Quotes from theTomb of Horrors

[Wraithy]

without giving away the whole adventure, what would you have NPCs say about said tomb to adventurers before they enter?
was the NPC an adventurer themself who barely survived it? are there local stories of those who died in it?
what sort of hints could you give your players without ruining it for them?

[goat]

Have them meet a lawyer at the local village who makes his living writing the wills for adventuring parties going near it.

[martyboy74]

You could have some people who have memorized the traps at the beginning of the tomb and go in for the loot of the dead adventurers.

[reorith]

most of my npcs are jerks that mislead pcs so something along the lines of "actually, the tomb of horrors is full of gold and pralines. the great necromancer acerak built it to stash his unholy assortment of confections" would be alright by me
they'd also give the pcs bad advice like "tomb of horrors isn't actually that difficult" or "you'll be fine if don't take a light source" or "monk is an alright class."

also, i'd have one random old guy that delved the tomb of horror back in hi youth and will describe the burning plague module instead.

[TheLogman]

"Don't, just don't, leave now, never return, I went in my with cohorts and followers, my friends and life-long pals, I was the only survivor, I ran, just ran, and forgot all the memories, I suggest you do the same, best decision of my life."-Modus Brackeus- Sole survivor of a delve done ten years ago

"Best way to survive that terrible place? Don't go in."-Richard Gregory-A veteran rogue who barely escaped when he saw his comrades die.

"I've had most the Traumas erased by Psions-for-hire, the only thing I still remember? The hardy, gung-ho paladin, who swore an oath to destroy the place, the one who we most believed in, he was the first to go.."-A Sorcerer whose name was lost due to one too many alter-memories, member of an attempted delve years ago.

"We thought we were so clever, we tried to destroy the place outright. I mean really, we all know the place is dangerous on the inside, safe on the outside. I was part of a squad of Druids, we were sent by the high council to wipe that abomination off the map. We made progress until the dark ones came. Days of casting, day and night, gone! But we didn't stop, we were young, foolish, we kept on, some of our companions were moles and badgers, and we tried again. Those poor men never saw their companions again. Months past, and any work that was done was erased as if it has never happened. That place is unbeatable, invincible, and impossible, you cannot outwit it, you cannot destroy it, give up now."-Velouius, an elf Druid who was sent to destroy the Tomb 100 years ago. The Demons guarding it got fed up with the work the Druids were causing, and killed them all. Velouius was the only survivor.

Those should paint a bleak enough picture of doom and destruction. They don't give away much, except the last one. Try to use enough NPC's that the players say: "Oh wow, this place looks nasty, but these are just NPC's, we are PC's and Optimized ones at that! Let's go in!" If they bring 100 10 foot poles and several thousand followers, power to them, but the look on their face when their character goes "VOIP" will be worth it.

[MartinHarper]

How about an adventurer who has survived an individual trap and escaped? So, if there's a trap that turns your hair purple, have a purple-haired human working in the local bar. Or whatever.

[daggaz]

most of my npcs are jerks that mislead pcs so something along the lines of "actually, the tomb of horrors is full of gold and pralines. the great necromancer acerak built it to stash his unholy assortment of confections" would be alright by me
they'd also give the pcs bad advice like "tomb of horrors isn't actually that difficult" or "you'll be fine if don't take a light source" or "monk is an alright class."

also, i'd have one random old guy that delved the tomb of horror back in hi youth and will describe the burning plague module instead.

hahahahaha! ahahahhahaha! I am so going to use this idea in my games from now on!

[dfpiii]

"actually, the tomb of horrors is full of gold and pralines"

Fantastic. There are so few praline-themed adventures. :smallbiggrin:

[Xefas]

"The Tomb of Horrors has demons in it. Demons that live there. You realize that demons crave nothing more than the greatest evils imaginable, right? And so they left the Abyss, a plane of utter soul-scarring terror, in preference to this place. Don't you get it? The incarnate primordial suffering of all existence wasn't evil enough when compared to the Tomb."
~Appropriately Named Guy

I've never read/played the Tomb of Horrors, but I get the gist of it, and this is a quote from one of my own NPCs to the party slightly changed as to incorporate your context.

