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Intermediate #I2
Tomb of the Lizard King
The southlands of Eor are being despoiled. Merchants will no longer run their caravans on the main highway past the quiet village of Waycombe. The peasants are fleeing their lands, and all are demanding protection from the powerful Count of Eor. The goodly count has sent a troop of his trusted fighters to exterminate the brigands believed responsible for these outrages, but weeks have passed, and still there is no word from this force.
Now John Brunis, Count of Eor, has turned to you for aiid. After taking counsel with the High Priest of Eor, he believes that a small party of cunning, bold adventurers may succeed where armed might has failed. You find yourselves faced with many mysteries!
Why has robbery suddenly erupted in the peaceful southlands?
How could mere brigands be as powerful as the foes described to you by their numerous victims?
Is this really mere robbery? Or is there some truth to the rumors, told only in hushed whispers, about the beginnings of a hideous plot being hatched by an ancient, vile and evil foe of all mankind?
The answers to these mysteries will be found by only the most brave and cunning in this extremely challenging adventure for characters levels 5-7.
Now John Brunis, Count of Eor, has turned to you for aiid. After taking counsel with the High Priest of Eor, he believes that a small party of cunning, bold adventurers may succeed where armed might has failed. You find yourselves faced with many mysteries!
Why has robbery suddenly erupted in the peaceful southlands?
How could mere brigands be as powerful as the foes described to you by their numerous victims?
Is this really mere robbery? Or is there some truth to the rumors, told only in hushed whispers, about the beginnings of a hideous plot being hatched by an ancient, vile and evil foe of all mankind?
The answers to these mysteries will be found by only the most brave and cunning in this extremely challenging adventure for characters levels 5-7.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 7, 2011
I've always really liked this one; a nice mystery at the beginning, a classic dragon battle, a treacherous swamp, a solid dungeon crawl, and a great big bad guy at the end. Upon re-reading it, I discovered its flaws though. It is one of those improbable adventures where the badguys would get killed moving around their own fortress. After finishing the module, the players would be like, "Wait a second, how did they get through all that into their own lair?" So it will take some fixing to run, but it is worth the effort. I'd give it 3.5 stars if Goodreads let me, but forced to choose I'll go with 4 because once I've put that work in, it will be a lot of fun to play.
October 4, 2024
The second module in the 'intermediate' series has a good scope, but compared to I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City, I3-5 desert of desolation, and I6 Ravenloft it's not quite the same standard.
On a positive note, the structure is well designed. A solid hook with a good battle in a Count's palace, then a journey with a mix of random and set encounters. There's a wilderness to pass (appropriately a swamp) which although having good random encounters could have been more detailed or had more environmental rules.
The core part, as ever, is the dungeon. The PCs work through several levels with a mixture of logical (the organised brigands, lizardmen camps), illogical (a dragon's lair behind a secret door), and bizarre (illusory rivers, living mosaics). TBH it's the whacky early AD&D stuff that makes it stand out: vampire lizard men, including the big bad; the use of the mosaics to allow interesting varieties of monsters, and an odd feast. It has some of the lethal tropes common to early AD&D: instant death poison and traps, too much reliance on finding secret doors, or passwords that aren't evident anywhere (or reliance on Knock spells).
The Lizard king, Sakatha, is a good bad guy although his motivations could be better defined. I like his scrying on the party, and that would create good RPG flavour.
It's a while since I've DMd AD&D but the module strikes me as tough going for levels 5-7. All in all, a good module but nothing that makes it stand out.
On a positive note, the structure is well designed. A solid hook with a good battle in a Count's palace, then a journey with a mix of random and set encounters. There's a wilderness to pass (appropriately a swamp) which although having good random encounters could have been more detailed or had more environmental rules.
The core part, as ever, is the dungeon. The PCs work through several levels with a mixture of logical (the organised brigands, lizardmen camps), illogical (a dragon's lair behind a secret door), and bizarre (illusory rivers, living mosaics). TBH it's the whacky early AD&D stuff that makes it stand out: vampire lizard men, including the big bad; the use of the mosaics to allow interesting varieties of monsters, and an odd feast. It has some of the lethal tropes common to early AD&D: instant death poison and traps, too much reliance on finding secret doors, or passwords that aren't evident anywhere (or reliance on Knock spells).
The Lizard king, Sakatha, is a good bad guy although his motivations could be better defined. I like his scrying on the party, and that would create good RPG flavour.
It's a while since I've DMd AD&D but the module strikes me as tough going for levels 5-7. All in all, a good module but nothing that makes it stand out.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews