Maxxus

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Foyer

1e:
Again it’s not literally named second key, that’s for the Referee. A fighter will save 50% of the time against the antipathy. 

As this module was designed before AD&D was published, I believe there is a bit of a leftover here. The module states the effect of antipathy is 2’, but the spell description in the player’s handbook says 3’. 

The player’s handbook also provides additional effects of whosoever picks up the key suffers a cumulative -1 penalty to their dex per round to a max of -4 and limits the spell’s duration to 12 turns per spell level. 

5e:
The fighter will save 10% of the time. On a failed save the target is frightened and must maintain a staggering 60’ minimum distance. Outside the 60’ range a save may be made for only a 1 minute immunity. Every 24 hours a save may be made to permanently end the effect. 

Mechanically, the spell says they’re only required to move out of sight of the object. However, the frightened condition does not allow them to move closer to the source of their fear. This will keep anyone who fails from being able to enter Acererak’s crypt. 

Valves

1e:
Valves are a style of double doors that close against each other. If the blood trap is triggered, it takes 6 minutes to rise to the first step, 5 more minutes to cover all the stairs, and 9 more minutes to reach the ceiling. Fire, such as a simple torch, will create a gas that kills the party in the foyer. A fighter on the throne side will save 45% of the time or die. If the ocher jelly is summoned, it is considered huge, so use the stat block from the lab.

5e:
In 36 seconds the blood reaches the first step. 30 more seconds and it’s covered the stairs. Another 54 seconds to reach the ceiling. The gas still kills the foyer side and a fighter on the throne side will save 55% of the time.

Treasure Room

1e:
No spells or magic items work here. 

The efreet will perform three services, not necessarily wishes. It is incredibly strong and may be able to help push the statues around. 

| |Fighter| Efreet|
|To Hit %| 60%| 60%|
|Dam % dealt per round| 9% (3)| 12% (7)|
|Rounds to win| 11| 9|
|Power Ratio| 1.2|

Each chest has three locks, each lock has a poison needle trap. That’s 6 saves vs Poison death to grab some loot that has been glamoured.

|Instant kill %| 92%|

For this place to be antimagic and then place both an efreeti granting magical favors and magiked treasures here doesn’t make a lot of sense. I can’t begin to grok how the antimagic is supposed to work or what Gygax was trying to prevent. I can’t think of a magical means to discover the hidden door. He specifically allows detecting auras so it isn’t to hide the magic on the treasure either. 

This is another room where you’re supposed to gaslight your players into thinking this is the end. 

5e:
Conversion error here, the hidden door is under the statue, not behind it on the wall. 

This efreeti does grant three wish as the wish spell. 

| |Fighter| Efreet|
|To Hit %| 60%| 42%|
|Dam % dealt per round| 8% (16)| 27% (31)|
|Rounds to win| 13| 4|
|Power Ratio| 3.25|

Our fighter will spot the trap 25% of the time, disable it 5% of the time, save against it 45% of the time and take 37% (42 hp) damage on a fail and become poisoned. Xanthar’s additionally specifies being paralyzed. 

|Instant kill %| 0%|

One-Way Doors

1e:
These doors only exist for those traveling through them southward. The pit trap doesn’t exist until someone travels southward coming from the false treasure room or travels westward coming from the grotto.

5e:
Seems to be a conversion error. The pit appears after “opening…the [door] to the east from the far side”, not going east. 

Secret Door

1e:
No rolls to make, if you search for 10 minutes you find the keyhole. This is well before boxed text, Gygax is telling the Referee it’s a keyhole. Best to let the players come to their own conclusions about it. Magic, including the gem of seeing, should also not reveal the nature of the door. 

5e:
The fighter will spot it 50% of the time. 

Crypt

1e:
Another count up. Presumably this one works the same as the others. The characters move 1’ per their movement rate per remaining count. If they don’t move off the rising vault within the count, they’re dead.

The ghost dust dissipates in 3 minutes. 1e had stat adjustments based on age and rules for dying of old age. Therefore, any PC killed of age by the ghost cannot be resurrected.

| |Fighter| Ghost|
|To Hit %| 50%| 60%|
|Dam % dealt per round| 9% (3)| 12 years|
|Rounds to win| 12| 7|
|Power Ratio| 1.7|

The skull encrusted with gems, worth more than the couch, is meant to temp PCs into trying to recover the treasure. Touching or simple attacks will only result in a PC death and destruction of their body with no save. 

The skull has a -6 ac, a fighter with +2 vorpal sword will hit 30% of the time dealing 5 damage each time. A magic user could cast shatter 4 times for 40 damage. A cleric could cast dispel evil twice for 10 damage. It’s far more likely they’ll be sucked up or teleported out before killing Acererak

If the PCs insist on fighting the skull, the timing of it is a bit ambiguous. If we pull out just the verbs from the lengthy paragraph, the skull rises upon touch, it slowly scans the party, instantly draws the PC’s soul in a single round, and finally sinks down again. Some amount of time must pass between the rising and drawing or the PCs would have no chance to cast forget or exorcise to cancel his attack. So the sequence is a minimum of two rounds, more if you want to be forgiving. 

|Instant kill %| 100%|

Defeating Acererak rewards 100k XP, a little less than half needed to gain a level. If the soul gems are recovered, a new body will be needed as a vessel for the trapped soul. 

5e:
Initiative here, at initiate count 10 in a single round any PC remaining will be crushed.

