Chapter 7: The Tomb of Horrors
Out of the removed dirt and debris looms the mouth of a cave that looks like a gaping maw. Despite the ominous omen, the brave adventurers pressed on. Those that would later exit the dungeon would never be the same…
Back in the 80s, when I first started to play D&D, there was an adventure that was spoken of in hushed tones. A dungeon so deadly that no characters made it out alive, or if they did, they were changed. No one I knew had played it. This dungeon was Tomb of Horrors, which was written by Gary Gygax for his home campaign and published in 1978. I never played Tomb of Horrors in first edition. I know one of my friends had it, and it had a reputation.
Tomb of Horrors was designed with the idea that a smart player with a 1st level character could survive the dungeon and reap its rewards. In reality, it would be pure unadulterated luck that could get a 1st level character through the adventure unscathed. I would suspect the player of having read the adventure beforehand and memorizing every turn, trap, puzzle, and monster.
I will admit that I had confused Tomb of Horrors with White Plumb Mountain. There was a picture of a particular room that stuck out in my mind that I thought was Tomb of Horrors. When I bought Tales from the Yawning Portal, the updated version of that picture on page 106 showed me the error in my ways.
I finally ran Tomb of Horrors when my youngest daughter asked me to run a one-off adventure for her birthday. She wanted to both play D&D with her friends and cosplay as their characters. I decided, without reading it, to run Tomb of Horrors. I told her and her friends to create 10th level characters for a legendary dungeon.
I also decided to create my final room of the dungeon. It would be the same size as our battlemap and be full of platforms, traps, undead, and other strange creatures. I then read the adventure.
Tomb of Horrors is unique.
I believe that Tomb of Horrors is a product of its time. Early editions of D&D did not go into the backstory of characters, there were no rules for that. D&D had grown out of wargaming and the early approach to characters was more about statistics and not story. 5e lives in story with character background being an intracule part of character creation. I was very much into creating backstories for my characters right from the beginning. I think that is why I have taken to 5e. Tomb of Horrors does not translate well to the modern game, but part of me is glad that it was done. It should be read by DMs and run for players, but more as a bit of nostalgia and throwback. There is a place for this adventure in modern D&D, but more as a bit of history to show how much the game has changed.
How it Ran
I was looking for an adventure full of deadly traps, interesting puzzles, and challenging monsters. Tomb of Horrors is a collection of frustrating traps with some consequences taking you back to the beginning minus all of your stuff. I don’t have anything against these things in theory, but in play having to go back through a dungeon that you had already done is either hand waved away or repeating what you just did. If you want to make your players mad, take away all of their character’s hard-earned magic items and loot. In short, this does not play well. As I read the adventure, I was filled with dread. I knew I’d have to either overhaul the adventure (which I didn’t have the time for), create my adventure (again, I was short on time), or find something else.
In desperation, I went to the internet to see what others had done. That is where I found a lifesaver where someone else had re-written the adventure. I ran the version that Jacob of XP to Level 3 created, which you can find here.
Jacob’s version was kind of fun. The players came up with unique ways to get through the puzzles and a couple of NPCs created by Jacob were hits with the players. My daughter still mentions the zombie Gary as one of her favorite NPCs.
The room I created was too much for the players I had (all were in high school at the time). There were several different ways to cross the room to get to the treasure (and Acererak) and they took them all. At the same time. Areas where they could have worked together, they were too far apart to help each other. The character with the best dexterity had a potion of gaseous form and they slowly floated across the room, while their fellow party members triggered traps and fell off platforms.
I suggest you read Tomb of Horrors in Tales from the Yawning Portal, run XP to Level 3’s reworking of it, and be glad that D&D has evolved.
What I Changed
Everything. By running XP to Level 3’s version, I changed everything. To be more accurate, Jacob changed everything and I ran what he created.