RPG Retro Reviews: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth

[@BearfootBob]

I read this module in my tent with a flashlight at camp in the 80's, and it scared the hell out of me. Good times : )

[@heresysmith4068]

I played this as Gamma World Alternity, with characters trying to take it over. I made it an antimatter power plant, with interdimensional anomalies, from misaligned gear. The characters eventually open a way for the dragonturtle to get out. I also made oozes nanite pools, like Terminator II, that could reform, take shape, and attack, but not for long, because it was weakened and malfunctioning security nanite clouds. The Vampire woman was in a nanite medical case, with repair nanites making her alive and in need of vital organs and blood, because the nanites needed raw materials. I worked it. Including antimatter and spoiled-nanite contamination.

[@agemmemnon100]

You had me laughing at the start. Yeah, Tsojcanth is a mouthful.

[@spaceranger7683]

S series were some of the best modules ever made. This one including the Demonomicon of Iggwilv supplement was just icing on the cake.

[@RPGmodsFan]

LOL. Love the way you tried to pronounce Tsojcanth! Also love the last room / final boss of this Module. Very evocative of "Sleeping Beauty". I need to get around to also reviewing this Module. Cheers!

[@SupremeCleave]

YES! YES! My all time favorite module from the old days. An adventure with a MMII highlight smack dab in the center.

[@davemiller6333]

This one is a classic!

[@Silversmith70]

I am so humbly grateful for Grandmaster Gygax for giving this to us. This game saved me as a kid during a time when things were crazy. I still have all of my books from the 70's and now have 93% of 5th edition, (They have some crazy add on type books!) Thank you for creating this game and thank you Cap for taking us back through it.

[@captcorajus]

The entire reason for creating this channel was to share my joy of the game.That so many have found enjoyment in the videos I create makes me very happy.

[@Silversmith70]

@@captcorajus I love this channel, I have been a loyal pledge since the beginning. I know talking about money is weird but I would love for you to be able to do this full time. I just love seeing more and more comments, likes and subs.

[@captcorajus]

Yeah, me too! lol

[@sirelfinjedi]

I've recently discovered your vids, and I'm loving them. I've been playing for almost 40 years, but I pretty much ran original games exclusively until a couple of years ago. I've been itching for that shared experience of DnD. Of course, once I read and ran a few, I remembered all the modules my old dm ran in the 80s.

[@derpreusse]

30 second soapbox rant: Despite all of the argument and the recent documentary about how Dave Arneson is the "true" founder of fantasy role-playing, this module is Exhibit A in why, at the end of the day, Gygax will always be "considered" the founder. The qualitative difference between this module, Hommlet, Tharizdun, Giants series, etc, with Temple of the Frog is striking. Rant over.

[@captcorajus]

Unequivocally in agreement. What makes Gygax such a powerful figure in the creation of D&D was that he was an absolute beast behind the typewriter. The shear VOLUME of quality output during his stint at TSR is stunning.

[@ghostpasha9076]

@@captcorajus Indeed. Dave was one of the most creative and imaginative men of the 20th century, of course, but a fair assessment of his lifetime output shows that he either wouldn't or couldn't produce a lot of polished and immediately useful products. Gary really put his back into his work, and left us with dozens of playable-out-of-the-box adventures and supplements. It's the old inspiration/perspiration divide.

[@hawkeyepearce1066]

@@captcorajus Purely my opinion, but I see Arnesen and Gygax as the "Lennon and McCartney" of D&D, each of them had something to bring to the table as individuals, but their collaboration had the spark of magic that brought this wonderful hobby to life. Actually, I think the analogy works pretty well, with Arnesen's 'Lennon' as a non-commercial visionary and Gygax's 'McCartney' as a talented and prolific designer with an eye for popular appeal, combining to make the magic happen. Just my 2 cents though.

