Tomb of Horrors
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''Tomb of Horrors'' 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 ...
written by
Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax created an ...
for 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 ...
'' (''D&D'')
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 was originally written for and used at the 1975 Origins 1 convention. Gygax designed the adventure both to challenge the skill of expert players in his own campaign and to test players who boasted of having mighty
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 able to best any challenge. The module, coded S1, was the first in the S-series, or ''special'' series of modules. Several versions of the adventure have been published, the first in 1978, and the most recent, for the fifth edition of ''D&D'', in 2017 as one of the included adventures in ''
Tales from the Yawning Portal ''Tales from the Yawning Portal'' is an adventure module anthology for the 5th edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Summary ''Tales from the Yawning Portal'' is an anthology of updated modules and adventures from pr ...
''. The module also served as the basis for a novel published in 2002. The module's plot revolves around the tomb of the demilich
Acererak This is a list of characters from the Greyhawk campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. A Acererak Acererak was a powerful wizard who became a lich, and later a demilich. Publication history Acererak ...
. 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 battle their way past a variety of monsters and traps, with the ultimate goal of destroying Acererak. ''Tomb of Horrors'' was considered the third greatest ''Dungeons & Dragons'' adventure of all time by the staff of ''
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 ...
'' in 2004. The module has influenced later ''Dungeons & Dragons'' products, and was followed by three other (unrelated) modules in the S-series: S2 ''White Plume Mountain'', S3 ''Expedition to the Barrier Peaks'', and S4 ''The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth''.


Plot summary

''Tomb of Horrors'' is set in 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 ...
'', a ''D&D''
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 ...
. In ''Tomb of Horrors'', 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 encounter many perilous tricks and traps while trying to get into the crypt of a wizard. As the scenario begins, the players are told that the evil wizard
Acererak This is a list of characters from the Greyhawk campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. A Acererak Acererak was a powerful wizard who became a lich, and later a demilich. Publication history Acererak ...
is said to linger in his ancient tomb in
undead The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if alive. Most commonly the term refers to corporeal forms of formerly-alive humans, such as mummies, vampires, and zombies, who have been reanimated by super ...
form. Originally a powerful
lich In fantasy fiction, a lich (; from the Old English , meaning "corpse") is a type of undead creature. Various works of fantasy fiction, such as Clark Ashton Smith's "The Empire of the Necromancers" (1932), had used ''lich'' as a general term fo ...
, he has (unbeknownst to the players) become a demi-lich, a more powerful form of undead that has transcended the need for any physical body apart from its skull. Player characters must survive the deadly traps in the tomb and fight their way into the demi-lich's elaborately concealed inner sanctum to destroy him. The module is divided into thirty-three encounters, beginning with two false entrances to the tomb, and ending with "The Crypt of Acererak the Demi-Lich". Example encounters are the "Huge Pit Filled with 200 Spikes" (section 20), or encounter 22, "The Cavern of Gold and Silver Mists": "The mists are silvery and shot through with delicate streamers of golden color. Vision extends only 6'. There is a dim aura of good if detected for. Those who step into the mist must save versus poison or become idiots until they can breathe the clean air above ground under the warm sun.". The module ends with the destruction of Acererak without any postscript.


