The 50th Anniversary of D&D brings us new goodies that cast the eye back over the game’s history. The latest adventure tome, Quests From the Infinite Staircase, gives us six classic adventures from the earliest days of the game. These are all adventures the Stranger Things kids would have known and played, and they are among some of the most memorable adventures from that era.
Two are from the Great Britain offices of TSR back in the day. Beyond the Crystal Cave and When a Star Falls bring a different sensibility to adventures, one with a stronger emphasis on interaction with the characters you meet rather than combat.
Pharoah, an otherwise classic pyramid exploration, is one of the first modules by Laura and Tracy Hickman, who also gave us the first Castle Ravenloft and created Strahd as well as the Dragonlance campaign. The other pyramid adventure, The Lost City pays more than a nod to Robert Howard’s Conan story “Red Nails.”
The Lost Cavern of Tsojcanth gives us another piece of Tasha’s history, including a mysterious daughter. This module was originally published as a tournament module, and the 5th edition version here includes a score card to rank how different groups handle the dungeon.
Last, but so very far from least, is the (in)famous Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, where D&D characters encounter a fallen spaceship and discover more than a few of the monsters that plague their world were biological samples that had been collected by the ship before it crashed. If you’re willing to embrace some genre-bending and allow a bit of sci-fi peanut butter into your fantasy chocolate, this adventure can completely transform your campaign and offer some thrills not found in any other adventure in the history of D&D.
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