My Version of the Tomb of Horrors - D&D 5e

[@XPtoLevel3]

World build your ideas with WORLD ANVIL, 20% with code: XPTOLEVEL3: worldanvil.pxf.io/xptolevel3 PDF Download of the dungeon: www.patreon.com/posts/38513344

[@Paragon_0_V]

Ye

[@bezretmet]

everything about the original: it sucks Jacob is more savage than wolverine on acid

[@bruhboss3141]

Thank you, also I agree about world anvil

[@mopoerapesminecraft]

The Tomb of Horrors is best beaten by mining through the walls with a diverse team of dwarfs

[@immortallord-ot5sn]

Yeah tome was made during the time were game was about players more than characters. It was a video game before video games. So it doesnt work in the current rpg world

[@InfiniteSuccession]

I’ve used Acererak as a npc before and just played him as a bored troll who just makes dungeons for fun because being immortal gets boring. I even twisted it so that he is glad that heroes succeed and rewards them and gives them directions to another one of his dungeons for if they feel as bored as he does and poofs them out of the dungeon with the treasure and seals it shut.

[@ethanmikevallotton]

Is it cool if I steal that?

[@johnwebber7123]

Stolen

[@Neomagam]

This version of Acererak is basically the puzzle master from Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire. And I love it.

[@Brainwav]

So, Acererak owns a chain of escape rooms?

[@InfiniteSuccession]

Steal away! My players and I enjoyed the way I played this evil immortal guy so I hope you and your players do too!

[@cthulhufhtagn2483]

Additional idea: If Bikbok and Gary are allowed to elaborate on their ideal dungeon, they describe the original Tomb of Horrors.

[@ob2kenobi388]

"He died 200 years ago from dehydration" Didn't think too far ahead, didja, Acererak?

[@Somerandomjingleberry]

I don't think he cared that much to begin with lul

[@SMunro]

Pickled into lichdom by alcohol, died of thirst. Same-same.

[@MonsieurBooyah]

may he rest in Pierce

[@ob2kenobi388]

@Laurens Janssen Headcanon accepted.

[@tanith117]

@Laurens Janssen I actually remember something like that in an My little pony comic of all things. Some wizard was hiding away some powerful artifact a hundred years ago, he's boasting about how he has a hydra to guard it. At the present day the mane six are poking a long dead Hydra skeleton.

[@TheMariosack]

I would of just give accerack an intercom and have him harass the players from a room where he's watching them, they eventually break down the door and fight him

[@TheMariosack]

I can even keep the shitty original poem, I could see my players arguing with him that his poem sucks

[@Nildread]

That's what magic mouth is for.

[@TheMariosack]

@@Nildread yeah but magic mouth has limitations, it's be like an upgraded version so that he speaks in real time. I like the idea that it just goes throughout the dungeon and that way when people disappear you hear accerack's side of the conversation taunting the other player.

[@Nildread]

@@TheMariosack magic mouth + Nystul's magic aura + greater invisibility + every other illusion spell possible + glyph of warding and a minion because Acererak is unformed. Because he's a demilich I'm sure he can cast those spells enough times till they're permanent or has a magic item that provides the needed effect. The minion can be updating the magic mouths as the players advance, it's only a minute casting time. You could also have Acererak doing that, but then he could just kill them. I kind of enjoy the idea that the players think it's Acererak taunting them but it's really just a really annoying imp claiming to be Acererak.

[@Nildread]

@@TheMariosack I like magic mouth because there isn't anything for the party to kill and it'll just keep taunting them.

[@pixelranger9498]

Gygax: Tomb of Horrors Jacob: Tomb of Spookiness

[@katherineminor3402]

Naw gygax while an amazing creator, his version is not even of horrors. Its tomb of headaches. It's like he went into a "funhouse" and made it 10x more annoying and that is how he came up with the tomb of horrors.

[@babulbi]

@@katherineminor3402 That's the whole point of the dungeon, no?

[@toddrohrer8680]

A lot of people don’t like this adventure because you have to think to get through it

[@Marcel2278]

@@toddrohrer8680 nah a lot of people don't like it because you can instantly die for little to no reason. To be fair I think Jacob nerfed it too much but I do think the insta death traps are very annoying and will kill the dumbest or the smartest player cause it doesn't matter.

[@kevinduke8928]

@@katherineminor3402 Gygax designed it for his veteran players. They were high level and he wanted them to think their way through everything and not rely on spells. The cheap deaths from a simple mistake would ensure the rest of the players would think things through. The dungeon was not built to be beaten but as a test to see how far you can make it. Check out DM It All's review on it. Best non-biased review I can find.

[@thirion1850]

Tomb of Mild Inconvenience.

[@MythicMachina]

that's WAY funnier than having all your players die. trust me. if they get annoyed, they will get stubborn about it and keep going, even if they get it wrong

[@asioca1992]

@@MythicMachina The dungeon's not even annoying, it's a straight hallway that sends you back to start a few times, with encounters that aren't even dangerous or dangerous, with an end boss that spends more time loading into the battlefield than actually doing shit. The dungeon was already easy in comparison to what it was in the past, Jacob's group just went in with the wrong expectations and treated it like a standard dungeon, rather than a dungeon that's designed to test the players, rather than the characters.

[@maxhighton123]

@@asioca1992 no they didn't. Did you watch the vod?

[@Puddingskin01]

Tomb of Slight Annoyance. Tomb of Perpetual Perturbedence. Tomb of Aggravation. Big Bonk's Bagnin' Bamboozlement. Acererak had a long time to come up with names for his tomb, many minions were killed who came up with witty ideas for it.

[@ranpo_edogawa]

@@asioca1992 Just because it's easier than it is in the past doesn't mean it's actually easy. I got a headache from reading it when a friend recommended I'd run it. By all means, it's a good dungeon, just not a fun one. I definitely prefer this version albeit, I will be editing it a bit to make it a bit more deadly and have more consequences.

[@lagg1e]

Actually this feels like a fun low level dungeon now. Tomb of Practical Jokes. On the upside, I'm actually down with using this as an introductory dungeon. Some puzzles, some combat encounters, a little bit exploration though it's pretty linear.

[@matthewcochran619]

Except the cr 20-22 demilich at the very end, which is very easily skippable for some reason?

[@coreblaster6809]

@@matthewcochran619 Not every fight has to be winnable, how is a mad scramble for treasure before an insane monster appears not fun?

[@Razumen]

@@coreblaster6809 It can be, but there should be more of a challenge to escaping, not just"Do you run or nah brah?"

[@coreblaster6809]

@@Razumen I agree

[@mariox204]

​@@matthewcochran619ypu can kill a dragon to keep the treasure or steal the tresure and run for your life

[@Danmarinja]

During the little emotional bit at the end, saying goodbye to Acererak, the auto-generated captions label him as Ass Eric. I’m stealing that name.

[@JB-ym4up]

Is that one of the kids on southpark?

[@NetherStray]

Ass Eric is the guy who made the original Tomb of Horrors.

[@TheAcademyAward]

I've just met Big Bonk but already I love him

[@billstephens396]

I keep getting all his riddles wrong... What a little snake...

