Welcome to the tenth entry in the series Original Scenarios Resurrected, wherein D&D scenarios from the 70s and early 80s are republished with the permission of the authors, usually together with extra contemporaneous material. Today is the turn of the previously unpublished sequel to Quest for the Fazzlewood, The Tomb of the Waning Moon from Michicon VIII by Russ Stambaugh. For all entries in the series see here.
From the early 70s Metro Detroit Gamers ran two annual gaming conventions - MichiCon and Wintercon. For Wintercon VII, December 1978, their members John Van De Graaf & Laurie Van De Graaf wrote a tournament adventure Quest for the Fazzlewood, a solo adventure concerning the exploits of Athelfrogg the Agile. MDG published this at the con, and later it was revised and expanded for publication by TSR as O1 The Gem and the Staff (the differences between the two are examined here). Because of this, originals of Quest for the Fazzlewood are amongst the most expensive of all D&D collectibles - and it's also a damn fine scenario.
For the next MDG con (MichiCon VIII, June 1979) another MDG member, Russ Stambaugh, prepared a follow-up adventure for Athelfrogg - The Tomb of the Waning Moon. It was advertised on the front of the program, and as you can see from the illustration it was a two player tournament adventure. Athelfrogg is joined by Balthazar - here they are depicted in the mists outside the Tomb lit by the light of the Waning Moon.The Tomb of the Waning Moon was unfortunately never published, but manuscripts survived and made their way into the hands of collectors. When I was researching my Complete History of 1970s D&D scenarios I came across scans of some pages of this module Adrian had shared on The Acaeum and from what I could see it looked fascinating. When I started this series I contacted Russell to see if he would agree to its inclusion, and I am extremely thankful to him that he has agreed for it to be republished here. As always, all rights are retained by the original author. In addition I also required Adrian's agreement to share his original copy, and thanks to Adrian's efforts we have the scenario I present for you today. Many thanks again, Russell and Adrian!
So, is it any good? Well we had a blast of a time playing it. Read on for my review and the scenario itself...
Review
The biggest - and best - difference however is the fact that this is not a linear adventure. It was extremely common for tournament scenarios - especially puzzle ones - to be linear. Any wrong choice you made just led to a dead end (often deadly in nature). In Tomb there are strong clues as to the correct way through the dungeon to escape from the other side, but Russell added a whole series of rooms that are not on the main path - these are far more dangerous - but if you go that way you could get through and emerge back on the easier path.
Because of the larger number of rooms in this adventure (many of which your players will likely not encounter) it is even more important to spend time making yourself familiar with this scenario before you run it. It doesn't take long - just read it through a couple of times and perhaps highlight some things. Decide upfront how to run the more complex rooms, such as the Mirror and Disc rooms. If you don't then the first group through will be at a great disadvantage.
In contrast to the other tournaments I've looked at, the scoring for Tomb is simply how far along the route to the end you manage to get. I think this is preferable to the "how well you solved the problem" scoring systems, since poor choices already penalise you by slowing you down and thus making you less likely to solve the adventure.
Some of the traps are very deadly, and some of the problems have only one solution. I made some minor changes (listed below) to make it less deadly (as the traps still lose you time and penalise you) and to reward thinking outside of the box.
Minor Changes I Made
When I ran it I made a couple of small changes which affect the playtest so I give them here - namely I gave the Dragon at the end some interesting treasure, and I made more of a feature of the book in the secret room off the throne room with its clue to solving the adventure.
As written, if you manage to read the crumbling book hidden in the chest in the secret room behind the throne then "it tells you how to navigate to the final room". The book crumbles to dust if opened so is only readable if you find and use the potion of all seeing. I decided make it contain a riddle to solve the the rest of the scenario, and then so that people encountered this interesting problem I added further riddles to lead people to this room.
As written, if you free the old man then he reiterates the first clue that you got at the start of the adventure - so I gave a hint that you should do this as an extra line to the riddle in the first room - "Free the old man to hear his secrets"- and gave him a extra riddle to lead characters to the book "After you have killed yourselves, seek the power behind the throne and there read the book that cannot be read".
