice little town to retreat to when necessary. And it is highly likely that it will be necessary often. There is a lot of stuff in these towers. And most of it has teeth and will cause the players to need rest often. This adventure is written for 6-8 characters of 7th to 11th level of experience.
The background that is presented sets up the constant battle between Mitra and Set. Or the battle between good and evil in the towers. Little space is wasted in the effort to set up the conflict necessary for the action to flow.
These towers have levels and sub levels. In addition to flat maps showing these areas the adventure also offers a side view map so that one can actually see the relationship between the levels of the towers.
The towers have relatively simple low level creatures like rats, kobolds and skeletons. It also has high level monsters such as shedu and liches. One never knows what one will find behind the next door. Sometimes it will be wise to talk rather than to fight.
One of the creatures is a 21st level Cleric lich. Cleric only! That brings up the age old argument (commonly argued on several forums that I visit) about whether anyone can be a lich without having the powers of necromantic magic. In other words can one be a lich at all without being a magic user (or magic user cleric)? judges guild certainly thought so. In fact another adventure of theirs I reviewed had a lich that was a druid! As I stated earlier…Judges Guild writers had no problems at all in changing the rules to suit their adventures!
What I do not like about the Dark Tower
Some of the traps are a little over the top. Some are just a bit too “gotcha” for my taste. In one room there are 40 crossbow bolts that are invisible and will fire simultaneously when vibrations occur. This will result in several being fired at each player in the group. In another area a magical statue fires 15D6 lightning bolts while another fires 15D6 fireballs every round. Players hate traps. But they understand the need for them. Dungeons and not supposed to be safe places to visit. They are supposed to have traps. But no player ever likes traps that are just automatic deaths for their characters. Some of these really do border on that kind of trap.
There are a whole lot of teleportation rooms in the Dark Tower. A few is always nice. I am not sure of the need for so many of them here. But I guess for mega type dungeons a quick way in and out is always nice.
Would I recommend this adventure to others?
Of course. There are few Judges Guild adventures that I would not recommend but there are some. A few of the ones that are specific to the Wilderlands campaign seem a bit dull and dry reading to me. I have not reviewed those yet but will at some point later on. This one should play well. With the battle between good and evil here a party could find allies and could do well here. Without such allies one might find the towers a dangerous place to visit.
Would I run the Dark Tower with my own group?
Perhaps. My players recently suffered a total party kill and re-rolled characters so we are a long way from the levels necessary to play this one now. I do intend to run some old modules like this one with them though. So anything is possible.
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Caverns of Thracia is a true mega dungeon. It is huge. It has many levels and quite a few sub levels. This adventure was published by Judges Guild in 1979. Caverns of Thracia was written and illustrated by Jennell Jaquays. From cover to cover it is 79 pages long. It is written for Original Dungeons and Dragons.
The adventure does not specify a level range. But it is clear that many of the encounters and much of the dungeon would be appropriate for the lowest levels. But there are also many encounters which would challenge characters of much higher levels.
Unlike many of the other Judges Guild products this one is not specifically placed in the Wilderlands. It can be placed in any campaign world.
Technically, I suppose, this is not really just one big dungeon. There are multiple levels and areas in the same place.
Caverns of Thracia is all about the God of Death……Thanatos. The Caverns of Thracia includes temples and priests of this deity. There are worshipers of this death god who still inhabit these halls.
But they are not the only ones to live in this place. There are gnolls and lizard men as well. And others.
It is a mega dungeon. When you look at the published modules for OD&D and 1st Edition there are not that many adventures that you can really say that about. TSR published many of their longest and deepest works in installments rather than as one adventure. Most of the Judges Guild adventures are not one big deep dungeon like this one.
Caverns of Thracia adds a few monsters which did not exist at the time of it’s publication. In some cases it adds variants of creatures that did exist at that time.
This adventure is likely to require the adventurers to not just attack everyone that they meet in the dungeon. Should they do so they might find the dwellers of the dungeon to be unified against them. And this could easily prove fatal. There are competing factions in this dungeon. Not everyone here gets along all that well. Playing these factions off against each other could be the key to survival.
Like most Judges Guild adventures this one has more than a few magical tricks. If you have ever read any of my own published adventures then you know how much I love these.
