Legacies of Dread - X1 Isle of Dread by David Cook , & Tom Moldvay Campaign Commentary & Update

 When it comes to fall out from one module within my campaigns its got to be X1 Isle of Dread by David Cook , & Tom Moldvay , not only is this a great module for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. But its one of the modules that has the greatest impact by its connections deep into the Sea of Dread. 

Not only do you have deep connotations into a dinosaur filled realm but the opportunities of a lifetime. Because the Isle is on the lip of the Elemental Plane of Water it has a ton of adventure hooks built in. The Vaults of Pandius has Threshold magazine issue # 3 Sea of Dread, This OSR resource contains a ton of materials for bringing the party back to the Isle of Dread. 

The 'Sea of Dread' isn't a normal sea instead its a full on planar sea and this get's into the heart of using X1 for Sword & Sorcery OSR campaigns. The fact that anyone can become a castaway on the Isle of Dread. But why?! Because the isle is an advanced highly advanced science laboratory. Where the Kopru actually an evolutionary off shoot of the Mind Flayers?! They seem to have many of the characteristics?! Possible because the PC's are in the middle of the former Kopru empire itself on the island.  Races such as the as the racoon-like phanaton and the cat-like rakasta give X1 part of its "Lost World/Skull Island laboratory feel'

The Elder Things from H.P. Lovecraft's 'At The Mountains of Madness' made interplanar war on a ton of alien races. But we as humanity don't know the scale of such a war which technically could be on going. The reason that the isle of dread is in the plane of water is because the Elder Things sent it there! The resulting disaster took out the Kopru. Now I've covered this before on this blog in 'Another Mini OSR Campaign Idea Using - X1 Isle of Dread By David Cook & Tom Moldvay & Some Free Old School Appendix N Downloads' 

And its these legacies of dread which lead to planar doors being opened up across the multiverse. And these led to the Rump family of Tegel manor fame discovering this & exploiting it as a part of the slavers organization. This ties into the Scourge of the Slave Lords. How?! Next time we dive into it! 

Old School Sword & Sorcery Commentary On X1 The Isle of Dread For Your Old School Campaigns

"Hundreds of miles from the mainland, surrounded by dangerous waters, lies an island known only as the Isle of Dread. Dark jungles and treacherous swamps await those who are brave enough to travel inland in search of the lost plateau, where the ruins of a once mighty civilization hold many treasures - and many secrets!"
If there's an adventure module that seems to be ever elastic & adaptable its X1 The Isle of Dread. This module seems to be one of the most easily adaptable of many old school modules. Recently I've been on a bit of a science fantasy kick & some friends suggested X1 for adapting to this campaign/thought exercise.


X1 has all of the makings of an experimentation or staging area of some ancient's laboratory. Many dungeon masters have added in science fantasy elements and much of it seems very reminiscent of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Who along with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World books seems to be a major influences on Isle of Dread. As the official Wizards of the Coast entry on the adventure describes,' Historically, we think of the 70s and early 80s as a time of dungeon crawls, but Cook and Moldvay both frequently pushed another aesthetic: pulp adventure.' This is one of the strengths of X1 Isle of Dread in that it frequently seems to get pulled into may folks 'lost world' adventure locations.

"Cook specifically describes "Isle" as having a "Lost World/Skull Island feel." It was one of two pulpy adventures he wrote at the time, the other being I1: "Dwellers of the Forbidden City" (1981), which centered on a lost city in the jungle. He'd later author two pulpy RPGs for TSR: The Adventures of Indiana Jones RPG (1984) and the Conan Role-Playing Game (1985).

Moldvay also had plenty of other pulpy experience. James Maliszewski thus identifies "Isle" as the first book in Tom Moldvay's Pulp Fantasy Trilogy. It's a pretty apt name, as "Isle" contains a dinosaur-filled island, X2: "Castle Amber" (1981) directly references the pulp writings of Clark Ashton Smith, and B4: "The Lost City" (1982) features a city beneath the desert sands.

The adventure's "Skull Island feel" means that it also also owed something to King Kong (1933). TSR would even more explicitly return to this inspiration with WG6: "Isle of the Ape" (1985)."

