''Tomb of the Lizard King'' is a ''
D&D''
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 in 1982 by
TSR.
In ''Tomb of the Lizard King'', 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 are employed by the Count of Eor to investigate a monstrous force that has been terrorizing caravans and peasants near the village of Waycombe. The adventure is appropriate for large groups of characters of
level
Level or levels may refer to:
Engineering
*Level (instrument), a device used to measure true horizontal or relative heights
*Spirit level, an instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal or vertical
*Canal pound or level
*Regr ...
5–7, or smaller groups with higher levels.
Plot summary
''Tomb of the Lizard King'' is a three-part adventure scenario in which 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 must journey through the wilderness, combat brigands, and explore the tomb of a
Lizard King.
Brigands have disrupted the southern trade routes, and the merchants are demanding that the Count of Eor stop the attacks. The Count puts out the call for adventurers to end the raids and discover what is behind the attacks.
Publication history
''Tomb of the Lizard King'' was written by
Mark Acres
Mark Richard Acres (born November 15, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player who spent most of his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a 6'11", power forward/center.
Acres attended Oral Roberts Unive ...
and illustrated by
Jim Holloway and
Jeff Easley
Jeff Easley (born 1954) is an oil painter who creates fantasy artwork for role-playing games, comics, and magazines, as well as non-fantasy commercial art.
Early life
Easley was born in Nicholasville, Kentucky in 1954. He spent time drawing as ...
.
It was published by TSR in 1982 as a 32-page booklet with an outer folder.
The module is part of the "Intermediate" series (I2) for the AD&D game, and was used as the tournament module at Origins 1980.
The adventure was edited by
Michael Williams and illustrated by Harry J. Quinn. While ''Tomb of the Lizard King'' could originally be played in any
setting
Setting may refer to:
* A location (geography) where something is set
* Set construction in theatrical scenery
* Setting (narrative), the place and time in a work of narrative, especially fiction
* Setting up to fail a manipulative technique to eng ...
, it has since been
retroactively placed into the ''
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. In an article by Gary Holian in ''
Living Greyhawk Journal
The ''Living Greyhawk Journal'' was a periodical published by the Role-Playing Games Association (RPGA) as a stand-alone magazine from 2000 to 2004. It was published by Wizards of the Coast. The publication was intended to supplement the RPGA's ''L ...
'', No. 1, it was revealed that the County of Eor had been absorbed into the Kingdom of
Keoland
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 ...
.
Reception
Doug Cowie reviewed I2 favorably for ''
Imagine
Imagine may refer to:
* Imagination
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* ''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,
calling it a "one off exercise with various encounters occurring in widely differing settings" and praising the well-drawn maps.
Although he found the outline and "source of villainy" very similar to
module N1, Cowie thought I2 was a better-presented adventure than N1 as it provides an "interesting setting, good NPCs, and some very dangerous underground encounters".
reviewed ''Tomb of the Lizard King'' for ''
White Dwarf
A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes fro ...
''. He gave it a nine out of ten overall, calling it "a difficult adventure that was designed to test a party's mettle and playing skill".
While pre-rolled
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 are provided with the module, Bambra felt that it was worth using a player's own character because "there are some nice goodies to be had".
Bambra did note that the module was a victim of sloppy printing in places, but felt that the mistakes should be obvious enough to pose no problems to a competent
Dungeon Master. He concluded by describing the module as "
good module for those who enjoy challenging gaming sessions with plenty of opportunity to be cautious, thoughtful and aggressive."
In his 1991 book ''Heroic Worlds'',
Lawrence Schick
Lawrence Schick is a game designer and writer associated with role-playing games.
Early life and education
Schick attended Kent State University
Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university al ...
calls the Lizard King "extremely nasty".
See also
*
List of Dungeons & Dragons modules
A module in ''Dungeons & Dragons'' is an adventure published by TSR. The term is usually applied to adventures published for all ''Dungeons & Dragons'' games before 3rd Edition. For 3rd Edition and beyond new publisher Wizards of the Coast uses t ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomb Of The Lizard King
Dungeons & Dragons modules
Greyhawk modules
Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1982
Subterranean fiction