The second change I made was to the Dragon's treasure room. In the original it doesn't detail the treasure, just says the players will not have time to loot the treasure. Instead I filled it with gold and gems that the players will not have time to collect, and a (new) single magic item - The Dragon Crown (in memory of the Judges Guild tournament). It looks to be made of iron until you put it on, at which point it becomes a golden jewelled crown. Unbeknownst to the wearer any command or suggestion made to a Dragon will be obeyed or believed.
The Playtest
When I ran it, both groups made it through the dungeon alive in the hour, but one group only barely escaped with their lives from the final room, so there is every chance that a group will succeed. My description of how it went will hopefully give you a brief taste of the possibilities that the module contains.The Scenario
Errata
p5: Athelfrog should have be Athelfrogg with two 'g's!
p32: This is a map of N, not U as marked - as per the opposite change made to the manuscript on p33. (The map is blank as N is dark).
p39: This map has no room letter - it is "A - treasure room"
Clarifications and Suggestions
Note there are two one-way doors on the map, the arrows into H and Z, which aren't shown on the maps for H and Z.
As the letters are not in alphabetical order, I marked the page numbers for the rooms on the map in red biro (that's quicker than using the provided index).
The maps are always on the page facing the description (except G which is on the page after) but I found with Fazzlewood it's very easy to get the pages mixed up. I kept all the pages in order and would split it in two - keeping the half with the room description in my hand, and the half with the map showing on the table.
Minor Changes
My personal changes to the module were to add some extra riddles as noted above, and make some of the encounters slightly less deadly. I don't find it necessary to kill characters - each bad decision slows them down and makes them less likely to complete the module, and that's sufficient to distinguish between groups. Changes I made:
p9: since the rings are necessary later in the scenario I ruled that they were necessary to open the door
p13: the Green Slime can be scraped or burned off if they act quickly
p27: the manacles can be broken by doing 25hp damage (no sword breakage)
p31: the bottomless pit is 10' deep with spikes for 2d6 damage
p35: I removed the second phase spider - it seems better without it (and no info is given for when the second spider phases - it seems an added afterthought)
p43: the glowing balls do damage, not remove magical effects (as the adventure cannot be completed if they lose spells)
p45: I allowed any light source to work in the darkness
p47: I ruled that if you used the boots for jumping across them you wouldn't take falling damage as the boots allow you to jump. Similarly if you flew across then you wouldn't fall as you'd be flying.
Of course as with any adventure you're free to apply whatever alterations you wish, or to play it as written. The key thing is to be consistent between teams.
Well this is rather awesome. I have the adventure loaded up in another tab to read over but I LOVE the idea of resurrecting these old adventures. Now I need to go back and read over all the past enteries.
ReplyDeleteIt's always great to get positive feedback Tim, glad you're enjoying it. If you like them spread the news - and there's more to come!
DeleteHey Joe, is that you over on OD&D74? I just want to get you approved!
DeleteOnce you are a member (which I'll do now!) you'll get to see all the other wonderful stuff there! Be well sir and be welcome!
DeleteAgreeing with Tim. I always smile, and then head straight over here, when I get notification that you've updated the Original Scenarios!
ReplyDeleteThe point of this dungeon was to sort out competitive groups by expending their time for missing clues. By bringing back Athelfrogg, players were notified this dungeon was homage to Jon Van de Graff's top-notch original design - problem solving was favored over combat mechanics. People enjoyed it at Michicon.
ReplyDeleteA year later I went to grad school and never designed another tournament dungeon: I was much too busy!
Thanks to Joe for assembling the scattered pieces of the ancient manuscript before it fell to dusty obscurity!
Thanks for sharing Russell! Love the backstory.
DeleteTournament/Convention modules are always pretty fun to read about. In one side, I love the historical background and weight that they carry, as well as the general obscure presentation and competitive nature... on the other hand, in my experience, most tournament modules are terrible to play at home. Most were just a collection of dangerously designed rooms to challenge players with all kinds of malice. It is fun, ofc, but not exactly the kind of module that's table-friendly haha.
ReplyDeleteI think the key is that they don't work well if you don't run them *as a tournament*. However Tomb of the Waning Moon, Escape from Astigar's Lair and Quest for the Fazzlewood can all be played as a tournament *at home* as you only need 4 players - and then they work brilliantly. So much so that I'm thinking of writing one myself.
Delete