[@captcorajus]

That's a reasonable comparison. Mine has always been Wozniack/ Jobs. One had the creative 'spark' but the other had the drive and determination To get what we got, both were needed.

[@hawkeyepearce1066]

@@captcorajus I hadn't thought of that pairing, but yours is the best analalogy of the two I've seen by far. BTW another great video, much appreciated.

[@GreatNappa]

I’ve only ever played 5e, but I can’t help but be fascinated by your videos! Keep up the awesome work :D

[@MrRourk]

If you are on Roll 20 there are several groups that do 1 shots of Original D&D. Give it a try sometime. Several places you can download the free books or get the S&W Whitebox.

[@MrRourk]

The original books are Men and Magic, Monsters and Treasure, and The Underworld and Wilderness Adventures. Chainmail 3rd Editon is highly recommended as well as Judges Guild Ready Ref Sheets. Some people like to add book 4 & 5 Greyhawk and Blackmoor. The reason this will never die is mainly. It is best for quick 1 shots with movement and encumbrance as important factors. You can make a character in 2 minutes.

[@Jeremy_Fisher]

I highly recommend that you try it out someday. Try bringing it up with your game group. If they are cool people they'll be open to trying new things especially if you volunteer to DM it. I'd recommend using Basic D&D (Rules Cyclopedia) over whitebox. It's easy, fast and fun while being better explained. Alternatively, just run the module in 5e. Just replace the stats of all monsters with those in the 5e monster manual, and you're good to go.

[@MrRourk]

There is a nice free version of Arduin called Ruins of Arduin. The Petal Hack would be a good transition from 5e. Built on Modern Black Hack Mechanics. Its free to download. The writers did a amazing job. It has the mission generation engine of the old TSR Empire of the Petal Throne. That makes it a must have for me.

[@jeffreyraia5804]

I DM'ed this module back when it was released. Ahhhh the sweet, sweet memories! Thanks for the nostalgia!

[@scottius238]

Love this module, glad to see it get an in depth and quality review. Also loved seeing a shout out for Jon Pintar's maps. They are great and I'm using the caves of chaos set to run Keep on the Borderlands right now.

[@captcorajus]

Thanks. This is a Gygax classic had to give it some love. Also, Jon is an amazing creator and I try to promote him whenever I can.

[@Andonios88]

2nd time through the video, once last night and again now this morning. I love these old modules, that’s how my dad DM’d for me and my buddies back in the 90s. I never noticed the randomness back in the day, but we loved it, and usually ended up dead somewhere :)

[@danielrowan4716]

LCoTsoj is probably my favorite 1e module that I never played or DMd. Igwilv’s daughter was just awesome , I loved and have been inspired the teleportation traps, and the menagerie of new monsters that made their way into the 1e MM2 are second only to the likes of (maybe) Expedition to the Barrier Peaks and Dwellers of the Forbidden City.

[@KabukiKid]

Probably the most fun our group ever had with a published module. It was also one of the most deadly, mind you! lol Love this one.

[@DIEGhostfish]

4:30 Well I'd imagine Iuz would want his mother's stuff.

[@jonathanduplantis1403]

I love how one of the booklets is really a preview of mm2 and unearthed arcana

[@jonathanduplantis1403]

Yes!!

[@VioletDeliriums]

Hi captain c....i remember going through this in like the summer of 1982 with some friends that lived up the street from me that loved AD&D....my fav part about these old modules is that they show you ways of doing hex crawls, and i did something based on these old things for an adventure i did for 5e a few summers ago and the players loved it! it seemed like a game within a game for them -- an alternative to this narrative of "it's a nice cool day and you walk for a few hours and then ." Instead there were a few "set encounters" and then every hex they moved there was a chance for something to happen (encounter, find something, etc.). Because the (lame) 5e DM Guide does not tell DMs how to do this, one even gleefully and approvingly asked, "Did you make this up?" I said, "Yes, based on what I know from the old days of playing!" ... By the way, "bas relief" is a French word, so it is pronounced "bah relief" (as in "bah humbug"). It's a word that comes from art, and is found in the vocabulary of HP Lovecraft and weird tales gang that Gygax lists in Appendix N.