The background information for the Caverns is fairly brief. It is about a page long. I can deal with that. There is little that I hate more in an adventure than five pages of history and background that no one cares to read and that my players will never be concerned with.
Lizard men. I love lizard men. And there are lots of them in this adventure. There are also quite a few other monsters which are classics of Dungeons and Dragons.
I really like the single “incarnation of death” wandering encounter. This is an interesting set up. Players having a greater chance of encountering the creature depending upon their health is an interesting idea. A creature being invisible to everyone until some condition is met makes for a unique encounter.
What I do not like about Caverns of Thracia
There is not much that I do not like about this adventure. With the exception that I have never played it or run it with a group. This may change soon.
Would I recommend this adventure to others?
Of course! Judges Guild adventures from this era are old school. These are the kinds of adventures that represent the games that I enjoyed playing back when I started playing this game in 1979. This one could easily be converted for use with Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.
Would I run Caverns of Thracia with my own adventurers?
Absolutely. And I might. My current group is rolling up new characters after making some very poor decisions during a recent gaming session. Their beloved high level characters are not dead and buried. So something new is in the wind. I am starting them with a low level adventure that I wrote myself called “The Wild Woods.” This should get them to 2nd or even 3rd level. After that I plan to run modules for a while. Specifically modules that I do not think that they have read before. So I am considering a lot of different possibilities. This is one of them.
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Critical Hits in Dungeons and Dragons were controversial at the beginning. Original Dungeons and Dragons and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons did not provide for them in the rules. Gary Gygax and the rest of the folks at TSR did not believe that they belonged in the game. The combat system did not provide for the one in a million instant kill that players seemed to crave. In a “From the Sorcerer’s Scroll” commentary in Dragon Magazine Issue #16 (published July 1978) Gary Gygax discussed the many competing fantasy game systems that were coming out at the time. Most were marketed as “improving upon” the realism of fantasy combat in Dungeons and Dragons. Some of these systems had some sort of Critical Hit included in their combat system. Gary did not approve. And stated it rather clearly in his column in the Dragon. He did not like the possibility of an “instant death” or even merely double damage from a natural 20 roll. He goes on to state that the Dungeons and Dragons combat system was designed for playability and not for realism.
Scoring a critical hit can make a hero famous….like Beowulf
However other early role playing games, did provide for this kind of “exceptional hit,” including some from TSR. One very early role playing game called “Empire of the Petal Throne” is considered by many to be the first role playing game to specifically provide rules for such a “Lucky Hit.” Other games soon followed suit. With rules for these kinds of hits it was natural to extend such rules to also include critical misses. Such misses are often referred to as fumbles. In the pre-release version of Empire a natural 20 resulted in double damage to the victim. The later version released by TSR provides for an instant kill on a second roll of a 19 or 20.
A natural 20 is a critical hit in many of later editions of Dungeons and Dragons
Why did players want critical hits in Dungeons and Dragons?
Most of us have heard the biblical story of David versus Goliath. The story is that of a massive giant versus an underdog with virtually no chance of winning a one on one confrontation. Yet the underdog wins. With a sling and a rock. He makes the one in a million shot and wins.
This one has scored a few critical hits
It is only natural that players wanted the same kind of ability in the game. There should always be a chance…..they said….of winning virtually any encounter. Of course even with critical hits in the game there is no guarantee that an excellent hit will kill any creature. At least not unless someone is swinging a Vorpal Sword.
Of course…TSR was not always against critical hits. The wound system in their western themed game Boot Hill provided for damage based on hitting different parts of the body. But complex hit placement systems were overly burdensome to the player and the game master. They were never as popular as a system based on rolling a natural 20 on a D20.
A single spear thrust kills this demon
The Introduction of Critical Hits in Dungeons and Dragons
The first critical hits actually mentioned in any official Dungeons and Dragons core book was in 2nd Edition. The Dungeon Master guide for 2nd Edition provides an optional rule for inclusion of critical hits. It offers two options for implementing this rule:
On a natural 20 the attacker scores double damage
Or if the attacker scores a 20 then the attacker gains a second attack. And so on. If they keeps rolling 20s then they keep getting another attack until they roll no more 20s.