[@venom_colada1512]

The goblin is my son

[@heraclitu-s]

Big Bonk is old darksouls meme, almost all my darksouls characters are named Big Bonk

[@billstephens396]

@@heraclitu-s Glad I didn't watch that movie...

[@billstephens396]

@@Ellebeeby Like Minecraft? Or Super Mario Bros?

[@joem1480]

Lore wise the original Tomb of Horrors is Ascerac's soul and treasure collector. Litchs need to harvest a certain number of souls a year to remain at full power. Treasurer of course is also useful for a lich in order to fund his plans. History wise this dungeon was never meant to be run for regular play. Back in the eighties at conventions you would actually have Dungeons & Dragons competitions for prizes. Tomb of Horrors was a module written specifically for these competitions. Players would line up with a character and play through until they die. At the end of the day the player whose character survive the longest would win the prize whatever it was.

[@Nildread]

I've heard it was made originally for some of Gary's players at his home game. But the point still stands. Also back then there was a larger emphasis on hirelings and having back-up characters and people to haul your treasure away and carry your bags and tend the horses and touch the instant death buttons. As well as more Conan type vibes and most people playing "murderhobos".

[@joem1480]

@@Nildread not as much murder hobos as you might think. Back in the early versions of Dungeons and Dragons how much gold you collected was your primary source of XP. One gold piece equals 1 XP. I can't pacifically a test for how much they were used but there were a lot more rules for giving XP as well for role-playing interactions in the early rule books and I have copies of those rule books so I know it's not just my memory

[@joem1480]

@@Nildread and you could be right about it originally being for Gary's home table. Jerry was a notoriously evil DM. That being said when it was published it was published as effectively a contest for conventions. People that bought the adventure because they had fun with the silliness of it at the convention. I Feel a lot of The Nostalgia comes from that

[@joem1480]

@@Nildread some of the tropes though that you see in Tomb of Horrors you see in a lot of other gygax Adventures. Having flares genders changed on them or having them stripped of all their possessions and left naked happens in multiple of is Avengers including is Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass Adventures. He was actually rather notorious for that

[@ГлотательныйГусь]

@@joem1480 thanks for the info! Now I'm curious to see those dnd conventions x)

[@Zedrinbot]

Kinda wanna run this for my players now. I dig the changes and really like the puzzles. I do kinda wish there were a few more actual threats in there too, just to go with the idea of "This is still a lich's dungeon and is still going to try to kill you" even if it's "kill you at a later point." Things that players could deal with, however, not insta-death traps.

[@TheMadBeast]

But if he does that it would be to hard for folks. Simple minds simple puzzles

[@willooo09]

It wouldn't be too hard to add a couple extra monsters here and there, or maybe re-include some of the traps. You can never have enough spike pits

[@NoNoNah306]

Pretty much all the insta-death traps in ToH can be dealt with by just poking them with a ten foot pole.

[@willooo09]

@@NoNoNah306 Fair, but there are alos a lot of traps that aren't insta-death, but are instantly incapacitating, like the feeblemind fog around the siren, or the archways that strip you entirely of your gear

[@NoNoNah306]

@@willooo09 The fog of idiocy is very rough but does have some mitigating factors. It can be cured just by leaving the tomb to take a rest ("breathe clean air under the warm sun") or if they successfully resolve the room and free the siren she can cure it just by touch. I'm also pretty sure a cleric in the party could fix it. Finally it's a poison gas, something the players are explicitly warned about in the legend and have chance to prepare for. My players had access to magical scouting and so they just resolved it by shouting their conversation with her from outside the mist. The gear stripping archway/suction mouths I talked about in another comment so here's a big copy paste: "Not really, the main thing it makes you "useless" for is combat, you have trash AC and you can't hit very hard. Fortunately the combats in the Tomb of Horrors are pretty easy, especially for big high level guys the module is intended for, they're mostly just there to whittle away resources. Also the spear trapped doors are magical, so once you know how they work they are infinite free spear dispensers, so you're never truly unarmed. A sensible functioning human being, with a long spear to poke things with, is sufficient to get through a huge amount of the tomb, certainly enough to get back to where the rest of your group is. It's actually spellcasters who are the most screwed if it happens, no spellbook and no material components, that's rough. One of my players was a warforged artificer, he ended up having to rebuild himself using the spare armour no one wanted, and a repurposed set of cooking utensils. Literally "in a cave, with a box of scraps". It was a really fun character moment. That said one of the few changes to the Tomb that I'd actually recommend, is to add some kind of NPC who has some spare equipment hanging around outside, just basic armour, clothes, bedroll, and specifically some spare swords (there is a door that requires 3 swords to open and the module was written in a time of less weapon diversity and specialisation)."

[@essneyallen6777]

Suggestion: keep *one* of the things that rob one character of equipment; add a room (a garrison or something) the afflicted character can go back to and pick up something not to be defenseless; and very soon after the party encounters a creepy monster wearing the lost equipment, something disturbing, like decaying or deformed or a distorted echo of the character. And when it is defeated something else extra creepy happens :D

[@agilemind6241]

Alternatively, have it only take magical items and gold/valuables, meanwhile the exterior (or interior) of the dungeon is littered in mundane equipment from previously killed adventurers. A demi-lich has no use for piles and piles of mundane weapons & armour, and he can't exactly go into town a sell it all.

[@NetherStray]

A trap set up by a conman who owns a small armory near the entrance. He's terribly sorry to hear about the loss of your gear! Perhaps you'd like to browse his wares...? Oh look! These look about your size!

[@connendarf3857]

Biggest and best change: the poem is actually useful I'm very tempted to throw this at my party, since it actually seems fun to play. The changes turned the worst dungeon ever into a great session you can add to a campaign by just changing the origin and treasure if you want. Thanks for all the ideas, Jacob

[@eddiemate]

Mikhail G The only reason your death would be memorable is because you’d be brooding about it for a while, because you were instantly killed by one thing for exploring. Though I do agree that the new tomb could be better. There’s no real danger to it unless you’re a low level party, aside from Acererak rising at the end of the dungeon. Then again, it probably feels different if you were actually playing it.

[@TheBayzent]

Sure it is useful. It's just not a riddle anymore, but a walkthrough. Not sure where the fun is on that though.

[@TheBayzent]

@@eddiemate You can fix that by not making it instantly kill you, and adding saves. If your players require this level of hand holding, what's the point?

[@michaelkeha]

@@TheBayzent it seems most of the I am gonna call them KZbin dnders have never heard of the most useful and effective tool when exploring dungeons a 10 foot pole

[@bakariwolf3835]

The old poem was useful. I have run people through it. First thing they did. write it down. Second thing they did. Take the time to figure it out. It gives you answers that you need and helps you find your way. Just had to think a little more. The new one... a little too on the nose. I mean the baked members of the party will love it, don't get me wrong. XD

[@timmythemini6128]

This was really cool but I have an issue with it. I think that the weird demon mouth portal things should remain somewhere in the dungeon because they were a pretty big part in the original Tomb of Horrors. I wouldn't put the portals in the same space as they were in the original because the previous placement was very dumb. Maybe add an additional puzzle with it somewhere. I just think that they should remain in the dungeon at least somewhere.