[@MarkAS56]

One of our all time favorites too, but thanks to the first unmarked path leading right to the Caverns, we went straight there w/o needing to explore the other locales, having no idea they were even there. We always thought ut should have been deeper in the mt. paths and not so easy to find so quickly.

[@alm5966]

There was something really confusing about Daouds Wondrous Lanthorn I seem to remember when playing this module. It was something to do with the number of lenses and the descriptions. I'll have to dig it out and reread it. One of my favourite dungeon crawls though.

[@RIVERSRPGChannel]

Nice history lesson and review of the module. Good video

[@SuperMaxdragon]

Keep bringing up old memories. Yet another module I still have, and it was a deadly one. Shame I no longer have the time for pnp games. ☹️

[@spaceranger7683]

Personally I think the Value on this module deserved better than a 17. At the time this came out, this was like buying a (top notch, as it turned out) module and getting a free mini source book included. Worth the price for the adventure alone, but with the added monsters and spells info this was a must-have.

[@ajaxplunkett5115]

I agree. Even the 8.50 drivethrurpg wants in year 2020 dollars is a good deal. eBay might of affected his rating.

[@captcorajus]

Indeed. I rated it how I did due to the overpricing on ebay.. at least in my opinion. :)

[@udasu]

Awesome review, as always, Cap!

[@TheTrueObelus]

Absolutely loved the art. I truly miss the early days when D&D was more Conan and Lovecraftian horrors than Lord of the Rings.

[@robertross9019]

One of my personal favorites as both a player and, later as a DM.

[@lordshell]

Ran this in 3.5 Ed with a combination of the original module (which I own) and the updated version from the WOTC site. Was a lot of fun.

[@TallDude73]

Thanks for a great review as usual.

[@buddygreen7053]

Still have this module!

[@toddrohrer8680]

Another great review this was my favorite mod.

[@MrRourk]

I have the PDF of the Winter Con 1976 version with hand written notes. It is interesting to put them side by side and compare.

[@captcorajus]

Yes, me too. Very cool indeed!

[@quillogist2875]

Wow. That is pretty neat.

[@Johnny_Nitro]

Great review Cap as usual. I was curious as to why your theme music sounds modulated up a few keys?

[@captcorajus]

Um, its not? Nothing I did on my end.

[@davidleonard8547]

I'm always amused when I hear, this video contains spoilers of a 40ish year old adventure module.... Were these caverns ever lost, though, and do they look like a lair where Iggwilv might have sprung from to conquer and then rule her short-lived reign of Perrenland? I never thought so. It was a tournament though, and an early on at that. I think it was always meant to be a preview of the Monster Manual 2, but I do like the the finale, though. Informative, enthusiastic, and energetic, as always. Thanks!

[@G_BLASTER]

The ISOTU realistic map is great, I have it on roll20 right now, fully kitted out :)

[@captcorajus]

I LOVE what Jon Pinter did there. I was really enjoying going through the module in hand, while having the realistic maps on screen as I went through each room. I'm sure you'll have a great time running that!

[@Lightmane]

I always pronounced it with the T silent. Soj-canth. While I love reading modules by Gary Gygax, B2 being my favorite, as always with Gygax's modules, the randomness of it can drive you nuts sometimes, but not always, and, as with just about all of his modules, if you cut the monetary and magical treasure in half, your party will still be rich with more magical items than they know what to do with when they finish. Gary seemed to, at times, just place random monsters and treasure in random caves, just so the module could have a large variety of D&D monsters and treasure within, yet despite that criticism, there's just something magical about the way he writes modules. Once I start reading one, I usually can't put it down. I'm trying to imagine all these monsters in here living in these caves and never running into each other and killing each other, lol. I could make sense of B2, because of the Evil Temple, and the Giants series worked too, pretty much, but am I to really believe that all these monsters just cohabit these caves and are all chill with each other? Yet, all that said, I too love this module. It's just FUN.

