Lords of Darkness - Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition

Lords of Darkness is a collection of ten mini-scenarios set in the Forgotten Realms, all featuring undead monsters such as skeletons, ghouls, wights, shadows, mummies, vampires, and ghosts; the book also includes suggestions on how to role-play undead and a section called "A Mundane Guide to Wards vs. Undead, Spirits, and Other Entities". The anthology includes adventures and background information dealing with most of the undead monsters commonly encountered in the AD&D game, and although sold as a Forgotten Realms accessory, it is usable with any AD&D campaign.

The book's purpose is to provide short adventures involving undead that can be easily inserted into a campaign. Each of the featured undead has background information provided in the form of either a short piece of fiction describing the undead in action or delivered as a monologue by a knowledgeable non-player character (NPC). New game rules in the book contain additional information and clarify existing game mechanics. The book begins by discussing ways in which undead creatures' energy-draining attacks can be made less devastating to a player character (PC) by using alternatives to the usual level-draining effect. The adventures in Lords of Darkness are designed to be easily dropped into an ongoing campaign, and are mainly dungeon crawls of one form or another. The book introduces the optional rules on Horror Checks, which are made when characters realize just how horrible a monster really is; long-term effects can result from failed checks. Another section discusses the effects that items and substances such as cold iron, garlic, salt, and mirrors have against undead. Also included are new spells for magic-users who choose to specialize in the necromantic arts.

The book features a two-page introduction by Ed Greenwood. It explains that, while the book is set in the Forgotten Realms setting, it can be used in different fantasy campaign settings. The introduction gives details on undead in the Forgotten Realms, advice for a Dungeon Master (DM) to use undead in a campaign, alternatives to some of the more deadly powers of the undead, and information on non-evil types of undead.

"Tales From Beyond the Grave" (pages 4–75) presents ten complete adventure scenarios, each one highlighting a "classic" undead type, with the challenges increasing from one scenario to the next. Creature notes accompany each adventure. The scenarios are from five to nine pages each, and include the following: "Skeletons", by Deborah Christian; "Zombies", by Michael Stackpole; "Ghouls and Ghasts", by Paul Jaquays; "The Tombs of Deckon Thar", by Steve Perrin; "Shadows", by Christian; "Mummies", by Jaquays; "Vampires", by Vince Garcia and Jean Rabe; "Ghosts", by Garcia; "Oriental Spectres", by Christian; and "The Dread Lair of Alokkair", by Greenwood.

"The Night Gallery" (pages 75–84) details the main character or creature of each adventure and can be used to plan a series of encounters. "A Mundane Guide to Wards", by Greenwood (pages 85–91), explores the magic and lore of dealing with undead. "The Lords of Darkness", by Greenwood (pages 92–96), presents new spells for necromancers.

Cover art for Lords of Darkness was done by Jeff Easley and interior art by Karl Waller, and the book was published by TSR in 1988 as a ninety-six page book. Editing was by Scott Martin Bowles, and cartography by Dave LaForce. This supplement was perfect bound, and released for the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons with product code TSR 9240.

Read more about this topic:  Lords Of Darkness

Famous quotes containing the words advanced, dungeons, dragons and/or edition:

    The most advanced nations are always those who navigate the most. The power which the sea requires in the sailor makes a man of him very fast, and the change of shores and population clears his head of much nonsense of his wigwam.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    In dark places and dungeons the preacher’s words might perhaps strike root and grow, but not in broad daylight in any part of the world that I know.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    Hermann and Humbert are alike only in the sense that two dragons painted by the same artist at different periods of his life resemble each other. Both are neurotic scoundrels, yet there is a green lane in Paradise where Humbert is permitted to wander at dusk once a year; but Hell shall never parole Hermann.
    Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)

    Books have their destinies like men. And their fates, as made by generations of readers, are very different from the destinies foreseen for them by their authors. Gulliver’s Travels, with a minimum of expurgation, has become a children’s book; a new illustrated edition is produced every Christmas. That’s what comes of saying profound things about humanity in terms of a fairy story.
    Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)