 | |
| Code | 1089 |
|---|---|
| Character levels | 10-15 |
| Authors | Colin McComb Paul Arden Lidberg |
| First published | 1993 |
| ISBN | 1560765984 |
Dragon Mountain is a deluxe boxed set adventure published in 1993 for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
| | |
| Code | 1089 |
|---|---|
| Character levels | 10-15 |
| Authors | Colin McComb Paul Arden Lidberg |
| First published | 1993 |
| ISBN | 1560765984 |
Dragon Mountain is a deluxe boxed set adventure published in 1993 for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
The box includes six poster-sized maps, half of which are tactical displays of village and battlefield settings, while the rest detail the three-levels of the mountain's interior. Six cardstock mini-maps show self-contained sections of the mountain that can be attached to the poster maps at various locations or simply set aside. The new Monstrous Compendium pages showcase several opponents, such as the gnasher and the brain spider. [1]
Book One outlines the search for a map to Dragon Mountain, a plane-shifting construct that appears in a random location every couple of decades, and a magical item that will improve the party's chance of survival once they get inside. The hunt takes the player characters to a variety of sites, such as crypt of dancing wights and a snake-infested swamp. [1] Books Two and Three lead the characters through the city-sized labyrinth of Dragon Mountain, a maze of traps, ambushes, and dead ends. The adventure concludes with a journey through foggy ruins that leads to the home of the dragon. [1]
The Dragon Mountain set, an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game supplement, was published by TSR, Inc. as a boxed set including three 64-page books, six 32" × 21" map sheets, eight monster sheets (in Monstrous Compendium format), 12 reference cards, 14 player-handout sheets, cardstock counter sheet, and 24 plastic bases. [1] Design was by Paul Arden Lidberg and Colin McComb, with editing and additional design by Thomas M. Reid, with illustrations by Tony DiTerlizzi, Larry Elmore, and Jeff Easley and cover by Jennell Jaquays [lower-alpha 1] . [1]
Wizards of the Coast would later (2018) reprint Dragon Mountain as a single softcover book that did not include the plastic bases. [2]
Rick Swan reviewed Dragon Mountain for Dragon magazine #200 (December 1993). [1] According to Swan, "Dungeon-crawlers will think they've died and gone to heaven when they visit Dragon Mountain, a city-sized labyrinth that revitalizes the AD&D game's hoariest conventions. It's a funhouse of foul-tempered monsters and convoluted traps, designed for characters with the stamina of Greek gods and an appetite for abuse. Best of all, it boasts one of the nastiest, sneakiest surprises I've ever seen in a fantasy adventure" which involves hundreds of "one of the game's most underused and underappreciated adversaries". [1] He felt that "A project this ambitious deserves a lavish package, and the designers deliver in spades," calling the documents, diagrams, and other player handouts "fun". [1] He compliments the designers, stating that "Paul Lidberg and Colin McComb opt for clean, no-frill prose, making it easy for the DM to track the serpentine plot. Every encounter makes sense, quite an accomplishment for a dungeon this size." [1]
Swan felt that Book One, written by Lidberg, which was all prologue to actually reaching the Dragon Mountain, involves "a variety of interesting sites" that results in "an engaging mix of investigative and combat encounters" where the PCs "acquire key information in imaginative ways". [1] He noted that the "cast of eccentric NPCs makes for lively role-playing" with "quirky behavior" from some of these characters, although he complains that too many non-player characters "remain cardboard cutouts, with more attention paid to their physical traits than their personalities. If we knew as much about their motivations as their eye color, Book One would’ve been more memorable." [1] Swan complains that as the PCs "drift from one lead to the next, the obstacles become increasingly contrived", which he feels "isn't so much a problem with the writing as with the structure itself; Book One is all prologue, and prologues shouldn't take up a third of the adventure." [1] By comparison, Swan considered that "the main event is worth the wait as Books Two and Three, both by McComb, lead us through a delightfully sadistic maze of traps, ambushes, and (literal) dead ends." [1] He felt that Dragon Mountain "boasts a rich selection" of encounters, and "makes expert use of layered encounters, where the PCs must deal with two or more perils simultaneously." [1] He considered "the inevitable showdown with the Queen of the Mountain" to be "somewhat of a letdown, dribbling away in unconvincing parley and an inconclusive climax. I think McComb just ran out of room; he needed another half-dozen pages or so to wrap it up in style." [1]
Swan concluded the review by saying: "Dragon Mountain demands more of players, especially newcomers, than they may be willing to give. The relentless assault, particularly in Book Three, can become oppressive if the DM doesn't give the party a few lucky breaks. Serious-minded players may scoff at the cartoonish embellishments; this is a dungeon stocked with greased slides and bad guys called Kneebiters. The presentation has a few ragged edges: underdeveloped encounters [...] sketchy DM tips [...] and a too-long Book One. But, even at it's[ sic ] shakiest, Dragon Mountain rarely fails to thrill. It's a testament to the skill of the designers that they can bring a smile to your face while they're knocking your teeth out." [1]
Dragon Mountain won the 1993 Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Adventure. [3]
Tomb of Horrors is an adventure module written by Gary Gygax for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) role-playing game. 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 characters 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. The module also served as the basis for a novel published in 2002.