A critical hit would be real good right now for this guy
Later Second Edition expands upon this in Player’s Option: Combat & Tactics. Some of the suggested critical hit systems in that book were far more complicated. But this book also noted something interesting for the first time. It states that some creatures have no specific body parts that are more important than any other part of the body. Thus a critical hit might be ineffective against it.
This is an important point to consider. Some creatures are just blobs of black pudding or green slime. How can one effectively score a critical hit against a creature that has no important body parts or weak points? A critical hit against such a creature is kind of ridiculous.
This kind of exclusion of certain creatures was extended in Third Edition.
Beowulf fighting Grendel
What kinds of creatures should not be affected by a critical hit?
It is only natural that certain types of slime creatures and blob creatures would not be affected by a special hit. But other creatures have also little chance of it. Some of these are as follows:
Slimes, Jellies, Puddings
Golems, Undead and Elementals as they do not bleed
If this guy does not score a critical hit he is gonna be seriously screwed
Critical Hits in Dungeons and Dragons various editions
As stated 1st Edition and Original Dungeons and Dragons did not provide for them. Second Edition provided for an optional rule and then several variant methods of applying them.
In Third Edition a natural 20 was an automatic hit. This was never specifically stated in earlier editions but was implied by the tables provided. Individual weapon types had a “critical threat” applied to them. This was the range of rolls necessary to qualify for a critical hit for that weapon.
Either of these guys might score a crit
In 4th Edition a 20 was an automatic hit. But to score a critical hit one needed to roll high enough to meet or beat the targets actual defense. Otherwise it would just be a normal hit. A 20 plus modifiers that meets or beats the defense of the target will score a critical hit. Damage would be the maximum damage for that weapon plus a rolled value per plus of enhancement bonus (usually a D6). The net effect of this is that in 4th Edition the average critical hit would score more damage than the average one from 3rd Edition.
Fifth Edition simplified things again. A natural 20 always hits. A natural 20 is always a critical hit. Damage dice are rolled twice with flat bonuses left the same. This tends to bring damage back in line with the Second Edition critical hits.
For someone to solo a dragon like this a critical hit is essential
Fumbles in Dungeons and Dragons
Critical misses were also not provided for in the original rules. Gary Gygax once wrote an editorial on the subject of critical hits in the Dragon Magazine (perhaps more than one). He argued that if critical hits should be allowed that critical misses should also be. He believed, erroneously, that this might discourage players and dungeon masters who were calling for a critical hit system for Dungeons and Dragons.
But players and dungeon masters wanted fumbles too. A natural 1 should always be a fumble they said. It should always miss.
Wanna go one on one with a dragon? Better score a crit
Critical Hits in Dungeons and Dragons can provide some unpredictable and wild results
I once tested a one shot adventure that I wrote which involved a cavern with a red dragon as the primary villain. The dragon that I selected for the level of characters was a bit too powerful for this group. And that was the purpose of my play test. I wanted to find out what age to use which this particular level range and number of adventurers to make it challenging but not instantly fatal to the whole group.
The Dinosaurs being wiped out by a critical hit from space……
As it turned out the group defeated the dragon by the skin of the last player standing. The thief, of all people, scored a critical hit while nearly dead himself. He rolled a 20. Followed by another 20. We were using a variant system of critical hits which was popular for AD&D in which the attacker would roll a second D20 to determine the effect of the critical hit. A roll of 1-10 scored double damage. A roll of 11-15 scored triple damage. And a roll of 16-20 scored quad damage.
What appeared to be a total party kill ended up with the thief surviving and the dragon dying on the last round. Naturally…the thief being a thief…..decided to steal all the loot and not try to get any of his friends resurrected…but that is another tale….
I am not sure what this guy is fighting but a crit would be really useful right about now…..
