Retro Corner: Tomb of Horrors
Join us as the BoLS crew braves the Tomb of Horrors for a retro review.
This week, Stable Abe and I stumbled into the Tomb of Horrors–we made it out alive, but only just. Join us for a trip down memory lane as we flip through the pages of a 1st edition copy of the Tomb of Horrors.
This module has a reputation for being the killiest of the killer dungeons. And deservedly so, because it’s the module that Gary Gygax kept close at hand so he could deal with the people who would come up to him and say that their characters were bad enough dudes to both rescue the president and beat any dungeon that they came across.
And flipping through this fabled module, there are plenty of places where it didn’t matter how bad a dude your character was, if you weren’t quick thinking (and if your brain didn’t work the exact way that Gygax’ did) you could end up dead. And sometimes even if you did everything exactly right, your character would die. Because Gygax said so. Just a little bit of bad luck could ruin a run through the tomb–and that’s even if you don’t fall for many of the gotcha moments.
But even taking all that into consideration, this module is still phenomenal. It’s a classic for a reason. Sure there are those moments where you’re like, “oh come on–”
But that’s part of what makes this module work. It’s unfair–but that’s what makes you feel like the ultimate bad dude when you manage to fight your way through and get to the end. It’s very much in the same vein as Dark Souls (except characters will not automatically respawn as undead whenever they die). Only the dungeon is not about intricate combat–though you will find some tough fights in the middle of it–it’s about the mental challenge of it.
There are hidden clues and little nods to how things will work from the context of the room–but it all relies on the players being super attentive to detail. And while there are a few puzzles that seemed designed to trap you, when you figure out the trick (never open any box, they’re all full of snakes), or think your way around whatever obstacle is in front you–it’s a victory for the player as much as the character.
That’s not even an exaggeration.
We certainly had a lot of fun going back through this time-honored tradition. If you want to check it out (but also don’t want to trawl eBay), you can either get a reprint of it over at D&D Classics OR you can check out the latest 5th Edition version, which keeps the deadliness intact, that’s included in Tales From the Yawning Portal.
So whether you want to kill your players with a classic or with something modern, Wizards has got you covered with the Tomb of Horrors.
By the time you finish this outro, Acererak has killed three more adventurers. Have you ever made it through the Tomb of Horrors?
