What do you think?
Rate this book
Special #S1-4
Dungeons of Dread: "S" Series Classic Adventure Compilation:
Dungeons of Dread is a hardcover collection of four classic, stand-alone Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure modules -- S1: Tomb of Horrors, S2: White Plume Mountain, S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, and S4: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth -- complete with original black-and-white interior art.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published March 19, 2013
3 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 14, 2014
4 of the greatest AD&D adventures ever written all compiled into one deluxe, gorgeous hardback. So why 4 and not 5 stars? To me, for this to be 5 stars, it should mean that you'd have no reason to go out and get the individual adventures. But here are the problems with it: you lose the front and back cover art of the modules, the color photos from S3 are reduced to black and white, some of the scans of the pictures from S3 came out horrible, and worst of all, 4 pages from S4 are omitted (tournament characters and monster statistics summary)! Still, if you told me I could have one and only one volume of D&D adventures, this would be the one.
January 15, 2016
First, a review of the new composition and binding. The hardbound volume is very nice, in the style of the 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons books. The cover illustrations are on an enclosed piece of cardboard, but not in the book itself. The interior of the modules have been reproduced almost exactly. I noticed that the resolution of some of the pictures (for example the front illustration of S1) is lower and a bit pixelated. Also, the 4 illustrations in S3 that were color are black and white. There was a full page illustration of the fight between the baboonoids, the characters, and the shambling mounds that is now cut to one page (doesn't appear to include all the original picture). Those are the only discrepancies I noticed casually. Overall, I am very pleased with the presentation. If I were to run one of these to players, I would want to get copies of the maps and some accessories so that I am not constantly flipping pages.
All four of these modules were favorites of me when I was introduced to the hobby in the early 80's. I will review them each individually.
S1 Tomb of Horrors is probably one of my favorite modules of all time (S3 as you will see below is also highly favored). I loved the deathtrap dungeon, the colors (the forest green with the zombie like being fighting a cleric and fighter, with the classic shield design), the artwork that were used to describe the dungeon. I have led a group of adventurers through most of this module once, and it was quite a challenge for them.
S2 White Plume Mountain was a bit of a disappointment to me originally. Only 16 pages long but full price. However, these 16 pages are jam packed with wonky ideas for a dungeon and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it again. I have never led a group through this adventure. I wonder what a successful campaign has looked like, and if the dungeon master elaborated and expanded the material available.
S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks was a great favorite of mine. I remember when I first saw a copy (when I was in junior high). I thought the combination of technology with fantasy was awesome. I have always been a bit intimidated with the shear complexity required to run this adventure. I have started out at least one adventure in this module, but didn't get any further then the first level. There is quite a bit for the dungeon master to be aware of to make this a fun and exciting adventure - I believe the experience requirements for the dungeon master are equivalent or higher then the experience requirements for the players. I would love to one day lead a campaign group through this adventure, ideally one set in my customized World of Greyhawk that has developed from the beginning.
S4 When I first saw this module, I was overjoyed about the double booklet format, with one booklet completely devoted to new monsters, treasure, and special artifacts. I loved the classic adventure feel of this module, with the mixture of outdoor adventuring and cavern exploration. After my recent read through the module, I have to suspend disbelief in the great number of encounters in closely located spaces. I know that this is the way of many adventure modules, and I noticed it particularly in this read through. I started one adventure with only one player; it was the only time I played with this particular player and he had a different manner, with diplomacy and thought, rather then my expected hack and slash. I have tried to incorporate and teach this type of play since then.
Overall, I am very happy with this copy of four excellent adventure modules. I hope that digital copies of each of these books is provided soon at drivethrurpg.com (they weren't available at my last check). My purpose for that would be reproduction of maps and aids for game play.
All four of these modules were favorites of me when I was introduced to the hobby in the early 80's. I will review them each individually.
S1 Tomb of Horrors is probably one of my favorite modules of all time (S3 as you will see below is also highly favored). I loved the deathtrap dungeon, the colors (the forest green with the zombie like being fighting a cleric and fighter, with the classic shield design), the artwork that were used to describe the dungeon. I have led a group of adventurers through most of this module once, and it was quite a challenge for them.
S2 White Plume Mountain was a bit of a disappointment to me originally. Only 16 pages long but full price. However, these 16 pages are jam packed with wonky ideas for a dungeon and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it again. I have never led a group through this adventure. I wonder what a successful campaign has looked like, and if the dungeon master elaborated and expanded the material available.
S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks was a great favorite of mine. I remember when I first saw a copy (when I was in junior high). I thought the combination of technology with fantasy was awesome. I have always been a bit intimidated with the shear complexity required to run this adventure. I have started out at least one adventure in this module, but didn't get any further then the first level. There is quite a bit for the dungeon master to be aware of to make this a fun and exciting adventure - I believe the experience requirements for the dungeon master are equivalent or higher then the experience requirements for the players. I would love to one day lead a campaign group through this adventure, ideally one set in my customized World of Greyhawk that has developed from the beginning.