[@captcorajus]

Oh, i'm pretty sure they run into each other and kill each other. That's all part of it, but with any long term habitat with varied creatures and predators, they frequently reach an equilibrium. Of course, coming up with how something came about, such as the clay golem in room 3 the Slate Chamber frequently leads to other stories.

[@Lightmane]

@@captcorajus I just don't think it's realistic that all those creatures would all live in those caves, but regardless it's still a super fun module to read and play. Just modify the treasure, unless you enjoy a monty haul dungeon lol

[@MrSteveK1138]

That villainous mage might make a good campaign thorn as I tend to do with published adventures. In L5R 5th edition I took a dark magic user and made her the arch villian that's still causing trouble.

[@DwDrake2000]

A great review maybe time to have a group try it. Oddly after seeing this review I realize that I have never ran this one despite buying and running the rest of Realms of Horror the year it was released.

[@captcorajus]

Yeah, I've never actually had the chance to run it myself, though I played through it way back when it first came out. Its literally been either in a box or on a shelf for 35 years. A real tragedy.

[@dwaresacksqb]

Can you review Lost City? Goodman games are releasing the 5e hardcover soon. Thank you!

[@captcorajus]

yes, its on deck, along with Palace of the silver princess.

[@majore2276]

Where was the mallet sound when you announced the final rating? My family always waits for that when we listen to your reviews while driving. :) Keep up the great work!!

[@captcorajus]

Lol... that's great. You know I don't even know if people care about such details. Good to know. I didn't initially have that 'Stamp' sound, but added that later. So this is just one of the earlier videos before I put that in. :)

[@bizzy5439]

Hey Cap! Could you do a review on B4 The Lost City? I'm planning on running it in my homebrew campaign and would love your opinions on it and how best to run it :)

[@captcorajus]

Definitely on my to do list!!

[@lordshell]

Going to do Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun?

[@captcorajus]

eventually!

[@southron_d1349]

Seth Skorkowsky did a review about four months ago. It prompted me to purchase a print-on-demand copy. Almost half of it is indeed a mini Monster Manual. Some of the art was re-used in 2nd-edition. No idea when I'll run the module. Buying it was a completist impulse. The "j" could be pronounced as an "i" or "y" making it Tsoicanth - not really an improvement.

[@jcmartin1978]

Hey brother! Are you planning on covering WG4? I’ve never read through that module but the cover alone and it’s strange color scheme makes me wonder what Gary cooked up for as a side quest for this.

[@captcorajus]

Yeah, definitely planning on covering it. WG4 is significant in that is the module where Gary revealed that Tharizdun and the Elder Elemental Eye are the same being.

[@russellharrell2747]

Has anyone ever connected the Lanthorn from this module and the 333 black gems from WG4? It seems to me there was meant to be a connection due to gemstones powering the Lanthorn and THARIZDUN’s theme of darkness and cold. Could the artifact be used to wake the dark god or even perhaps banish it entirely from the material plane? The ending oof WG4 is so ambiguous it begs for a DM to expand it.

[@captcorajus]

Oooooooo!!

[@chameleondream]

Right at the end you pronounced it the way we always said it Tso-Joe-Canth, as if it were missing a O Lost Caverns of Tsojocanth. I don't know why this is, but I blame the gnomes.

[@eugeneduplessie572]

Thanks for doing this

[@drewwill6497]

Really beautiful art in this module. Totally enjoying all of these module reviews. You probably already know, but Goodman Games will (hopefully the way things are going) be producing 3 hardbacks this year, The Lost City, Castle Amber, and The Temple of Elemental Evil. Of course this will be printing all of the old content, as well as 5e rule updates, and maybe some new content. I've been DMing the Isle of Dread, and that's been a blast. Hopefully you'll be checking those out. It would be nice to hear what you think. As always, thanks Cap'n!

