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Tomb of Horrors

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The Tomb of Horrors is one of TSR's first adventure modules for the Advanced Dungeond and Dragons Game. Its reputation comes from the fact that this dungeon crawl is filled with so many diabolic traps that you probably need at least 16 people, and see who will be the last one standing. If you are not sliced or diced by the few monsters within, you will probably be crushed, thrown into a lava, turned to green slime, killed by poison gas, blown up by a gem, or worse, get soul sucked by the demi-lich at the end.

The fact that this dungeon is so lethal also points out its weaknesses. The fact that NO SAVING THROW ALLOWED is one of the most repeated phrases in the adventure should tell you a lot. In the end, when you do meet the main villain of the piece, it can only be destroyed by what seems to be a random set of spells and circumstances.

This module is best played with pregenerated characters rather than the one you have played with for a while and have grown quite attached to. Because unless the DM is kind hearted and tone it down and allow saving throws, be prepared for a high body count.

Dnugeons and Dragons (D&D) has been around since the 1970's, but for all the books and accessories and modules that have been published by TSR and Wizards of the Coast the standard by which all are judged is this one: S1 The Tomb of horrors.

This module was first written by none other than Gary Gygax, the man who brought fantasy roleplaying onto the bookshelves and into the mainstream. He carried it around in his briefcase (so I've heard) to bring out should any players he encountered think they could handle any challenge. The deviousness, the subtely, the pure lethality of the traps and pitfalls in this module transcend the hack-and-slash so many players expect when they think of a "killer module". Sure, any player will die one-on-one against a dragon, but this module gives the players a chance to _think_ and get past the traps and snares on their own merit, not just by the luck of the dice.

This module is for "role" playing, not "roll" playing. If you can get your hands on a copy of this classic treasure, do so. It makes Grimtooth's traps look like child's play. Beware...

Two editions of Tomb of Horrors exist: The 1978 Monochrome cover, and the 1981 Color cover. Both are essentially the same inside, with a 12-page module and 20-page illustration booklet, with much of the art done by the late David C. Sutherland III. Both editions share the same ISBN.

The adventure's reputation speaks for itself. Suffice it to say that Horrors is more suitable as a one-shot tournament module using the pre-rolled characters in the back

As I've recently started DMing again after many years I thought I'd read back through some of my old D&D modules for inspiration. Tomb of Horrors was the very first module I heard people cringe over going through back when I first started playing D&D in the early 80's. As I grew older and started to DM my own sessions I finally bought a copy to see what the fuss was all about. Let's just say I finally understood the player's dread of the Tomb. It's filled with deviously clever and deadly traps sure to slay even the most hardened adventurer. It's a module that clearly requires brain over brawn yet both are needed. It even states in the very beginning that it's not intended to be a hack'n'slash adventure so the DM has already been forewarned. Here are my thoughts on this classic AD&D module;

Pros

+ Requires experienced and intelligent players to even be able to survive the entrance, much less even make it to the end!

+ Illustration booklet is very helpful for the DM as well as the players.

+ Very unique dungeon layout.

+ Extremely clever, deadly and numerous traps.

+ Finding the actual entrance to the Tomb is challenging.

+ Written by the late, great Gary Gygax (R.I.P.)

+ Takes place in the World of Greyhawk setting. One of my favorites.


Cons

- Traps are often overly deadly and unfair. Many of them allow no saving throws and are instant death which players tend not to be overjoyed about.

- Acererak the Demi-Lich is overly powerful and too difficult to kill. Essentially it is highly unlikely any party would have the required items or specific spells memorized in order to defeat him. There's a difference between being tough and impossible. To me Acererak would be near impossible for most players.

- Dungeon filling is a mish mash of nasty ideas with little to no coherent theme. I would have liked to seen a little bit more tie in with story and creation of the Tomb.

- Pregenerated NPC's in the module are woefully under geared and underprepared for the difficulty of the Tomb.

- Several of the area descriptions are vague and a bit confusing requiring several rereads to really understand exactly how the encounter should be handled.