This brings up the point that while fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons placed the Island of Dread on the plane of Water, does this make the island a stable point as a planar nexus? I believe answer is yes because the entire island is an artificial ecology put in place long ago. The multi dimensional dimensional nature of the island is perfect link to the plane of water making this a great & highly abundant resource. This makes it perfect fodder for one of the original Lovecraftian races 'The Elder Things'. None of the monster combinations really makes sense except in a Moldvay/Cook ecological nice way. Making this a perfect adventure location for ancient ruins of the 'Elder Things' in a Dungeons & Dragons setting.

The Kopru, dreaming the restoration of their lost Empire might have been one of the ancient enemies of the 'Things' left behind after the destruction of their own empire. Dinosaurs & worse prehistoric monsters could be food stock let loose on the island having now established their own ecological niches. The various other races of the island could be simply castaways now having carved out their own factions.
But why has X1 been placed on the Plane of Water? Well there's a great article on On the placement of the Isle of Dread  Posted by Stelio  which actually has quite a few useful ideas for adventure fodder.  There's also the  The history of the Isle of Dread  for a few ideas about old school referencing and more for X1. Threshold issue #3 Sea of Dread contains a boat load of  adventure & campaign ideas for incorporating the Seas of Dread into an old school campaign. The Sea of Dread articles in issue four of Threshold magazine concentrate on traders and those navigating the horrid waters which surround the Isle and its environs. This was the former empire of the Kopru and now the waters are home to a myriad of underwater ruins of these horrors. There could still be many super science artifacts & relics there making this a very useful resource to an Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea dungeon master.  Threshold issue four is available right over here

A mid-Expert campaign in the Sea of Dread by Giampaolo Agosta has some great ideas for a sword & sorcery style adventure campaign. These are great for a mid level group of players and PC's because they should keep things moving right along during table top play. X1 The Isle of Dread is balanced for Expert Dungeons & Dragons making this adventure perfect for mid tier retroclones such as Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea or Adventurer, Conqueror, King, Labyrinth Lord or even Swords & Wizardry. 

Monsters, lost treasure,etc from a thousand planes are liable to have been washed up on the shores of X1. This makes it perfect for DYIing in your own twist on this classic module. In fact this makes X1 The Isle of Dread a perfect counter point to AS&SH's Forgotten Fane of the Coiled Goddess.  The island could be another dimensional remanent that has been lost to the far future that caused the events of 'Old Earth. An idea toyed with ages ago making X1 a meet up point where the PC's are washed a shore by the dimensional tides. 

OSR Campaign Ho Down & Clark Ashton Smith Campaign Commentary

 Cha'alt/Godbound rpg campaign that I've got going on centered around California, Nevada, & Arizona on a doomed Seventies or early Eighties  style Earth. The Cha'alt wave comes along through space & hits the Earth. It awakens the Lovecraftian forces that have been biding the eons away in places like the kingdom of K’nyan & the Hyperboreans who have been asleep deep within the Earth.
Things have not been going well as parts of Cha'alt including the Black Pyramid & the wastelands have been merging across the Earth. For some of the back bone gaming system & setting I've been using Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea.



This game campaign basically takes place during the Hyperborean beginning events from Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. The PC's were summoned to this Earth as 'heroes' from a standard Dungeons & Dragons old school fantasy realm. They've been made into Godbound by the gods because they've been losing. The Hyperboreans come out in full military force from within the Hollow Earth. Across the world mega dungeons have appeared such as Dwimmermount because of the wave.

 

The Hyperboreans are very dangerous & their military relics are pretty well outlined in Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. But its really the Black Pyramid  & its weird ass in workings that have been churning out some of the most dangerous cults in the game. But the real factor for the humans has been the appearance of other entities from Dungeons & Dragon's Blackmoor modules like the Egg of Coot.  The appearance of the Egg has really been keeping my players  completely off balance. 



For this leg of the campaign I've been going back to the original Clark Ashton Smith source material especially his  Hyperborea cycle:

• Coming of the White Worm, The (1941)
• Door to Saturn, The (1932)
• House of Haon-Dor, The (1989)
• Ice-Demon, The (1933)
• Lament for Vixeela (1953)
• Muse of Hyperborea, The (1929)
• Seven Geases, The (1934)
• Tale of Satampra Zeiros, The (1931)
• Testament of Athammaus, The (1932)
• Theft of the Thirty-Nine Girdles, The (1958)
• Ubbo-Sathla (1933)
• Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan, The (1932)
• White Sybil, The (1932)

Here's the thing that I've found with these tales there is always an inevitability with the CAS's tales. There are seasons to the epochs of mankind & the 'Great Old Ones' are there to see the cosmic destruction done. This happens again & again. But how does this match up with Cha'alt?
 Cha'alt's played for science fantasy gonzo. I've been using the Cha'alt source book as both serious & totally as a cosmic joke. In other words I've been using it like an issue of Seventies Heavy Metal magazines that I grew up with.