[@thewerdna]

I'd leave just the first one and add a line of the poem about it.

[@remixtheidiot5771]

Timmy The Mini agreed. A clue that it's deadly should be put in. My idea is to leave a bunch of dead bodies lying around, one of which is headless and missing a hand to let the players know exactly what this head wall does.

[@clayclymer]

@@thewerdna if leave a line from him specifically telling the adventurers to go through that scary looking door for a reward and then to leave the dungeon alone, but I'd add flavor text about how "upon approaching the door a chill runs down your spine and you can swear the pale unseeing eyes on the demons face are looking into your soul"

[@ChibiKami]

the free ice cream hole was indeed the most emblematic part of the original dungeon. Cutting it entirely subtracts from its identity

[@timmythemini6128]

@@remixtheidiot5771 Yeah, that would be good to warn them, though I somewhat disagree with leaving clues, just because the mystery of those demon mouths can really scare and challenge the players.

[@HIIMROSS777]

Tomb of horrors is now the tomb of pranks

[@freddymittler8349]

Correction: the womb of pranks

[@jamieadams2589]

Wasn't it always? It never made sense and was just meant for the DM to go "hah, got you, look at your face right now"

[@Bidniss.]

I just started running Tomb of Annihilation as a summer game for some friends last week. I'm definitely putting this revised dungeon somewhere in Chult as a little Easter egg and see how many of them recognize it!

[@TheBigDuck34]

What you should do is, when they beat the tomb of the nine gods, in the final room, they don't encouter Acerak but they listen to his voice and he gives them the BBEG speech and says he is too busy. Once they are over with the dungeon, they found out that he (the Acerak) is located in "The Thomb of Horror's". And that's how you make a plot hook, your welcome

[@eddiemate]

Rodrigo Patino I’ve been watching too much A Crap Guide to D&D. That "you’re welcome" at the end has just made that damned song start echoing in my head.

[@Bidniss.]

@@TheBigDuck34 Awesome idea! Although I'm already planning on having them fight the real Acererak at the end of the tomb of the 9 gods since I allowed them to go pretty nuts with their builds and they all have really strong characters. You bet your ass his phylactery is in the tomb of horrors tho... Now I'm actually pumped to have them race against the clock to try to find/destroy his phylactery in the tomb before he can be reborn (or whatever it's called when a Lich re-un-dies)

[@TheBigDuck34]

@@Bidniss. Thanks, so you make the skull is phylactery

[@forestwizard3663]

this honestly looks like a fun night around the table

[@murmur8526]

A dreamer I see

[@forestwizard3663]

@@murmur8526 Yoda?

[@murmur8526]

I don’t think so, anyways I’m more of a muda guy than a yoga guy

[@ukotoa1639]

Imma say something controversial..... Storm King’s Thunder isn’t as bad as people say it is since lockdown we’ve been playing through and it’s really fun. But that’s just me

[@fizzledimglow3523]

Storm King's Thunder is kinda gr8 when you get right down to it. It's just got a cinematic experience that some people don't like.

[@an8strengthkobold360]

To be fair how fun d&d is, is just as dependent on who you play with opposed to what you are playing.

[@beauvillamor621]

this is a first to me, every thing ive heard of SKT is that is a good module

[@FrostyTheSnowPickle]

My main complaints with the quest are based on: • It has a bunch of crappy descriptions of places. It would be much better if it was sold in conjunction with the SCAG, instead of almost requiring the DM to buy the SCAG to run SKT. • I’ve heard that the first part to get you up to a high enough level to interact with giants is kind of bland, like they just needed something to level you up.

[@maxfenton401]

I agree whole heartedly. I'm DMing it currently, and it's really fun, for my players and me. DM alterations are good though, add character plotlines to help add some meat to the skeleton of the campaign, side quests, etc.

[@CitizenCain1]

Imagine Acererak taking form again and one of the players just breaks the key in half.

[@CynUnion-ji9uj]

Honestly I love the do nothing trap puzzle thing. I first heard the base concept in Unforgotten Realms (spikes and a button. The spikes lower. If you press the button they reset if you wait for the spikes to reach you they go back up and a hidden door opens) and I honestly love it because the players always forget about it for like 5 minutes and then suddenly one will remember and be like "Ohhh you" *sitcom intro music* and we all get a good laugh.

[@knightofarnor2552]

"He died 200 years ago from dehydration" was the funniest part of the video. Something about your delivery I guess.

[@an8strengthkobold360]

The tomb of horrors is the unfair mario of D&D.

[@ronanelliott9709]

So true lmao

[@Alopllop]

That's actually a great idea. Think of it. In Mario the player with enough skill can win, because he has all the information. In unfair mario, well, the player doesn't have all the information. Random things happen all the time, unforeseen events all over. The same is true for normal dnd and the tomb of horrors respectively, so we can take from unfair mario that which makes it playable: trial and error. ¿You knkw the "teleports you to the start of the dungeon"? Screw that, insta-deaths. But there's a rival of Aacerak, a wizard, a trickster in the same vein as the lich, that casted a powerful spell on the tomb of horrors just to screw with him. When a group enters the dungeon area, they enter a loop. When any of them dies, they reappear at the time they entered, but with their memories intact. So they can try again and again... The best part? It's all useless. Aacerak cant beat them, that's for sure, but they can't beat Aacerak either. Yes, they can defeat the demilich and take his treasure, but once the first character leaves the dungeon area *poof* they are at the same time of day as they entered it the first time, without any loot, but their memories intact. That would explain why you have to find the entrance under dirt, any excavation is reverted at the end. The ultimate troll dungeon, no risk, no reward. The complete opposite of the original. (Just give them experience)

[@tomhowell8398]

It's not even that. Unfair Mario requires more skill than normal Mario, even though ti won't save you.

[@codebracker]

Aserak's Kaizo dungeon

[@eddiemate]

At least with Unfair Mario, you just died and had to spend your next life figuring it out with no other penalty. With Tomb of Horrors, losing all your items basically meant you were useless unless you happened to be a spellcaster.

[@irishflynn4967]

DM : "You teleport back to the start of the dungeon!" Player: "Alright, I do the exact same things to get back to the spot I was at." DM: "so you eventually get back to the party after a 5 minute walk" Oh no, how annoying! Three lines of dialogue!

[@codebracker]

Roll inteligence to remember the colour puzzle

[@asioca1992]

Oh no, I failed and get ported back to the start and take 1 damage, whoo. How dangerous

[@metagreen1931]

That's the point. It would properly annoy a character, but only mildly annoy a player. Helps turn it from "metagame or die" to "your character needs to act smart or they will fail"

[@asioca1992]

@@metagreen1931 When the only consequence for failure is a few lines of dialogue and an insignificant amount of damage, it really isn't a consequence. In fact, I'm not even sure it's possible to fail this dungeon unless you're an idiot, since the bulk of the traps do crap damage and a lot of the combat is shit that can easily be bypassed just by walking briskly away while the enemy shuffles behind you uselessly. I'd honestly be insulted if the GM threw something like this at us, because this dungeon only really appeals to people who want to brute force the dungeon without actually having to solve any puzzles to get to the end. The Final Fantasy XIII of D&D homebrew dungeons.