[@captcorajus]

Yeah, I have the Keep on the Borderlands update (Which i reviewed for the channel) and the Isle of Dread. I might have to see about playing the youtube creator card for the rest. lol

[@drewwill6497]

@@captcorajus Yeah, I started looking into them because of you!

[@EdddieBaron777]

I recently discovered your page and I love what you do! Question: I am trying to find the maps from John Pinter on Drive Thru and I can't seem to locate any. Do they still sell them or is there another way to access them?

[@captcorajus]

Thanks! For some stupid reason drivethrurpg suddenly stopped allowing 'just maps' of old modules to be posted on the site. This seems to be enforced arbitrarily, but the really went after Jon Pinter. You can still get his maps however, from his own web page, here: www.artstation.com/jonpintar/store

[@marksoberay2318]

Fantastic review! But I believe overall this is a critical hit...I wish it was a raid in DDO

[@captcorajus]

The overall score is the average of the three categories. In order to get a 'critical hit' overall, the module would have to have a nat 20 in every category. I'm not saying its impossible, but I've never read a module that didn't require SOME valid criticism. But yes, this module is really good!!!

[@jeffwads]

10:04. This is what you are fighting for.

[@ScowlieMeerkat]

"guarded by what appears to be a eunuch" Ok but I'm pretty sure there's only one way a person could "appear" to be a eunuch, so I gotta wonder what was that guy wearing?

[@quillogist2875]

There are physical characteristics of eunuchs, for example they lose their body hair and frequently gain weight.

[@ajaxplunkett5115]

Cool review. Just a small correction though: S4 was the last of 1st edition Special "S" modules but there was one more. S5 The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga for AD&D 2nd edition in I think 1995. A TSR module. Your ranking of its value a 17 seems low based on what you said of its value and 10.50 price point.

[@captcorajus]

The pedigree on Lisa Smedman 'S5' module is certainly one for debate... being released in 1995, 13 years after Tsojcanth. Further, TSR no longer used letter designations on its modules by that time, though certainly someone at TSR had decided that it was part of that series... who? No one knows. Thus, its sort of muddled. All of that said, what is clear, is that S4 is the last of the series for the 1E game, and the Classic TSR era. However, that is a interesting tid bit of trivia. Also, I'm not a big fan of the 'over pricing' on ebay and other places for classic modules and think the going rate there is a bit inflated. A lot of people would like to get their hands on an original, and for something as widely in print at this module, $40 just seems a bit steep. 17 is still in the VERY GOOD range.

[@TheGiantRobot]

Speaking of pronunciation, Erol Otus's first name is pronounced as a long A (error, aero), like Errol Flynn.

[@captcorajus]

To me, that's the way I'm saying it. If it doesn't sound that way to you, oh well, that's just the way it is. but thanks

[@TheGiantRobot]

@@captcorajus Maybe it's just an accent thing. You're welcome. Great channel, by the way. Recently subscribed and I love your attention to these classics and the details, like crediting the artists.

[@chrissnyder8415]

Ah the memories......

[@doctorlolchicken7478]

I think Gygax was a master of trolling, long before the term existed. All the names in this module (and many of his others) are deliberately hard to pronounce and seem to be making fun of fantasy literature (including Lovecraft).

[@erikmartin4996]

A4?

[@captcorajus]

coming out Saturday. :)

[@dr.winstonsmith]

captcorajus Looking forward to it, my favorite module ever.

[@albanmahoudeau1779]

REALMS OF HORROR:STRANGE THINGS THIRD SESSION..

[@udasu]

Sir Otus did an amazing S4 module conversion for NWN: neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/module/s4-lost-caverns-tsojcanth

[@captcorajus]

awesome!!

