An old classic has received a new revamp in the new Dungeons and Dragons module from Wizards of the Coast. The Tomb of Horrors was one of the more challenging dungeons Gary Gygax created while he was still around to create them. D&D’s latest module, Tomb of Annihilation, brings the area back in a new location.
Game designer Chris Perkins, the man who brought us this new version, spoke with Polygon at Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio. He claims the new Tomb is not only vastly improved, but packs a lot more depth and richness into its mythology. “Tomb of Horrors was just literally telling players, ‘You’re standing at the edge of the tomb. What do you do?’ This one says, ‘Hey there’s a bunch of stuff going on. Meet all these characters, do all these fun things. By the way, there’s this tomb over here that’s going to kill you.’”
And make no mistake, it will kill you if you aren’t careful. Chris says this module went through more playtests than any D&D release in history. “We wanted an honest appraisal of how tough it would be and if the traps were too mean and whether the monster encounters were too mean. There have been a number of fatalities, but some groups have prevailed. So it’s not impossible.”
The Tomb is just part of what you’ll find in the land of Chult, a region that has existed in Forgotten Realms since the beginning but hasn’t been updated much since that game’s second edition. You’ll also find a jungle area and a bustling city called Port Nyanzaru.
“What I tried to do with the story was paint this big, bright picture of the city of Port Nyanzaru where you can meet all kinds of colorful people and do all kinds of fun things. Once you set out into the jungle, the deeper you go, the farther in you get, the more dark and claustrophobic and terrifying it becomes until finally you end up at the tomb, and that’s going to be the darkest most horrible place ever.”
There’s a lot more involved in Tomb of Annihilation than we have space to print, including the presence of dinosaurs. Read the full interview at Polygon.
