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Surviving the Tomb of Horrors: A Deadly Adventure Worth Every Moment

Why this classic D&D module remains an unforgettable experience, even if your characters don’t make it out alive

Thomas Ott
3 min readNov 5, 2024
Photo by Łukasz on Unsplash

TSR released The Tomb of Horrors in 1978, and it became an instant hit with Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) players. Designed by Gary Gygax, this game module for high-level characters isn’t your typical hack-and-slash adventure. Instead, Tomb of Horrors requires players to think critically and carefully examine their surroundings. It’s packed with deadly traps and mind-bending riddles that challenge even the most seasoned adventurers before they confront the formidable Lich, Acererak.

Note: Spoilers ahead.

One of my friends recently discovered Tomb of Horrors among his old game files and proposed a one-off adventure for our D&D group, offering to be the Game Master (GM). He cautioned us to roll up characters we wouldn’t mind losing, and we eagerly accepted. I finally had the chance to play Thrax, a high-level fighter I’ve written about in two short stories.

While Tomb of Horrors was originally designed for the classic D&D rules, it has since been updated for the 5th Edition. However, we collectively find the 5th Edition overly complicated, so we used the…

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Thomas Ott
Thomas Ott

Written by Thomas Ott

Startup guy, civil engineer, hyperdimensional writer, and maker. Dogs love me.

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