[@essneyallen6777]

asioca1992 well I can tell you that if you play DnD expecting to "fail a dungeon" if you don't "game right" you are at the very least playing a very different game from me ^^" Mind you, I'm not saying your way is wrong (tho I could articulate why that might be) but you should consider that my way isn't wrong either.

[@eflarsen]

definitely think this swung a bit too far in the other direction from tomb of horrors. the point of the tomb is that it's deadly and dangerous and you have to think on your feet and use your skills in strange ways. this dungeon feels like it's just a happy fun romp through acererak's fun tomb boogaloo. you take out a lot of iconic aspects of the tomb, like the green demon mouth door things.

[@UnableToFindName]

Couldn't agree more. I get the whole desire to make the tomb "annoying but not crippling" but this edit takes any and all bite from the tomb and turns it into just, albeit silly, annoyance. I was expecting a more happy medium, but just teleporting characters with zero consequence other than having he DM describe the trip back really sounds like it removes all tension and thought from the experience. It would be like doing combat with a high AC opponent, that only deals 1 damage per turn, but you need to kill it in order to proceed: a lot of tedium, but without the threat of any real consequence. Granted, the original seems like it has tedium and way too harsh consequences, but like @E F Larsen said, it feels like too far of a tilt to the other direction.

[@ranpo_edogawa]

@@UnableToFindName I mean you could use what he made as a basis and add in more punishing/deadly elements. That's what I'm doing at least. It feels easier to edit this one to be more deadly than the originally to be less lethal, so I'll give him that much.

[@matthewferrantino9521]

Gygax created a Tomb he WANTED to be dangerous. Likewise this dungeon creator WANTS this to basically be a safe dungeon. In both cases, I'm willing to play along with "Creator's intent". But *aesthetically* this creator needs to add Green Mouths that do..... something. Basically 4th edition already did all this though. 4th edition is the patch and if you don't want to play EITHER 4th or 2nd edition Tombs, I'm just going to say you don't really want to play the Tomb all that much.

[@darkartsdabbler2407]

No, the point of the Tomb of Horrors is to fuck with people

[@scarecrow2097]

Ι like how your version of the poem isn't only more useful but also sounds more like a poem as well

[@ryanlaurie8733]

WOTC: You can't improve perfection. XP: Makes Tomb of Horrors less infuriating. WOTC: You ruined it, how are DMs supposed to giggle in evil delight as the PCs fail repeatedly!?

[@BigDickWizard6969]

Oh I certainly have a couple ideas on how to achieve that ;)

[@goolabbolshevish1t651]

It was meant to be brutal. Try looking up some interviews with Gary gigax. He was into brutal stuff and rewarding intelligent creativity.

[@fizzledimglow3523]

@@goolabbolshevish1t651 intelligent creativity like actual trial and error gameplay with lethal trial or poking everything with a 10' pole. Super compelling.

[@goolabbolshevish1t651]

@@fizzledimglow3523 never said it was perfect, said it was meant to be brutal. It was released back in 1e after all. They didn't really hit a sweet spot till 3.5 and AD&D

[@ryanlaurie8733]

@@goolabbolshevish1t651 Yes, I am aware of the actual intention, this joke wasn't merely meant to be amusing, not factually accurate.

[@duckshallrule6937]

IMO, the tomb of Horrors is supposed to be a trap for the souls of high level adventurers. Nothing you listed sounded particularly dangerous to high level adventurers, who would be able to snooze through the whole thing. I don't think the fix is to make the dungeon safe and goofy, its to make it less arbitrary. the improved riddle helps, but if the dungeon isn't scary then you don't need the riddle anyway. If I were going to going to make my own tomb of horrors, I would make it *seem* like a reasonably standard, but high difficulty dungeon. This way it scares off low level or inexperienced adventuring teams, and entices powerful adventurers. The trick would be to set it up so that the overconfidence of the adventurers is their downfall. Make each puzzle have an easy solution that costs HP/resources, and a hard solution that is relatively inexpensive. Next, make it seem obvious that short rests will be available through the dungeon. With this combination, an overconfident team will throw themselves at the easy solutions, the barbiarian laughingly taking 100 fire damage because "I have resistance to fire, so its only 50"(with a secret panel allowing the fire to be turned off completely unnoticed). Optimally, they will be hurting a bit when they reach the area that they believe they can rest at, and that's where the horrors begin. The short rest doesn't work. They are either disturbed, or the area is cursed - preventing resting, or making it drain the players rather than rejuvenate them. So now they have to continue the dungeon. They have been throwing away their resources for laughs, and now they have little to spend. The long rest classes will have been a bit more sparing, so the next rooms should have traps designed to make them waste slots. Magic that can be dispelled, steep falls that can be flown over. Make using spells by far the easier option, and the spellcasters wont be able to resist showing off. Eventually the players will notice their resources have gone low, and will start to save more carefully. At this point start hitting the players with curses and poisons. They will have to either burn resources or accept being weakened even further. And *then* you have them go against Acererak. Cursed and without spell slots, they think back to those traps they gleefully ran through with regret. If only the barbarian had that 50 hp they lost. If only we had just climbed the wall instead of flying. If they were only humble at the beginning it would have been a relatively easy fight. --- That's how I would make a tomb of Horrors.

[@gidofter_lukge]

Sounds awesome

[@WhoStoleMyNachos]

I would break this by having my rogue/monk Kevin. He would activate every trap and dance gracefully out of the way taking no damage. Ironically, he's tankier than my Bearbarian just because he never gets hit. It's a running joke in our campaign, in the last 159 attacks towards him, not a single one have landed. His one liners and movie references are too much for them.

[@gidofter_lukge]

@@WhoStoleMyNachos is that still true?

[@WhoStoleMyNachos]

Gidofter mann My dm just straight up gave up and stopped even trying to hit him, so yeah.

[@LeeLee-rx9bd]

I like this more than the video.

[@lordwelldown]

Tasty idea, thanks! i mean, the tomb of horrors is a piece of history for this game for a reason. it suited a different playstyle. in 5e i find, that the game focuses more on the roleplay aspect rather than the wargame mentality.

[@christiantaylor3877]

I started running it with my players last session and it was a bad time, I am LITERALLY ABOUT TO RUN IT AND YOU PUT UP THIS VIDEO. FREAKING SAVED ME THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.

[@harry_ord]

can a group of normal fellows have a good time with this dungeon?

[@filipferencak2717]

@@harry_ord Not really, unless you're cool with dying repeatedly. If you actually enjoy the role playing aspect of D&D (you know, a *role playing* game), you should never run this, as it was designed with metagaming being the expected way of solving your problems.

[@asioca1992]

​@@harry_ord You can, but you need to go in with the proper mindset, otherwise the dungeon's gonna TPK your party early and easily. This dungeon is not a place that you're expected to steamroll through rolls and stats, it's a puzzle dungeon that's designed to test you, the player, and how far you can get into the dungeon without succumbing to the numerous traps littered throughout the place. Also, Mage Hand, Rope+Pitons, and Death Ward will save your life.

