Dungeon Masters Kit – Number 2
Check out those dwarves! Check out that treasure! Check out that weird archway?
Like Palace of the Vampire Queen, this wasn’t created by TSR but is included here because it was distributed by them.
The weirdest thing about this? It uses hex maps, where every hex is 3 feet. Also weird is how the maps are broken up into sections which can be arranged in any order you like, which I guess is in keeping with this being a “Dungeon Master’s Kit”. The sections don’t seem to be in any order – the two suggested sequences for inexperienced or medium strength parties aren’t even B, C, D, etc but things like C, H, B, etc.
In fact there’s all sorts of “what the?” moments reading this.
Oh and there are numerous spelling mistakes.
And gems. There are so many gems that their locations are marked on the maps. Sooo many. Many with special powers.
Let’s examine some of the stand-out curiosities.
Section B
- There are measly half-orcs in a tavern and in a storeroom nearby, 10,000GP!
- The bar nearby has a barmaid that’s a level 14 magic user! She has a 100,000GP ruby. Yeehah!
Section C
- Room 1 – featuring 10 Kabols (??? Sometimes spelt Kobal elsewhere) each with a +2 sword!
- A room with a chess-playing ogre.
Section D
- Wow, one room has 6 gems worth 600,000GP each! And this area doesn’t even have any monsters to overcome.
Section F
- Huh, they use 2 creatures from the Elric section of Gods, Demi-gods and Heroes
Parts of the rest of the module actually make some coherent sense.
It’s almost like this is the next step up from the Dungeon Geomorphs but not quite a complete module as we would later understand it.
And it’s a definite step up from the sparsity of Palace of the Vampire Queen.
Of interest, this is set in the same setting as Palace of the Vampire Queen. That module mentions the king that defeated the 10 orc tribes, the same 10 tribes that overthrew the Dwarven Glory community on the island of Baylor.
A reprint is available at DriveThruRPG.
Date Information
The Acaeum says this was published in early 1977. Tome of Treasures reckons June.
I can’t find any ads or mentions in any magazines, so it’s hard to pin down. (In White Dwarf from 1977-1978, there are a number of ads that list Palace of the Vampire Queen, but none that mention Dwarven Glory or Misty Isles.) It was probably early 1977 as the Acaeum states but in lieu of any more data, I’m happy to go with June.