OSR Commentary - Adapting C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan By Harold Johnson & Jeff R. Leason For Old School Sword & Sorcery Campaigns

A hidden trap laden shrine stands in the middle of the jungle, the Olman peoples are long departed but the traps guard their ancient secrets & perhaps much more. The C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is a testament to the legacy of the Olman's resolve & will. Can player's PC's make it out alive?!

The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is an adventure for 5th-7th level players that takes them through some ruins found in the distant Amedio Jungle, near the abandoned city of Tamoachan. The adventure originally began with players escaping pursuit and becoming lost in the jungle and then falling into the ruins, swallowed by darkness.

Source: http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2017/03/dd-hidden-shrine-tamoachan.html

The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is an adventure for 5th-7th level players that takes them through some ruins found in the distant Amedio Jungle, near the abandoned city of Tamoachan. The adventure originally began with players escaping pursuit and becoming lost in the jungle and then falling into the ruins, swallowed by darkness.

Source: http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2017/03/dd-hidden-shrine-tamoachan.html

The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is an adventure for 5th-7th level players that takes them through some ruins found in the distant Amedio Jungle, near the abandoned city of Tamoachan. The adventure originally began with players escaping pursuit and becoming lost in the jungle and then falling into the ruins

Source: http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2017/03/dd-hidden-shrine-tamoachan.html

The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is an adventure for 5th-7th level players that takes them through some ruins found in the distant Amedio Jungle, near the abandoned city of Tamoachan. The adventure originally began with players escaping pursuit and becoming lost in the jungle and then falling into the ruins

Source: http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2017/03/dd-hidden-shrine-tamoachan.html

Ahh the AD&D Module C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan has reared its head today after a lengthy discussion around the table about this module from the warped pens of Harold Johnson &
Jeff R. Leason. 

The module sits right smack in the middle of the road of classics & its a great hidden lost world gem. The whole affair can dropped straight into your favorite Mayan/Aztec style plateau setting & wrung for every last bit of PC death. Everything in C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is trying to kill your PC's & there's even a scoring system to really ramp up the feeling of paranoia & horror. But this was a tournament module back in the Official Advanced Dungeons & Dragons tournament at Origins '79,  & is the first in the Competition Series.But what if the entire module is trying to kill your PC's for a reason?! What if the module's adventure setting is merely a religious mechanism designed to satisfy the gods?! What if all of the traps & tricks are there to provide the gods with the best possible & amusing sacrifices. Imagine if the whole adventure affair is designed to entertain the 'gods' of the Olman peoples.

The placement of the adventure has all of the hallmarks of a classic adventure with a very blood thirsty background. The jungle location of the temple in the Amedio Jungle makes the temple one of the most dangerously placed adventures. There are literally hundreds of monsters out in the wilds to keep adventurers from living.

"Most unusual for Greyhawk modules, the adventure therefore references Aztec gods such as Quetzalcoatl and others. The adventure itself takes place in the Amedio Jungle at a disused temple near the ruined city of Tamoachan. "

Everything in this module suggests the old school Weird Tales school of adventure. C1 places the PC's center stage for many of the major events of the module. The traps & tricks here are designed to both amuse & kill adventurers by the score.
But C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan could be dropped lock, stock, traps & puzzles right into the Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea world especially into the setting of the FORGOTTEN FANE of the COILED GODDESS where the Isle of the Serpent in far-off Lemuria's jungles provide the most accurate vision for setting C1's adventure location.



The Olman were another faction of Hyperboreans that reverted to a more perfect state of degeneration & depravity. The whole thing collapsed into itself when the Green Death hit Hyperborea. But the native peoples kept up their traditions as servants & those who maintain the place. They clean up, reset the traps, keep out tourists, & generally keep the entire sacrifice business operating every week day.

eatures a number of well constructed encounters and some of the best puzzles.

Source: http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2017/03/dd-hidden-shrine-tamoachan.html

C1's traps & tricks remain some of the best to grace a page & it shows! The Olman are given just enough description & background to make them engaging & really kind of weird. But over all C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan remains just as deadly as when it appeared.

Here are some thoughts about using C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan for old school Sword & Sorcery campaign play.

1. The cosmology of C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is perfect for introducing a major cult of weirdness & chaos in an old school campaign. The 'gods' are minor enough to be a major pain in the ass for player's PC's. 
2. There are any number of entrances & exits to C1 that these could actually be used to link up with other old school modules.  
3. Some of the magic items found in  C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan could be used as adventure hooks all on their own in an on going campaign. 
4. The triggers of the traps & tricks of C1 could have far more meaning & be used to shore up the campaign idea. 
5. Monster & encounter balance within  the  C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is nonexistence but this makes tacking in your own encounters or hacking the ones within C1 a snap. 
6. Simply escaping C1 & living to tell the tale is an adventure until itself. 
7. The human men of C1 are survivors & actually should be treated as such by the party of adventurers. 
8. Adventures within C1 are not to be treated lightly & players should have an extra PC or two handy. 
9. There are gods here that appear no where else in the books & there could be a Great Old One or two in the mix. 
10. C1 has some classic monsters which can easily be giving a Sword & Sorcery make over for PC encounters