

The module ends with the destruction of Acererak without any postscript.Īuthor Gary Gygax in 2007 at the GenCon game convention Those who step into the mist must save versus poison or become idiots until they can breathe the clean air above ground under the warm sun.". There is a dim aura of good if detected for. Example encounters are the "Huge Pit Filled with 200 Spikes" (section 20), or encounter 22, "The Cavern of Gold and Silver Mists": "The mists are silvery and shot through with delicate streamers of golden color. The module is divided into thirty-three encounters, beginning with two false entrances to the tomb, and ending with "The Crypt of Acererak the Demi-Lich". Player characters must survive the deadly traps in the tomb and fight their way into the demi-lich's elaborately concealed inner sanctum to destroy him. Originally a powerful lich, he has (unbeknownst to the players) become a demi-lich, a more powerful form of undead that has transcended the need for any physical body apart from its skull. As the scenario begins, the players are told that the evil wizard Acererak is said to linger in his ancient tomb in undead form. In Tomb of Horrors, the adventurers encounter a number of tricks and traps while attempting to penetrate the tomb of a dead wizard. Tomb of Horrors is set in the World of Greyhawk, a D&D campaign setting. The module has influenced later Dungeons & Dragons products, and was followed by three other (unrelated) modules in the S-series: S2 White Plume Mountain, S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, and S4 The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. Tomb of Horrors was considered the third greatest Dungeons & Dragons adventure of all time by the staff of Dungeon in 2004. The player characters must battle their way past a variety of monsters and traps, with the ultimate goal of destroying Acererak. The module's plot revolves around the tomb of the demilich Acererak. The module also served as the basis for a novel published in 2002.

Several versions of the adventure have been published, the first in 1978, and the most recent, for the fifth edition of D&D, in 2017 as one of the included adventures in Tales from the Yawning Portal.
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The module, coded S1, was the first in the S-series, or special series of modules. Gygax designed the adventure both to challenge the skill of expert players in his own campaign and to test players who boasted of having mighty player characters able to best any challenge. It was originally written for and used at the 1975 Origins 1 convention. Tomb of Horrors is an adventure module written by Gary Gygax for the Dungeons & Dragons ( D&D) role-playing game. 1981 Tomb of Horrors cover reprint art by Jeff Dee depicts adventurers battling a demi-lich