[@Pinkstarclan]

Oh man you really fixed this up, I wanna run this now. The way you approached the poem was clever af

[@Guts3570]

after watching both videos, im pretty sure i actually really like the original dungeon and think it should stay the way it was. the whole point was to make an almost impossible dungeon, and it achieves that as annoying as that might be to some people. players are not supposed to survive it, but that fact makes it all the more rewarding and incredible if they do survive it on their first time through. it's not like there is some shortage of dungeons that wont kill your players. the fact that the dungeon is designed to be ridiculously hard is what makes it unique and interesting.

[@Jimmyinvictus]

I can appreciate the work you put into this revision of ToH to adapt it to your players preferences and I'll definitely salute you for that. Having said that, it's obvious Tomb of Horrors is not to you and your group's tastes. It caters to a specific style of play, and some groups just aren't going to like it. This doesn't feel like the Tomb of Horrors at all. The Tomb has such a storied place in D&D history for a reason, and diluting it to this extreme is robbing it of what makes it special. The group's I've run through it look back on it fondly because it forces you to think outside the box, pay very close attention to your environment, and be methodical. Remember: Rob Kuntz (one of Gygax's original players) beat the Tomb solo, with Gygax himself DM'ing. It can be done, and it can be a fantastic experience, but I get the impression it's just not for you and your players-which is totally cool. Cheers!

[@SuedeNWings]

exactly! i also feel it's a difference in what dnd version you started out with or find most entertaining because like 5e is all about simplification and pretty much always rewarding the party. where i didn't play 4e but 3.5 i started on and i nearly died getting to a dungeon on a climb rope test.

[@dsan05]

Yep. Pretty much agree with this. The original is indeed a vicious dungeon and more than unfair in many parts, and if you go in there, you'd best do so with pretty clear expectations, a sense of macabre humour, and some true old school tactics up your sleeve (and if you're going in there without a trusty 10' pole... well, you've got the wrong mindset!). On the very first page of text, paragraph 1 in "Notes for the DM" it says that some people are going to hate it. I see it as a methodical archaeological dig, and as for being unfair... sure, but why would a demilich be fair? The real question should be: is it fun? It can be, depends on a few factors. Personally, hats off to the video for tailoring the dungeon to his group, but sounds pretty watered down to me.

[@BagelBites246]

If by soloed it, you mean one player character with a ton of minions, then sure.

[@dsan05]

@@BagelBites246 think he had 5 orc minions (1 of which he killed himself because it didn't want to go in there... can't imagine why not!)

[@Pistonrager]

@@BagelBites246 that was literally how you played, the characters got minions.

[@shmlorp7927]

The name of Jacob’s version should be: Tomb of horrors 2: Electric Boogaloo

[@kendrickrochelanzot2053]

Were gonna rock Down to electric boogaloo

[@shmlorp7927]

And then we take it higher

[@greasysmith3150]

There already isna tomb of horrors 2, so its tomb of horrors 3: Acerak in Space

[@Shenaldrac]

@@greasysmith3150 Then this is Tomb of Horrors, the reboot that has the same name as the original to make it really hard to find which one you want when googling it.

[@seandevine3695]

I first played ToH back in the dark ages when the cover was still printed in monochrome. I totally agree with you that the original version could benefit from some tweaking. The clues are so vague as to be nonsensical, the players are expected to spontaneously do some extremely counterintuitive things in order to proceed, there are far too many instakills with no chance of avoidance or mitigation, etc. That said, I think you have overcorrected with this version. Your disdain for the original version has seemingly led you to create a parody of Tomb of Horrors rather than a revision for playability. I do like some of the ideas, and will probably steal them if I ever run ToH again, but I think there’s still a better middle ground to be discovered between OG Tomb of Horrors and Tomb of Punch and Pie.

[@MrsNegative1]

Yes I agree! The Zombie and the Skeleton are just too silly and with something like that it would be difficult to take this whole thing seriously!

[@RockyLXXXVIII]

Puzzles aren’t inherently a bad thing. The problem with tomb of horrors is that the “puzzles” are actually just random shit with no rhyme or reason to anything, so randomly guessing and experimenting is the only way to progress through the dungeon. Which is even more of an issue when half the time you will randomly die if you choose wrong. Tomb of horrors is basically “flip a coin to see if you profess or just fucking die”

[@theposhdinosaur7276]

@@MrsNegative1 I actually think the first goblin servant was fine, he serves as comic relief and gives a fascinating insight into this lich which they would think of as just some villain. The other two though are just kinda meh.

[@albertb8517]

Yea, same here. I'm actually running TftYP as a campaign and will be concluding with this. Will repurpose the end to be an actual climactic battle against him and I understand the OG ToH is excessive but I do want it to be a 'tomb of horror'. According to the lore, the in game reason its stupid is purposefully to kill and harvest adventuring souls and if you think about it, how an ACTUAL dungeon should be designed. Not with the solution written on teh wall for all to pass with flying colors like its a toddler's game like other dungeons are. They group will be lv15+ * its the BBEG. I rather go hard. Tell them its the BBEGs lair and meant to be as such. go recruit reinforcements (2 or so PCs they build to use as 10' poles that they can use for the isnta kill traps instead). It may be frustratingly difficult but too far this way is an insult to the journey they had thus far

[@emblemblade9245]

Ethan H It’s basically one of those old point and click adventure games with insanely obscure solutions to puzzles and a dozen ways to kill yourself on the way to figuring them out lol Nooooot very fond of that kind of game design.

[@lawrencehall7516]

I’d personally make it a Groundhog Day scenario. They’re given a fair warning that once they enter they can not leave. Each “death” lowers their sanity until they are mindless/soulless. The resist only happens until all players have died.

[@Enzevil]

Hey Jacob! Would love to see your take on how to make good dungeons, but only if you like to make it! Love your videos as always! Also thanks a lot for your version, it's dope!

[@anfiach]

I don't care for this version but, I always appreciate the effort Jacob puts into his videos. Why must everyone judge it through the lens of the 5e carebear approach? I don't mean that to be insulting either. 5e was designed to be more like a Supers game. The Tomb was designed for 0e D&D. Survival was everything and the game was approached differently. The point was to challenge cocky veteran players. If your character was high level it was an achievement. This is why character death could be so devastating. Why did they republish it then? Money. It is legendary and people will pay for that. Also, let's remember that they would bring an entire entourage with them to a dungeon, as in the characters had minions and servants. Some of those would end up as trap fodder. Adventurers weren't necessarily heroes.

[@bloominninja]

Azerath: The real treasure was friendship! Fine *pulls out tiny wallet counts the people in the party* here's *number of party members* gold... adventures these days always after money *grumbles and climbs back into casket*

[@annamcguiness3866]

Sad that the puzzle with the enemy you just have to ignore is gone. That was my favorite from the original.