I don't use Cha'alt as a fifth edition D&D anything. I've pulled & totally mutilated with Venger's blessing I might add the source book for my own game campaigns. But there's campaign elements that I've pulled from way back in my own tool box of campaign madness. In AS&SH most of the technological occult treasures were made by Atlanteans. This brings me back to some of my campaign notes regarding X1: "The Isle of Dread" (1981), by David "Zeb" Cook and Tom Moldvay. There was a planar conflict in my campaign between the Atlanteans & the monstrous, mind-bending creatures known as kopru.



Within the last five years or so the X1's Isle of Dread appeared off of the coast of California.The  Atlanteans have made contact with the party & things are heating up around the waters of California. The call of the Black Pyramid continues to echo across the cosmos. Things are going to get to the level of self sacrifice coming up! 

Dread & Corruption - I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City by David 'Zeb' Cook With Additional OSR & Old School Resources - Session Report Eleven

"Somewhere in the heart of the steaming jungle lies the answer to the whispered tales - rumors of a magnificent city and foul, horrid rituals! Here a brave party might find riches and wonders - or death! Is your party brave enough to face the terrors of the unknown and find - the Forbidden City! Information is presented here to reconstruct this exciting tournament and even more has been given to expand play. Here characters may adventure several times in a unique and interesting mini-campaign. Included in this module are background and tournament notes, referee's keys, new monsters, pre- generated characters, and eight different maps."
So begins the infamous I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City: An Adventure for Character Levels 4-7 (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) by David Cook published in 1981.



Now two modules that I've always used together are I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City & E2 Isle of Dread by Dave Cook & Tom Moldvay. Now surely these two modules couldn't be used with my Cha'alt game could they? Well that's where your wrong! Sometimes talking with a player can stir up memories of the beginning of the campaign. In this case its my Cha'alt/Godbound rpg campaign set in a late Sevenities & Eighties modern day California. The Cha'alt dimensional/planar warp is opening up & gathering all kinds of weirdness to it merging worlds & time.  In this case E2's Isle of Dread & I1 The Dwellers of the Forbidden City have become part of the new frontier for adventurers. 

Right off the Channel Islands on the California coast things have gotten very strange & there are rumors of preshistoric monsters but what are the Channel Islands ; "The Channel Islands (Spanish: islas del Canal, Archipiélago del Norte) form an eight-island archipelago along the Santa Barbara Channel in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Southern California. Five of the islands are part of Channel Islands National Park, and the waters surrounding these islands make up Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. The islands were first colonized as early as 13,000 years ago. Human remains from that period have been discovered."  in the Pacific ocean the Isle of Dread & I1 have positioned themselves. Scavengers & scum from Cha'alt have already infiltrated the islands. There's been clashes with the US military but there's been rumors of strange serpent men & even worse on the islands. Right now they are off limits to civilans but many Californians feel compelled to visit the islands. 

 In the adventure, the characters are hired to find an object taken to a lost oriental-style city, which has been taken over by a cult of snake-worshipers, the yuan-ti, and their servants, the mongrelmen and tasloi. So there's no real reason to change this leg of the module. But strange seemingly unknown South Eastern Asian people have been seen cycling through the population of Californians in the area. Because  Mr.Cook pulls a great deal of his monsters from the Fiend Folio this makes using I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City for this campaign an ideal choice for this campaign.

Another idea that I'm thinking of using is to put  the Hidden Shrine of Taomochan onto the island to give the gods of Cha'alt a run for their money. Now this is nothing new at all. I've written about using some of the resources of the old Dragon's foot forums before;
"I put the Hidden Shrine of Taomochan into the city" this makes perfect sense and there's some really great resources in the Expanding I1 The Dwellers In The Forbidden City Thread on Dragon's foot's forums. 
Another great set of suggestions is by Ulan Dhor:
"Imade some changes to the module detailed here:

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=71580&p=1673164&hilit=forbidden#p1673164


My campaign journal for our run through the module is detailed here:

viewtopic.php?f=26&t=67564&start=90#p1642464

Have fun with it, I found it to be one of my favorite runs through a published module, lots of open ended potential.