[Yeril]

"I rememba' that place, I went in with some pals once, we didn't get far, we were lucky. Fosco Bleaker was is name, a good traps man gathered up a bunch of us Adventurers for a delve, He had the great idea to use magic so he could walk across the walls and avoid traps on the floor. T'was a good plan but didnt work out well for him, about 40 yards down the first hallway we all left to wash the bits of halfling out of our hair."

[lord_khaine]

"noone has managet to beat the tomb at its own game yet, if you want to have a chance of getting out alive you have to think outside the box"

[Wraithy]

Fantastic. There are so few praline-themed adventures. :smallbiggrin:

agreed, someone needs to fix that one day

[Randalor]

"Rocks fell, everybody but me died"

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't one of the first traps essentially "Rocks fall, everyone dies *or takes an arbitrarily large amount of damage*"?

[goat]

Set up "The magnificent Marco's scrying theater!".

He's got a big mirror on the wall, and he pays adventurers to fail their will saves when he scries on them.

Then for paying customers, he'll scry on some adventurers so that they can watch them and their party for a while as they travel through the tomb.

Of course, you can only see 10 feet away from them, so there's plenty of chance for 'off-screen' action, and sudden, unexplained death.

[bugsysservant]

Fantastic. There are so few praline-themed adventures. :smallbiggrin:

God, your DM must suck. Sometimes seems I play nothing but.

[Azerian Kelimon]

"We 5 went in, Rurik the Psychic warrior, Valorous the Fighter, Zyphod the Beguiler, that little Kobold, and me. Only me and the Kobold got away."

Typhero the level 18 conjuration specialist. Guess which Kobold I'm talkin' about? That should tell enough to any informed player, while it leaves the PC's confused. If that doesn't scare them, make an emissary of the Planar Cartographic society appear, and tell the wizard that they only have a map of the first 3 rooms. And those guys have been everywhere and every adventurer knows of 'em.

[Solo]

That makes no sense. "That little Kobold" could destroy the Tomb with his eyebeams! Eyebeams! And if he didn't have eyebeams at the time, he could just retroactively give himself eyebeams to blast the tomb with, eyebeams that disintegrate stuff and turn it into candy!

[ArtifexFelicis]

"What Tomb of Horrors? I no nothing bout any tomb, now leave me alone!"
--Old squire to a paladin who watched his liege fall rather harshly and and killed quickly.

"If I buy you a round of drinks, promise me you won't go near that death trap?"
--Bartender who had seen too many good people die.

*Laughter*
--Local prostitute when inquired about any survivors of the Tomb. Still young, so there have been none in her lifetime.

"I have some instructions, I managed to survive a little bit of the Tomb before a companion had to drag me out. It'll only cost 10 gold for it, if you want it. I've been trying to map out the damn tomb. If you survive, come back to me."
--Con Artist. If the PCs DO buy his instructions, they are effectivly the first couple traps of the Tomb exquisitely detailed and for some reason about 5 feet further back then they really are or in "disrepair."

[Belial_the_Leveler]

"Don't go in there. I abandoned my attempt to explore it after the 342nd time I died. Getting The Prize was alot easier."
--Dankan

[kemmotar]

Set up "The magnificent Marco's scrying theater!".

He's got a big mirror on the wall, and he pays adventurers to fail their will saves when he scries on them.

Then for paying customers, he'll scry on some adventurers so that they can watch them and their party for a while as they travel through the tomb.

Of course, you can only see 10 feet away from them, so there's plenty of chance for 'off-screen' action, and sudden, unexplained death.