The ghost dust will dissipate in 18 seconds. Facing the ghost may also lead to aging but there are no mechanical effects as a result. 

| |Fighter| Ghost|
|To Hit %| 90%| 25%|
|Dam % dealt per round| 53% (24)| 4% (4)|
|Rounds to win| 2| 29|
|Power Ratio| 0.07|

If the skull is molested, it rises up, scans the party and attacks. It has access to Trap Soul, but is not required to use or not use it. Trap Soul doesn’t have a recharge, nor is it a legendary action. It is mearly a regular action. There’s nothing stopping the demilich from using Trap Soul every turn. The skull is only required to target the strongest remaining PC each time it uses it. The PC’s body is essentially stored with the soul, it disappears and is inaccessible if trapped. If the soul gem is later destroyed, the body returns. 

| |Fighter| Acererak|
|To Hit %| 45%| 45%|
|Dam % dealt per round| 15% (12)| 8% (9)|
|Instant kill % per round| 0%| 95%|

The demilich is worth 25k xp, enough for a single level.

Final Thoughts

Time
Given the context above, how do we recreate the vibe of the Tomb at today’s table. As with most things in life, there’s not one right way to do it, but there are objectively things that will break it. The biggest and perhaps the most insidious and least obvious is time. Time as a resource.

Given enough time, any party can search every foot of the tomb finding every trap. Can heal to full after every wound. Have full command of their spellbook after every challenge. To recreate that smash and grab vibe for which the Tomb was designed, you need to introduce time as a resource to manage.

The simplest analog is to limit the dungeon delve to a single session limiting table time. However, we can imagine some alternate approaches that are inspired by those old school sensibilities. 

“Turns are any period during which a player chooses an action for his character… At the dungeon exploration scale a turn represents ten minutes.” (Bull 2015)

Dungeon exploration used to be as structured as combat rounds. The party would indicate their action for the next 10 minutes, whether that was tapping, poking, or simply moving. Giving the party an in-game time limit and either going turn by turn or ticking down a timer when actions are taken would help to restore that sense of frenzy.

Using time as a resource also allows for the party to retry failures by spending another segment of the timer. There are a few places in the Tomb that require successful checks for progression. 

Movement
About half of the traps depend on non-flight. If you have a single character with unlimited fight, it’s probably fine. If they’re sharing a magic item to ferry Party members around, make them spend segments of time on it. Don’t allow a whole party with flight. 

McGuffin
If you want to give the party further reasons to explore past either of the two false endings, put a McGuffin in the crypt. Even if they do fall for the false endings, they know their quest is not over until the McGuffin is recovered.

Credits

Watching this build inspired me to actually run the dungeon myself.

Wyloch’s Armory
The Tomb of Horrors - Building a Dungeons and Dragons Classic
https://youtu.be/c_kk0GMloxE

Additional Resources

Another actual deep dive into what the Tomb is and the 5e conversion.

Nerdtasic Pirate
Tomb of Horrors 5e: Restored
https://youtu.be/5TkCAdbOTQg

A 1e reference from someone in Gygax’s sphere.

The Dungeon Delver
How to play 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Lessons
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA0rKIt8s79nxfLvlqq9yZO6SYLP0lQFI

The Dungeon Deliver
Thursday AD&D Talk - S1 TOMB OF HORRORS
https://www.youtube.com/live/102qmfPlRf4

An abridged play through of the Tomb. Concise and funny though falls to the pit falls of the 5e conversion.

XP to Level 3
I Force My Friends To Play the TOMB OF HORRORS | Dungeon Delve
https://youtu.be/is2ZIv-yBJ4

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Agitated Room

1e:
The secret doors are found 33% of the time if actively searching. 

| |Fighter |Asp |Swarm*|
|To Hit %| 80%| 35%| 35%|
|Dam % dealt per round| 100% (4)| 0.6% (0.35)| 1.2% (0.7)|
|Rounds to win| 1 / 2| 166| 83|
|Instant kill % per round| 0%| 12%| 58%|
*Does not take into account the diminishing effectiveness as each asp is slain.

The green slime will turn whatever it touched into more green slime without save or the possibility to scrape it off. If a PC is exposed they die instantly due to the sheer volume of slime. 

|Instant kill % per round| 100%|

The brown mold will deal 31% (18 hp) damage each round to all within 5’. A simple torch or any heat source will cause it to double in size each round.

5e:
The fighter will find the doors 50% of the time. 

Like the actual swarm of snakes before, these pose absolutely no threat to the fighter. 

| |Fighter| Snake| Swarm*|
|To Hit %| 80%| 25%| 25%|
|Dam % dealt per round| 1050% (21) / 525% (21)| 0.8% (0.93)| 0.9% (1)|
|Rounds to win| 1 / 2| 143| 114|
|Instant kill % per round| 0%| 0%| 0%|
*Does not take into account the diminishing effectiveness as each asp is slain. 

Green slime deals 4% (5 hp) acid damage per round until removed. 

|Instant kill % per round| 0%|

A fighter will take 11% (13 hp) damage per round from the brown mold. 

Grotto

1e:
The fighter will save vs poison 65% of the time. Presumably becoming an idiot is as the siren’s ability to lower int to 2. Also it should be possible to hold breath like the fear gas hallway, though they would be unable to speak to the siren. 

5e:
A fighter will save 25% of the time. 

False True Door

1e:
The secret doors are found 33% of the time if actively searching. 

A: The PCs will fall asleep for 2d4 turns with no save. There is a 25% chance every turn to activate the trap. A 50% chance the juggernaut will roll far enough to squash the PC that opened the door. All told, there’s a 23% chance a PC will die.

