Dungeonland
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| Dungeonland | |
 |
|
| Code | EX1 |
|---|---|
| Rules Required | AD&D |
| Character Levels | 9 - 12 |
| Campaign Setting | Generic / Greyhawk |
| Authors | Gary Gygax |
| First Published | 1983 |
| Linked Modules | |
| EX1 EX2 | |
EX1: Dungeonland (EX1) is a module for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, written by Gary Gygax for use with the First Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) rules. It is an adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, with the various characters from the book translated into AD&D terms.[1]
The "EX" module code stands for "extension", as the adventure is designed to be inserted as an independent addition to another, ongoing scenario.[2] In Gygax's own campaign, an early version of Dungeonland was an extension of Castle Greyhawk.
Like its source material, the module is intended to be played in a "light-hearted and zany spirit"[3], though, unlike Carroll's Alice, the player characters repeatedly face potentially lethal combat with monsters. (For example, the Cheshire Cat is a magical smilodon eager to eat adventurers.)
In the afterword, Gygax mentions that Dungeonland was an early part of the Greyhawk dungeon, and that his players visited it multiple times. Dr. Joyce Brothers is mentioned as having played in a version of the scenario run at a convention.
The module is paired with The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror, which is based on Carroll's Through the Looking Glass. For unknown reasons, the scene on the cover is actually from the other module, and vice versa.
Receiving 9 out of 10, the module was positively reviewed in Issue 48 of White Dwarf magazine. The reviewer Jim Bambra enjoyed its sense of humour and exciting role-play, but criticised that it needn't have been written for such high level characters (a common problem in early modules), and could have been modified for lower level ones.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Schick, Lawrence (1991). Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games. Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-653-5.
- ^ Dungeonland, p. 2.
- ^ Dungeonland, p. 27.
- ^ Bambra, Jim (December 1983). "Open Box: Dungeon Modules" (review). White Dwarf (Issue 48): 10. Games Workshop. ISSN 0265-8712.
