D&D: ‘Quests from the Infinite Staircase’ Shows Off Rare ‘TSR UK’ Adventures
Some of the best adventures in Quests from the Infinite Staircase come from the glory days of TSR UK, reborn once more.
Games Workshop, whom you likely know from the grim and perilous world of Warhammer Fantasy or the grim darkness of Warhammer 40K’s distant future, got their start as a board games company. Then, in the late 70s-early 80s, was responsible for bringing D&D across the Atlantic. GW printed their own adventures as well as the core rulebooks (to save on shipping costs). They were even in talks, for a while, with Gary Gygax about a potential merger.
Obviously, that didn’t happen. And when it didn’t happen, TSR nonetheless kept going in the UK with a studio called, unsurprisingly, TSR UK. The studio produced several adventures. These included a rare, highly-sought-after adventure that features the “real world” that was created for the Stoke-on-Trent Garden Festival.
The adventures created by TSR UK stood out. They were different whether in terms of the writing and plotting, or the solutions to the adventure problems, the emphasis on roleplaying, these modules helped steer D&D in a new direction. And Quests from the Infinite Staircase features two such modules: When a Star Falls and Beyond the Crystal Cave.
TSR UK Adventures Reborn in 5E
I love that Quests from the Infinite Staircase has pulled these two adventures in, particularly. They’re both a little weird as far as D&D adventures go. When the legendary Graeme Morris wrote A Star Falls, it was praised for its “intricate plot and unique adventure hook.” In those days, many adventures started with “you arrive at the temple after days of hard travel,” and that was your hook.
Not so here. Adventurers have memories imprinted on their minds when they do what adventurers do best and kill a strange creature. Known as a Memory Web, this monster devours memories and, when slain, releases the memories it has feasted on in a psychic deluge. These memories sometimes lodge in the minds of those nearby.
So the party of adventurers is spurred to action, picking up a mysterious quest to seek out the Tower of the Heavens and a fallen star that has the potential to divine the future. What follows is an intricate crawl through wilderness and dungeons and dealings with sages, svirfneblin, and stranger things still.
There’s little wonder that this adventure was so highly regarded. But it’s not the only TSR UK module you can play through.
Beyond the Crystal Cave is a module of a different stripe as well. Taking inspiration from Romeo and Juliet, Beyond the Crystal Cave is the story of star-crossed lovers who have run away from their feuding families in the hopes that they can escape their fates. What follows is an adventure into a sylvan glade, where a magical fountain enchants and heals those who come near it.
It is a much more role-playing-focused adventure. At the time, it was praised as a departure from the usual adventure fare. It rewarded curiosity and compassion and played to the character of the adventure.
The result was an adventure that felt more like a faerie tale than a dungeon crawl. This just goes to show how wildly diverse D&D has always been.
You can find both of these adventures (and four others from D&D’s past) in Quests from the Infinite Staircase, due out tomorrow!