Some variations of the critical hit for AD&D
I have played 1st Edition since the late 70s. So I have seen a number of variations of the rules. Naturally these were “house rules” as the makers of the game saw no need for them. Some articles came out in the dragon which suggested some possible critical hit systems but these were not official as far as TSR was concerned. Some of the variants I have seen used:
A critical hit automatically scores max damage for the weapon used plus any magical enhancements and strength modifiers
A critical hit scores double damage plus magical enhancements and strength modifiers
A critical hit causes instant death to the target
A critical hit entitles the player to a second D20 roll. A roll of 1-10 means double damage, 11-15 means triple damage and 16-20 means quad damage
The article from the Dragon entitled “Good Hits & Bad Misses” by Carl Parlagreco provides an extensive table for critical hits depending upon the type of weapon used. Specific tables are provided for:
Edged weapons
Blunt weapons
Thrusting weapons and missile weapons
Effects vs animals
This same article also provides a specific table for critical misses as well. This table is not weapon specific.
Is this going to be a critical hit?
Some variations for fumbles that I have seen used for AD&D
Again….the earliest editions of the game provided no rules for critical misses or fumbles. House rules were rampant on the subject for critical misses as well as hits. Some variations that I have seen used in play:
Attacker hits himself or herself
Attacker hits himself, herself or a member of the party (or an ally on the field)
Attacker drops weapon, stumbles or falls down (costing a round to recover)
Attacker hits himself, herself or a member of the party (or an ally on the field) but must roll another D20. A 1-10 means double damage, 11-15 means triple damage, 16-20 means quad damage….and if the attacker is using a vorpal sword or a sword of sharpness……things can go really south……
This bad ass seems to have scored a critical hit with his bear hands!
Ultimately it was the players and dungeon masters who determined the fate of Critical Hits in Dungeons and Dragons
TSR ultimately relented. The players wanted it in the game. So it became part of the game eventually. And it is still in the game today. Critical hits come into play at the gaming table just about every time the game is played now. And they are probably here to stay.
This guy might want to score more than one critical hit if he wants out of this situation
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The Maltese Clue is an adventure published by Judges Guild. It was written for use with Advanced Dungeons and Dragons by Paul Karczag. It was published in 1979. From cover to cover the adventure is 52 pages long inclusive of maps and illustrations.
This is another Judges Guild adventure written originally for tournament play. This particular scenario is made for play in one session. Pre-generated characters are provided for this purpose.
Long ago a wizard named Casta built a castle and ran a school for magic with his wife. When she died from an unfortunate disease he closed the school and retreated from public life. Recently a sailor brings a package to Sam Spade. Spade is a thief and is one of the pre-generated characters. The package is a magical book. The owner does not have the “key” to opening this book. The key can be found in the castle. The owner of the book offers 75000 gold pieces for the adventurers to obtain this key. It must be brought back before the next evening’s tide.
This adventure is basically set up as if it is an old Detective novel (or movie) such as the Maltese Falcon. The only problem is this mystery comes with some really dangerous characters. For Casta and his wife have become Lich.
In typical Judges Guild fashion no mention is made of specific levels of experience needed for play. The pre-generated characters, however, seem to be in the 6th to 8th level range.
What I like about The Maltese Clue
Mystery stories are fun if done well. The background on this story is a bit longer than some of the most recent Judges Guild adventures that I have reviewed. But it is not overly long.
There are some interesting tricks sprinkled in this adventure. By tricks I am referring to those little magical things one might encounter in the dungeon which are unexplained and confound the adventurers trying to understand them. I am stealing a few of those ideas for my own campaigns.
It has Liches. I love Liches. And these ones may, or may not, choose to attack the party. It depends upon the party’s actions. And this is interesting. Because these Liches are really not all that evil. One other point I should mention. In AD&D there is a debate about who exactly can become a Lich. Most authorities insist that it must be a magic user or a magic user/cleric. I have mentioned before in other articles and forum threads something which this adventure clearly points out. While necromantic magic is necessary in order to become a Lich there is no requirement that the Lich be the one who casts these spells. This could potentially allow just about any class to become a Lich. In this case one of the Lich is a Cleric and not a Magic User.
There are some pretty interesting maps in this adventure. Most are small. But there are lots of them. Some are caverns and some are stone castle levels. Some player maps are even provided (assuming that they are found).
It invents a couple of new monsters and a couple of new magic items. This is always a welcome thing my book.
