''Maze of the Riddling Minotaur'' 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 ...

published by TSR in 1983 for the Expert Set of the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

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 ...

role-playing 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 ...

. It is a solo adventure for one player character of level 1–10.

Plot summary

''Maze of the Riddling Minotaur'' is a solo adventure scenario meant to be played by a single

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 ...

, although the adventure can be adapted to play with a party of characters after it has been played as a solo adventure. The character is asked by the king to search a labyrinth full of monsters to find a kidnapped princess. The results of the player character's choices are written in invisible ink, which can be revealed using the special pen attached to the module.

Publication history

''Maze of the Riddling Minotaur'' was written by

Jeff Grubb Jeff Grubb (born August 27, 1957) is an author who writes novels, short stories, and comics and a computer and role-playing game designer in the fantasy genre. Grubb worked on the ''Dragonlance'' campaign setting under Tracy Hickman, and the ''F ...

, with a cover by Tim Truman and interior illustrations by

Keith Parkinson Keith A. Parkinson (October 22, 1958 – October 26, 2005) was an American fantasy artist and illustrator known for book covers and artwork for games such as ''EverQuest'', ''Guardians'', ''Magic: The Gathering'', and '' Vanguard: Saga of Heroes ...

, and was published by TSR in 1983 as a 32-page booklet with an outer folder and an "invisible ink" pen attached to the folder. Its original module code was M2, but when TSR began publishing modules for the Master Set of ''Dungeons & Dragons'', the code was reassigned to '' Vengeance of Alphaks''.

Reception

Chris Hunter reviewed the module for ''

Imagine Imagine may refer to: * Imagination Music Albums * ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008 * ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002 * ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012 * ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971 ** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...

'' magazine, giving it a positive review. Hunter called it "a rescue the princess" scenario and noted that it is not an easy one. The labyrinth is laid out in such a way that the player has to go through most areas before reaching the goal. According to Hunter the text and diceless combat system are easy to follow and he came across only two minor mistakes. However, Hunter saw one problem with the invisible ink approach in that the size of the text box can give a hint as to the results of a choice. In addition, as in most solo adventures, player choices are quite limited. Hunter pointed out that, once it has been played through as a solo adventure, the module can be reused as a group adventure, where those behind the kidnapping of the princess can be revealed. Hunter concluded that buyers will likely enjoy this module, if they do not mind the limitations of solo adventures.

Reviews

*''Fantasy Gamer'' #6 (1984)

References

External links

The "Msolo" modules
from The Acaeum Dungeons & Dragons modules Mystara Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1983 {{D&D-stub