5e:
The fighter will find first door 50% of the time and the second 25% if actively searching. 

The fighter will save vs the gas 65% of the time. 

Slotted Door

1e:
The swords must be inserted simultaneously to unlock the door. The door closes after 5 minutes blocking safe egress from the dungeon. 

5e:
5 rounds would be 30 seconds.

Pillar Room

1e:
There is 7’ between each pillar, so it doesn’t seem likely to touch one by accident. There’s no indication about the speed of the breeze. I would run this like the locked oaken door, drifting 10’ per turn. The devil faces activate at 3’ and suck a PC in.

For the western face, if a PC were to pick up the crown and scepter and then get sucked in, presumably the crown and scepter reappear on the throne like they do at the mithril valves. The PCs are deposited not at the entrance to the tomb, but in front of the matching devil face of the first great hall. 

As the Wish spell does not explicitly require the phrase “I wish…” and being that this gem is an evil magic item, any expression of desire should probably trigger it. The counting mechanic is used here again. There is no save just death. 

A player is meant to expect recovering the crown and scepter will result in that sweet sweet XP at the end of the adventure.

The inlay of the crown is clearly visible in the graphic and therefore does not need to be searched for.

5e:
The count has been converted to initiative. In a single round, at initiative count 1, the gem explodes.

The fighter will spot the inlay 50% of the time.

Mummy

1e:
These doors are not nominally stuck, but open easily. The mummy isn’t undead yet, so any detection won’t ping on it. Detect Evil will ping on the gem however. This gem is a tempting treasure to recover.

| |Fighter| Mummy|
|To Hit %| 65%| 45%|
|Dam % dealt per round| 8% (3)| 10% (6)|
|Rounds to win| 13| 10|
|Power Ratio| 1.3|

5e:
The fighter will discover the gem 25% of the time. 

| |Fighter| Mummy|
|To Hit %| 60%| 45%|
|Dam % dealt per round| 16% (16)| 13% (15)|
|Rounds to win| 7| 8|
|Power Ratio| 0.9|

Flying Swords

1e:
When entering from the south, they attack one at a time and will follow PCs out of the room. When entering from the north they will all attack but will not follow.

| |Fighter| 1st| 8th|
|To Hit %| 65% / 30%| 15% 80%|
|Dam % dealt per round| 5% (3) / 4% (1)| 2% (1)| 33% (19)|
|Rounds to win| 9 / 54| 58| 4|
|Power Ratio| 0.15 / 13.5|

5e:
They seemed to have forgotten about increasing the AC for each set which makes this way less challenging than the original. As written the first set is presumed to have a +0 bonus, I think because the flying sword already has a +1.

| |Fighter| 1st| 8th|
|To Hit %| 60% / 60%| 15% 50%|
|Dam % dealt per round| 31% (16) / 22% (16)| 0.9% (1)| 11% (12)|
|Rounds to win| 4 / 5| 114| 10|
|Power Ratio| 0.04 / 0.5|

Chamber

No notes

Credits

Mock Man
Tomb of Horrors Walkthrough Map
https://store.mockman.com/products/tomb-of-horrors-walkthrough-map-print-pre-order

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

False Endings

“…put the module away for use when you have a different group…” (Gygax 1978)

The final challenge should be the players’ abilities in detecting discrepancies in the false endings. Not the right room in the dungeon, not the right monster, not the right treasure. Gygax throws a wrench into that by having you explicitly gaslight your players in the first false ending. 

Boxed text

The concept of boxed text wasn’t introduced until 1980. The stream of consciousness descriptions are meant to inform the Referee about the situation. It’s up to you to filter and disseminate only the information the PCs have access to. As an example in the western false entrance, calling out specifically that the ceiling is obscured with cobwebs clues players in that they should be looking up. Instead you should merely indicate initially that the tunnel is somewhat obscured with cobwebs.

Locked Oak Door

1e:
Listening at doors was standard dungeon procedure, hence the lure of the glamour. There’s no way to unlock the door, it must be destroyed physically or magically. I assume to ensure an egress point from the trap or to ensure the rest of the party can watch helplessly as their party members slide into lava. The walls and floor are smooth and highly polished. This trap functions like the east false entrance. Count to 5 in 7.5 seconds. Note the count when each PC retreats. They move 1’ per their movement rate per remaining count. Any remaining fall prone and slide 10’ per segment. Looking at the tournament notes, I don’t think PCs are meant to survive if they don’t exit before the end of the count. 

Otherwise, any PC even slightly overloaded will only move 9’ per segment or less. That’s taking into account charging (x2 rate) and difficult terrain (1/2 rate), making progress impossible without shedding some weight. There are no rules on movement for prone characters on a slope. You could call for a roll under ability test to climb out. 

5e:
Roll initiative, on initiative 10 of every round every character slides 10’. Climbing is half speed and with most characters that’s 15’ per round. The fighter will succeed 95% of the time. Not much of a challenge for the fighter, but other classes would probably struggle. 

Magical Secret Door

1e:
The door can be found by normal searching, 33% chance. But to open, the magic seal must first be detected and then removed. The door then opens as normal. There’s no obvious reason to search here. 

5e:
The fighter will find the door 25% of the time.

Fear gas

1e:
One must hold their breath or save vs poison, a fighter will save 65% of the time. If failed, instead of death, they flee for 2d4 turns. The door is not secret, but hidden by the gas. It can be seen 50% of the time.

