''Against the Cult of the Reptile God'' is an

adventure module An adventure is a playable scenario in a tabletop role-playing game. These can be constructed by gamemasters for their players, and are also released by game publishers as pre-made adventure modules. Different types of designs exist, including l ...

for the first edition of the ''

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Several different editions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game have been produced since 1974. The current publisher of ''D&D'', Wizards of the Coast, produces new materials only for the most current edition of the ga ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

roleplaying game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

, set in the game's ''

World of Greyhawk Greyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. Although not the first campaign world developed for ''Dungeons & Dragons''— Dave Arnes ...

campaign setting A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A ''campaign'' is a series of individual adventures, and a ''campaign setting'' is the world in which such adventures and ca ...

. It is designed for novice players and gamemasters. The suggested party size is 4-7 characters of level 1-3.

Plot

The adventure takes place on the border between the Gran March and the Kingdom of Keoland in the western

Flanaess Greyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. Although not the first campaign world developed for ''Dungeons & Dragons''—Dave Arneson ...

Niles, Douglas Douglas Niles (born December 1, 1954, in Brookfield, Wisconsin) is a fantasy author and game designer. Niles was one of the creators of the Dragonlance world and the author of the first three Forgotten Realms novels, the ''Star Frontiers'' space o ...

. ''Against the Cult of the Reptile God'' ( TSR, 1982) It is one of the most challenging of the early AD&D modules, featuring a mystery that leads to adventures in town, the wilderness and a dungeon. The scenario details the village and the dungeon caves inhabited by the cult. The

player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...

s arrive in the village of Orlane, where some villagers are friendly towards the characters, whereas some are distant and others are very distrustful, and the characters will need to find out what is wrong in the village. They find that Orlane is menaced by an evil cult, and the characters have to stop the cult. The module reaches its climax when the characters travel to the lair of Explictica Defilus, the self described "Reptile God", and slay the creature.

Publication history

The module was written by

Douglas Niles Douglas Niles (born December 1, 1954, in Brookfield, Wisconsin) is a fantasy author and game designer. Niles was one of the creators of the Dragonlance world and the author of the first three Forgotten Realms novels, the ''Star Frontiers'' space o ...

, with the cover drawn by Tim Truman, and published by TSR in 1982 as a 32-page booklet with an outer folder for the first edition of ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' rules. It bears the code N1 and is the first in the N (Novice) series of unrelated adventures for beginning characters. The module was the first design by Doug Niles after he came to work at TSR. Working from an old brief, Niles completed the module in four weeks. There is a printing error in one of the module maps, the maze near the troglodytes has no exit.

Reception

Jim Bambra Jim Bambra (born 1956)Jim Bambra: Director Summary
Company Check Ltd is a Briti ...

reviewed ''Against the Cult of the Reptile God'' for ''

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'', and gave it 8/10 overall. Bambra felt that the village is well laid out, requiring the players to interact with its populace to piece together the various clues. Bambra noted that once the players find out what is wrong with the village, "they are in for a very hard time as the action quickly develops into a life and death struggle against the Cult." Bambra concluded that this module proves that "low level adventures are just as interesting and exciting as their high level counterparts". Doug Cowie reviewed the module in ''

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'' magazine and gave it a mixed review. He noted that it was "a good module" with carefully worked out details, an interesting plot and innovative touches. Cowie praised the quality of the maps, the detailed village and non-player characters. In addition, he was pleased with the fact that "the unknown adversaries do not tamely wait for the players to come and get them", but rather take the initiative if the players take too long in their investigation. On the downside, Cowie pointed out that the module is quite vague on how to get the party started and that there are some surprising omissions when it comes to providing game statistics for the non-player characters. Moreover, according to him "the structure is a stereotype": the heroes arrive in a village, investigate, go for a wilderness trip and end the adventure with a showdown in a "challenging, if traditional" dungeon. ''Against the Cult of the Reptile God'' was ranked the 19th greatest Dungeons & Dragons adventure of all time by ''

Dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period. An oubliette (from ...

'' magazine in 2004, on the 30th anniversary of the Dungeons & Dragons game.

Erik Mona Erik Mona (born April 1974) is an American game designer who lives in Seattle, Washington. Career Mona was the Managing Editor of issues 1 and 2 of the '' Oerth Journal'', an online publication devoted to the ''World of Greyhawk'' campaign setti ...

, James Jacobs, and the ''"Dungeon Design Panel"''. "The 30 Greatest D&D Adventures of All Time." ''

'' #116 (

Paizo Publishing Paizo Inc. (originally Paizo Publishing.) is an American role-playing game publishing company based in Redmond, Washington, best known for the tabletop role-playing game ''Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Pathfinder''. The company's name is derived ...

, November 2004)

References

External links

{{D&D topics Greyhawk modules Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1982

Plot

Publication history

Reception

References

Further reading

External links