Search for the Diamond Staff is the adventure that was used for the 14th series of D&D Encounters, which ran over eight weeks from the 12th of June to the 8th of August 2013. The adventure is set in the Forgotten Realms and was written by long-time Realms designer Rich Baker. The adventure follows on from the game day event, Vault of the Dracolich, where … Continue reading Search for the Diamond Staff – Review and Retrospective
Against the Slavelords (A0-4) is a reprint of the classic series of AD&D adventures, first run at GenCon XIII in 1980, done as part of the series of reprints Wizards have been publishing during the gap between 4th edition and whatever D&D Next eventually gets called. It has the same trade dress as the other AD&D reprints, and is an attractive package. If some of … Continue reading Review of Against the Slavelords
The Assassin’s Knot is the second adventure in Lenard Lakofka’s Lendore Isle series. It is also a mystery adventure: the Baron of Resternford has been assassinated, and the players need to find out who did it! This type of investigation was still new to D&D at this stage, so Lakofka had little in the way of previous examples to guide him. It should not be surprising to anyone … Continue reading Review of L2: The Assassin’s Knot
I reviewed 1983’s The Final Enemy immediately after reviewing 1982’s Pharaoh. The 1983 product looks like a much earlier product than the 1982 one. I rather suspect it’s because it was: there are 1981 dates on some of the illustrations. The Final Enemy is the third part of the series that began with The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh and continued through Danger at Dunwater. Although Saltmarsh is highly regarded, it’s never … Continue reading Review of U3: The Final Enemy
The early days of adventures at TSR had provided us with a lot of converted tournament adventures; indeed, most of the classics from this era (Giants, Drow and Slavelords) are of this type. By 1982, we were getting adventures specifically written for the purpose of being run at home rather than at conventions. Tracy Hickman and his wife, Laura, had self-published two D&D adventures in … Continue reading Review of I3: Pharaoh
The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun is the first adventure module of the “WG” (World of Greyhawk) series. Unusually, it has the code of WG4! Others have discovered that the original bearers of WG1 though WG3 were Village of Hommlet, Temple of Elemental Evil , and Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. Tharizdun is a companion adventure to Tsojcanth. Its map shows the mountains to the east of … Continue reading AD&D Adventure Review: The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun
After reviewing Paizo's "Dungeoneer's Handbook", it only seems fair to review Wizards' offering on the same topic, "Into the Unknown: The Dungeon Survival Handbook". This is a 160-page hardcover book costing $29.95. It is presented like most of Wizards' 4E products in a clear and readable format with a fair bit of art. The book is designed for both players and Dungeon Masters. Although it … Continue reading Into the Unknown: The Dungeon Survival Handbook – D&D 4E Supplement Review
First published in 1982, Douglas Niles's Against the Cult of the Reptile God is the first of five "Novice" adventures written for AD&D over the next few years. Designed for 4-7 characters of levels 1-3, the adventure is written for novice DMs and players. It is set in the village of Orlane in the World of Greyhawk, and concerns a cult who are charming and enslaving … Continue reading N1: Against the Cult of the Reptile God – AD&D Adventure Review
"Dungeons of Dread" is a compilation of the four S (Special) series adventures from the late 1970s and early 1980s, when Advanced Dungeons & Dragons was in its heyday. The individual adventures are considered to be classics, and I've reviewed each individually in the past; I'll provide links to those more detailed reviews below. All four adventures were placed in the World of Greyhawk, TSR's … Continue reading Dungeons of Dread – AD&D Adventure Compilation Review
Books such as the Dungeoneer's Handbook by Paizo need to be really good to impress me. At US$10.99 for a 32 page book, you're paying a premium price for not very much information, and so the book has to be superb to be worth the cover price. The book looks beautiful, with full colour throughout and glossy pages. It's a Paizo book, and they have great … Continue reading “Dungeoneer’s Handbook” by Paizo Publishing – Review