The room is filled with fine furnishings, but they have decayed to the point of being valueless. There are still treasures worth recovering, but the golden couch, by far the singularly most valuable thing, is frustratingly impossible.

| |Fighter| Zombie|
|To Hit %| 35%| 45%|
|Dam % dealt per round| 6% (2)| 5% (3)|
|Rounds to win| 16| 19|
|Power Ratio| 0.84|

Three hits from the special mace will destroy both the zombie and the mace. Traditionally, the Referee rolls all the dice in secret, and therefore is in a position to lie about the result. 

This fake ending is meant to defeat the party, by having them voluntarily leave the dungeon. The Referee is meant to gaslight their players, not their characters, into thinking this is the end of the dungeon. Count up to 10 after you’ve convinced them. The illusion of collapse extends all the way back to the pit entrance. Gygax implies the fight and subsequent illusion should be conveyed at a level of hyperbole to signal that this isn’t the real end of the dungeon.

5e:
The fighter would save against the fear gas 65% of the time. If failed, they’re frightened for 1 minute. The save can be remade each round, and then they’re immune for 1 hour. They will see the door 75% of the time.

| |Fighter| Zombie|
|To Hit %| 70%| 35%|
|Dam % dealt per round| 19% (18)| 6% (9)|
|Rounds to win| 5| 13|
|Power Ratio| 0.38|

This zombie is not as challenging as the original because of the increased damage output of the fighter. 

The counting mechanic from 1e is kept here. This should have been handled by initiative like the other cases. I don’t think modern players would recognize the threat of a count, unless your table regularly plays with QTE. Instead, after the fake lich is destroyed, remain in initiative order describing the room collapsing. Describe the increasing amount of debris and shaking at the end of each round until they all leave. 

Lab

1e:
There is a great amount of clutter here for the players to search though, none of it useful. The vats are 7’ across and 4’ deep. A little pythagorean theorem says it's 5.3’ from the rim to the center of the bottom. Reaching in deals 5% (3 hp) damage per round and +1% chance to succeed. 

| |Fighter| Jelly|
|To Hit %| 90%| 45%|
|Dam % dealt per round| 10% (5)| 7% (4)|
|Rounds to win| 10| 15|
|Power Ratio| 0.66|

The gray ochre jelly is huge, normally a 17 hp monster, this one has 48 hp and deals 4d4 damage (normally 3d4). 

The key name is for the Referee’s benefit, the players would have no way of knowing it. 

5e:
| |Fighter| Jelly|
|To Hit %| 95%| 20%|
|Dam % dealt per round| 49% (25)| 2% (2)|
|Rounds to win| 3| 57|
|Power Ratio| 0.05|

Giving the jelly +10 to hit and increasing its AC will make this jelly a better challenge.

Pit

1e:
It is in fact not empty, as the graphic clearly shows spikes. It’s not clear if the spikes that launch are magical or mundane, only that the trap is infinitely reloaded. The spikes always strike true with no save. Deals 17% (10 hp) damage. 

5e:
Somewhere in the conversation the pit changed to being empty. The fighter will be hit 55% of the time dealing 10% (10 hp) damage. 

Credits

David C. Sutherland III
1978 Tomb of Horrors Back Cover Art
https://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/2016/05/dave-sutherland-iii-thursday.html

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

XP

“As a rule, one point of experience will be awarded for one gold piece gained by a character...” (Gygax 1978)

Players have been conditioned to find treasure and avoid monsters that may be too much trouble. Sacrificing those gems to the gargoyle is that much more painful. The irretrievable gold couch that much more frustrating.

Doors

Some of you keen eyed readers may have noticed that the Tomb was published in 1978, but the Origins convention happened in 1975. The Tomb was designed before AD&D was finalized and so there a couple places that make more sense under OD&D.

“Doors in the dungeon are typically stuck and must be forced by strength.” (Bull 2015)

This is an important note for the pits behind the door traps to work properly. It also means mage hand isn’t going to open most doors. I would even rule that if you’re flying or levitating, you're not going to find enough purchase to open a door either.

Secret door detection

Searching for secret doors had to be an active task and only then had a 33% chance of success. Elves could find them passively at the same rate. I feel it should be possible to roll at the same success rate if in 5e, a PC’s passive perception is high enough to detect the door.

Second Great Hall

1e:
Buff as a color is a muted golden orange. The two false doors are not hidden. The hall is 130’ and there are 13 rows on each table.

The stones of the archway only glow if a PC is within 3’. The stones as written don’t respond or otherwise give clues when touched.

5e:
The doors got rearranged between revisions, but nothing significant. The two false doors are marked as hidden, but I believe this to be a conversion error.

False Doors

1e:
One character in range makes a save vs magic or takes 16% (9 hp) damage. The fighter will save 50% of the time. It’s unclear if the spear is real or a manifestation of magical energy that dissipates, only that there are unlimited charges.

5e:
The fighter would be hit 55% of the time for 8% (9 hp).

Three chests

1e:
Opening the door causes 5% (3 hp) fall damage.

Gold: The snakes are 12 individual monsters. They deal 1 hp per bite, but also cause a save vs poison. The snakes are always there, just vibing.

||Fighter|Asp|Swarm*|
|To Hit %|80%|30%|30%|
|Dam % dealt per round|44% (4) / 4% (4)|0.5% (0.3)|5% (3)|
|Rounds to win|3 / 27|194|20|
|Power Ratio|0.02 / 1.35|
|Instant kill % per round|0% / 0%|11%|99%|

*Does not take into account the diminishing effectiveness as each asp is slain.

