I was pretty sure Perkins called the Mere of Dead Men an "Adventure Path" but obviously I was misremembering. In any case it is the first time Dungeon strung together adventures in a series and published them as a series (a few homage sequels over the years were always spread apart: "Into the Fire" from #1 and it's "homage sequel" in #17; "Leopard Men," & "Land of the Men with Tails" a couple years apart (and by the same great new author trying to get published again); "Lady of the Mists" in #42 and its "homage sequel” about a year later (by Perkins, no less).)
The closest Dungeon ever came was "Tortles of the Purple Sage", which was printed in 2 parts, in issues 6 and 7. But I guess that doesn't count, as it was just one adventure chopped into 2.
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Return to Tomb of Horrors Not only is it great for its updated and fleshed-out treatment of the actual dungeon crawl from GenCon #1 in 1975 – and the module it created in 1978 – Return to ToH has a whole campaign book about a creepy little evil town just outside Acererak’s dungeon that didn’t exist in Gygax’s original. And it is awesome! If you love Rappan Athuk (and who doesn’t?!) you know that as good as it is, it’s a poor rip-off of Cordell’s masterpiece – just with a bigger dungeon, obviously.
I wouldn't go that far, especially since Rappan Athuk has been around far longer than Return to the Tomb of Horrors (albeit not in a published form). But I do think that RttToH is the greatest adventures of such an epic scale ever put out. (Epic as in the actual meaning of the word, as opposed to meaning level 21+.)
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@Kthulhu,
Can you give me some of the design history of Rappan Athuk, please? You said it's older than ToH which was GenCon #1 in 1975. That's two years before the "core" AD&D books were published (starting with the first Monster Manual in '77).
How much can D&D exist before D&D existed?
I know Ed Greenwood claims he got the idea for FR in '69 when he wanted to continue the stories of characters from his favorite novels & such, but is the idea for Rappan Athuk actually older than D&D?
I had no idea & would love the education. I thought Clark Peterson & Bill Webb invented it in the D20 era to capture (and publish) an old-school-feel (Super-dungeon) module.
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@Kthulhu,
Can you give me some of the design history of Rappan Athuk, please? You said it's older than ToH which was GenCon #1 in 1975. That's two years before the "core" AD&D books were published (starting with the first Monster Manual in '77).
How much can D&D exist before D&D existed?
I know Ed Greenwood claims he got the idea for FR in '69 when he wanted to continue the stories of characters from his favorite novels & such, but is the idea for Rappan Athuk actually older than D&D?
I had no idea & would love the education. I thought Clark Peterson & Bill Webb invented it in the D20 era to capture (and publish) an old-school-feel (Super-dungeon) module.
Actually, he said Rappan Athuk has been around far longer than Return to the Tomb of Horrors ...
What, if I'm not mistaken, nobody mentioned "The Shattered Circle"?
I did, in the third post in this thread.
And I used to spend long periods of time converting 2E adventures to 3.0, so I generally did so with only short adventures. One of the biggest exceptions was "The Shattered Circle". It took me forever to convert, but it was worth it! The depiction of those Chitine creatures and their culture was fascinating! And I've never seen Chitines outside that particular module.
Bruce R Cordell leaves WotC... and starts working for Monte Cook.
Press release.
Some background.
Interesting stuff
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Hm. I've often wondered what Monte's been up to since he excused himself from D&D Next. Other than GMing Ptolus, presumably.
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I had mentioned they only had the same Campaign World in common (at least until Against the Giants: The Liberation of Geoff and Slavers! came out in the 25th Anniversary of D&D era and BADLY tried to connect them). And I stick to that.
I think the confusion here stems from the fact that the "Supermodules" TSR released back in the mid 80's (Scourge of the Slavelords, and Queen of the Spiders), each had descriptions on the back that claimed that the "Temple of Elemental Evil, Scourge of the Slavelords, and Queen of Spiders", were in fact, linked into a single epic campaign...
From Scourge of the Slavelords (emphasis mine):
Screams echo in the night, the charred remnants of a village are mute by day. From the decaying lands of the Pomarj, slavers have struck again!
The adventure that began in the Temple of Elemental Evil now sweeps southward across the Wild Coast and into the desolate lands of the inhuman Pomarj. Slave raiders scour the countryside, leaving death and destruction in their wake. Daring adventurers strike into the heartland of their foe to harry the villians and bring retribution and justice to the land.
This product contains the completely revised Aerie of the Slavelords series of adventures. Also included are new challenges and new scenarios detailing the Wild Coast, the city of Highport, the blasted lands of the Pomarj and the Drachensgrab Mountains.
With the beginning found in the Temple of Elemental Evil, your campaign adventure can lead characters from 7th level all the way to 11th level and beyond! Hours of adventure and excitement lie between these covers!
From Queen of the Spiders (emphasis mine):
She sits at the center of her Web, a dark force of intense evil power. Her strands reach across Oerth, through the Crystalmist mountains, across the embattled human kingdoms, and even reaching the councils of Pomarj and beyond.
The adventure began in the Temple of Elemental Evil, and continued with Scourge of the Slave Lords. It now comes to a climax as the dark forces begin to move against all mankind.
This product contains revised material that originally appeared in modules G1 (Steading of the Hill Giant Chief), G2 (Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl), G3 (Hall of the Fire Giant King), D1 (Descent into the Depths of the Earth), D2 (Shrine of the Kuo-Toa), D3 (Vault of the Drow), and Q1 (Queen of the Demonweb Pits). New material for further adventures is also included.
You can use this adventure alone, or as the conclusion of the series.