Wouldn't that count as pretty good horror movie?

also:
"I did go there with a couple of my fellow adventurers...i used to be a wizard you know...i gated stuff and did batman cheese...It was quite silent...the skulls and bones of lesser adventurers didn't bother us...the silence of the tomb was unnerving...until it was broken by the terrifying screams of my party...then it was silent again...
Why am i farming this field? After that i was never again able to bring myself to face another monster...it reminded me of...
AAAAHHHHHHHHh the screams...the blood...the terror"
*random NPC the pcs were talking to runs away screaming before falling unconscious a few feet away...*
Yes he failed his insanity check when faced with the tomb of horrors...yes it counts as a call of cthulhu game in there:smalltongue:

[SoD]

''That tomb there? Sure I can help ya out with it. I remember hearing some advice a while back...what was it...I'm sorry, I suffer from slight monetary-deprivated amnesiea.''
''You mean?''
''Yeah. Give me money, and I'll give you the best information you'll ever get on it.''
*PCs give away reasonable amount on money*
''Alright, old man. What's the information?''
*counts money* ''Best information on how to survive that thing? Leave. Leave now and pretend you never heard of it.''

[Shatteredtower]

There are times I'm tempted to introduce a dotty old NPC named Mrs. Wiggins, Acerak's former cleaning lady, into my games.

"Buncha' young hooligans, always foolin' around with the waste disposal..."
"Meant to warn the furnace man about the loose floor... oh, well..."
"At least the ironing was easy. No problem there..."
"Took all night to get that blood off the ceiling! There were choice words about that."
"A shame about the doorman. Got a bit too slow in his old age, and... well..."

[Angel in Black]

Even in the official Dungeon Survival Guide, the best advice Wizards can give is "don't and say you did." Does anyone else find that funny?

[Azerian Kelimon]

It ain't that hard. I HONESTLY completed it. The group was of 8 people, a swordsage (Me), a Lady's Gambit crusader, an Illusionist Wiz, a psion, a Rogue, a Druid, a Battlefield Control spiked chain fighter, and an artificier. We did it, with everyone but me, the wiz, and the psion down from the last fight. We got 10 times the WBL of a char of our level (can't remember which) as prize on the immediate next adventure.

[Foolosophy]

It ain't that hard.

it ain't that hard but you had a group consisting of twice as many characters as normally assumed and this included several classes (archivist, swordsage, crusader) that are considered to be quite a bit better than their nearest core equivalents...yeah therefore the ToH must be a piece of cake ;)

[skyclad]

"No I can't help you! That would be cheating, this tomb is supposed to be the ultimate test of your abilities!"

-Gary Gykax

[Azerian Kelimon]

People usually discuss the tomb with 32 chars or more. We made it with a fourth of that. It ain't THAT hard.

And it was an artificier, not archivist.

[Blasterfire]

Ok, this thread made me look into the adventure, and now I want to run it with my local group. Can t actually be run with a group of 4-6 level 9 characters?

[Azerian Kelimon]

Yes, if one of them is Pun-Pun.

[SurlySeraph]

Ok, this thread made me look into the adventure, and now I want to run it with my local group. Can t actually be run with a group of 4-6 level 9 characters?

If you power-game insanely, are madly paranoid, and use lots of OOC knowledge, you can do it. You know the rule that in Call of Cthulu, books are only there to kill you? ToH is like that, except replace "books" with "floors." If not with "objects."

[Azerian Kelimon]

Or "players". Consider it Paranoia, but you don't get items and you don't have a 6 pack.

[puppyavenger]

If you power-game insanely, are madly paranoid, and use lots of OOC knowledge, you can do it. You know the rule that in Call of Cthulu, books are only there to kill you? ToH is like that, except replace "books" with "floors." If not with "objects."

I'd say replace it with matter.

[martyboy74]

You probably don't want to run it as part of an ongoing session. It's actually pretty fun if you create characters specifically for the purpose and hand out free rezzes.

