Table Of ContentA FIFTH EDITION CONVERSION AND CLASSIC HOMAGE
X1: THE ISLE OF DREAD
Conversion by Chris Doyle and Tim Wadzinski
0RjGiilAL A.DVEilTVR.ES REiilCARPATED • THE ISLE 0F DREAD
er
THE ISi.i BBE!I
of of of
Full credits for the original editions The Isle Dread can be found in their respective sections this book, where
of
thry are scanned verbatim from prior printings. The credits thatf ollow are for the 5E portion this work.
Original Writers David "Zeb'' Cook, Tom Moldvay
SE Conversion Design and Writing Chris Doyle
SE Edition Editing and Additional Support Tim Wadzinski
Additional Writing David "Zeb" Cook, Michael Curtis,
Paul Reiche III, Lawrence Schick,
Harley Stroh
SE Edition Playtesters Alec Doyle, Lisa Doyle, Devin McCullen
Cover Design Lester B. Portly
Cover Art Jeff Dee (front), Bill Willingham (back)
Interior Layout Jamie Wallis
Interior Art Direction Jeremy Mohler
Interior Art Ger Curci, William McAusland, Erol Otus,
Chris Yarbrough
Cartography William McAusland
Scans and Restoration Steve Crompton
Publisher Joseph Goodman
This volume is produced under permission from Wizards of the Coast. Dungeons & Dragons is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast. Good
man Games and the Goodman Games logos are trademarks of Goodman Games. Contents ©2018 Wizards of the Coast LLC, PO Box 707,
Renton, WA 98057-0707, USA. Wizards of the Coast, D&D, their respective logos, and all adventure rides are trademarks of Wizards of the
Coast LLC in the USA and other countries, and are used with permission.
visi't vs OITLiITE AT: www.GOODMAil-GAmEs.com
0RjGil1AL ADVEl11'URJ:S REil1CARIIA1'ED • THE ISLE 0F DREAD
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 5
CHAPTER 2: X 1: THE ISLE OF DREAD - ORIGINAL PUBLICATION ............................ 16
CHAPTER 3: OVERVIEW OF THE ISLE ....................................................................... 92
CHAPTER 4: WANDERING DREAD ........................................................................... 104
CHAPTER 5: THE ISLE OF DREAD ............................................................................ 120
CHAPTER 6: MORE DREAD ..................................................................................... 143
CHAPTER 7: THE CENTRAL PLATEAU ...................................................................... 160
CHAPTER 8: TABOO ISLAND .................................................................................... 171
CHAPTER 9: BELOW TABOO ISLAND ....................................................................... 183
APPENDIX A: FURTHER ADVENTURES ON THE ISLE OF DREAD ...............................2 07
212
APPENDIX B: NEW MONSTERS ...............................................................................
APPENDIX C: NEW ITEMS & MAGIC ....................................................................... 263
APPENDIX D: CHARACTERS .................................................................................... 268
APPENDIX E: PLAYER HANDOUTS ........................................................................... 287
APPENDIX F: MAPS ................................................................................................2 96
0RjGiilAL ADVEII'f'VR..ES REiIICARJIA'fED • THE ISLE 0F DREAD
0RiGillAL ADVEn'tv~s REillCARJIATED • THE ISLE 0F DREAD
Foreword
How I Designed a Classic Adventure ...
Without Meaning To
by David "Zeb" Cook
I t's been 37 rears since I first saw the lsJe of Dread. Of monsters to kill and treasure to find.
course, it wasn't a reaJ place-no island on the horizon,
i\Iost of all, we didn't know that we were sowing the seeds
or e''en a reaJ printed module you could hold in your
for the whole of Mystara. The island needed to be some
hand. l\Iy first vision of it was a place that didn't even exist
where and we had to show DMs what a simple world set
yet. It was a few scribbles on notepaper and many office
ting looked like. Tom mined places and bits from his shared
discussions with fellow designer Tom Moldvay. Although
campaign and we forged that into the proto-Known World.
it was an island cloaked in mystery, it was the mystery of
There was a thought that we might place future adventures
necessity.
into the map, but never a great plan to create a complete
\V/e didn't set out to create a classic. I'm not sure you can campaign setting that Mystara became. We didn't even
ever imentionally do that, and for Tom and me, that thought know how to create campaign settings at the time.
didn't e''en cross our minds. \'('c were focused on the mun
So despite all these accidents, a classic it has become. It
dane business of filling up a box. The Basic Ser had an
didn't hurt that it appeared in every Expert Set box and chat
adventure therefore we needed one in the Expert Set. !\Core
it was the first wilderness adventure many players experi
importantly we needed an ad,·enture that could teach nov
enced. And because so many saw it, read it, or played it, The
ice DMs how to create and run a wilderness game. Some J.rle ef Dread became a touchstone for players. Ask a group
thing self-contained (an island) with lots to explore (hexes!)
of players, ''\V/hat happened t0 you on the Isle of Dread?"
