I don't know why I didn't comment on this one earlier, but I have to say I really liked this one. I managed to find an old battered copy of the original module, and in a way this has a perfect feel as a sort of Conan type adventure but set in the D&D universe. I love how it alludes to the mask wearing of the citizens of the underworld city and the strangeness and eccentricity of the party.
Like with a lot of Dungeon stuff I'm probably going to modify this, probably to suit a party I need to have happen in my current game (which as it happens takes place in a desert place) But as is so often the case Dungeon provides excellent inspiration. Thanks for writing this one.
Thanks for writing this one.
Thanks (I thought at first you may have been refering to the GameMastery module that Wolfgang Baur is writing, that involves a similarly tagged 'lost city' rather than "Masque of Dreams"). I love Tom Moldvay's B4: The Lost City. It's my favorite of the first four B Series books. Yes, even better than B2: Keep on the Boarderlands. There I said it and I'm glad. ;) The mix of combat, role-playing, and just plain fun is near perfect and all squeezed into 28 pages.
In case you haven't checked it out already go here to see the editing room clippings fit for looking at and an expanded take on the oasis. Oh, and did you notice Zargon got some loving in WotC's Elder Evils this month?
I think I restarted a trend,
Matt
PS And I should also mention that Mike Kaluta, James Ryman and Rob Lazzaretti make me look good in that issue. Thanks guys, you all need to be the official setting artists and cartographers for the Lost City.
There were a couple older threads I found dug up on the subject That "Other" Return Thread and The Masque of Dreams Thread that might interest the curious.
-GGG
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I agree that B4 was my favorite of the Basic Modules. I have had days of fun in the Lost City. I am loving the new material for place. I enjoyed the adventure in Dungeon 142 and the material in Elder Evils. I am considering putting Zargon in the path of my group after they finish Pathfinder 6.
A good time...
Very nice, thanks for the helpful links!
I'm kind of linking this with the other old modules I have that are in the desert setting--the "Desert Nomads" series which is set in Mystara as well. I also have "Day of Al'Akbar".
I really like the ideas for NPCs for this setting--birds and camels indeed!
For my part I have no problem with Lady Vestang hostessing the party--in "Arabian Nights" the ladies are often savvy, smart and goal oriented, even though they may not be warrior types. I think it fits with the sense of that tradition quite well.
Of course I'm tempted to take it a little farther--a sort of mix of Howard and H.G. Wells and have the victims taken DOWN...and have the pcs have to go through a sinister and mysterious adventure to rescue them, discovering the strange underground civilization in the process. Perhaps there they are forced to make allies and enemies alike...
Also, hurray for the return of Zargon! There are so many epic godlike encounters but so few Howard/Lovecraft style horror beneath worshipped by decaying civilization type creatures. Not all gods have to be 'gods' and I liked the idea very much that Zargon is simply an elder being that unknowing mortals worship.
I'm kind of linking this with the other old modules I have that are in the desert setting--the "Desert Nomads" series which is set in Mystara as well.
You have excellent taste sir. I've put together a few proposals in my time for a good sequel to this series. Maybe one day one will see print.
Matt
I think I have a soft spot for those modules because they were the first that had a non 'Dungeon' feel to them entirely and when I was a kid reading them I was startled by the amount of story and background in them, the way the monsters had motivations (even if Zargon's for instance was just to eat people, but cunningly) and by the way that setting had an effect on culture and so on. The Master of the Desert Nomads' land of Hule also has a culture that has a unique fantasy feel to it--like 1984 meets C.S. Lewis' Calormen.
Hule is one of the 'mystery nations' in my homebrew campaign--my pcs have yet to go there but ultimately they will. ;)