This is the introductory module of the Hobby Shop Dungeon series, designed and developed by Ernest Gary Gygax Jr. and our own Benoist Poiré, under the Gygax Games imprint (also responsible for Gygax Magazine).

I used Swords & Wizardry Complete as the ruleset. The initial party consisted of dwarf fighter, human fighter, human cleric, half-elf magic-user and human thief. Later they were joined by another human cleric plus a halfling thief, but the latter perished after a failed Climb Walls roll (trying to reach a balcony on the dungeon entrance, 60' from the ground).

In the first expedition, which lasted two sessions, they managed to find the big magic item (the helm of the ancient dwarf-lord Belenor) right off the bat (defeating its guardian, an ogre with a two-handed sword -- death on two legs for a 1st-level OD&D party -- through judicious application of a sleep spell), did a nice bit of exploring with minimal combat, met up with a rival party (two new players on session 2) and joined forces, and ended up losing 2 (of 6) PCs to a kobold patrol (wandering monster), and lost the magic item. That made them retreat from the dungeon and back into town; once there, they hired two new adventurers (replacement for two of the three casualties) and launched a second expedition.

In their second foray, again, they did a fair bit of exploring with very little combat (again, sleep saved the day). They saw some of the dungeon's chief sights, but since they never look for secret doors, and they never went back into the hallway where they met the kobolds, they still missed out on a lot (including the possibility of recovering the item). They just went on until another unlucky wandering monster roll unleashed a plague of stirges on them. The savage little beasts made short work of the two clerics, forcing another retreat.

It's a "lair" type dungeon, but one that's jam-packed with goodness, and gives both the PCs and the DM some intriguing foreshadowing of what's to come in the Hobby Shop Dungeon. I heartily recommend it.

Quote from: The Butcher;710563This is the introductory module of the Hobby Shop Dungeon series, designed and developed by Ernest Gary Gygax Jr. and our own Benoist Poiré, under the Gygax Games imprint (also responsible for Gygax Magazine).

Slight correction: The Hobby Shop Dungeon is designed by GP Adventures, i.e. Gygax-Poiré, our partnership and creative outlet, and HSD0 appears in Gygax Magazine, which is published by TSR Games.

(Gygax Games is Gail Gygax, and we are not affiliated with her company, to be clear)

Quote from: The Butcher;710563It's a "lair" type dungeon, but one that's jam-packed with goodness, and gives both the PCs and the DM some intriguing foreshadowing of what's to come in the Hobby Shop Dungeon. I heartily recommend it.

Thank you! There is indeed much more to come . . .

Quote from: The Butcher;710563I used Swords & Wizardry Complete as the ruleset. The initial party consisted of dwarf fighter, human fighter, human cleric, half-elf magic-user and human thief. Later they were joined by another human cleric plus a halfling thief, but the latter perished after a failed Climb Walls roll (trying to reach a balcony on the dungeon entrance, 60' from the ground).

In the first expedition, which lasted two sessions, they managed to find the big magic item (the helm of the ancient dwarf-lord Belenor) right off the bat (defeating its guardian, an ogre with a two-handed sword -- death on two legs for a 1st-level OD&D party -- through judicious application of a sleep spell), did a nice bit of exploring with minimal combat, met up with a rival party (two new players on session 2) and joined forces, and ended up losing 2 (of 6) PCs to a kobold patrol (wandering monster), and lost the magic item. That made them retreat from the dungeon and back into town; once there, they hired two new adventurers (replacement for two of the three casualties) and launched a second expedition.

In their second foray, again, they did a fair bit of exploring with very little combat (again, sleep saved the day). They saw some of the dungeon's chief sights, but since they never look for secret doors, and they never went back into the hallway where they met the kobolds, they still missed out on a lot (including the possibility of recovering the item). They just went on until another unlucky wandering monster roll unleashed a plague of stirges on them. The savage little beasts made short work of the two clerics, forcing another retreat.

The Tomb may surprise some experienced players. As an introduction to the Hobby Shop Dungeon world, it is a sprawling underground complex with fairly spaced out animal, humanoid, and more bizarre inhabitants.

Some parties might have an easy time with what seems really dangerous or impressive, and a terrible time with what would seem like minor threats in other games and settings. It is on purpose, in order to create that sense of exploration where not much happens and you map the dungeon and have a skirmish or two in the meantime, wondering when you'll hit the jackpot, and then suddenly the shit hits the fan and you are like "OMG! OMG!" You might have to think really fast in order to survive.

It's not a "killer dungeon" like Tomb of Horrors might be, but it's a module where TPKs CAN happen, a module that will certainly teach some of the ropes of old school gaming in the hands of a competent DM, the easy way, or the hard way, depending on the group's MO, the DM role playing the whole, and the luck of the dice, of course, in the case of wandering monsters.