[@theufua]

That timer countdown puzzle brings me back to Unforgotten Realms, the far defunct animated series about a D&D-esque game played by two people (one of which was the DM). During the foray into the Tower of Ultimate Wizardry, they found a room with a button. The doors disappeared. After debating over pressing the button, the ceiling starts coming down. IN a panic, they hit the button and the ceiling recedes. After a few seconds, it starts coming down again. Cue a montage of them constantly hitting the button to make the ceiling reset as they investigate, until they give up and just let the ceiling crush them to death. When the ceiling was about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way down, it receded and the doorway to the next room opened. It was the funniest puzzle I have ever seen in my life.

[@superwill1238]

Wow, I love what you did to the place! you turned this misery-inducing dungeon into a annoying fun-time! I know that you don't want us to, but now I wanna run this dungeon for my group

[@ursoanonimo8398]

What I appreciate that Jacob did is that the dungeon now has actual monsters populating the place, where the OG was just trap after trap with no creatures between them, the exceptions being the skeleton and snakes that come out of the chests, the gargoyle and fake Acerarak.

[@ronanelliott9709]

How about this for Tomb of Horrors: The tomb is exactly the same, but the players have been charged with entering it by a demigod or an angel or something. The being has the power to resurrect the whole party (they reappear outside the tomb), but will only do it X number of times before giving up on these foolish adventurers. The tomb is as deadly as before, but death becomes an inconvenience/a ticking clock, rather than a “game’s over, you lose, ha ha” moment.

[@Neutral_Tired]

That sounds pretty good

[@greasysmith3150]

Many run it as a flashback using the current parties ancestors to lead into another campaign and explain why the party jates Acerak which i always thought was cool

[@dsan05]

A good piece of advice I came across an another video on ye olde internet was to have a secretly polymorphed silver dragon helping the PCs out every time they turned up naked at the tomb entrance by decking them out with some abandoned gear left by the many adventurers who ran from the tomb insane... Sounded pretty workable to me... As for demigods raising PCs from the dead, sounds good. Take away at least 1 Con point for each raising (or I'd go 1d4 points)...

[@mojpiesto]

You've found a way to put in extra lives into tabletop RPG. We are getting closer and closer to videogames

[@TheFriendless1]

@@mojpiesto Eh. It's their own game, they can play it however they want. However, if revival by gods is done, there should be a good reason for it, because infinite revives would get stale reeeaaalllly quickly.

[@Zhronos]

Hey Jacob, I ran this dungeon (converted to Mutants and Masterminds) for my players and they had a lot of fun. Some of them had already played the real Tomb of Horrors with me and didn't enjoy it but this time around the puzzles were challenging without being literally clueless and the enemies were tough enough for them to scrape by. Thanks for the edits!

[@immortallord-ot5sn]

Hot take: Jacob's dungeon is too easy. But to be fair tomb of horror is rpg dark souls. Where it's all about dying and retrying over and over. 5e verus of tomb of horror is tomb of annihilation. Where it stupid hard but its save or die

[@asioca1992]

that's less a hot take and more a straight fact. As another comment said, it's the tomb of mild inconveniences now, not a tomb of horrors.

[@immortallord-ot5sn]

@@asioca1992 didnt see that comment true. It feels like a standard level 5 to 10 bbeg boss dugeon. But to be fair the tomb as had decades become so stupid. Jacob probably did a day.

[@asioca1992]

@@immortallord-ot5sn This is the kind of dungeon I'd see a first time DM coming up with an hour before game, you're giving Jacob too much credit if you honestly think it took a day for him to come up with something like this. Literally took ToH and made it a straight hallway with minimal danger.

[@kingcole5977]

@Corbin_Wall, I feel that dark souls is somewhat more fair, telegraphing is its punishments a lot better than Tomb of Horrors. Though I understand your point of trial and error.

[@greasysmith3150]

@@kingcole5977 not quite, this isnt supposed to be a characters first adventure and most older dungeons will teach you how to navigate traps like these, when to hire the right minions, to use your theif to scout ahead, and the almighty 10ft pole. But for modern play its basically a non-sequitr as they dont have the foundation of earlier dungeons designed in this style. For an example of a modern-ish introduction to this style of play try Tomb of the Serpent kings, its meant to be the absolutely most basic teaching module for old school rpg play. And one of its first traps is a save or die.

[@GratiaVOD]

I love how the new poem gives me old radio/bioshock vibes.

[@dm-entores3119]

I liked it except for 2 details. 1) The poem could be a little more difficult to think and reason with slightly more vocabulary and maybe some interesting metaphores there. And 2) Maybe i would say 2d6 or 2d8 for the spikes on the ceiling.

[@YourCrazyDolphin]

I think the low damage is because he intended it to be dungeon that can be cleared even at a really low level, with some cleverness and/or luck. At early levels players can't take a lot of damage.

[@asioca1992]

Even a wizard with 8 CON can survive 2d4 damage on average, which basically means that someone like a fighter or barbarian will be practically invincible here. Also, you shouldn't be running ToH against a level 1 party regardless if you wanted them to survive.

[@TobyBNook]

While I absolutely appreciate how much of your style was put into this, I don’t think this is the Tomb of Horrors. However, it is most definitely the Tomb of Big Bonk. Thank you for your art, kind sir.

[@seankrake4776]

I think gygax’s idea was to make a lot of traps that were instant fails so that way high level characters can’t just use their high mods to breeze through. I like that concept that this dungeon could be just as hard for high level characters as low level ones, that it really is testing the players, not their characters. Having said that it’s very niche, kinda douchey, and it’s difficult to make a truly hard dungeon. You have to make a bunch of riddles, and eventually it boils down to being annoying, misleading, and repetitive

[@EaterGreen]

I think he stated it was to troll people who thought the game or his adventures were too easy.

[@Asnerlicious]

I love this rewrite. Thanks for putting so much energy into a weird idea. A true DM. I have a weird suggestion to add on. You say each clue is consistently bad advice. But the clue: "Let time reach zero to find your end." is not consistent. So what if for this result, letting time reach 1 second and then the door opens, a dysfunticonal trap is sprung on the party. A trap like an iron juggernaut steamroller construct bursts out of a false wall aaaaand... Gets lodged in place, unable to carry out its design. This would pay homage to the original adventure like an easter egg while unifying your poem's clues nicely in agreement with old Asscrack's motives. ✌🏼

[@NonApplicable1983]

You have inspired me to create my own version of this dungeon. I do have plans to make Acererak a more complex and perhaps even tragic character.

[@TheAnthery]

This is kind of just a completely different dungeons that sort of maybe looks like they might be related to the tomb of horrors, as opposed to another version of it.

[@lucasjohns5657]

Yeah, it seems kinda too easy and not at all annoying. It's something that you could throw at the players at an very early level and they'd just run through. At the very least, I'd throw some traps that actually present the risk of death instead of relying only in combat for that. Or change the name to Arcerak's Fun Time Underground Club.

[@dracoblob5233]

You should run this with the group that played the first version of the dungeon Maybe at level 1😂

[@ajallen212]

Nah man, level 0, would be too easy otherwise. That 1 bludgeoning damage would actually be a threat.

[@criticalhorizon]

I agree, this version is honestly a little too easy now. LLvl 1 players could reliably beat it.

