Tomb of Horrors

[Guinea Anubis]

So my PCs are feeling masochistic and said that the Tomb of Horrors "sounded fun" when I was telling them about how much of a killer it is .

I got the original S1 AD&D Module off my father who still had it from 1978. I then downloaded the updated rules.

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

I will keep you all posted on how well they do and/or how they all die.

[reorith]

tomb of horrors isn't really that tough :(

[bosssmiley]

Tomb of Horrors is OK. Tomb of Iuchiban though; now that's a killer dungeon.

[Arbitrarity]

Convert the original, if possible. It's supposed to be more deadly

[Matthew]

Looking forward to the report.

Previous Threads on the subject:

JMalone and the Tomb of Horrors
ExhunterEmerald and the Tomb of Horrors
Krimm Blackleaf and the Tomb of Horrors
RobbieOC and the Tomb of Horrors
Don Beegles and the Tomb of Horrors
Aenerb and the Tomb of Horrors

[Dairun Cates]

Convert the original, if possible. It's supposed to be more deadly

Supposedly? We played the original once. I was a co-GM for that. It was downright cruel in comparison to what I've heard about the new one. Pits of instant death, misdirection, evil teleportation traps that the players have no way of knowing about ahead of time. You'd need a bloody team of troubleshooters to traverse the original.

[Chris_Chandler]

I ran a troupe through the 3.5 version on Halloween last year. It was quite the deadly adventure. They were all ECL 12, 3 higher than recommended, plus there were 6 players. Each player had a pool of 3 characters to use, bringing in a new character when the "main" died. Only two players made it through the session (no, they were not able to finish) without losing at least one character (one played a dwarf trip-tank, one was a 1/2ling paladin played by the 5-year-old). Two players "got to play" all three of their characters. It certainly was my highest mortality rate as a DM ever, and I've been DMing for quite some time.

[Arbitrarity]

Supposedly? We played the original once. I was a co-GM for that. It was downright cruel in comparison to what I've heard about the new one. Pits of instant death, misdirection, evil teleportation traps that the players have no way of knowing about ahead of time. You'd need a bloody team of troubleshooters to traverse the original.

Exactly. *Insert evil laugh here*

Actually, best way to convert it is probably Return to the Tomb of Horrors. 2Ed, but you can get it for $5. Conversion is a bit of a pain, but you can laugh evilly. On the bad side, everyone dies without the "EXTREME PARANOIA" mentaility.

The floor... it's a trap! The wall... trapped! We must nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure!

EDIT: Yes. That quote wins.

[Swordguy]

This never gets old:

The CoC and/or Tomb of Horrors veteran
Race: Human
Believes everything is a trap, every piece of gold is cursed, and every NPC is out to kill him. Usually ends up carrying equipment equal to a fifth of his wealth by level since he refuses to grab any items retrieved in dungeons.
Alignment: NG

Hey! Let's see YOU go through Tomb of Horrors and pretend like it didn't bother you, like things can go back to normal. In ToH paranoia isn't just a good idea - it's the law.

Sample ToH Encounter EL "9" (bull).

Player 1: "I inhale... There isn't a trap on the air, right?"
DM: "Wrong, make a fortitude save vs. poison. Is it a natural 20? Too bad."
Player 2: "Gahh! I hold my breath and cast remove poison on Player 1!"
DM: "Devil Monkeys fly out of the rear end of the statue in the center of the room and counterspell your remove poison using advanced laser technology. Also you turn into a flounder."
Player 2: "What the f-"
DM: "And explode."

[Dairun Cates]

On the bad side, everyone dies without the "EXTREME PARANOIA" mentaility.

The floor... it's a trap! The wall... trapped! We must nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure!

EDIT: Yes. That quote wins.

Was that a stab at my troubleshooter comment, were you advocating sending the Green clearance ERDs in there for extra comedic effect, or was that pure coincidence?

[Arbitrarity]

It was a reference to the comment, it was also a reference from somewhere I can't remember (We must nuke it from orbit! It's the only way to be sure!) or somesuch. Apparently from Aliens. "I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure"

The "That quote wins" was the EL "9" encounter.

The extreme paranoia was a reference to some of my in-dungeon beehaviour, as well as various horror stories. I eventually made a character with a fear of inanimate objects (I stare at the door. I.. tap the door! Does anything happen?! Yes. Your finger intersects the door. "Will someone else open the door?"

[Guinea Anubis]

So far we have a Druid, A Cleric, A Pally,and a Rogue and one guy that did not make it to the game tonight.

First death of the night, The pally got crushed in the false door/hall 2.

The rogue fall in a spiked pit tap and got dropped to -9 hp

two deaths the pally died (again) to the 4 armed gargoyle

Well they found the chapel and the poor Pally just took 6 str damage from poison.(druid saved his ass with cure poison)

Rogue set of the alter off and shot lighting at no one

well the pally set off the alter again and got fire balled...he is still alive for now, P.S. the pally is not having a good night

Well the Rogue wanting to see what was on the other side of "the door" is now female

Trying to fix the whole female thing the Rogue was just ported outside and is now naked, and still female.

we are calling it a night. More play by play next week.

[Winterwind]

First death of the night, The pally got crushed in the false door/hall 2.

two deaths the pally died (again) to the 4 armed gargoyle

Well they found the chapel and the poor Pally just took 6 str damage from poison.(druid saved his ass with cure poison)

well the pally set off the alter again and got fire balled...he is still alive for now, P.S. the pally is not having a good night

"Oh my God, they killed Pally!" - "You bastards!"

Sorry, could not resist

[Foeofthelance]

Is there a 2 Ed. version running around the internet anywhere? I know Wampa adivsed against it in one of the linked threads, but I want to try my hand at converting it. With 5+ Monster manuals and various other splatbooks now available, it might be more viable.

[Matthew]

No, I think there was only a 1e and 3e version of this adventure. However, there was a 2e Return to the Tomb of Horrors. You can probably purchased the PDFs for $4 each from Paizo.

[NephandiMan]

How is the rogue still female? I don't know about the original version of the tomb, but in 3.5 passing through "the door" a third time (which is what you have to do to get sent back to the entrance in the nude) automatically restores the victim to his/her original sex.

[Aquillion]

My recollection was that in the original, it was one pass changes sex, second pass teleports you outside nude (still in your changed sex.)

[Vernal]

Reading some of the other threads made me think of this comic from Girl Genius by Phil and Kaja Foglio

Perhaps some day I'll try ToH with my future gaming group.

[Bassetking]

Castle Heterodyne has NOTHING on the Tomb.

The Castle has Rhyme. Has some form of mad, twisted reason behind its actions. There are sections of the tomb that will just kill your sorry butt dead, and laugh.

[NephandiMan]

My recollection was that in the original, it was one pass changes sex, second pass teleports you outside nude (still in your changed sex.)

Thank you - I thought it would have to be something like that. Anubis, can you confirm that this is, in fact, the case?

[Guinea Anubis]

Thank you - I thought it would have to be something like that. Anubis, can you confirm that this is, in fact, the case?

No it is not the case. The only thing different from the 1e to the 3e with the door is that the 3e lets you make a save.

The rogue is still female because I messed up reading that little bit. Thank you for pointing out that I messed up.