What I do not like about The Maltese Clue
The Sam Spade, Humphrey Bogart, allusions really do not work in this module. Using movies and real life personalities in a fantasy adventure really does not fit well. Also…where is the mystery here? There is not much in the way of mystery or clues or anything of that sort. There is a book. There is a poem (riddle). And there is the key to it. That is pretty much it.
Many of the creatures in this castle do not seem to belong together in the same place. Granted….the Lich Casta was studying many creatures. This pretense is barely sufficient to justify the inclusion of many of these creatures in the same place.
I do not like adventures which basically railroad the players into accepting a mission. That is how this one begins. I realize….it is a tournament module. So obviously you do not want the players choosing their own mission instead.
For a tournament module no mention of scoring or how to score are offered. In fact….there is no real talk about objectives met or solutions to individual rooms or encounters. The only mission is to get the key on time and get out.
There are a whole lot of encounters and areas to explore. Normally this would be a good thing. But for a timed adventure not so much. There is little chance that anyone is going to complete this in the four hours allotted for the tournament play. There are far too many dungeon levels and monster encounters. This would be ok for campaign play. But for a tournament I do not see it succeeding.
Would I recommend this adventure to others?
I would certainly not recommend it as a tournament module. For campaign play it would probably be fine. For a one shot adventure it might also be fun to play but it would likely be a long one. It was designed for four hours but it will play much longer than that. The author even admits in the text that none of the parties that he ran managed to finish it in that time.
Would I run The Maltese Clue with my own party?
I am totally not sure. I do like adventures with Liches. And my players hate them. Which makes me want to run it just to piss them off. But these Liches are not really the enemy. They may be the boss of the dungeon but they are not out to get anyone. They are actually kind of bored and looking to find out what is going on in the outside world around them.
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Verbosh is an adventure from Judges Guild written for Original Dungeons and Dragons. It is a long adventure. Including the covers and maps it is 80 pages long. But this includes a great deal of material. It is written by Paul Nevins and Bill Faust. Verbosh was published in 1979.
This is an expansive work. This adventure includes a wilderness area, the Village of Verbosh, a dungeon (sewers), a multi-layered tower, a small tower, a temple map, another small village and a shipwreck. That is a lot of adventuring areas. The adventure does not specifically state a level range but clearly most of this adventure is low level. But the highest (and lowest) levels of the big tower get very difficult for even mid range characters.
Unlike many adventures there is no specific hook to this one. The areas are presented. The motivations to explore and seek treasure are up to the adventurers themselves.
The “village” of Verbosh is more like a small city. It is a walled town with a small garrison to protect it. There is a king but this king is not loved by the locals. He is not particularly evil or anything. He is more like a slacker.
The adventurers do not have to travel far to find trouble. Trouble is at hand beneath the streets of this town.
What I like about Verbosh
Verbosh is an interesting adventure from Judges Guild. I have not always been impressed with everything I have read from Judges Guild. This is especially true of their Traveler offerings. But this one is a bit different. This one offers a nice large adventuring area in the form of a wilderness map. And it offers several places to explore within that area. It also offers a number of other encounters that could be explored if the players spend some time searching the wilderness.
The multi-leveled tower is nice. It is big. And it has about 10 separate levels (if you include the dungeon below it). Some of the rooms have some creative tricks which I fully intend to steal for my own campaign use.
Verbosh offers a shipwreck as one of the areas to explore. The wreck is not the primary area nor is it extensive. But it is a nice little touch. There are different discrete areas that the adventurers can visit: ship wreck, two towers, wilderness and dungeons. This provides a lot of variety from one product. There are also two different fully developed towns presented.
What I do not like about Verbosh
Very little actually. This one is more complete than many of the Judges Guild adventures that I have read. Granted….room descriptions are often very brief. That is true in every JG adventure.
Would I recommend this adventure to others?
Absolutely. In my opinion after reading Verbosh is that this is one of their better offerings. There are some pretty creative tricks and encounters in this one. This is especially true in the large tower. The tower is more or less a deep level dungeon for the adventurers to explore. And it gets progressively tougher as one moves up.
Would I run this adventure with my own players?
Probably. It is written for OD&D but it could easily be used with a 1st Edition group. One thing that might compel me to run this one in the future is that I am fairly certain my know it all players have not read it before. That is always a plus!
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