Tag Archives: greatest adventures

Tomb of Annihilation (2017): Greatest D&D Adventures Since 1985—Number 9

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Tomb of Annihilation (2017) is a fifth-edition Dungeons & Dragons adventure by Chris Perkins, Will Doyle, and Steve Winter for levels 1-11.

Chris Perkins approach to adventure design seems to start with a collision of classic influences. Out of the Abyss mixes the Underdark with Alice In Wonderland. Storm King’s Thunder crosses Gary Gygax’s classic giant modules with King Lear. And Tomb of Annihilation mixes the dinosaurs and lost world of Isle of Dread, with the overgrown jungle ruins of Dwellers of the Forbidden City, with a deathtrap dungeon inspired by Tomb of Horrors. Every one of those influences appears on the Dungeon magazine list of 30 greatest adventures, and the mix plays better than any of them.

The story lands characters in tropical jungle land of Chult, a place with dinosaurs, volcanoes, pirates, and, well, frost giants. The players work to stop a world-spanning curse that blocks resurrection magic and wastes away anyone who returned from the dead.

“By far and away the ‘best bit’ of Tomb of Annihilation is the inclusion of some of the most fantastic and exotic locations seen in fifth edition so far,” writes Simon Yule for Geek Dad. “Most of these are stumbled upon as the party explores the thick jungles of Chult. They include the giant mud shrine at Dungrunglung, home of the frog-like grungs; the epic 300-foot-tall spire of Firefinger, patrolled by ferocious Pterafolk; the floating cave the Heart of Ubtao, complete with lich and zombie gorilla monsters; and the carnivorous garden of Nangalore.”

J.R. Zambrano from Bell of Lost Souls writes, “There’s a sense of adventure that pervades each of the book’s 5 Chapters. Everywhere you turn, there’s a cool location or a unique NPC or some sequence of events that makes you excited to get out there and play.”

Part of that flavor stems from the best, most evocative art of any D&D book. Pictures depicting the Port Nyanzaru street scene, the flametongue-wielding, snake-tailed villain Ras Nsi, and especially the overgrown first level of the tomb all make unforgettable calls to adventure.

The players’ quest leads to lost city, and then a multi-level deathtrap created by Acererak, the architect of the Tomb of Horrors. “Careful thinking, genuine puzzle-solving skills, and thorough trial-and-error exploration is something players will need to get through it all,” Jonbolds explains for Critical-Hits. “The dungeon beneath the city is a living environment with awesome links between areas requiring strategy and tactics from the players to overcome.”

Shawn Ellsworth reviewed the adventure for Tribality. “This is my favorite adventure to come out for this edition of D&D. Many of my favorite adventures have my players exploring deadly wilderness, searching ancient ruins full of puzzles and traps, and battling some mysterious lost people. If you are a fan of Indiana Jones, Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt, and Tomb Raider, this adventure brings a real pulp adventure feel to Dungeons & Dragons.”

“From beginning to end, this is a masterclass in adventure building,” writes J.R. Zambrano. “Tomb of Annihilation takes players into the forgotten lands of Chult and really brings it to life. If I had to pick the one thing this book does best: it captures the character of the setting.”

Next: Number 8.

Start at 10

The Gates of Firestorm Peak (1996): Greatest D&D Adventures Since 1985—Number 10

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The Gates of Firestorm Peak (1996) is a second-edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure by Bruce Cordell for levels 5-8.

When TSR introduced the second-edition Player’s Option books, new designer Bruce Cordell drew the job of writing an adventure highlighting the supplements.

The Combat & Tactics supplement introduced the maps-and-minis, grid-based style of combat that would come to dominate third and fourth edition. For that, the adventure packages monster tokens, and vivid—almost psychedelic—battlemaps for key locations.

For characters upgraded with Skills & Powers, The Gates of Firestorm Keep brings tough combat challenges against organized duergar resistance.

After passing the duergar guarding the gate, the party can continue through more combat, or stealth, or an alliance with a duergar usurper. Reviewer Will Mistretta writes, “Firestorm Peak is strongly non-linear, with more than one way to tackle the dungeon’s challenges.”

Never content to build a dungeon around a mere ruin or hole in the ground, Cordell begins with a evocative premise: “Once a generation, they say, a strange comet appears in the sky overhead and the gates of Firestorm Peak swing open.” One player has the option of casting their character as the offspring of an adventurer who disappeared in the mountain 28 years ago.