Publication history

''Tomb of Horrors'' was written by
Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax created an ...
for official ''D&D'' tournament play at the 1975 Origins 1 convention. Gygax developed the adventure from an idea by Alan Lucien, one of his original ''
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 ...
'' (''AD&D'')
playtest A playtest is the process by which a game designer tests a new game for bugs and design flaws before releasing it to market. Playtests can be run "open", "closed", "beta", or otherwise, and are very common with board games, collectible card games, ...
ers, "and I admit to chuckling evilly as I did so." Gygax designed the ''Tomb of Horrors'' modules for two related purposes. First, Gygax explains, "There were several very expert players in my campaign, and this was meant as yet another challenge to their skill—and the persistence of their theretofore-invincible characters. Specifically, I had in mind foiling Rob Kuntz's PC , ''
Robilar This is a list of characters from the Greyhawk campaign setting for the '' Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. A Acererak Acererak was a powerful wizard who became a lich, and later a demilich. Publication history Acer ...
'', and Ernie Gygax's PC, ''
Tenser In the ''World of Greyhawk'' campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons '' roleplaying game, Tenser is an archmage who strives to rid the Flanaess of evil. Tenser is a former member of both the Citadel of Eight and the Circle of Eight. In ' ...
''." Second, so that he was "ready for those fans
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who boasted of having mighty PCs able to best any challenge offered by the AD&D game." ''Tomb of Horrors'' was revised in late 1977 to be published as a module for ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons''. In 1978,
TSR, Inc. TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had been ...
published the module with a monochrome cover, revised and updated for use with first edition ''AD&D'' rules. The module included a twenty-page book, a twelve-page book, and an outer folder; the original printing featured a two-color cover. The module features a book of illustrations intended to be shown to the players as they progress in the adventure. ''Tomb of Horrors'' was republished in 1981 as a 32-page booklet with identical text but a new, full-color cover. The module has been described as the first adventure of a high-level scenario series,
preview
and was included as part of the ''
Realms of Horror ''Realms of Horror'' is a "supermodule" compiled from the S–series of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' modules, which were four distinct ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 1st edition adventure modules, designed for use by Dungeon Masters as pre-made scena ...
'' abridged compilation produced in 1987. In 1998, the module was reprinted as part of the ''
Return to the Tomb of Horrors ''Return to the Tomb of Horrors'' is a boxed set Adventure (Dungeons & Dragons), adventure module for the ''Dungeons & Dragons, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game released in 1998 by TSR, Inc. Plot summary This module expanded signif ...
'' module—a substantial expansion and sequel to the original adventure, written for 2nd Edition ''AD&D'' rules.
Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...
released an updated version of the original module as a free download for Halloween 2005, retaining much of the original content; the updated content is from the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' supplement book ''
Libris Mortis ''Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead'' is a book which is an official supplement for the 3.5 edition of the ''Dungeons and Dragons'' role-playing game. The book covers the fictional undead within the ''D&D'' universe and comprises seven chapters, ...
''. This updated version was designed for use with the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' 3.5 Edition rules. ''Tomb of Horrors'' was also adapted into a novel of the same name by Keith Francis Strohm for the ''Greyhawk Classics'' series published by
Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...
in 2002. United Kingdom . United States . In July 2010, Wizards of the Coast released two adventures bearing the ''Tomb of Horrors'' name. One is a hardcover super-adventure written by
Ari Marmell Ari Marmell is an American novelist and freelance role-playing game writer. Novels His first novel, ''Gehenna: The Final Night'', was published in 2004 by White Wolf Publishing. ''Agents of Artifice,'' a media tie-in novel set in the Magic: The ...
and
Scott Fitzgerald Gray Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saskat ...
, which builds on and expands the legend of the original Tomb using the canon of ''Return to the Tomb of Horrors'' as a starting point. The second ''Tomb of Horrors'' is a conversion and update of the original module for 4th Edition rules, written by Scott Fitzgerald Gray and released to members of the RPGA as part of the DM Rewards program. All four modules of the S-series were included as part of the ''Dungeons of Dread'' hardcover collection, released on March 19, 2013.
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 ...
wrote in the foreword: "The dungeon of the demi-lich Acererak was, for Gary, a kind of thought experiment: If an undead sorcerer really wanted to keep his tomb from being plundered by greedy adventurers, how would he do it? The answer, of course, was to defend the crypt with tricks and traps designed not to challenge the intruders but to ''kill them dead''. And furthermore, to do it in ways so horrific that all but the most determined party would give up and leave well enough alone." In 2017, Wizards re-released ''Tomb of Horrors'' updated to 5th Edition rules as part of the ''
Tales from the Yawning Portal ''Tales from the Yawning Portal'' is an adventure module anthology for the 5th edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Summary ''Tales from the Yawning Portal'' is an anthology of updated modules and adventures from pr ...
'' collection. The game design and the background of the third part of the ''Tomb of Annihilation'' campaign is based on the ''Tomb of Horrors''. 2018 special edition of the book ''Art and Arcana'' contained a bonus pamphlet of the "original 1975 tournament module" previously unpublished. As part of Extra Life 2019, Wizards of the Coast released ''Infernal Machine Rebuild'', a time-hopping adventure that allows characters to travel back to the Tomb of Horrors during its construction.