Silver: The crystal box is itself valuable to entice removing it. It’s clear so the ring is visible inside. There is no save for triggering the trap dealing 14% (8 hp) damage.

Wood: The skeleton of a giant, not a giant skeleton, teleports into the box. The box is empty before it is opened. It wields two scimitars which could be used later at the adamantium door.

||Fighter|Skeleton|
|To Hit %|60%|60%|
|Dam % dealt per round|9% (3)|14% (8)|
|Rounds to win|11|8|
|Power Ratio|1.38|

5e:
Opening the door causes 3% (3 hp) fall damage.

Gold: This is a really weak foe for a level 12 party and with nerfed poison not much of a threat. I would triple its hp at the very least.

||Fighter|Swarm/2|Swarm|
|To Hit %|75%|30%|30%|
|Dam % dealt per round|55% (20)|3% (3)|4% (4)|
|Rounds to win|1 / 2|38|29|
|Power Ratio|0.03 / 0.07|
|Instant kill % per round|0%|0%|0%|

Silver: The fighter would find the trap 50% of the time. They would be hit 55% of the time dealing 3% (3 hp).

Wood: A giant skeleton teleports into the room. This skeleton only has a single scimitar.

||Fighter|Skeleton|
|To Hit %|60%|40%|
|Dam % dealt per round|14% (16)|16% (18)|
|Rounds to win|8|7|
|Power Ratio|1.1|

Chapel

1e:
There’s a 17% chance for the fighter to find the entrance, unless using the gem of seeing. Even using the True Seeing spell will not help.

The whole chapel fills with gas from the trap in 20 minutes. The gas causes strength loss which could cause problems later as strength will be needed to move the iron statues.

If the altar is first touched by living matter a lightning bolt shoots out dealing 69% (40 hp) damage. If it is then touched by any object, it explodes for 103% (60 hp) damage. The fighter will save 50% of the time for half damage. The explosion alone is enough to kill most characters outright.

Careful inspection reveals the slot in the corner 66% of the time. There’s no obvious reason to check that corner, searching is done 10’ in 10 minute rounds.

If you enter the orange mist your gender and alignment change. Alignment changes were problematic for certain classes. Typically loss of class abilities and unable to level that class further. Gender changes, well…

"I have been accused of being a nasty old sexist-male-Chauvinist-pig, for the wording in D&D isn't what it should be. There should be more emphasis on the female role, more non-gender names, and so forth. I thought perhaps these folks were right and considered adding women in the 'Raping and Pillaging_ section…” (Gygax. Letter. EUROPA 1975 p. 92)

Gygax codified limitations for female characters in the stat blocks. If your character’s sex was changed by the orange mist, your stats would be adjusted accordingly.

5e:
Our fighter will find the entrance 25% of the time, unless using the gem.

The gas causes disadvantage on attack and ability rolls.

A 3rd level lighting bolt or fireball causes 25% (28 hp) damage on average, 9th level brings it up to 43% (49 hp). The fighter could tank all 86% (98 hp) damage from both and just make it. They will save 35% of the time for half damage. I would suggest just throwing extra damage dice at this one to make it comparable.

Our fighter will find the slot 75% of the time. There’s still no obvious reason to check that corner.

As alignment has no real mechanical meaning, I propose changing the orange mist. Two thoughts, you could have the player choose some major aspect of their personality to become the opposite: Brave are turned meek, the greedy become altruistic. Or you could employ something like the madness table from Out of the Abyss.

Before you decide to use the gender changing mechanic, touch base with your players. Body dysmorphia is a real thing, and some may be uncomfortable with the idea. However, if your group has equal fun playing with and as different genders, this can be a fun and silly mechanic. If you want to tease your players by changing their characters to some inferior gender, then fuck off.

Stone Gate

1e:
It is “just right” for a magic ring, and “only such an item” will open the door. None of the coins from the pews, nor the gem of seeing will open the door, but they will equally be lost and destroyed if dropped in the slot.

The door-before-pit trap assumes that the party is used to breaching doors by shoving or wrenching them open. These particular doors open quite easily and when someone goes to shove it open, they presumably lose balance and fall into the pit. The door opens 100% of the time, but there’s a 33% chance the opener falls in the pit. The third pit holds the hidden, not secret door. If examined from within the pit, it’s found visually 83% of the time, and always when touched.

5e:
Dungeon doors aren’t, by the book, stuck shut so this trap doesn’t translate well. I would take inspiration from the three chest entrance. Once the door is opened, the flag stone covering the area around the door tilts as the door is opened outward, dumping the player into the pit. The fighter will save 55% of the time. The door in the third pit is always found as long as you are in the pit and looking.

Credits

Jeff Dee
1981 Tomb of Horrors Back Cover Art
https://wwjdee.blogspot.com/

Simon J. Bull
Delving Deeper
https://ddo.immersiveink.com/dd.html

Walter Luc Haas
EUROPA 10/11 Aug/Sep 75
https://archive.org/details/europa-10-11/page/n91/mode/1up

Part 1 Part 2

Role Play

“They as players steer the avatar and it’s their decisions, their actions, their activities that bring the resolutions to conflicts, not their characters (in the meta of course) hence it doesn’t matter which character you are using all that much as their mechanics are not involved outside of combat.” (gamersdungeon 2017)

The distinction between player and character, between table and game hadn’t been fully realized yet. Skilled play was lauded and players were expected to use their past experiences to inform their next characters’ decisions. Avoiding a specific trap upon returning to a dungeon with a new character was probably in poor form, but testing for that specific kind of trap was encouraged.