Cheers,

Ulan Dhor' 


This is gonna really put the 'cat among the pigeons' with our party's portal mage. . There are many weird Lovecraftian touches in I1 that could lead to even more adventure hooks and possibilities amid the ruins. One of my favorite monsters from the Fiend Folio is the Yellow Musk Creeper & Zombie. The Clark Ashton Smith story The Seed from the Sepulchre has some awesome suggestions about using such a Lovecraftian or is it Smithian monster. The sandbox nature of ' Dwellers of the Forbidden City' is in  a similar vein to  CAS 's The Demon of the Flower which can be used as an inspiration to unleash all kinds of Hell upon a party and might be grown by the Yu erm serpent men.

I might also locate a Cha'alt drug factory producing Zoth on Santa Rosa island. They've been blending into the local background while strong arming their way with the locals. But what they don't know about is the unholy presence that's taken up residence under the  Santa Cruz national park.

Dyson Logos  generously pointed out that he's done a number of maps for various locations throughout I1 Dwellers In The Forbidden City. "I've done some maps to detail some parts of the city when we last played through it."

https://rpgcharacters.wordpress.com/2015/09/29/tuesday-map-temple-complex-ruins-of-the-forbidden-city/

https://rpgcharacters.wordpress.com/2015/09/11/friday-map-the-ruined-hatak-temple/

https://rpgcharacters.wordpress.com/2015/12/11/friday-map-temple-of-the-snake/

https://rpgcharacters.wordpress.com/2015/08/21/friday-map-redstone-shrine-with-time-lapse-video/

" And for those planning on running it, here's a cleaned up scan of the main map with all DM notations removed - particularly handy if the party enters via the giant tree access point which gives them a good overview of the city"

https://rpgcharacters.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/dwellers-in-the-forbidden-city-the-city-map/

All of this can be used to pretty much establish the Y erm serpent men empire right within the heart of California. The gods & immortals of Cha'alt are not gonna sit down for this however. 

Under The Skull & Cross Bones Connection - The Hollow World Box Set & The Isle of Dread

'Hundreds of miles from the mainland, surrounded by dangerous waters, lies an island known only as the Isle of Dread. Dark jungles and treacherous swamps await those who are brave enough to travel inland in search of the lost plateau, where the ruins of a once mighty civilization hold many treasures - and many secrets! "

For many people the X1 The Isle of Dread By David Cook, &  Tom Moldvay remains the Pulp standard for Expert D&D By Frank Mentzer. According to Frank it would take about two months total to play through as a mini campaign. This has been my experience in the past with the module. But I reread through my original Expert copy & ogling the Tim Truman artwork once again. But it was the pirate illustrations & the overall feel of this TSR classic. My day has been beyond a hectic one & strange thoughts can sometimes creep in at this point. “ Exterminate the Pirates", alternate scenario for D&D module The Isle of Dread, art by Timothy Truman, TSR was something that always seemed on the menu with various players over the years. But why?!
 

I think perhaps these pirates might have a bit of a reputation that precedes them. I thumbing through the Piazza as I sometimes do & stumbled upon this thread about rehabbing the 'Merry Pirates' of the Hollow World box set. 
But it was member cab's post that got my creative juices flowing;"cab wrote:No, I wouldn't go down that route, I'd go the other way...

A whole nation of pirates can't survive against the might of empires, at least, not indefinitely. They'll fight just as much amongst themselves as with outsiders, they'll ultimately die out. Which isn't the point of the Hollow World 

Give them a technological edge; renaissance or even better style square rigged vessels, give them speed and maneuverability and an arms advantage and they survive. Not only that, they are the scourge of their part of the Hollow World, a force to be feared, the story to scare children with."

Let's take this at face value & make the 'Merry Pirates' not only scary but downright dangerous. Havard Blackmoor bless his heart got the second part of this adventure element almost into place for me;  "Many Merry Pirates are actually brought into the Hollow World with their memories intact. I could see scenarios where the PCs are captured by Pirates only to have the Captain secretly inquire from them about the state of things back in the old country " What if the 'Merry Pirate' kingdoms are actually using the Hollow Earth as a sort of secret nation base? What if their black wizards are actually using elemental planar gateways to come & go from the Hollow World as they please? I see the 'Merry Pirates' as a bunch of murderous opportunities & cut throats raiding where & when they will.