[@taelim6599]

@@criticalhorizon To be fair, level 1 players can also reliably beat the original Tomb of Horrors, since its difficulty is not in any way related to the character's power and has everything to do with knowing the correct answers

[@matthewcochran619]

​@@taelim6599 True. The only monster you "have" to fight is the yellow ochre jelly. Other than that you can avoid every monster and point of damage if you already know what to do. However, it's very easy to turn the wrong corner and be insta-killed for exploring.

[@starhalv2427]

I think I'd keep the idea of "you teleport and loose all items" with a twist, that whatever items you lose are replaced by a random item of some kind. Plate armor? You get a nightgown instead. Sword? It's replaced with a key to some locked doors in the dungeon. Purse with a bunch of coins? You get a devouring bag instead.

[@StarkMaximum]

I think this dungeon has too many Silly Quirky NPCs. Yeah they're great fun, but you honestly spent more time talking about Bikbonk and Gary than you did any other room in the dungeon. The fact that you suggest they should immediately join the party also seems really stressful on some GM's heads to improvise not just one cute and quirky buddy, but two who are constantly interacting. I love the idea of a lich who's so bored with immortality that he's taken to building puzzle dungeons to run adventurers through (essentially making him The Eternal GM), but I wouldn't make it Acerak. I'd make my own personal lich character to harass the party and be his own antagonist so I could design future dungeons under his mad designs. And, yes, against my better judgement, I'm pretty certain I'd give him the Skeletor voice, because that voice just will not leave me.

[@whade62000]

"Gary" is a reference/homage though

[@elbruces]

The quirky NPC's are easy to re-skin or re-flavor however you want, though. Just change their names and a few attributes and that's solved.

[@CJ-hh3gx]

As someone who doesn't like being continuously shafted in any game, I appreciate this. I also appreciate you for taking your time to do this. I like what you did and your rationale behind it. Thank you for contributing!

[@yogodagorah5928]

Old-tymie gamer here. You did a fantastic job of making the Tomb of Horrors into something besides what it originally was: An un-fun, lethal ultramarathon designed only to frustrate players and generate smirks from the far side of the DM screen. Well done! When taken together with your pitch-perfect debunking of the Tomb as it’s originally written, viewers get a comprehensive, full-spectrum education on the Tomb’s history, nature, flaws, and remedies. Seriously, this is some impressive stuff. The one and only thing these videos are lacking is an examination of Acererak himself. It’s not your fault, because you’re working mainly off the 5th ed. ToH, and while it captures the flavor of the original Tomb almost perfectly, it’s kind of crippled by the almost laughable 5th ed. version of the Demilich, which has a couple of neat attacks, but can literally be defeated by a sturdy bucket and a 20 lb. rock. The AD&D version of the Demilich first appeared at the end of the original Tomb, and it was TERRIFYING. In a game where save-or-die effects were everywhere, Acererak the Demilich had multiple attacks that were WORSE than auto-lethal (like trapping your soul in one of the Demilich’s tooth-gems, killing your body and preventing resurrection unless you actually defeated the thing), and offered you NO CHANCE TO SAVE. It would literally manifest first as a ghost, zapping you with no-save aging effects, then moving on to the no-save soul trap+body destruction mentioned above, always targeting your strongest remaining party member first. There were only 3 Mage spells and 3 Cleric spells that could affect the thing at all, and weapon-wise, only vorpal swords, swords of sharpness and holy avengers could inflict damage. Worst of all, even if you managed to somehow kill the Demilich, there was a 50/50 chance that any PC soul that was trapped in it would be devoured during the fight, making the no Raise/Resurrect/Reincarnate thing permanent. Yeah, the Tomb was a bitch, but Acererak was the most vehement FU to player characters D&D has ever seen.

[@armorclasshero2103]

Congrats, you've turned a scored tournament module into a linear railroad.

[@immortallord-ot5sn]

Tomb of horror was from a time where it was players vs dm. This dugeon was suppose to get a players not characters you bring 100 characters in so the players can solve the puzzles. The characters were expendable. Dnd has changed alot I think critical role was a big part so was the change to a story focus. This dugeon doesn't work in the current mindset of the game. It was great dugeon for the time period it was made and if you go in knowing this is about the players not the characters. You get no attachments and view characters as stat proxies it really works. But not for all

[@Daredhnu]

yeah D&D has changed and not necessarily for the better.

[@gidofter_lukge]

Critical Role ruined D&D? No, but the fanbase sure did.

[@filipferencak2717]

Yeah. The reason why this doesn't work today is because today we understand what the *role playing* in role playing game means. Actually expecting people to metagame defeats the purpose of D&D. I am aware that this is just my personal preferance. If you like to treat your characters as stat proxies while you solve puzzles, you do you.

[@hackdeen8854]

Darkest Dungeon then?

[@TheBayzent]

There was never a time where D&D was "Players vs DM". I honestly don't get where people get that from. If you get attached to your characters to the point any inconvenience for them troubles you, I really don't know what to tell you. Get help. Do Yoga. Meditate. Anything that can help you tolerate frustration, or you will struggle with depression for your entire life.

[@jacobwaldron5639]

Just ran this with my group and had a ton of fun with it, I did keep in the devils mouth but instead of killing you it immediately swaps you with a Lawful Good Knight who was stuck in there when his party came through, he tries to exchange his knowledge about the dungeon so he can leave the dungeon peacefully, the only way to get back out of the mouth is to put a humanoid creature in to exchange. I might have accepted a dimension door or teleport, but my party handcuff the knight and pushed him back in screaming not to go back the dark place. What way to start the tomb of horrors.

[@wolfancap6897]

Players: *enter the tomb of horrors* Acererak: "Hold on to your buttocks gents, things are about to get spooky!"

[@rob5541]

I've done a few puzzles with unkillable monsters. Usually there's a turn counter till they reanimate. One with a golem, and another with skeletons. The PCs have to place the bones in the indentation of a chair that's ready, bottoms up backwards. They start right to left right leg, left leg etc and it unlocks the door and kills the skeles

[@PsychoMachado]

From Tomb of Horrors to Tomb of Startling.

[@scizormaster6624]

Just finished running a semi modified version of this for some friends as a one shot - it went over so well! Thank you tons!

[@couchcommandoiv5528]

I still laugh, that a section of the dungeon is designed to gaslight players into thinking they already beat it, like wtf Gygax?

[@synashilp]

This is much better than how I ran the Tomb of Horrors. I had five players and I told them all to make four characters. Then, I ran the dungeon as if it was an episode of MXC, with me picking a co-DM to help with mean-spirited commentary. The spot went to whoever died most recently to a trap in the dungeon, so there was plenty of rotation. When two of the PCs died, or twenty minutes passed with no progress, we'd just cut to the next room in the dungeon. It was odd, but we all had a blast.

[@caiawlodarski5339]

I like some of your ideas, but this just seems like a fun sunday night dungeon, not the tomb of horrors. I mean, i don't think the death traps were super fun, but removing them entirely just takes away from the adventure.

[@elbruces]

Key word there is "fun." If you're playing D&D for some other reason besides having fun, you should probably change that.

[@nealorr5086]

@@elbruces People's definition of fun is different. Most experienced D&D players have realized this...