[Jalil]

2 Questions:

How does this compare with Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil

and

Where can I find this module?

[Solo]

2 Questions:

How does this compare with Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil


hahahahahahaha............

[Jalil]

Helpful, solo... Everything I've learned about D&D history has been through my own experience, or from what I've read here, and IIRC, this is the first time I've heard it mentioned here. And you still didn't answer the second question.

[Green Bean]

Helpful, solo... Everything I've learned about D&D history has been through my own experience, or from what I've read here, and IIRC, this is the first time I've heard it mentioned here. And you still didn't answer the second question.

I don't think he's mocking you. He's implying that the difficulty of RttToEE is nothing compared to that of the Tomb of Horrors.

[Jalil]

Google... (www.tinyurl.com/3cxlej)

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20051031a

Ok, I'm stupid, sue me. Lemme see what I can see...

[Solo]

h_v is very insightful.


Tomb of Horrors can be summed upon one phrase:

"The Goggles! They do nothing!"

[Jalil]

by the lord and lady....

WHY? Why would anyone do this? It hurts to think about...

...


...I think I may use it...

[tyckspoon]

If the players aren't already aware of the Tomb's reputation (and heck, even if they are- it'll be entertaining) having somebody offer to 'guide' them through the first hallway or so could be fun. It'd probably look kind of like this similarly themed Girl Genius page. (http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070725)

[Aquillion]

How about an adventurer who has survived an individual trap and escaped? So, if there's a trap that turns your hair purple, have a purple-haired human working in the local bar. Or whatever.The problem is the 'survived' bit. As I recall, the overwhelming majority of the Tomb of Horrors' traps don't give you any real chance of surviving once you've set them off.

[herrhauptmann]

Ran into a sphere of annihilation hidden behind an illusory door at 9th level.

"It ain't called the Tomb of Horrors cuz it's fun!"

"So Atreus Lightbearer, Chosen of Pelor, how was it in the Tomb of Horrors?"

"They're all around us man! They're all around us!" -Atreus, Epic paladin/Radiant Servant of Pelor

If I ran it, I would actually institute Saves vs Horror like in the Ravenloft setting.

[CatCameBack]

2 Questions:

How does this compare with Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil

and

Where can I find this module?

A copy of the original module was included in every box set of Return to the Tomb of Horrors. The box set itself may be hard to find...it didn't run a long print and it's very good. Blows Return to the ToEE out of the water for quality, imho.

To run it at 3.5 edition will require some legwork to convert the bigger (Return to....) module, but the original could be run on the fly with your DMG out for reference, really.

Good luck in your search.

Ok, this thread made me look into the adventure, and now I want to run it with my local group. Can t actually be run with a group of 4-6 level 9 characters?

Actually, Blaster, the point of the original module was that canny and fairly lucky characters could get theough the module with little battle damage. Inclusion of a well-skilled rogue and several spellcasters with plenty of potions/scrolls/wands of utility spells and healing should allow an experienced party (9-12) to get through with a minimum of deaths, especially allowing for the fact that (on the whole) 3.5 characters of a given level are a little more powerful and versatile than their 1st edition AD&D counterparts.

EDIT: On a side note, and in deference to the Original Poster: One of my close friends (who passed a few years ago) was quoted during the epic campaign of Return to the Tomb of Horros thusly:
"Who wrote this? Let me see that cover!.....Okay, If I ever meet Bruce R. Cordell [the author]at a convention, I'm gonna walk up to him and punch him dead in the mouth!"

So you could have a bunch of peasants lynching Gygax or Cordell in a nearby village for unleashing such an abomination.