filled with random encounters (tables!) and a simple sto
and there was a good chance someone would have a story
ryline that could work with almost any campaign (dinosaurs
to tell. The stories might be heroic, comic, or even some
and lose worlds!). Plus, we needed co write it fast.
times tragic, but if you had adventured there, you had the
So we spent a several months with our heads down writing same stories from your days on the Isle of Dread.
what was meant co be a solid example of how to create,
So here's to Rory Barbarosa with his big tales and suspect
populate, and run a w~derncss setting. With rwo writers and maps. Here's to all the brave player characters who went
little time for playtesting or revision, we drew on what we
to sea in search of adventure, and all the DMs who shoul
knew. Our shared love of pulpy lost world stories gave us
dered through the encounter tables to provide it. Raise a
both a common theme to write about. It ·wasn't even clichc
glass for the friendly Tanaroa and the sinister kopru. Most
since no one had created such an unashamed lost world
of all, here then is to the Isle of Dread. May it always be
module before. Tom's desire to get dinosaurs into the rules
out there somewhere!
somehow filled out the wilderness with new monsters and
challenges. l\Iy fondness for anciem cults and bizarre foes
Agai11sl the odds, Dal'id "Zeb" Cook has been a professio11al gall/e
added the final threat at the center of the island.
designer for 39J 'ears-a11d hopes lo make that 40 or more. In 1979
ln hindsight the design should never have worked, what he joined TSR in its heydqJ1 a11d i11 1994, he successfulfy lllOved over
with two hands and brains creating one adventure at their lo videogames development, IJ'here he has been ever since. I le has cre
typewriters at the same time. Since we were still creating ated ll'orks for TSR, Coptic Studios, Black Isle, I111pressions a11d,
1
our jobs while we were doing them, nobody rold us you mrrentfy, Zeni1llax Onli11e. T! is creatiom i11cl11de Oriental Adven
shouldn't design an advenrure that way, so '"'e did. ,\nd we tures, AD&D 211d Editio11, Planescape, the I11dia11a ]011es a11d
got it done in time. \Y/e were happr. It was complete and ir Co11a11 RPGs, the Ci!J• ef Villains MJ\10, Elder Scrolls 011li11e,
played fun even if the story was not profound. There were and t111111ero11s ad1wl11re s11pple111e11ts and 111od11les, like the one )'01t're
no deeply detailed l PCs, complex plots, or earth-shaking holding right 11om He also has a 1vife, two cats, and an obsession for
foes. There was a map, a boat, and a lot of jungle filled with l)Ji11iat11res 1varga111i11g.
0RjGiilAL ADVEntv~s REincA~IlA.TED • THE ISLE 0F DREAD
The Deranged Anl<ylosaur-That Was
Me at My Best
by Paul Reiche Ill
I t's guite likely that whatever success I've had making the number of pages was fixed at (I think) multiples of 16
games over the past 40 years is due to one particularly and we had a page or so to fill. 1 believe my first pitch.was
deranged Ankylosaur, a humble herbivorous dinosaur to expand on the tantalizing details of the villagers' zom
whose short existence in The Isle ef Dread is defined by his bie helpers. The notion of keeping your departed family
loco weed-fueled "frenzy of tail-bashing." I will always members around as shambling mindless slaves struck me
treasure that Zeb Cook and Tom Moldvay gave me the op as having unlimited comedy potential- The Mother-In-Law
portunity to contribute to The Isle of Dread. I also treasure That Lf7ould Not Dief.-that kind of thing. My idea got an im
my original copy of the module which has a little personal mediate "no" (which 1 interpreted as an "almost yes"), and
note from Zeb on it.1 I moved on to PLAN B, expanding on the module's ran
dom encounters, including the above-mentioned Deranged
I joined TSR in the spring of 1980, moving from Berkeley,
Ankylosaur.
California, where, unlike Wisconsin, winter is entirely op
tional. At first, I worked in the Development department If you are worried that the Ankylosaur did not have enough
with Evan Robinson, Kevin Hendryx, and Brian Pitzer, time in the spotlight, he/she (or another, very similar Anky
where we had three tasks: polish manuscripts from Design, losaur) played an important part in Lawrence Schick's "Di
field hundreds of outside game submissions sent to TSR, nosaurs vs. Army Men" miniatures event a couple months
and answer the fun and fregueotly bizarre2 fan mail. later. Specifically, he was eaten by a T-Rex from the Carnos
aur team, digested and turned into bonus hit points.