[@Creepycactus121]

Have you got a new mic? Sounds great!

[@captcorajus]

I've got a blue yeti mic. I've switched up from that. I was previously using an Allen & Heath live sound mixer, with a shure sm58 mic. I have a wind sock and a pop filter attached to the Yeti. I also played with the voiceover audio in post to try and balance out the bass levels. Thanks for the feedback.

[@spaceranger7683]

We always pronounced it Sahj-a-Canth. Good as any, right?

[@Conflict_Boardgaming]

I always pronounced it "So-canth", the T being a silent T. tee hee

[@Aaron-mj9ie]

I always pronounced it wrong, apparently

[@Joshuazx]

Captain Courageous would be easier to find with a google search than capcorajus Also, Ts oj can th

[@captcorajus]

Also.. unavailable. So pointless. captcorajus is unique.. so available to be used. That said, if you put in Captain Courageous RPG or D&D, I come right up. Putting in Captain Courageous will just bring up a bunch of things on the literary figure. Still won't 'find' me. :) Also, the T is silent. :) soj-kanth. Also, its made up... so. pronounce how you like! :)

[@andya5456]

Surprise! WotC is reprinting the module, so this video is great again.

[@albanmahoudeau1779]

Tsolkampk. Is an ABBEY...TSOJKAMPH=AN ABBEY.

[@albanmahoudeau1779]

ROLL OVER THE ABBEY.TKE LICHEMEISTER STRIKE. WFDR.:

[@sunsin1592]

Actually I personally dislike the practice of converting old graph or hex maps to the "realistic" color. I find them harder to use in play and just plain noisy. Swords & Wizardry did that in their reboot of Tegel Manor. While the new color map is pretty enough, I'll be using my old map from the original when we actually play because it's easier to read at the table.

[@captcorajus]

If you're playing old school, at the table, with graph paper then, no, I wouldn't use the color maps. However, if you're playing on a virtual table top then they are invaluable. The plain 'white' maps just don't translate to the computer very well, and quite frankly, trying to look at them for any length of time hurts my eyes. lol

[@THEFabianValenzuela]

Bump

[@horacioaugustofilho6487]

I'm assuming it's pronounced So-I-can't.

[@lindy9196]

You pronounced it differently every single time you said it

[@albanmahoudeau1779]

INCINERATE.

[@scottkrater2131]

White plume mountain was a poor combination of Gamma World and AD&D in my opinion. I played fantasy rpgs. Not into the sci-fi stuff.

[@captcorajus]

Yes, sci-fi was infused in D&D from the very beginning. Much of its inspiration comes such. Jack Vance's Dying Earth seems a logical example, but also HP Lovecraft, Howard's Conan and more. Blackmore, the FIRST D&D campaign was rife with sci-fi elements. Certainly its fine to want to keep aspects of your home campaign purely 'fantasy'. Not sure what 'sci-fi' elements you're talking about in 'White Plume Mountain.' Are you sure you're not talking about 'Expedition to the Barrier Peaks?"

[@scottkrater2131]

@@captcorajus I came in after Blackmore, and only played the 1st edition. I might have used the wrong module, but weren't they in the same series? Plume and Barrier peaks? I forgot that one, it's been a long time since I played. Even though Gygax never did use Tolkien, my little group usually played with that in mind. Lovecraft worked just because of the monsters. If I remember, one of them had lasers and such, like I said it's been almost 30 years lol. I only made it up to unearthed arcana and monster manual 2, then I got married, had my own monsters, lol. AD&D just sort of faded away. I eventually sold all my stuff, wish I kept it.

[@scottkrater2131]

@@captcorajus My very first character was a Dwarven fighter, named, you guessed Thorin, and his 2nd adventure was the Tomb of Horrors, he didn't make it past the first pit trap lol.

[@scottkrater2131]

@@elliotvernon7971 Could be, sounds right, haven't played in a really long time lol. Like 20 years.