'The Merry Pirate' nations & floating islands are made up of a mix of Hollow World & Mystara races & mixed members. These groups never have made a unified front but might at some point. But the Sea of Dread was mapped out in X1 & that's where the other Hollow World connection comes in. In the Vaults of Pandius Free Mystara resource Sea of Dread there's an article called Pirate Lords of the Sea of Dread by Colin (LordJuss) Wilson. We get the low down on some of the Sea of Dread's worst of the worst sea scum.. You can download Threshold issue #3 here. 

The  Storm of Korotiku guarantees a fresh supply of fodder for the Merry Pirate nations as many pirates find themselves on the strange shores of the Hollow World. 

What if the Merry Pirates' are not simply raiding the Hollow World? The Island of Dread is now a part of the Elemental Plane of Water & partially exists a higher dimensional or planar location. In Threshold Magazine Issue 4: The Sea of Dread we get Advice for traders in the Sea of Dread by LoZompatore which offers some interesting insight into the forces at work in this legendary oceanic location. I think that the connection between the Pirate Lords of the Sea of Dread & the Merry Pirates goes much deeper. I personally think that they've been taking full advantage of Mystara & the Hollow World's oceanic connection to the Elemental Plane of Water for centuries.


Ocean Encounter: Sea Hydra, by Timothy Truman,
 from D&D module X2: The Isle of Dread, TSR, 1983.

Infact in my own home campaigns I've been using the 'Merry Pirates' to raid the seas of Greyhawk for years. These pirates have spies, diplomatic aids, & ties to the Dullstrand  a region on the eastern coast of the Flanaess. Known for the many colourful smugglers, pirates, and fugitives that use its coast and ports as a refuge from authorities. In other words the perfect location to blend into the background of Oerth.

But the connections don't stop there according to the wiki entry on Dullstrand;

"For players utilising the 1980 or 1983 edition of World of Greyhawk, the Dullstrand is a silent partner of the Iron League, and this setting can be used to explore the theme of righteous rebellion against the corrupt, decadent and cruel rulers of the crumbling Great Kingdom and their minions.^[1]

For players who use later "post-Grehawk Wars" versions of this campaign world, the Dullstrand is affected by the attempted takeover of the entire southern Flanaess by the Scarlet Brotherhood, and can be used as a benchmark of the Brotherhood's overall success or failure of their continental ambitions.

In addition, Dullstrand can be used as the quintessential "lawless town" of noisy taverns and bar fights. Using the Dullstrand as a setting also allows dungeon masters to move their campaign away from a traditional northern European land-based setting to a warmer climate and themes involving ships, piracy, and smuggling, and encounters, both land- and sea-based, with pirates and buccaneers." 

Alright so I've talked about 'The Merry Pirates' as an actual nation level threat but what are the OSR connections. I've used them as enemies in both Lamentations of the Flame Princess & as raiders of absolute horror in Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. These lightning raiders appear on the horizon. Attack various nations vessels & then vanish into an elemental  storm. 

The Merry Pirates are going to take full advantage of their upper hand in any campaign setting. Fast ships, lightning raids & tactics, strength in numbers, fast ships, pillaging & plundering, & quick escapes. The Isle of Dread is possibly simply another hide away for them on a string of such planar pirate hide outs.
I've used these pirates in a number of very unexpected encounters including recently in my Amazing Adventures campaign. With the 5th edition Amazing Adventures Kickstarter winding down I might be using them soon then I was expecting. Never mind though let's get back to the Hollow World for a moment. Issue Nine of Theshold magazine fills in a lot of the gaps of the Hollow World including valuable information on The Lighthouse’s Guide to Unknown Cultures: The Floating Continents of the Hollow World. This could lead to some very dangerous encounters with the Merry Pirates & their steel! 

Adventure Campaign Construction Using X1 Isle of Dread With Dark Albion

'The appearance of the Isle of Dread has been foretold from the mists of legend. A place from the 'other world' whose shores are the realm of monsters. There beasts walk as men & the jungles are full of all types of horrors but there are riches there for the taking!'


