I know I'm jumping over the "A" series of modules...and ISOTU is not the 1st module I ever played...but I thought it was a good place to start regardless. Published in 1978...for the BASIC set of rules...and the novice player.
I purchased my Repop version from DriveThruRpg...reproduced from a scanned copy of the module....I'll point out the differences soon enough...nice option if you don't want to pay top dollar for a battle worn copy!
Nice cover art!
What jumps right out at you is that it is a collaboration between David C. Sutherland III & David A. Trampier....something I don't ever recall seeing before or after this module! I have to say I do not share the D&D creators love of the Fungi...as a hostile force, anyway!
The rest of the art is by DCS on his own....and some damn fine art it is!
The old "Bending Bars" trick...fully illustrated for the novice...hopefully we got the idea!
And then some of (in my humble opinion) DCS's best work...The Wizard battling the Giant Spider...
And the battle against the Mummies!!!
I love how the thieves are always looting behind the fighters backs!
Another DCS drawing...with a lot going on in it!
A party starting off on an adventure...with a knight on horseback off to the side...a castle beyond the knight. Pixies in the tree & in the brush...I like the door to the tree...as well as the window! The Pixie in the tree is smoking a pipe! This bunch isn't very observant..which doesn't bode well for their chance of survival!
As noted...this "THE' basic module...and is geared for the novice player & DM...with plenty of tips aimed at steering the 1st time players in the right direction!
Nice bunch of "Wandering Monsters" too...just the type of fiends that a novice group should tussle with!
Now for the differences with the repop module...where the original modules had the dungeon maps in the inside covers...the repops have them on the printed page at the end of the module.
A very cool feature of purchasing the DTRPG modules is that you can get the printed book along with the PDF version...so you can then print these maps as many times as you want without detaching them!
I purchased this module without ever having seen it before, much less played it or DM'd the thing! Seems like a very cool dungeon...tons of room for expansion by the DM.
TSR started off right with this module...I'll look at "The Keep on the Borderlands" next...the 1st module I ever adventured in!
And for those interested....check out http://www.drivethrurpg.com/
They don't have everything by TSR....but they do have a bunch of the old material!
Excelsior!
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