The adventure starts as a tactical challenge, but it veers into fresh territory. “Anyone who’s been a gamer long enough reaches a stage where he or she begins to feel like it’s all been done,” John D. Rateliff says. “This adventure is evidence that fresh talent will always come along and do the familiar with so much verve and so many personal touches that it all seems new again.”

As the party delves deeper and starts unraveling the peak’s mystery, the story creeps into the weird territory of things we’re not meant to know. “It positively oozes freaky flavor,” writes Mistretta. “The alien life forms infesting the depths of the dungeon are truly unsettling in their aspect and the gradual transition from a classic Underdark romp to the heart of an otherworldly foulness is handled quite deftly.”

Firestorm Peak introduced the Far Realm, a Lovecraftian dimension of insanity and horror. “It got a lot of attention because it was evocative and focused on one of D&D’s influences that had long been neglected—the Cthulhu mythos,” Shannon Appelcline writes in his product history. “The Gates of Firestorm Peak was also the adventure that changed the way people thought about D&D aberrations. Beforehand, they were wizardly experiments gone wrong, but afterward they were more frequently associated with Lovecraftian monstrosities.”

The Gates of Firestorm Peak ranked 11 on Dungeon magazine’s 2004 list of 30 greatest adventures.

Next: Number 9.

Why Did So Many Classic Adventures Come From 7 Years of D&D’s 45-Year History?

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When Dungeons & Dragons fans rate adventures, the ones published early get the most accolades. In 2004, Dungeon magazine listed the greatest adventures of all time. Of 30 adventures, 20 came from 1985 or earlier. TSR started publishing adventures in 1978, so this represents just a 7 year slice of D&D’s 45-year history. Three more entries from after 1985 simply collected earlier adventures.

Why do early adventures gain so much praise?

Part of the stature of early adventures comes from their influence. Those classics showed every D&D fan how to create scenarios. They offered a template for many styles of dungeon: The Steading of the Hill Giant Chief became the first stronghold, Tomb of Horrors the first deathtrap, and White Plume Mountain the first funhouse. The drow adventures invented dark elves, the Underdark, and planar adventures. Such early modules implied a setting that serves as a foundation for every D&D campaign, even the ones that aim to be distinctive.

But much of the high ratings come from the years of attention these adventures’ gained. From 1978 to 1982, TSR published an average of fewer than 7 adventures a year, and all the adventures were short enough to play in a day or so. So most D&D fans played the same small set of adventures, and then traded their stories with other fans. Those early adventures remained in print for a decade or more, capturing the attention of a generation of players.

Over the years, the gamers who played those early adventures introduced new players to the old favorites. These adventures spawned conversions and sequels. For example, every edition of D&D generated at least one reprise or sequel to Tomb of Horrors. And of course, the panel that ranked Dungeon magazine’s 30 greatest adventures all started playing with the early favorites that dominated the list.

In 1983, the few adventures produced for D&D turned into an avalanche. Through the middle years of D&D’s history, gamers could only play a fraction of the adventures produced for the game. Everyone played a different subset, so even the best adventures failed to garner much attention. (For a deeper look into this topic, see Return of the Classics by Teos Abadia.)

Still, many adventures rated as good as or better than any of the old classics. After all, experience taught adventure designers more ways to write fun scenarios. For example, no one published an event-driven adventure until 1982. See How N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God Changed D&D Adventures For Good.

To shine attention on the newer classics, my next posts will count down the 10 greatest adventures published after 1985. Why 1985? Because the middle 80s mark a steep increase in adventures published, yet 1985 marks a steep decrease in the rate of those 30 greatest adventures reaching print. Also in 1985, Gary Gygax left TSR forever. Gary’s departure didn’t mark a sudden drop in quality—his last solo classic debuted in 1982—but 1985 still marks a turn in D&D history.

Who decides on the 10 greatest? On dmdavid.com, DM David decides. But I don’t rely entirely on my own judgement. I’ve drawn from ratings, reviews, and appraisals from D&D fans, and then I used my completely unscientific aggregation of opinions to rank the 10 entries. Ask me again in a week and I’ll probably put the list in a different order. For my sanity, I limited the list to adventures sold as products under the D&D brand. That excludes great independent and Dungeon magazine adventures. Someday, I aspire to posting a list of the best adventures from Dungeon magazine. I invite nominations.

Does my list miss a great adventure? Yes. Take to the comments and set me straight, but first double check your favorite’s publication date. When I called for nominations after 1985, many fans suggested adventures that proved older than expected.

Starting tomorrow, I’ll post one entry every weekday but Friday, until I reach number 1.

Next: Number 10