Part of the appeal of X1 Isle of Dread is the incredible mutability & inventiveness that this old school module allows. It can be shaped & molded by dungeons masters for their favorite old school D&D systems or retroclones. Given the nature & breath of Dark Albion setting its easy to see this old school adventure module easily being molded into an adventure destination. Part of the conceit of this as X1 being a part of the mythologies & legends of Dark Albion. This easy to see as the number of Celtic legends about mysterious islands & otherworldly Fairy locations.

So I talked about using X1 Isle of Dread for a sword & sorcery campaign but let's shift this in another direction namely toward using Isle of Dread with Dark Albion. There are a number of reasons why this would make an interesting take on the classic Expert Dungeons & Dragons module. Given Dark Albion's Roman style influences under the main body of the rpg book it & its take on the beginnings of the explorations outside the Rose War's Albion. It makes sense then to pull from mythology & real world history to give a different and slightly dangerous spin on X1 and its relationship to the world of Albion.

The PC's might find themselves a portion of a Phoenician captain's log which describes a fragment of a former colony of Atlantis in the form of the village of Tanaroa.  The island itself might be someplace off the coast of South America or Dark Albion's Africa.  This goes right along with Wiki's take on the plot of Isle of Dread;
"The characters somehow find a fragment from a ship's log, describing a mysterious island on which many treasures can be found, and set out to explore it. Typically, the characters will first make landfall near the more or less friendly village of Tanaroa and after possibly dealing with some troublesome factions in the village, set out to explore the interior of the island. In the course of their explorations, they may find a number of other villages of unfamiliar intelligent creatures, numerous hostile monsters and the treasures they guard, and a band of pirates. Many prehistoric creatures, including dinosaurs, are prominently featured, especially in the original printing of the adventure. Near the center of the island is a hidden temple inhabited by monstrous, mind-bending creatures known as kopru; the characters may stumble across it or learn that it is a source of problems for the other inhabitants of the isle, and the climax of the adventure typically consists of the characters exploring this temple, battling its inhabitants, and uncovering its secrets."
The resources of X1 The Isle of Dread is going to a top priority of the empire of Albion who are going to be looking to pay for the War of the Roses. Given the powers of the kopru, you are looking at a prime source of mind bending Chaos magick & a perfect source for a cult to make its way back to the shores of Albion. 

Queen Margaret of Anjou was the Lancasters’ most skilled strategist and given her leanings & knowledge of affairs of the world the appearance of the Isle of Dread would strike up an expedition. Given her historical ties with France its easy to see her deep and abiding connections to the demonic frog kings of that land. Perhaps there have been alliances between the frog kings and the ancient empire of the kopru. This means that the PC's might raid a demonic temple on the French/English boarder for forbidden knowledge of the island.

We can further speculate that perhaps the French kings might have a colony within the swampy confines of the Isle of Dread itself ?! Perhaps this could be the driving force to mount an expedition to the other dimensional shores of the island. This expedition could have long term consequences over the centuries as Albion empire makes it way back up the road of economic recovery.  There could be a Mystara/ Dark Albion connection as the adventurers join forces to defeat the horrors of the island. The other dimensional shores of the island of Dread could be store house for all kinds of relics & treasures that empire of Albion would give their eye teeth for.
"The D&D 5th edition Dungeon Master Guide (2014) places the Isle of Dread in the Plane of Water, though it mentions that the island has the ability to appear in the Material Plane." Given the historical occult care that Pundit has put into his creation this makes an Alchemy connection far more dangerous then the standard Dungeons & Dragons material would have us believe. This is where Cults of Chaos is going to come in vary handy as the array of Chaos water based material can help to fill in some of the gaps for campaign play.



Appearance of the Isle of Dread could spark a gold run like atmosphere of adventure as countries rush to put their own flags and claim it as their own. This could lead to the PC's becoming lords of their domains for an all out bloody war upon the shores of the island. Domain level play comes into its own as the PC's try to carve a bloody swath across the sands and factions that make X1 their home. 

Old School Sword & Sorcery Commentary On X1 The Isle of Dread For Your Old School Campaigns

"Hundreds of miles from the mainland, surrounded by dangerous waters, lies an island known only as the Isle of Dread. Dark jungles and treacherous swamps await those who are brave enough to travel inland in search of the lost plateau, where the ruins of a once mighty civilization hold many treasures - and many secrets!"
If there's an adventure module that seems to be ever elastic & adaptable its X1 The Isle of Dread. This module seems to be one of the most easily adaptable of many old school modules. Recently I've been on a bit of a science fantasy kick & some friends suggested X1 for adapting to this campaign/thought exercise.


