Topic: I'm feeling... evil...

[Jeramiahh]

Recently, I've been having a streak of devilishness; I'm normally the nicest guy in the world, but, more and more, I've felt some sadistic urges. At the same time, I was directed to a very nice resource, written quite a few years ago, that had always been itching at the back of my mind. Some of you may know it as the Lair of Acererak. Others as module S1. But I prefer to call it by it's real name;

The Tomb of Horrors.

If you've not yet run screaming from this thread, I commend your courage, or naivety. For those of you unfamiliar with it, the Tomb of Horrors is an adventure written for 2nd edition Dungeons and Dragons, and is (in)famous as being the perfect meatgrinder. Adventurers go in, giblets come out. Still, despite knowing that a horrible fate awaits them, countless players have braved its depths over the years... and I wish to extend this opportunity to you.

Now, while the rules I have for it work for v3.5 D&D, I actually want to try something different; rule-less. I'd still be using some guidelines, but I want to take the focus away from numbers and dice rolls, and put all the power in the hands of the players. This is, truly, a thinking man's challenge, combined with a shitton of luck, so removing as many random factors as possible can make it easier.

So, I ask you, who among you is crazy enough to enter the ultimate dungeon, face the deadliest traps, and challenge the might of... The Tomb of Horrors?

[OldSchoolGamer]

Is the focus of the tale going to be sex, or combat?  Or an admixture of the two? 

[Muse]

... 

The ultimate meat grinder campaing of all time, and you're turning it freeform? 

[HairyHeretic]

Never played it, but I know the reputation that module has. In all honest, considering the number of traps, saves and so forth, I'm having a hard time figuring how you'd freeform that.

[Idachan]

I'm crazy though 

[Jeramiahh]

Is the focus of the tale going to be sex, or combat?  Or an admixture of the two? 

Definitely focus on combat, but nothing says I can't make a few changes to this classic adventure. 

... 

The ultimate meat grinder campaing of all time, and you're turning it freeform? 

I know... it struck me as an odd idea, too. But, as I was reading through it, a LOT of the traps can be solved/avoided by taking the right action at the right time. Others can just be left up to storytelling narrative as to whether they're avoided or not. Besides, I hate having random pittrap #7 being the death of a character... it's so ignoble.

Remember, this module was written for 2nd edition, where most of this stuff WAS handled in a freeform manner; there was no Search check, no Disable Device, no real chance to avoid most of these traps, only your cunning and decision making. I'd like to go back to that, for once.

[kongming]

I'm going to bet that this was made by Gary "Screw the players!" Gygax. Am I right? :p

[Jeramiahh]

Credits: "Original Design: Gary Gygax" =)

[Ixy]

I kind of like the idea of doing a massive, labyrinthine deathtrap as a freeform.  Puts the emphasis on suspense rather than chance and clever distribution of probability.

Please consider me as interested, since I'm a bit stuck on the ideas for the one I was going to start up.

[thymoit]

Oh... Tomb of Horros.  Imagine three budding D&D players.  No real experience except the little module that came with the basic set.  Playing with... chits!  Not dice.  These little cutout plastic chits that you put in a dixe cup and shake up to draw from.  then we got those cheap plastic dice that the edges wore off of and after the first module, where did we go?

Tomb of Horrors... with like 1-3rd level characters.

Walk into trap.  Die.  Reroll character.  Try again.
Walk into trap.  Die.  Reroll character.  Try again.
Walk into trap.  Die.  Reroll character.  Try again.
Walk into trap.  Die.  Reroll character.  Try again.
Walk into trap.  Die.  Reroll character.  Try again.
Walk into trap.  Die.  Reroll character.  Try again.

We eventually cleared Tomb of Horrors, not through skill, but over the corpses of all our rerolled characters.  Oooh, free tip.  The big black sphere isn't a teleporter.  It's a sphere of annihilation.  Lost a whole party when we jumped into it.

[Idachan]

This is starting to sound interesting enough for me to want to muscle myself into it.

[Jeramiahh]

So far, that's three people who've expressed interest to be considered crazy, so that's good. =P

Go ahead and write me up a character description, including strengths and weaknesses, a bit of a background, all that sort of stuff. Remember, this is designed for around 10th level characters, so feel free to make someone who's already quite an established hero. Just keep in mind; you're highly expendable, so don't spend six hours on someone who may die in the first 100 posts. =P

Post your characters here, or PM them to me, and I'll set about putting this into motion.