Time keeping was also blurred between the table and the game. Generally, a day or a week in real life would be analogous to a day or week passing in the game, as seen in the opening text. Counting out loud at the table was a QTE (Quick Time Event) where the party had to respond with their action before it was too late.

“The movement distance in the dungeon is 1" to 10' over a turn of 10 minutes duration while exploration and mapping are in progress.” (Gygax 1978)

Dungeon exploration used to be as structured as combat rounds. The party would indicate their action for the next 10 minutes, whether that was tapping, poking, or simply moving. In this way multiple PCs could be caught by the same trap if they were moving together.

Gargoyle Lair

1e
Normally a 4 hd monster, this gargoyle attacks as a 12 hd monster with 6 attacks and bonus damage.

Temporal stasis makes the gargoyle immobile until the door opens, meaning llistening at the door is useless.

||Fighter|Gargoyle|
|To Hit %|75%|65%|
|Dam % dealt per round|6% (4)|38% (22)|
|Rounds to win|16|3|
|Power Ratio|5.33|

5e
Somewhere along the way, I don’t think it was taken into account that the original gargoyle was not a standard one from the monster manual and as a result lost much of its power.

||Fighter|Gargoyle|
|To Hit %|70%|20%|
|Dam % dealt per round|30% (19)|3% (3)|
|Rounds to win|4|38|
|Power Ratio|0.10|

At minimum, I would give the gargoyle two additional claw attacks and increase its to hit bonus to +10, giving it a 50% chance to hit.

Complex

1e
These doors are part of the trick door category. Searching for a secret door here would only reveal that it was there 33% of the time, but not the method for opening it.

The text says “in a shaded room, a number of bolts will be fired” but I can’t tell which rooms are shaded, if any. You could do all 10 to make the center four seem important. You could do just the secret door path. You could do the secret door path plus the one west room to give a hint there’s something extra there. The last door in the middle four rooms isn’t designated as a spear door, but it’s the only false door in the dungeon that is not something else.

The probability for this is a bit nebulous since we don’t know how many tries it’ll take to discover the method for each door. But let’s say this player has experience opening Gygaxian doors and knows various methods but not the order. It would take on average 22 tries to find every door and 28 tries to open every door. The fighter will save 50% of the time, meaning they would take 129% (75 hp) damage by the end. The falling door will deal 17% (10 hp) damage when triggered.

It’s unclear if the bolt is real or a manifestation of magical energy that dissipates, only that there are unlimited charges.

5e
The fighter will discover the doors 25% of the time.

50% of the time one character in each area makes a dex save. The fighter will save 10% of the time, meaning they would take 59% (67 hp) damage by the end. The falling door will deal 9% (10 hp) on a failed save. The fighter will save 35% of the time.

Statue

1e
As written, there is no gem dust on the floor, presumably the trap resetting demons have cleaned after previous adventurers. Any large gem will fit in the palms regardless of value. The fourth hand does not have a depression in its palm. If the gem of true seeing is lost, detect invisibility and presumably other spells such as true seeing do not work, only careful manual searching will locate it.

Credits

David C. Sutherland III
1978 Tomb of Horrors Cover Art
https://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/2016/05/dave-sutherland-iii-thursday.html

D&D Theory: Why Old School?
https://www.gamersdungeon.net/?p=1124

Part 1

Attrition

“…a mere annoyance, but it erodes the strength of the party.” (Gygax 1978)

The second challenge is of attrition. Most traps have the potential to kill outright and no combat can be lightly taken. Traps stripping the PCs of all their possessions are particularly cruel.

Party Size and Men-at-Arms

“Overall, the pattern is very clear: the minimum player size is almost always 6 players, and the maximum averages out to 9.” (Hann 2021)

Larger party sizes of 6+ were fairly common. Players with multiple PCs or even Gygaxian sized weekend sessions. Accumulate hirelings for each player and there’s plenty of fodder for the Tomb to chew through. The extra bodies provide padding against a TPK.

Health and Healing

“For each day of rest, 1 hit point of damage is restored.” (Gygax 1978)

All healing had to be from magical means. There were no hit dice on a short rest, nor would long resting heal any appreciable amount. As you saw last time, a 5e fighter has nearly double the hp pool of the 1e fighter, along with the aforementioned resources.

Poison

“For those who wonder why poison does either killing damage (usually) or no harm whatsoever…” (Gygax 1978)

If someone asked me, where did all the deadlines go from the Tomb, I’d say poison. Poison being nerfed is where the deadlines went. About half the instant death traps are poison based. All it took was a single failed save.

Entrance to the Tomb

1e:
Pits: The pit lids are counterweighted, meaning they’ll close again after something has fallen through. Poking them only reveals them 66% of the time. If stepped on, our fighter will fall 90% of the time and incur 5% (3 hp) fall damage plus 5% (3 hp) spike damage per 0-3 spikes (1 spike on avg). For each spike, failing a save vs poison results in death. The fighter will make the save 65% of the time.

| Instant kill % | 32% |

A: No notes

B: The path has to be studied from the entrance to the far southern end at the fork. You will then “suddenly” understand the barely visible “runes”. It’s not a language to read piecemeal. Think of it more like a spell that only activates once the whole of it is imbibed.