X1 has all of the makings of an experimentation or staging area of some ancient's laboratory. Many dungeon masters have added in science fantasy elements and much of it seems very reminiscent of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Who along with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World books seems to be a major influences on Isle of Dread. As the official Wizards of the Coast entry on the adventure describes,' Historically, we think of the 70s and early 80s as a time of dungeon crawls, but Cook and Moldvay both frequently pushed another aesthetic: pulp adventure.' This is one of the strengths of X1 Isle of Dread in that it frequently seems to get pulled into may folks 'lost world' adventure locations.

"Cook specifically describes "Isle" as having a "Lost World/Skull Island feel." It was one of two pulpy adventures he wrote at the time, the other being I1: "Dwellers of the Forbidden City" (1981), which centered on a lost city in the jungle. He'd later author two pulpy RPGs for TSR: The Adventures of Indiana Jones RPG (1984) and the Conan Role-Playing Game (1985).

Moldvay also had plenty of other pulpy experience. James Maliszewski thus identifies "Isle" as the first book in Tom Moldvay's Pulp Fantasy Trilogy. It's a pretty apt name, as "Isle" contains a dinosaur-filled island, X2: "Castle Amber" (1981) directly references the pulp writings of Clark Ashton Smith, and B4: "The Lost City" (1982) features a city beneath the desert sands.

The adventure's "Skull Island feel" means that it also also owed something to King Kong (1933). TSR would even more explicitly return to this inspiration with WG6: "Isle of the Ape" (1985)."

This brings up the point that while fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons placed the Island of Dread on the plane of Water, does this make the island a stable point as a planar nexus? I believe answer is yes because the entire island is an artificial ecology put in place long ago. The multi dimensional dimensional nature of the island is perfect link to the plane of water making this a great & highly abundant resource. This makes it perfect fodder for one of the original Lovecraftian races 'The Elder Things'. None of the monster combinations really makes sense except in a Moldvay/Cook ecological nice way. Making this a perfect adventure location for ancient ruins of the 'Elder Things' in a Dungeons & Dragons setting.

The Kopru, dreaming the restoration of their lost Empire might have been one of the ancient enemies of the 'Things' left behind after the destruction of their own empire. Dinosaurs & worse prehistoric monsters could be food stock let loose on the island having now established their own ecological niches. The various other races of the island could be simply castaways now having carved out their own factions.

But why has X1 been placed on the Plane of Water? Well there's a great article on On the placement of the Isle of Dread  Posted by Stelio  which actually has quite a few useful ideas for adventure fodder.  There's also the  The history of the Isle of Dread  for a few ideas about old school referencing and more for X1. Threshold issue #3 Sea of Dread contains a boat load of  adventure & campaign ideas for incorporating the Seas of Dread into an old school campaign. The Sea of Dread articles in issue four of Threshold magazine concentrate on traders and those navigating the horrid waters which surround the Isle and its environs. This was the former empire of the Kopru and now the waters are home to a myriad of underwater ruins of these horrors. There could still be many super science artifacts & relics there making this a very useful resource to an Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea dungeon master.  Threshold issue four is available right over here

A mid-Expert campaign in the Sea of Dread by Giampaolo Agosta has some great ideas for a sword & sorcery style adventure campaign. These are great for a mid level group of players and PC's because they should keep things moving right along during table top play. X1 The Isle of Dread is balanced for Expert Dungeons & Dragons making this adventure perfect for mid tier retroclones such as Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea or Adventurer, Conqueror, King, Labyrinth Lord or even Swords & Wizardry.

Monsters, lost treasure,etc from a thousand planes are liable to have been washed up on the shores of X1. This makes it perfect for DYIing in your own twist on this classic module. In fact this makes X1 The Isle of Dread a perfect counter point to AS&SH's Forgotten Fane of the Coiled Goddess.  The island could be another dimensional remanent that has been lost to the far future that caused the events of 'Old Earth. An idea toyed with ages ago making X1 a meet up point where the PC's are washed a shore by the dimensional tides.