[Wraithy]

So you could have a bunch of peasants lynching Gygax or Cordell in a nearby village for unleashing such an abomination.

could? more like will :smallbiggrin:

'the marvelous wizard that lives nearby has developed a fabulous new form of entertainment, he calls it "World's most foolhardy Idiots". you watch the fools walk into their deaths, how droll! I enjoy buying all of the seats and watching while my manservant juan peels me the most sumptuous grapes in the land. now you must excuse me, the tailor is here to measure me for my sequined dress robes' - Lord Fruitingdon IV, local Aristocrat

[Emperor Demonking]

"It's a trap!"
"Don't make me go under that roof, don't make me."

[goat]

Have the main entrance covered in floral tributes and things for the dead.

Or even better, just a set of chalk marks on the wall, everyone makes one on the way in, erases one on the way out...

[Project_Mayhem]

Have the main entrance covered in floral tributes and things for the dead.

Or even better, just a set of chalk marks on the wall, everyone makes one on the way in, erases one on the way out...

Ah, but your assuming there is a main entrance. You've got a 1 in 3 chance of picking the right tunnel. Or you die.

Scrap that - you die anyway

[SoD]

Following the chalk idea:

''Well, sir, y'see, you gotta put up a chalk line when you go in there, sir, and erase one when you come back, y'see. Sir, I know that there's only a few dozen chalk lines up there, but, y'see, sir, we scrubs the whole thing down every few months, y'see, and we just did that yesterdy, sir.''

Or a local funeral palor that holds funerals for anyone who enters...the day before they go, so that they might have a chance to see everyone before hand.

Or a local kobold trapsmith...who refuses to enter the place because it's ''to dangerous'' for him. When questioned, he says his name is Pun-pun.

[Citizen Joe]

"Three entrances, eh? Which is the right one? Let me tell you about something called the 'Shell Game'. You see, you're assuming there IS a right one..."

[RS14]

Have the main entrance covered in floral tributes and things for the dead.
I like this idea. It's much more subtle than many of the others, and it is sadder. Peasants mourning the victims of the tomb sets a different tone to start off than making the PCs out from the beginning as heroes by drawing attention to them. To the townsfolk, the PCs would just seem like more fools already with a foot in the grave, no different than those who had come before. If they attract attention, and if they're told how impossible this tomb is, it draws attention to the players (the heroes) and away from the potential death, even if attention is drawn to them by someone telling them they're going to die. The players probably expect to 'win,' to complete the adventure, no matter what they've heard about Tomb of Horrors. By focusing on death before they arrive, you remind them that they are mortal, and should be very afraid.

[Istari]

most of my npcs are jerks that mislead pcs so something along the lines of "actually, the tomb of horrors is full of gold and pralines. the great necromancer acerak built it to stash his unholy assortment of confections" would be alright by me
they'd also give the pcs bad advice like "tomb of horrors isn't actually that difficult" or "you'll be fine if don't take a light source" or "monk is an alright class."

also, i'd have one random old guy that delved the tomb of horror back in hi youth and will describe the burning plague module instead.

I would so put that in my sig if there weren't so many letters

[leperkhaun]

Point to some mile long 20foot around collum, with names inscribed a quarter inch high and say....... These are the people who never came out.

Honestly, things like....its a deathtrap, no one has ever made it, the place is just plain evil....etc.

[Dairun Cates]

Having seen the original module, might I suggest, "The cake is a lie"?

[Duke of URL]

NPC #1: (To another NPC, not the party:) "Hey, Vern! Looks like we got another group wanting to know about 'The Tomb'. How long has it been since the last one?"

NPC #2 (Vern): "Six or seven years, I reckon." (To party:) "Aw... that place ain't nothing but a myth. Used to be, ten or fifteen years ago, that nary a month would go by without some group of young folk -- like yerselves -- would come through here looking for that place. All so sure of themselves, so prepared, they said. Then they'd head off to where it was supposed to be and none of 'em ever come back..."

NPC #1: (Interrupting) "Well, there was that one fellow..."

Vern: "He was just mad, I tell ya. Probably just killed his 'partners' in their sleep and invented that story as an alibi -- not that it helped him in the end..."

