System Used- Dungeons and Dragons 3.5
Module Length- 4-5 sessions
Challenge Rating- Exceptional Hard
Number of Players- 4-6 9th Level
Is the Tomb of Horror as bad as its reputation? Those who have not heard of the Gary Gygax module that chewed through parties of adventurers should know that it is all true. The Tomb of Horrors, an updated version played with Dungeons and Dragons 3.5, is a masterpiece of a bygone era. The traps are deadly, the monsters are tough to beat, and the layout is confusing, but that just adds to the challenge of the module. If you are thinking of playing this module, skip to the bottom link, Spoilers Ahead. The basic back story is an ancient lich named Acererak has a tomb that is rumored to have an immense treasure hold. So being a party of adventurers that could be motivated by greed for the money or goodness for the destruction of the lich you all venture out to the tomb. The conclusion to this story is that most or all of the party is going to die.
The lethality rate is no exaggeration. During my groups playthrough we lost an immense amount of characters. There were more than what is listed but I'm going to give a few highlights:
· Drang- Half Orc Barbarian, killed by a four armed stone gargoyle thing.
· Erwin/Erwinnia- Human Paladin, changed sexes and alignment to Chaotic Evil. Killed another party member, Cameron, and took off to sell fake maps to the tomb to future adventurers.
· Voice- Pixie Rogue, killed once by a trapped green slime tapestries, killed again by having her soul sucked out by a lich-like construct
· Necromancer(could not remember the name)- Killed by another party member who was mind controlled, Krag.
· Cameron- Halfling Rogue, killed by Erwin/Erwinnia by slitting his throat in the night.
· Gthork- Half Orc Barbarian, killed by having soul sucked out by lich-like construct
· Blerty- Gnome Cleric, wanted to go home, made a wish on a cursed wishing stone, incinerated.
· Kylsyne- Halfling Rogue- Soul sucked out by lich-like construct
· Astra- Half Elf Cleric- Had alignment changed to Chaotic Evil, incinerated by cursed wishing stone
· Celesta- Elf Druid- Soul sucked out by lich-like construct
· Krag- Half Ogre Fighter, killed by Astra after he became dominated by a brain in a jar.
· Uusteen- Mind Flayer Sorcerer, had alignment changed to Lawful Good, killed by being disintegrated by a false lich
· Trev Rockbreaker- Dwarf Cleric, killed by having soul sucked out by lich-like construct.
To be fair this module does exactly what it set out to do, create problems and ingenious traps that a party cannot hack and slash their way to victory. This is a thinking-man’s module, but even then the answers are often only clear after some trial and error, and a few dead adventurers.
Who should play this module- Veteran D&D players, old school Save or Die 2nd edition players, and players who need a good humbling.
Who should not play this module- New players to RPGs or Dungeons and Dragons in general, players who love the style and feel of 4th edition D&D.
Overall, the module rates as 3 out of 5 Dead Bards - The module is a classic on Gygax masochism and does not play well with all groups, but it is recommended to run through this at least once. Your character may not live, but that is the point.
You can download the module for free HERE from wizards.
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