In many ways, The Lost City is badly served by its format; there’s enough potential here for a much longer adventure, much in the same way of Dwellers of the Forbidden City. The difference between the two stems from the much better backstory The Lost City possesses, and its setting within the pyramid makes it feel much more complete than the other adventure.

The greatest triumph of The Lost City is the description of the degenerate Cynidiceans. The survivors of the ancient empire are now either lost in drug-induced ecstasy or belong to one of four factions – the Brotherhood of Gorm, the Magi of Usamigaras the Warrior Maidens of Madarua, and the evil Priests of Zargon. Each of the first three factions wants to restore the worship of the old gods over the corruption of Zargon, but they can’t agree with each other how to do it. The masked Cynidiceans provide immediate visual clues as to their origins and role, and – to me – evoke the masked inhabitants of Gran Bretan in Michael Moorcock’s Hawkmoon books.

Exactly how the Cynidiceans are used is up to the Dungeon Master; they can be employed as standard monsters guarding treasure, or as characters to interact with and gain as allies (or enemies). Moldvay outlines in an appendix the basics of an entire campaign using the Lost City, from the arrival of the PCs at the pyramid, their uniting of the Cynidicean factions, the overthrowing of the evil “god” Zargon and his priesthood, and further quests needed to restore the civilisation.

The main part of the adventure deals with the first five tiers of the pyramid, which correspond to the levels 1-3 of a dungeon adventure; the party enter at the top (as it’s buried in sand), and proceed down deeper into larger and larger levels. The encounters provide a balance between interaction with the locals, combat against monsters in abandoned rooms, dealing with various tricks and traps, and clues as to the past history of the civilisation. I’m particularly fond of the rotating passage in the centre of the third tier, while evokes Edgar Rice Burroughs’ works for me.

There are a couple of oddities in the design – the way between levels 3 and 4 lies past a trap which it doesn’t seem like the Cynidiceans know how to bypass, so exactly how they reached the upper levels of the pyramid is a bit vague. Likewise, it seems like another trap on the fourth level will block off the main access to the fifth level. I would have liked to see easier connections between the levels to facilitate the movement that must occur during the adventure.

The five levels of the pyramid conclude the main adventure, but they’re not the sum total of everything included in the module. For DMs who don’t mind doing a little more work, Tom Moldvay included a map and description of the subterranean city of the Cyndiceans, plus five additional subterranean levels of the pyramid (each one smaller than the one above, giving a reverse pyramid effect) until the final level holds the great monster of Zargon.

The deeper levels properly require use of the D&D Expert set, as they’re designed for characters of higher than level three. Zargon himself is particularly deadly: an HD 8 monster with seven attacks per round, six for 1d8 damage and one for 3d8 damage. It can also regenerate its entire body if its weakness is not found, though it might take several years to do so, and so the use of this module in campaign play is extended.

These levels are much less detailed than those above, although there are paintings described of the Cynidicean view of burial and the afterlife (analogous to Egyptian beliefs), and the monsters included don’t always make a lot of sense: a blue dragon, a vampire and a chimera living in close proximity on the 9th tier? What’s up with that? Even more than the upper levels, it’s basically there to provide some enjoyable combats with any explanation left except “it is by the will of Zargon”.

The Lost City provides an extremely challenging adventure for the player characters. It may be a bit tough for first level characters, in fact, as the “first” level of the dungeon is the smallest and doesn’t possess enough treasure or foes for the party to reach second level. The fourth tier of the pyramid, with the burial chambers of the previous royal family and numerous undead, including ghouls and wights, is also quite deadly. The adventure suggests it is for a party of 6-10 characters of levels 1-3, but I expect that not all of that party will survive it, especially if they begin at level one!

Although there’s no doubt that the DM will have to develop The Lost City more to get the best out of it, I feel that there’s more here to work with than in Dwellers of the Forbidden City. I would have liked to see more detail given to the Cynidicean factions and what their goals and methods are before the players meet them, as this lack makes the DM’s job harder. The details given for the encounters with regular Cynidiceans, in contrast, add a lot of flavour to the pyramid.

The biggest flaw with The Lost City is simply that it doesn’t introduce a great new monster. Zargon is nasty, but it doesn’t compare to the brilliance of the Yuan Ti and the Aboleth; it’s a one-off, not something that many later adventures can be constructed around. Yuan Ti have become a staple villain of many later adventures, but you’d be hard-pressed to name an enduring legacy of The Lost City.