5e:
Pits: Our fighter will spot the trap 50% of the time. If stepped on, they fall 100% off the time. 3% (3 hp) fall damage plus 10% (11 hp) spike damage. On a failed save vs poison the fighter takes an additional 19% (22 hp) damage. The fighter will save 65% of the time.

| Instant kill % | 0% |

Fresco

1e:
The poison needle is in the catch. Pushing on the catch with a dagger pommel causes the needle to pierce the pommel. If the box is not examined, then save vs poison. The fighter will save 65% of the time.

| Instant kill % | 35% |

Only the lid of the pit can be discovered, and only by true seeing, but it does not reveal its function. This pit is 30’ deep and so would deal an additional 12% (7 hp) falling damage over the standard spike pit.

5e:
The needle protruding from the wall seems to have been added in some revision, making the trap more complicated than it needs to be. The needle trap deals 11% (12 hp) damage.

| Instant kill % | 0% |

The fall is an additional 6% (7 hp) damage over the standard spike pit.

Arch of Mist

1e:
The stones only glow if a PC is on the path and within 1’. The stones as written don’t respond or otherwise give clues when touched.

5e:
The stones only glow if a PC is on the path and within 2’.

Face of the Devil

1e:
The sphere is fixed and cannot be moved like the magic item. The sphere annihilates any matter that passes through it. Losing a limb is lethal without immediate high level magic.

5e:
The fighter has a 5% chance of discovering the nature of the trap

There is no guidance if spell effects are matter. It’s up to the DM if mage hand or the like is annihilated. As the sphere is supposed to be a hole in reality, I would suggest to the player that the hand has moved beyond its 30’ range when it enters the sphere. The same for a familiar or any other ability that has a limited range.

There is no guidance on losing a limb. It’s up to the DM how much damage losing a limb is. I would suggest it automatically reduces a PC to 0 hp. Any amount of healing will heal the remaining flesh. Refer to the lingering wounds table.

Forsaken Prison

1e:
Because the levers need to be moved simultaneously up or down or nothing happens, we can suppose it’s the movement that causes a result and not the position. Including the neutral position, each lever can make 8 unique movements. There are 584 combinations of movements that can be done. Being humans, and seeking patterns, it’s likely that the all up or all down combination will be discovered sooner rather than later.

Falling into the pit causes 95% (55 hp) fall damage. Whether they survive or not, the pit closes again after 10 minutes.

The secret door leading to the three chests is only mentioned on this side. It is unclear if it’s discoverable from the chamber side. I take the phrasing of the means of discovery to indicate that elves won’t spot it passively. Only if the player says they’re actively searching are they able to discover it on a successful roll.

The egress to the spike pit is a magical one-way phase door as seen later in the dungeon.

5e:
Falling into the pit causes 48% (55 hp) fall damage.

The fighter will spot the secret door 25% of the time.

Credits

Jeff Dee
1981 Tomb of Horrors Cover Art
https://wwjdee.blogspot.com/

Kieth Hann
Party Size and Old-School Play
https://osrsimulacrum.blogspot.com/2021/01/party-size-and-old-school-play.html

I’ve spent a few months analyzing the Tomb in order to give my players the best experience. I wanted to really make sure I understood the dungeon so that we wouldn’t run into any dungeon breaking mistakes in rulings. I’m ready to present my findings here, both to benefit others and to get feedback in case I’m overlooking something myself. Particularly with the 1e AD&D rules which I’m not familiar with.

Format

“Eight groups of fifteen pregenerated characters were decimated in the Tomb at the first Origins convention, which took place from July 25 through 27, 1975, in Baltimore, Maryland. Players had only two hours to get as far as they could in the dungeon…” (Witwer 2018)

ToH was designed for tournament play with competing groups being scored. We can see throughout how that format informed the design of the dungeon. Many elements are placed simply to waste time at the table: probing for the entrance, puzzles with no clues, elaborately hidden secret doors. The linearity also speaks to the goal of scoring. Most branches are one or two rooms off the main path that dead end or loop back. You can go from the Great Hall to the Second Great Hall via the Archway and Statue or through the Gargoyle and Complex. You can detour to the Grotto, but there’s nowhere to go but back from there. As we deep dive into the Key to the Tomb we’ll see these elements again and again.

“You don’t have to run faster than the bear to get away. You just have to run faster than the guy next to you.” — Jim Butcher

The fundamental design of the dungeon wasn’t for you and your friends to play through all the content over several sessions. I’ll say that again louder for those in the back, this dungeon was not designed for all players to play though all the content. It was designed for a smash and grab; get in, get as much treasure as you can, as deep as you can, and get out alive. And hope you scored better than the next table over. There are plenty of reasons to call this a bad module, but to call it bad because it wasn’t designed for your preferred format is dumb.

Time Wasting

“…the volume of items within it is calculated to waste time for the players.” (Gygax 1978)

Time management is the primary way this dungeon challenges its players. There’s too much junk to be thorough and make progress in the allotted time. Each path forward requires searching for the location of a secret door, aside from the first archway. Even elements that may provide a boon require significant investigation and debate. Do you crush all your gems for an unknown reason? Do you swipe the sacks or the lady?

Skill Play

“Original D&D and Swords & Wizardry are games of skill in a few areas where modern games just rely on the character sheet…you are always asking questions, telling the referee exactly what your character is looking at, and experimenting with things. Die rolls are much less frequent than in modern games.” (Finch 2008)

“Gary, I look up, and down, and all around the area before I walk in. That stopped a lot of ugly surprises from happening.” — James Ward

Traps are deadly because there are no dice rolls to reveal them. Experienced players of the day would carefully check the way forward in dangerous environments. Warily eyeing the ceiling. Poking everything with the proverbial 10’ pole.

This is what Gygax means about a “thinking person’s module.” Not that the puzzles are clever or there are clues that need deciphering, but that the module is more exploration and less roll dice monster slaying. Though given Gygax’s reputation I’m sure he thought his puzzles were clever.

