Acererak's Tomb is Revisited, and You Can be There!
Iron men, of visage grim,
Do more than meets the viewer's eye.
You've left and left and found my tomb
And now your soul will die!
These words struck fear into the hearts of players at Origins I. With them, they knew they had entered the most devious of all the creations to emerge from the mind of E. Gary Gygax. As player after player lost his character to Acererales tomb, the creator of AD&D looked on, I'm sure, with an evil grin.
Tomb of Horrors was the first module ever published by TSR. It set the bar high for all that would follow. It inspired people like Grimtooth to try to invent increasingly deadly traps. It made AD&D into a game of intellect and wits, not one of hacking and slashing. It is probably the most popular adventure of all time.
So who is the upstart, Bruce R. Cordell, who thinks he can write a sequel? Does he think he can do justice to the master, the father of all adventures, the Great Gygax? Does this sequel, Return to Tomb of Horrors, do anything more than insult the greatest of all dungeon crawls? Read on, you might be surprised.
To answer the question, we must look at Gygax's original intention. Was he trying to smite players everywhere? Was he trying to make them frightened and instill a feeling of hopelessness? Was he just being mean?
No. He had fallen into a trap many of us do. He had characters, Rob Kuntz's Robilar and Gary Gygax's Tenser, who seemed to walk through whatever challenges he put before them. He needed something that would test them to their limits. Something that would teach them humility. He needed an adventure that not even they cold defeat.
Alan Lucien gave him the idea. He locked himself in his writer's room and began to invent the deadliest adventure that ever was. This time, they'd know a challenge. So what happened? Robilar sacrificed many orc retainers to get to the last tomb. There, he dumped the treasure into a bag of holding and amscrayed. Tenser manage to defeat Acererak himself, proving to Gygax that an ingenious player can negotiate any but the most arbitrary death traps.
Then he continued to carry it in his briefcase, pulling it out whenever a player claimed to have an unbeatable character. More often than not, they remembered things they had to do and quickly left the table as the other players looked down at their dead characters in horror.
The module then debuted at Origins I.
It hit the shelves in 1978. The rest is history. So now Cordell has written a sequel. How, you might ask yourself, can this box set pretend to be a sequel to the deadliest 12 pages in role playing history? Does this man actually think he can pull it off? Let me assure you, gentle reader, he not only thinks he has, but he has.
The adventure starts years after treasure hunters spent their blood and souls in Acererales final resting place. The place is all but forgotten by most, but as of late, an evil necromantic force has been reaching out of the Vast Swamp. The party begins examining the problem and comes across a name, "The Devourer."
This name leads them to the path of a man who sought the Devourer years before, a mage named Desatysso. As the party follows the longcold trail of this mage, they discover that there is more to the Tomb than anyone has ever suspected. You see, Acererak wanted to build a series of tests, to lead people toward a final great reward. Unfortunately, the knowledge of the true purpose of the Tomb was lost, and only Desatysso seems to have found it.
The test consists of three parts: a Tomb, a City and a Fortress. Evidently, crawling into the tomb and smashing Acererales skull is not enough. He must be hunted to his conclusion and stopped in his dreaded apotheosis. Otherwise, his demonic minions will just keep rebuilding his tomb and adventurers will keep spending their souls there.
This dungeon is not for the weak of heart. It suggests that players not take their beloved characters in, and I wholeheartedly agree. The PK rate is extremely high.
I set up a party of fourteen characters, giving each player at least two. They then started the adventure. However, I couldn't see how they could have any guarantee of surviving the original Tomb (which is included in the boxed set), much less get far enough for me to produce an adequate review. I therefore began sending them dreams. Dreams of people who were not them, but they recognized as each other. They were going through this strange tomb, and they knew that all this had taken place years ago. Finally, at the end, they threw themselves against the demi-lich. The Paladin, who had died and failed his resurrection survival (a convenient accident, not a plot element), appeared and got them to vow to kill this force of evil, no matter what it took, no matter how many lives.
It was then the players realized they were dreaming of a past life. They threw their might against Acererak and were soundly destroyed.
This plot device worked well. They had already played the Tomb by the time they got to it in present day, and were therefore able to get a full compliment of characters through it.
It also gave them a sense of purpose which unified them with these characters they didn't know. It was a right proper epiphany, and feel free to use it when you buy this product yourself.
Anyway, this allowed them to progress beyond this most classic of Tombs, into a place where Orcus himself once walked, the city of Moll. This place has claimed four or five characters (though their pact is keeping Acererak from devouring their souls, so they can come back again in another 50 years, should the party fail). I'll not give away any more of the plot. Buy this product, and you'll see.
I was not convinced I should give it this good of a review, however. You see, I have always loved the Tomb, and I was afraid I was biased. I therefore gave it to a friend who has never (in my memory) liked a TSR module. He gave this his grudging approval, unable to blow any holes in its plot.
A good product. The traps are as deadly as ever, but this adventure is surrounded by intricate plots and histories. There is so much going on here the players will never even guess it all.
This is one of the things I love about this module. It is filled with information that the players will never know. They will never fully understand the history of the necromantic academy that has sprung up around the tomb. My players have figured out that the City of Moil worshiped Orcus, but they will never figure out that it was put to sleep because it turned to the worship of a God of Morning.
Most writers try to invent complicated and awkward ways of making sure that the players discover the core of all their intricate plans. Not Bruce R. Cordell. If he had James Bond in his clutches, when Bond asked what this was all about, he'd shrug and put a bullet in his head. It's enough that the GM knows, so that he can flush out details as needed. The players will never guess most of what' s happened here. My players have made me promise to tell all when it's done.
Anyway, this adventure tests players to their furthest. Not only have my players latched onto their characters, four of them have married now (the characters, that is), so they can snatch some joy in the midst of all this horror. It takes a powerful setting to force people to start searching for affirmations of life.
So there it is. I'm rarely impressed with adventures anymore. I'm not forgiving enough. This module needs no forgiveness. Other than an abuse of absolutes ("nothing can save the character if So did they survive? I can hear the question in your minds.
The question should be "Will they survive?" The party has begun spending more time on roleplaying than problem solving. They lick their wounds and clutch each other in the night, whispering reassurances. The adventure continues at a slow, methodical pace, and has become a campaign unto itself. If they survive this, I don't think I can convince them to play other characters. I mean, when you've taken someone into the darkest of all pits, you develop a bond.
Too bad they'll all be dead by the time you read this.
Publishers Note: What do you mean dead?! Kill my character and you're fired!
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