Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Caverns of Tjoscanth

I spent my Christmas break reading Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (first edition) to prep running The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (greater caverns). The rules hold up even better than I remember and with great POD copies available, are beckoning me to again world build using AD&D.

Several Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks are available as print-on-demand from DriveThruRPG for a decent price along with a decent printing of each book. However, the module itself was not printed from a great scan, so some words are cut off on some pages. Players Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, Monster Manual, Unearthed Arcana, and S4: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth.

This January alongside my fellow Dungeon Master Louie, I am running The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth for my D&D group from high school (the end of the 1980s). Louie is creating the 3D printed terrain and painting that and the miniatures. I’m running the adventure with Louie jumping in when he has something he wants to run. Like the last encounter, if the players reach it, which will be epic.

The PCs

The PCs are based on the pre-generated options in the module minus the ranger but renamed to match the PCs my friends ran all those decades ago. Each has a bit of a funny twist as well. The PCs who don’t have multiple classes get one free level up during the game if they do something awesome.

Patriarch Giles         

• neutral good (tend toward law when you’re in charge)
• level 7 human cleric of Pelor

Goal: Become High Priest. Kill undead. Really, kill anyone who gets between you and your goals, ahem I mean Pelor’s goals. Keep Irrastin from gaining demon magic (he fireballs you. A lot.).

Backup Benedict     

• neutral good (neutral anger is more like it)
• level 6 human cleric of Pelor 

Goal: Giles is the worst. Why is he both more powerful and in charge? You aren’t going to be his minion. You’ve been called Backup for so long you honestly can’t remember if it is a cruel nickname or your actual birthname.

Balinor the Guide, brother of Bolinar                    

• neutral good (the ready king)
• level 6 human ranger 

Goal: Help your brother get a magical artifact. Guide and guard your party. Become king if you are needed.

Kresser the Tunner Fighter            

• lawful good (awful good, at drinkin’ beer)
• level 6 dwarf fighter

Goal: Everyone says you are to be King of the Caverns. You just want to drink beer and kill bad guys.

Captain Bolinar, brother of Balinor           

• lawful neutral (I am the law)
• level 8 human fighter

Goal: Get a magical artifact to help your brother, Balinor, become king. Then you can be a general which is what you really want (along with wielding a cool artifact). Kresser is too drunk to be king.

Irrastin the Pyromancer and Former Bouncer     

• neutral (good you tell everyone)
• level 9 human magic-user (former level 4 fighter)                

Goal: Fireball! Get demon magic so you can both Fireball! and Summon Demon! Convince Melf that you aren’t neutral evil. Melf hates demons though (they killed Melf’s parents). So you might have to choose between magic and Melf.

Melf the Demon Hunter       

• chaotic good (my elf likes freedom)
• elf fighter 4/magic-user 4/thief 5

Goal: Kill demons. They killed your parents and your people. And kill undead. And monsters in general. And evil people. And keep Irrastin from becoming neutral evil.

Vinny Stiles the Burglar      

• chaotic good (very good at killing people)
• level 9 halfling thief

Goal: These guys helped you destroy the assassin’s guild that wiped out your entire family, their burrow, and their bakery business. Now you clear obstacles and kill anyone who messes with your party.

Turns, Rounds, and Segments

AD&D has unusual game units for time. Exploration happens in 10-minute turns (more on that below) while combat happens in one-minute rounds. In a round, a lot happens that is completely abstracted include an exchange of blows for melee combat. However, if a more precise time is needed, a round is broken down into 10 6-second segments. At segment speed, weapon length, and speed factor might be used for more nuanced combat.

Spells typically have to be declared before initiative is rolled each round. It normally takes an entire round to cast a spell with no movement allowed. If the caster is successfully struck in combat, the spell is lost.

Turn-Based Cavern Crawling

The turn-based dungeon crawl allows player characters enough time to move and explore without bogging down in minutia while also challenging PCs with what exactly they want to spend their time doing. Time results in more wandering monster checks, and more checks lead to more dangers. PCs are underground to find treasure worth gold pieces and bring it back to town. Wandering monsters have little treasure for the danger they pose.

Moving more quickly means the PCs cut down on the number of wandering monsters they might encounter. However, quick movement means secret doors and hidden treasure cannot be searched for. Careful mapping isn’t possible.

Skills

Saying that skills are not a default ability in AD&D sounds true. And a list of skills to choose from is not part of character creation beyond specialized thief skills. However, many of the things that PCs want to do are included and resolved using either a range on a roll of 1d6 or with a percentile roll.

As a baseline, PCs surprise monsters with a 2 in 6 chance and are themselves surprised with the same chance. Each PC has a percent chance to listen at doors, a d6 roll to search for secret doors, a percent chance to bend bars or lift gates, and more. Coupled with saving throws (which is instead reacting to something being done to the PC), most situations that could come up are covered or have enough guidelines and supporting rules for a DM to quickly make a fair ruling.

Next Steps

With Louie, I’m running this adventure in a 14-hour marathon. More to come on the rules, the roleplaying, the crazy amazing terrain Louie crafted and painted, and more. Any GM looking to world build can find a lifetime of support in the core books for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (first edition): Players Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual.

Pixabay Picture credit: Cave Rocks Fog.