Ravenloft is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game. The American game publishing company TSR, Inc. released it as a standalone adventure booklet in 1983 for use with the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. It was written by Tracy and Laura Hickman, and includes art by Clyde Caldwell with maps by David Sutherland III. The plot of Ravenloft focuses on the villain Strahd von Zarovich, a vampire who pines for his lost love. Various story elements, including Strahd's motivation and the locations of magical weapons, are randomly determined by drawing cards. The player characters attempt to defeat Strahd and, if successful, the adventure ends.
The Kidnapping of Princess Arelina is a fourteen-page accessory designed for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
The Gem and the Staff, by John and Laurie Van De Graaf, is an adventure module for the Dungeons & DragonsExpert Set. Rather than being a typical group adventure, The Gem and the Staff was designed for head-to-head tournament-style play, with players separately playing the same adventure and competing against each other for points earned by accomplishing certain goals. The adventure is only playable with one dungeon master (DM) and one player.
The Dungeons & Dragons Basic Game is an introductory version of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) role-playing game packaged in the form of a board game. The original game was released in 2004 by Wizards of the Coast and was designed by Jonathan Tweet, one of the D&D 3rd edition designers. A new version of this game was released in September 2006.
Dragons of Faith is the second of four parts in the third major story arc of the Dungeons & Dragons Dragonlance series of game modules. It is one of the 14 Dragonlance adventures published by TSR between 1984 and 1986. Its cover features a painting by Jeff Easley.
The DL series is a series of adventures and some supplementary material for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role playing game. These modules along with the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy of novels, which follow one possible adventure series through the modules, were the first published items that established the Dragonlance fictional universe. The original DL series was released from 1984 to 1986, with the final two modules added to it in 1988. In the 1990s these roleplaying adventures from the original series were collected and revised for 2nd Edition AD&D as the three DLC Dragonlance Classics modules. There were also versions of the module series released in 1999, 2000 and 2006.
Sword and Crown is an official game adventure of the Birthight Campaign Setting in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. It was published in 1995 by TSR, Inc.. The module is for characters of levels 5–7.
Dragons of Flame is the second module in the first major story arc in the Dungeons & DragonsDragonlance series of game modules. It is one of the 14 Dragonlance adventures published by TSR between 1984 and 1986. Its cover features a painting by Jeff Easley depicting Tasslehoff Burrfoot peering at a red dragon and Verminaard of the Dragonarmies of Ansalon.
Dragons of Desolation is the fourth and final module in the first major story arc in the Dungeons & DragonsDragonlance series of game modules. It is one of the fourteen Dragonlance adventures published by TSR between 1984 and 1986. The module is intended for player characters of level 6–8.
Desert of Desolation is a compilation adventure module published by TSR for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy roleplaying game. It combines three previously published individual modules: Pharaoh, Oasis of the White Palm, and Lost Tomb of Martek. The modules were made for use with the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) rules. Pharaoh was created by Tracy and Laura Hickman soon after the couple married in 1977, and published by TSR in 1982. Oasis of the White Palm was a collaboration between Tracy Hickman and Philip Meyers, and Hickman wrote the Lost Tomb of Martek on his own; both were printed in 1983.
Night's Dark Terror is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game written by British game designers Jim Bambra, Graeme Morris, and Phil Gallagher. It was designed specifically for campaigns transitioning from the D&D Basic Set to the D&D Expert Set. The player characters (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 magazine.
Night Below: An Underdark Campaign, often known as Night Below, is a boxed set for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. The set, with the product code TSR 1125, was published in 1995, and was written by Carl Sargent, with box cover art by Jeff Easley.
Lords of Darkness is the name of two accessories for the fictional Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
Lankhmar – City of Adventure is an accessory for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, first published by TSR in 1985.
The Book of Lairs is an accessory book for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, first published by TSR in 1986. It contains an assortment of monster-themed mini-adventures. A second volume was published in 1987. TSR coded the accessories REF3 and REF4 respectively, as part of a series of similarly-coded accessories. Both volumes were received well by critics, with the second being seen more positively than the first.
Egg of the Phoenix is an adventure module published in 1987 for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
Night Howlers is an accessory for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, published in 1992.
Golden Voyages is an accessory for the 2nd edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, published in 1992.
The Halls of the Dwarven Kings is an adventure published by Integrated Games in 1984 for any role-playing game system.