- Acererak's crypt is extremely small and there's simply not enough room for an entire party to fit much less combat him. The end encounter says that Acererak will scan the entire party and choose to eliminate the most powerful members first. Unfortunately as many players know, rarely will your entire party be in a 10'wide by 20' long hallway.


Despite its harsh and brutal nature, Tomb of Horrors clearly deserves it place among AD&D's classic modules. It's tough to find a more devious albeit often extremely unfair module out there. Gygax deserves enormous credit for his dungeon of death. It's a module that the DM will probably enjoy more than the players. However, if the players don't use their long term characters and instead pregenerated ones, then perhaps the losses will be easier to stomach. In turn they may have more fun. If you think of Tomb or Horrors more like a slasher movie where you wait to see who'll still be alive at sunrise you'll have a much better time.

The most challenging, most infamous adventure of all time; Gygax's macabre puzzle-filled necropolis is designed to terrorize the ingenious, and slay the unwary. It doesn't matter what level your PC is, or what he's carrying; if you don't have desperate intuition, amazing creativity, perfect teamwork, and precise skills of perception, the final encounter will blast your hero into a pile of soulless ash. It's always said "for levels 10-14," but it really doesn't matter; if you think you're up to the challenge, it's time to prove yourself in the Tomb of Acererak the Unforgiven!

Tomb of Horrors is one of the original Gygax-authored modules for Advanced D&D. True to its title, the module is filled with horrible traps and banes, most virtually unsolvable for even the most powerful characters. There is a strong element of unfairness here. The treasures are meager and hardly worth the harrowing trials of the Tomb. Far too much woe for far too little weal in this game!

Still, the module is rich with the inexhaustible imagination of its creator, the creator of Dungeons and Dragons itself, Gary Gygax. The demi-lich had its origin in this game, which brims with countless other fantastic innovations. While the traps are unfair, the DM may find himself grinning with sadistic glee at their cleverness. Indeed, how might a wizard of infinite age and power contrive to protect his final resting place? The module comes with a pamphlet of fine illustrations, and there is an intriguing prefatory poem, to guide--and sometimes mislead--the heroic adventure party.

The demi-lich, if he is finally encountered, is certainly a nearly unbeatable foe. Despite his mere 50 hit points, you would rather be fighting Orcus or some other ruler of the lower planes, I assure you! I think the demi-lich, which appears as a bejeweled, disarticulated skull, was inspired by the Fritz Leiber story "Thieves' House", for any other fantasy archaeologists out there.

The game may be so difficult because it was originally written for a tournament at Gencon. As such, this adventure might be used to end a tired campaign. Alternatively, one might simplify the encounters to make the game more doable. Or perhaps, you might dismember the dungeon(figuratively) and use its components in your self-authored games.

In any event, Tomb of Horrors is a great piece of D&D history, besides being interesting in its own right. A must have for any collector!!

"Nice work Boy Wonder. Now if I can only reach inside my batbelt and pull out my......lucky d20."

Come no further all you pretenders with your bloated 3rd edition characters. This one is the biggy, the real test of your metal. A legendary necropolis filled with traps and deadly foes. Game Masters, do you ever have that sickening feeling when your regular crew of faithful characters are woefully outmatched? It is here in abundance. Never has a Game Master had such perverse pleasure; I hate to see grown men cry.

The first time I ran tomb of horrors all the PCs died in the first room by the same trap. If your PCs are super greedy or just plain stuped, this module will break them of there habbits. The PCs may never get to the final boss, but if they do only the most cunning PCs will defeat him. There is a 99.999% chance of at least one PC being killed. Over all this is a greet way to show that over confident PC that he can die when he delves into tombs.

I'm sorry to degrade something considered by many to be a classic, but I didn't really like this one at all... It is so obviously one of the earliest modules and it shows. Poor background (since it was a tournament module), far too many instances where the PC's are killed off without any saving throw, and the final assault on Acererak is just a bit too contrived. It's too much like an assortment of traps to cut high level characters down to size, loosely wrapped around a premise of the tomb of a lich. Worth hunting down for interest's sake, but would take a lot of tinkering to play in 2002 I think.