NPC #1: "That was a fun hanging... I remember it well."

Vern: "I figure all of those other folks just sneaked away in embarrassment once they couldn't find the place. I mean, the only other explanation is that scores of well-equipped and prepared adventurers were all killed in a horrific deathtrap. How likely is that?"

[Kurald Galain]

Fantastic. There are so few praline-themed adventures. :smallbiggrin:

Anyone here read the Polyhedron magazine? They had an adventure once called "Sweet Revenge" that played in the local chocolate mines, and had such marvels as the Syrup Elemental...

[Runolfr]

"You can go, but you'll be wasting your time. Few enough come back from that cursed place alive, and none come back with treasures or tales of glory, just wounds and dead companions. There's nothing there worth finding; it's just some old sorcerer's idea of a sick joke, seeing how many young fools like yourselves he could lure to their deaths. Funniest part is that he's not even alive to have his laugh at your expense."

[AKA_Bait]

PC: "Innkeeper! We would like two rooms for the night."

Innkeeper: "Going off into that tomb ar ye?'

PC: "Yes. What do you know of the place?'

Innkeeper: "Oh nothing. That'll be 20 gold for the lot of you."

PC: "20 gold for two rooms for the night? That's outrageous!"

Innkeeper: "Take it or leave it. I can't very well be expecting repeat business from you now can I?"

[vegetalss4]

PC: "Innkeeper! We would like two rooms for the night."

Innkeeper: "Going off into that tomb ar ye?'

PC: "Yes. What do you know of the place?'

Innkeeper: "Oh nothing. That'll be 20 gold for the lot of you."

PC: "20 gold for two rooms for the night? That's outrageous!"

Innkeeper: "Take it or leave it. I can't very well be expecting repeat business from you now can I?"

or you could have him offer them grave ale...
i really can be survived. we did it only one dead. she entered pride of her power a wrong end of a silver septer and a crown, later she was fine dust.
a guy almost got a farm in the head. gem of cursed wishing. wished him items back. turn out that he, tecnically had inheirted a farm from his mother.
goof times:smallbiggrin: (p.S. the reason i call it good times, is i where the DM:smallbiggrin: )

[BardicDuelist]

See, I know people that have done it rather easily, and then I realize that their DMs (having talked to them) "toned it down" a bit (made the saves a little easier, or what have you, not actually removing anything). I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing, if I weren't running it as a true death trap. Or they let the player play higher level characters

My biggest complaint about the tomb is that it doesn't make sense. I guess the Demons maintianing it thing kind of helps justify that.

It is over estimated and hyped up, I'll give people that, but it does make for some good jokes when you do hype it up.

[Prometheus]

I didn't use it on the tome of horrors but I had a dying PC recite particularly creepy lines from the Rime of the Ancient Mariner (http://etext.virginia.edu/stc/Coleridge/poems/Rime_Ancient_Mariner.html)

[Dairun Cates]

Actually, I think there may be an issue of WHICH Tomb of Horrors we're talking about. The ORIGINAL tomb of horrors from First Edition was the only one for the longest time. Run with third edition D&D character's it's a cake walk for a smart party. However, if memory serves, there's been an upgraded 3.5 edition version now. That one was supposed to account for players having saves in its difficulty and keep the spirit of the original while adding some REALLY evil stuff. I get the distinct feeling that some people are talking about the first and other are talking about the second.

By the way, Grimtooth's Dungeon of Doom is far worse than anything, but that's because EVERY damn thing is a trap, and you need to survive like 90% of them before you can find the inner chamber wherein a wizard kills the hell out of you.

[Kurald Galain]

The ORIGINAL tomb of horrors from First Edition was the only one for the longest time. Run with third edition D&D character's it's a cake walk for a smart party.

Given the sheer amount of save-or-die and no-save-but-die-anyway effects in the tomb, how exactly is that a cakewalk for anyone, unless you've read the module in advance?