Reception

''Tomb of Horrors'' was ranked the 3rd 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. ''Dungeon Master for Dummies'' lists ''Tomb of Horrors'' as one of the ten best classic adventures and posits that many of the adventure's traps would kill a character just for making poor choices.
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 ...
, in his 1991 book ''Heroic Worlds'', calls the adventure "A very difficult scenario". Don Turnbull reviewed ''Tomb of Horrors'' in issue No. 13 of the magazine ''
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 ...
'' and gave the module a rating of 10 out of 10. Turnbull commented on the adventure's difficulty, noting that the dungeon is "sprinkled extensively with subtle, insidious and carefully laid traps, and it will be a fortunate adventurer who manages to avoid them". He felt that the illustration booklet would add a great deal to the adventure's atmosphere and felt that the pre-generated character roster was useful. Turnbull noted that the module is "very hard and will be hard for the DM to learn in advance, though this is an essential prerequisite of running it properly for it is much more subtle than the G or D modules", and he said that this module has in common with those modules an "excellent format, for instance, and the comprehensive way in which the scenario is introduced. TSR's high quality has not been in any way compromised, and in S1 it has even been improved upon." Wayne MacLaurin of
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describes the module as "a classic" and a "must have" for gamers, saying that when he played the game in high school, most of his group's characters quickly died. MacLaurin explains that ''Tomb of Horrors'' is a classic not because of its difficulty, but because it was the first module that did not involve killing large numbers of monsters; it was a "collection of puzzles and maps." Its focus on traps rather than monsters was a surprise to gamers at the time. One technique that some players used to get past the deathtraps was to drive cattle ahead of them, which Lore Sjöberg of ''
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'' described as "a bit less than heroic", noting that in ''
The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...
'',
Gandalf Gandalf is a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a Wizards (Middle-earth), wizard, one of the ''Istari'' order, and the leader of the Fellowship of the Ring (characters), Fellowship of t ...
did not send "50 head of cattle into the Mines of Moria to serve as
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bait."
David M. Ewalt David M. Ewalt (born 1976) is an American journalist and author. Ewalt is the author of the books ''Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It'' (2013) and ''Defying Reality: The Inside Story of the Virtual Reali ...
, in his book ''Of Dice and Men'', discussed the adventure's reputation as "the deadliest game ever written", noting that it "unloads a series of complicated puzzles and nightmarish traps" on characters, concluding that "Few survive long enough to collect any treasure, and even fewer manage to find their way back through the deadly maze and escape with their spoils."
Something Awful ''Something Awful'' (SA) is an American comedy website hosting content including blog entries, forums, feature articles, digitally edited pictures, and humorous media reviews. It was created by Richard "Lowtax" Kyanka in 1999 as a largely per ...
presented a humorous article about the ways that ''Tomb of Horrors'' is the bane of gamers everywhere since it is basically a series of traps that kills off most of the characters. "One of the best (worst) things about this module is that Acererak the demi-lich is a huge asshole. He's an asshole for filling his tomb with traps AND treasure, he's an asshole because he leaves little messages throughout his tomb bragging about how he's going to kill the players."


Legacy

''Tomb of Horrors'' has also influenced later ''Dungeons & Dragons'' products.
Jason Bulmahn Jason Bulmahn is an American game designer who has written or contributed to several works. Career Jason Bulmahn coordinated the world's largest organized play ''D&D'' campaign for the RPGA (Living Greyhawk), and then joined Paizo Publishing as ...
used the module, as well as
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, as inspiration for some of the traps in the 2007 ''D&D'' supplement ''
Dungeonscape ''Dungeonscape'' is a supplement for the 3.5 edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons''. Contents ''Dungeonscape'' focuses on the finer points of the dungeon, the medium for adventure and danger in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game. Dungeon masters may ...
''. The computer role-playing game ''
Icewind Dale ''Icewind Dale'' is a role-playing video game developed by Black Isle Studios and originally published by Interplay Entertainment for Windows in 2000 and by MacPlay for the Macintosh in 2002 (both the Classic Mac OS and OS X). The game takes pla ...
'', developed by
Black Isle Studios Black Isle Studios is a division of the developer and publisher Interplay Entertainment that develops role-playing video games. It has published several games from other developers. Black Isle is based in Irvine, California. The division was f ...
, was influenced by the module; Black Isle Studios division director
Feargus Urquhart Feargus Urquhart is a Scottish-American video game designer and CEO of Obsidian Entertainment. Career Urquhart is best known for his work at Interplay Entertainment, particularly as leader of Black Isle Studios, Interplay's internal role-pl ...
said, "We wanted something that reminded everyone of their first foray into dungeons like the Tomb of Horrors, with traps around every corner, and the undead crawling out of the walls." ''Tomb of Horrors'' is key to the plot of the novel ''
Ready Player One ''Ready Player One'' is a 2011 science fiction novel, and the debut novel of American author Ernest Cline. The story, set in a dystopia in 2045, follows protagonist Wade Watts on his search for an Easter egg in a worldwide virtual reality ga ...
'' by Ernest Cline, which is set in a virtual reality world created by a man who was a fan of the module. The character James Halliday recreated the dungeon in detail, which the novel's other characters must traverse to advance in the global contest and win Halliday's fortune. In the ''
Ready Player One ''Ready Player One'' is a 2011 science fiction novel, and the debut novel of American author Ernest Cline. The story, set in a dystopia in 2045, follows protagonist Wade Watts on his search for an Easter egg in a worldwide virtual reality ga ...
'' film adaptation, the graffiti on the back of Aech's van is from ''Tomb of Horrors'', shunning the copper key's original location for a reference-packed race for the key.


References


External links


The Acaeum's page on the ''D&D'' S-series modules
{{D&D topics Greyhawk modules Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1978 Subterranean fiction