Dungeon

We’re going to use a level 12 fighter from 1e and 5e to compare the survivability of each room. We’ll take the average for all rolls.

1e:

• Human fighter
• 17 years, max 94 years
• Cha is more valuable for retainers
• Str 13 dex 11 con 12 int 8 wis 9 cha 10
• 75 lbs 2 languages 4 retainers
• Plate Armor AC 3 75 lbs
• Shield AC -1 15 lbs
• Sword 5 lbs
• AC 2 and 9” movement
• 9+9 hd is 58 hp
• Saves, vs poison 7, vs spells 10
• 1 1/2 attacks per round

5e:

• Human fighter
• +1 to all attributes
• Wis is more valuable for perception
• Str 16 dex 14 con 15 int 11 wis 13 cha 9
• 4 ABIs
• Str 20 dex 14 con 19 int 11 wis 13 cha 9
• Plate Armor AC 18
• Shield AC +2
• AC 20
• 12d10+12*4 hd is 114 hp
• Proficiencies, Saves str con, Skills perception athletics
• 3 attacks per round

Start

1e:
Here we are, the very first dungeon area and it’s the epitome of the design, eating your time. There are 34 10’ squares, each one takes 10 minutes to search, about five and a half hours to search thoroughly or unluckily. After locating an entrance it takes an additional 10 minutes to clear a crawl space or 1 hour to clear completely with the party working together.

5e:
Not sure why they dropped the length from the description, but the accompanying map is about 34 squares across.

False Entrance Tunnel, West

1e:
The module explicitly disallows any saving throw if the player didn’t probe for traps. This trap will deal 47% (27 hp) on average.

5e:
The fighter has a 50% chance of discovering the nature of the trap.

They will save 35% of the time. On a fail, they’ll take 24% (27 hp) damage. Changing this to 10d10 for 48% (55 hp) would be comparable.

False Entrance Tunnel, East

1e:
Count up, so as not to give away how much time is allotted, to 10 in 15 seconds out loud, as implied by the False Crypt, and note at what count a PC is fleeing. The PCs will move 1’ per their movement rate per remaining count (i.e. 12” move 12’ and 3” move 3’ per remaining count). The stone slab moves 20’ in 9 counts, only protruding a little on count 1. The character who triggers the trap will need to move 30-40’ depending on which side of the hall they were on to clear the slab. At 6’ of movement, assuming our fighter is carrying additional gear, starting on the east side, they need to start moving by count 3 or be trapped.

5e:
Our fighter will spot the trap 50% of the time.

Roll initiative. In a single round, the slab will move all 20’. At each initiative count after 20 the slab moves 1’. The map squares are 10’ not 5’, this is a mistake in the conversion. At initiative count 4 its double movement to squeeze between the slab and wall. At initiative count 2 the space is too small for a medium or small creature to squeeze through.

Credits

Tyler Jacobson
Cover illustration for Tales from the Yawning Portal
https://www.inprnt.com/discover/image/tylerjacobsonart/tales-from-the-yawning-portal

Jeremy Crawford, Michele Carter, and Kim Mohan
Tales from the Yawning Portal
https://dndstore.wizards.com/us/en/product/819134/tales-from-the-yawning-portal-digital-plus-physical-bundle

Gary Gygax
Tomb of Horrors
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/176871/s1-tomb-of-horrors-1e

Gary Gygax
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/17003/players-handbook-1e https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/17004/dungeon-master-s-guide-1e https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/17002/monster-manual-1e

Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, Sam Witwer
Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/562708/dungeons-and-dragons-art-and-arcana-by-michael-witwer-kyle-newman-jon-peterson-and-sam-witwer-foreword-by-joe-manganiello-official-dungeons-and-dragons-licensed/

Matthew J. Finch and Mythmere Games
Quick Primer for Old School Gaming (2024)
https://www.mythmeregames.com/products/quick-primer-for-old-school-gaming-pdf-free

We’ll pick up next time with the Entrance to the Tomb.

We could have had Richard Dean Anderson’s ass. I always forget that the show was originally picked up and produced by Showtime until I rewatch the first season. Which means every one of the original cast signed onto the project knowing at some point they’ll probably be asked to do a nude scene. Maybe RDA had the star power to push it off until the third season, but you know he’d end up doing like tasteful nude, fetal position, ass shot after Jack was captured and tortured by some bad guy.

This is from the show Ginny and Georgia and I don’t know I’ve ever felt a more concise experience of fatherhood.

My little girl and I, we go camping and roast marshmallows.

She gets sticky fingers.

"Dad, I want you to clean them."

So I do.

My little girl and I, we hike the Grand Canyon. She gets tired.

"Dad, I want you to carry me."

So I do.

My little girl and I, we have this game called Magic Carpet Ride, and I zoom her up and around and down.

And, "Dad, do Magic Carpet Ride again!" So I do. "Dad, do Magic Carpet Ride again!" So I do. "Dad, do Magic Carpet Ride again!" So I do, I do, I do!

My little girl isn't so little anymore.

She wants to do it herself.

"Dad, you don't know what you're talking about." "Dad, you don't get it." "Dad, be cool."

My little girl is growing up.

What does she need her dad for?

"Dad, I want you to stay around."

So I do.

Disclaimer: I am not a metalhead. I know nothing of Party Cannon’s works. Only that someone uttered, “Fucking Party Cannon” upon seeing this flyer.

Am I doing Moldy Mondays right?