S4 When I first saw this module, I was overjoyed about the double booklet format, with one booklet completely devoted to new monsters, treasure, and special artifacts. I loved the classic adventure feel of this module, with the mixture of outdoor adventuring and cavern exploration. After my recent read through the module, I have to suspend disbelief in the great number of encounters in closely located spaces. I know that this is the way of many adventure modules, and I noticed it particularly in this read through. I started one adventure with only one player; it was the only time I played with this particular player and he had a different manner, with diplomacy and thought, rather then my expected hack and slash. I have tried to incorporate and teach this type of play since then.
Overall, I am very happy with this copy of four excellent adventure modules. I hope that digital copies of each of these books is provided soon at drivethrurpg.com (they weren't available at my last check). My purpose for that would be reproduction of maps and aids for game play.
May 15, 2021
Dungeons of Dread is a hardback reprint of four classic D&D modules, three of which are regularly ranked among the top 10 modules of all time. This is not an update for the latest version of the games, these are reprinted as they appeared in the 1970's and 80's.
It should go without saying that the Dungeon Master's goal in a D&D game is not to kill the players. The goal is to facilitate a shared storytelling experience that all the players can enjoy. That said, Gygax clearly wrote Tomb of Horrors to kill the players. There are so many ways to die in this dungeon that I am amazed that anyone ever completes it. I assume DM's must drop massive hints and nerf encounters to keep their players alive.
White Plume Mountain is my personal favorite dungeon. It has been described as a funhouse dungeon due to all the bizarre puzzles and obstacles that could never occur together naturally. I love the idea that, like an amusement park, the dungeon must have an elaborate unseen support structure that keeps the monsters fed and the traps in working order. The wizard Keraptis is basically a DM who builds his elaborate game and then invites adventures to try and defeat it.
Expedition to the Barrier Peaks is the ultimate "you got chocolate in my peanut butter" dungeon as (spoilers for a 45 year old module) the dungeon is actually a crashed spaceship. The real challenge here seems to be roleplaying. Anyone who has watched an episode of Star Trek will quickly recognize what is going on, but the references the players will recognize would not be known by their characters who live in a medieval fantasy world. Players and DM have to maintain the pretense that it is all incomprehensible.
Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth is the least famous of these modules. It is a traditional dungeon crawl, but a very good one with lots of original monsters. It also provides lots of potential wilderness encounters that the DM can use while the players search for the caverns, which are lost as mentioned in the title.
Reading through these provided me a lot of nostalgic fun. It would be difficult to adapt these for play these days unless a gaming group wanted to try playing with old school rules. It is mostly a fun look back at when the game was new, wildly creative, and still deeply uncool.
It should go without saying that the Dungeon Master's goal in a D&D game is not to kill the players. The goal is to facilitate a shared storytelling experience that all the players can enjoy. That said, Gygax clearly wrote Tomb of Horrors to kill the players. There are so many ways to die in this dungeon that I am amazed that anyone ever completes it. I assume DM's must drop massive hints and nerf encounters to keep their players alive.
White Plume Mountain is my personal favorite dungeon. It has been described as a funhouse dungeon due to all the bizarre puzzles and obstacles that could never occur together naturally. I love the idea that, like an amusement park, the dungeon must have an elaborate unseen support structure that keeps the monsters fed and the traps in working order. The wizard Keraptis is basically a DM who builds his elaborate game and then invites adventures to try and defeat it.
Expedition to the Barrier Peaks is the ultimate "you got chocolate in my peanut butter" dungeon as (spoilers for a 45 year old module) the dungeon is actually a crashed spaceship. The real challenge here seems to be roleplaying. Anyone who has watched an episode of Star Trek will quickly recognize what is going on, but the references the players will recognize would not be known by their characters who live in a medieval fantasy world. Players and DM have to maintain the pretense that it is all incomprehensible.
Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth is the least famous of these modules. It is a traditional dungeon crawl, but a very good one with lots of original monsters. It also provides lots of potential wilderness encounters that the DM can use while the players search for the caverns, which are lost as mentioned in the title.
Reading through these provided me a lot of nostalgic fun. It would be difficult to adapt these for play these days unless a gaming group wanted to try playing with old school rules. It is mostly a fun look back at when the game was new, wildly creative, and still deeply uncool.
August 29, 2015
A compilation of four classic AD&D adventures.
- Tomb of Horrors: Infamously difficult, and just as downright mean as its reputation would suggest, but strangely compelling despite that.
- White Plume Mountain: A great romp, often referred to as a "funhouse" dungeon for good reason... it's a bit on the random side, but still highly entertaining.
- Expedition to the Barrier Peaks: An early SF-fantasy mashup, the spaceship environment makes things interesting. Gygax overdid it with the meticulous SF tech rules, though.
- The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth: More like a mini-campaign than the other three, this module was also my least favorite - after the others, it's downright mundane. It does have an impressive amount of supplementary material, however. (B+)
- Tomb of Horrors: Infamously difficult, and just as downright mean as its reputation would suggest, but strangely compelling despite that.
- White Plume Mountain: A great romp, often referred to as a "funhouse" dungeon for good reason... it's a bit on the random side, but still highly entertaining.
- Expedition to the Barrier Peaks: An early SF-fantasy mashup, the spaceship environment makes things interesting. Gygax overdid it with the meticulous SF tech rules, though.
- The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth: More like a mini-campaign than the other three, this module was also my least favorite - after the others, it's downright mundane. It does have an impressive amount of supplementary material, however. (B+)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews