30

Expert Game Adventure X2
Castle Amber

(1981)

by Tom Moldvay

 

 

 

 

Development:

Dave Cook, Allen Hammack, Kevin Hendryx, Harold Johnson, Tom Moldvay, Jon Pickens

 

 

Editors:

Harold Johnson, Edward Sollers, Steve Winter

 

 

Art:

Jim Holloway, Harry Quinn, Jim Roslof, Stephen D. Sullivan, Erol Otus

 

 

Playtesters:

Tom Hanlon, Steve Kaszar, Rick Mansfield, Gordon Schick, Lawrence Schick, Jonathan Smuck, Ralph Wagner, Bill Wilkerson

 

 

Special Thanks:

Clark Ashton Smith and CASiana Literary Enterprises Inc., for use of the Averoigne stories as inspirational material.

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

:

Some adventures are so big, and so grand in scope, that they make the DM feel insignificant.  This is one of the first modules that ever hit me in such a way, and to a degree, it still does.  A portion of that has to stem from the fact that I have never had the pleasure of reading any of Clark Ashton Smith’s novels, and therefore feel incompetent to accurately portray his works based on the four pages of material provided in this module.  Still, this is a big adventure.  Some parts of it are corny, like the bridge in the indoor forest.  And, yes, those are Stephen’s first words when the curse is broken.  Don’t blame me, I’m just the converter… 

What’s really special to me, however, and what really makes this module seem huge in my mind, is something that I read on the Wizards website.  This module was prototypical and inspirational for the original Ravenloft module.  Hence, everything that I role-play every month owes its original birth to this adventure.  The mists are here, and a number of the Poe stories that show up so prevalently in Ravenloft products—“Masque of the Red Death” and a little bit of “Hop Frog.”  There are other influences that are in Castle Amber that show up in Ravenloft, and later in that line of products.  If you’re a fan, keep an eye out for what pops up. 

So, here at last, is the module that I have never wanted to DM, and always wanted to play.  Now, finally, I can…Finally, I can.

Realm Rating: 4.5/5

 

 

:

There are no reviews currently available for this design.

 

 

All of the preceding modules and game worlds are trademarked property of TSR Inc, which is now the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. I take no credit for the stories or ideas presented here, I merely converted them to a playable format for SSI's Unlimited Adventures game.