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''Night's Dark Terror'' 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 ...
for the ''
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...
'' (''D&D'')
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as 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 ...
written by British game designers
Jim Bambra Jim Bambra (born 1956)Jim Bambra: Director Summary
Company Check Ltd
is a Briti ...
, Graeme Morris, and
Phil Gallagher Phil Gallagher (born 3 March 1977) is a British children's television presenter who is best known for playing the title character in the CBeebies children's television show ''Mister Maker. Early life Gallagher attended Rainham Mark Grammar ...
. It was designed specifically for campaigns transitioning from the '' D&D Basic Set'' to the ''
D&D Expert Set The ''Expert Set'' is an expansion boxed set for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. It was first published in 1981 as an expansion to the '' Basic Set''. Having been told that Greyhawk was reserved for ''Advanced Dungeons & Dr ...
''. The
player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional Character (arts), 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 tha ...
s (PCs) journey from a farmstead into uncharted wilderness, where they encounter new hazards and contend with a secret society. The adventure received a positive review from ''
White Dwarf A white dwarf is a Compact star, stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very density, dense: in an Earth sized volume, it packs a mass that is comparable to the Sun. No nuclear fusion takes place i ...
'' magazine.


Plot summary

''Night's Dark Terror'' is a wilderness scenario in which the
player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional Character (arts), 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 tha ...
s travel on a river and through the mountains, going from the Grand Duchy of
Karameikos Mystara is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role playing game. It was the default setting for the "Basic" version of the game throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Most adventures published for the "Basic" edition of ''D&D'' t ...
into the more chaotic lands. The module is set in the Eastern Karameikos area. The characters find a town that has come under siege by
goblins A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous humanoid creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances dep ...
, and they also explore a ruined city and a lost valley. The PCs explore more than of wilderness, with eighteen locations, including multiple smaller dungeons, a riverside village, and a frontier town. The secret society known as the Iron Ring troubles the player characters throughout the adventure, and the introduction provides information on the group. The module is designed to help the Dungeon Master (DM) make use of wilderness conditions, and presents rules on how to handle weather. The module also includes statistics for eleven new monsters, and comes with a battle map and counters intended for use in a battle in one of the towns.


Publication history

B10 ''Night's Dark Terror'' was published by TSR in 1985 as a 64-page booklet, a map, and a cardstock counter sheet, with two outer folders. ''Night's Dark Terror'' was written in the UK by
Jim Bambra Jim Bambra (born 1956)Jim Bambra: Director Summary
Company Check Ltd
is a Briti ...
, Graeme Morris, and
Phil Gallagher Phil Gallagher (born 3 March 1977) is a British children's television presenter who is best known for playing the title character in the CBeebies children's television show ''Mister Maker. Early life Gallagher attended Rainham Mark Grammar ...
, working for TSR UK Ltd. The module is described as "A Special Basic/Expert Transition Module" intended for character levels 2-4, for campaigns that are being upgraded from the '' Basic Set'' to the '' Expert Set''. The module includes a 56-page booklet, a large double-sized fold-out map, a smaller color map sheet, and a sheet of die-cut counters. The maps measure 22” x 34”, and the cardboard counters are for use with the ''
Battlesystem ''Battlesystem'' is a tabletop miniature wargame designed as a supplement for use with the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. The original ''Battlesystem'' was printed as a boxed set in 1985 for use with the first edition ''AD&D'' rules. Fo ...
'' supplement. The module features cover art by Brian Williams, and interior art by Helen Bedford.


Reception

Graeme Davis reviewed ''Night's Dark Terror'' for ''
White Dwarf A white dwarf is a Compact star, stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very density, dense: in an Earth sized volume, it packs a mass that is comparable to the Sun. No nuclear fusion takes place i ...
'' No. 78. Davis felt that the farmstead in the adventure's opening was nicely detailed, and that the counters to play out the action on the 25mm scale map for that location were a nice idea. He commented on the plot of the adventure, "There is enough here to keep the fastest-moving party going for some time, and a section of suggestions for further adventures can help the GM to open out a long-running campaign in the area." Davis did note that the numbering system for wilderness locations was confusing, with an example where a location has one designation at one part in the module, and at a later point the location has a different designation which does not correspond with anything on the map. However, Davis felt that everything else in the module was written and laid out very well, and that the module would be a tremendous help for any game master learning the ''Expert'' rules.
Ken Rolston Ken Rolston is an American computer game and role-playing game designer best known for his work with West End Games and on the computer game series ''The Elder Scrolls''. Tabletop role-playing games Ken Rolston began working as a professional g ...
reviewed ''D&D'' module B10 ''Night's Dark Terror'' in brief for ''
Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
'' magazine No. 124 (August 1987). Rolston called ''Night's Dark Terror'' "the best-illustrated and best-designed module I've ever seen—and the adventure and campaign material is every bit as remarkable as the graphic presentation." 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 in Ohio. Career Schick, as the head of design and development at TSR, brought aboard Tom Moldvay ...
describes the adventure as an "Outstanding wilderness scenario... that 'bridges the gap' between the ''D&D'' Basic and Expert rules."


See also

* List of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' modules


References


External links


Review on RPG.net
{{D&D topics Dungeons & Dragons modules Mystara Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1986