Speaking of halls, the creative team worked out of the
top two floors of a condemned3 hotel in downtown Lake
Geneva, immediately above The Dungeon Hobby Shop, a Pa11/ Reiche III began designing and publishing paper tole-plqying
game store run by Gary Gygax's son Ernie. In the basement products with Ero/ Otus in 1978, 111orking at TSR Hobbies in
below The Dungeon was a small abandoned bowling alley4 1980-1981, 111ost/y for the D&D and Gamma World game !}Stems.
and TSR's shipping department. At the very tippy-top of Du1£11g that time, Paul contn'buted not on/y to D&Ds The Isle
this old narrow building was an attic which to my knowl of Dread, but also to GWs The Legion of Gold and The
edge only had one visitor, Erol Otus, who fell halfway Albuquerque Starport. The majority of Pauls time as a designer
through the floor dangling his legs through the ceiling of 111as spent writing an unpublished draft of Companion D&D. Paul
the office below. No one was hurt and everyone had a good flligrated to videogames in 1982, co-creating 18 games, including Ar
laugh, except perhaps Erol, whose laughter (or screaming?) chon: The Light and the Datk, Star Control I & II, and most
was a bit muffled. recent!J the tqp-to-lifa genre 11Jith the S !glanders series.
I loved my "Devo" crew, but I wanted to work with design
1 "Design Copy-DO NOT TAKE!"
ers like Zeb Cook, Tom Moldvay, and of course Lawrence
Schick, who was the "big boss" in the creative department. 2 We got one letter written on US Army stationery that end
Working on The Isle ef Dread was a big deal for me because ed with a personal note, "I am in Artillery because I like to
blow stuff up!" Self-aware and living the dream.
it allowed me to move from the Development depart
ment about 20 steps down the hall to the "Big Rock Candy 3 "Condemned" is pretty harsh. "Illegal to inhabit at night"
Mountain" of Design. But there was a Dino-sized problem: is a nicer way to put it, plus it suggests the possibility of
unlike many manuscripts I received, this one didn't actually ghouls wandering the halls after midnight.
need much polishing-Zeb and Dave were great design
+I sometimes confuse dreams with actual memories, so the
ers. Fortunately, due to the offset printing press we used,
miniature bowling alley is only 50% likely to be true .
.0 R.iGillAL ADVEllTV~S REillCARJIATED • THE ISLE 0F DREAD
The Origins of X1's "J(nown World"
Campaign Setting
by Lawrence Schick
I ?rst encountered Tom Moldvay in late 1973 at a meet • Norse
ing of the Kent State University Science Fiction Club. • Ancient Mediterranean (Greece/Rome)
We hit it off right away, and quickly decided we ought • Ottoman Empire
to collaborate on something-we just weren't sure what. • Mongolian Tribes
In early '7 4 Tom came back from an SF convention with • Aztec Mexico
Dungeons & Dragons in its original white box edition. • Han China
He DMed a session, I DMed a session, and suddenly we • Celtic Wales
knew what we were going to create together: a fantasy • Pharaonic Egypt
• Hanseatic League Baltics
world setting for D&D.
• Carolingian France
We had both read \videly in world history and mythology
• Ancient Persia
and enjoyed a lot of the same fantasy fiction; we traded
• Dutch Republic
Lin Carter's Ballantine Adult Fantasy books back and
• Mughal India
forth until we'd read them all, as well as everything we
could find by Howard, Lovecraft, Tolkien, Merritt, Hag We decided to plot out a single giant Pangea-type con
gard, Harold Lamb, Dunsany, Hodgson, Machen, and tinent on which there would be fantasy-fictionalized
Zelazny. We were both nuts about Clark Ashton Smith, versions of each of the above cultures. We also added
Tom was a Michael Moorcock and Philip Jose Farmer homelands for the nonhuman races: Ores, Goblins,
fanatic, while I could quote chapter and verse from the Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, Lizard-Men, Deep Ones, Kz
works of Jack Vance and Fritz Leiber. So, we knew what inti Catfolk, and Barsoomian Tharks, as well as a pirate
we wanted to create: a single world setting that would kingdom, and areas where prehistoric creatures were the
enable us to simulate the fictional realities of these, our norm. Plus, in every land there would be hidden cults
favorite authors. that worshiped Lovecraftian Elder Gods.
It was going to have to be a big world. We dubbed this setting the "Known World," to imply
there was more out there yet to be discovered, because
Most fictional fantasy worlds, of course, are based on
we didn't want to paint ourselves into a corner. It was
aspects of our own world and its history. For example,
our intention to use the I<:nown World in ongoing open
all the states in Robert E. Howard's Hyborian setting are
ended campaigns run by multiple DMs in which player
based on real-world cultures, simplified and boiled down
characters could go back and forth from one DM's game
to their easily-recognized essences-cliches, in other
to another. Moldvay and I were already running our own
words, but in tropes that were instantly familiar to How
campaigns this way, and we hoped to bring other DMs
ard's readers. We decided we could do the same thing,
on board as well, so we'd all be playing in the same giant
adapting from historical sources, so our first task was to
sandbox.
make a list of world cultures tl1at would be useful tem
That meant we were going to need detailed write-ups
plates for fantasy gaming. The list looked something like
on each of the various Known World cultures, so there
this:
would be consistency in how different DMs depicted
different areas. For every culture we needed to specify
how it was organized, who ruled it and by what methods,
what gods the people worshiped, what their economies
0zjGiilAL ADVEilTV~S REiilCARJIATED • THE ISLE 0F DREAD