[@packmore9561]

@@elbruces i think the issue is that it detracts from the *story* of a campaign if you use this version - its never threatening and never actually challenges the characters, just the players. which is fine, if you arent planning on running this in a full campaign.

[@shrodingerkat3296]

Yup. This version is too safe and goofy

[@emblemblade9245]

I think death traps should just be turned into “highly damaging or debilitating traps that drain your resources to recover from”. That way smart play is rewarded because it means being better prepared to survive at the end, and poor play is lenient the first few times, but teaches you to be more careful in the future or else you may not have enough resources to feasibly survive at the end

[@robertwells9903]

So I started running this for my group on the side as a one shot and my god we are having a blast! The changes made by you turned the ToH from a boring and exhausting slog to a fun and hilarious slap stick fuck about dungeon that feels satisfying to play the puzzles and compelling to finish! 100000 out of 10 would highly recommend

[@aaaronmiller100]

Wasn't this dungeon meant to be run with several npc's so that they get fed to the traps and the pc's manage to possibly avoid most of the instant death parts? Like 3 or 4 npc's per pc seems like it might have been enough, and keeps the horror intact...and don't forget a couple dozen 10 foot poles.

[@twitchyarby]

It was meant to humble overconfident players who were bragging about how badass their high level characters were. It was first beat by a ?famous wizard? who used a tribe of ?goblins? as cannon fodder to find and beat all the traps.

[@Take_A_Chill_Phil]

This is a great video. Thanks for this modification to this adventure, to actually make it fun to play. Kudos!

[@asioca1992]

This dungeon wouldn't kill a level 1 party, let alone a group of experienced adventurers. Every trap deals little to no damage and/or offers no real challenge to the player. The layout is a linear hallway with little to no exploration or experimentation required to win. There's somehow even less combat in ToH than there was in the Yawning Portal version (which is a feat considering it was already a puzzle focused dungeon) and to be honest, I could see a party getting through this dungeon in an hour with 0 casualties. Also, the poem basically boils down to you subverting expectations, but in the most obvious way that even a child could see through after the first time they encounter it. This dungeon would be annoying sure, but only in the sense that it requires so little thought to progress through that it makes the party want to play the actual ToH just so they can say that they had an actual challenge, rather than the GM handling them with the kid gloves where success is less a matter of if, but when.

[@irontemplar6222]

Agreed. Honestly I think Logan i just way to casual of a player to get the idea behind Tomb of Horrors. Yes ToH was unfair, but thats also because it wasn't ever meant as anything other then a gauntlet for players to test their wits and characters. It wasnt ever used as part of a story it was a standalone character gauntlet. It was meant to show you, your character wasn't invincible. That you shouldn't just take everything without a care in the world. By comparison I prefer the old Tomb of Horrors. This one has no consequences to it and is entirely shallow and linnier in the worst sense. Which could describe most dungeons in 5e today.

[@cowpercoles1194]

@@irontemplar6222 I agree - TOH is a challenge dungeon where the players are trying to beat the scenario. There's nothing wrong with this playstyle, as long as the players are briefed, know what they're getting into, and agree to try it out. No risk = less reward. If you just want light fun around the table, that's fine, but just design a new scenario instead padding the TOH with bubble wrap.

[@chuckshuck3417]

The poem tells you “here’s a clue to lead a quick death any of these options shall do” the whole point is that it’s a guide you still have to use your brain. And yeah original TOH is hard because the poem make’s no sense but that’s just my opinion.

[@TheBayzent]

@@chuckshuck3417 It makes perfect sense...I really don't understand where is the problem with it.

[@michaelkeha]

@@chuckshuck3417 the old poem makes sense if your IQ doesn't double as your shoe size maybe jump start that rusted old imagination of yours and stop thinking video game and start thinking like an adventurer

[@amakaro]

I like it. You seemed to do a pretty good job of pulling it into the modern rpg philosophy while keeping aspects of the original concept.

[@ALBEverything]

Actually you know, this would be an amazing introduction for new players to the game, lots of critical puzzles to get the players to think creatively with nearly every character level.

[@Pandaemoni]

I have only just stumbled on your channel a few days ago and have been binging. This video is the one that finally got me to become a patron (or it will, in a minute or two, I'm typing now). This is great. I would say that, it occurs to me, the point of this Tomb is that Acererak has decided to leave this realm and explore more esoteric questions of magic and reality, BUT he still needs a reasonably steady stream of living souls and magic to feed off of as sustenance for his undead existence (and who knows what interesting magic adventurers may bring him). THAT may be why he created an annoying dungeon that kills most, steals items from some and even randomly lets a few get away by teleporting them to the start of the dungeon (and not, say, into a pool of lava). The random survivors who get away are there to keep the legend alive, as advertising so that adventurers keep trying. I'd also say that when the players are teleported to the start of the Tomb from the first "false" treasure room and fake Acererak (who should be sitting on piled of illusionary treasure), they should lose "an" item (or two), at the DM's discretion when teleported. That's Acererak's fee for entry, and he hopes that some of you will take the "L" and tell people about the experience or plan a return mission where you will ado his advertising and still die next time. Perhaps the false Acererak even threatens that, if they return, they will be teleported into a volcano next time. Then the "teleport trap" feels like a threat and my players like to plan. The planning is pointless in this case, but they will have fun doing it nonetheless, and there will be tension for a few minutes if someone does fall in on the second trip through. Edit: You are patronized. For whatever reason Patreon on showed me the $1, $5 and $10 tiers when I logged in, but saw the others after I signed up.

[@goncalocarneiro3043]

Baby's first Tomb if Horrors. Sounds neat.

[@bakingpaper45]

Thank you so much for caring about something enough to make this

[@Atiklyar]

The best "solution" I think to the Undead King fight would be if you need to kill him with the Silver End of the rod, since he's wearing the crown already.

[@nuckinfutzsf822]

Someone playing it a convention thought to put the crown on the Demilich to win back in the day. The DM called Gary Gygax himself for a rulling and Gygax approved it.

[@matthewcochran619]

id replace the slow rising to a spiky ceiling to a gravity reversing fall to a very high ceiling every time you touched a pillar. That way you can quickly return to the fight but are taking 3-4 d6 of fall damage.

[@Jeffrey_troutman]

In old school D&D the players would 100% have gone to Walden Books, stood in the back corner with the D&D books, and browsed through this dungeon before playing and then pretended like they hadn't. It was designed to still be challenging to the a-hole players who browsed through it in the bookstore but didn't buy it and fully study it.

[@agsilverradio2225]

While the orrigional seemed too unfairly hard, your version seems abit too easy and silly, for what it's suposed to be. Perhalps there is some way to keep it hard-core difficulty and dark tone, while toning down the most player vrs. DM parts; (such as the teliport you and steal your stuff, and charcater-reverser traps.) Keep the demond heads thogh.

[@evannibbe9375]

Ag silver Radio It May make more sense to change up the dungeon by associating pieces of it with every single wizard spell of 8th level or lower in every school of magic. This will require expanding the dungeon considerably, but now the traps are way more interesting: A phantasmal force makes the first player think that their mother is in front of them and is telling him to leave the dungeon or he will surely die (going into the space of the mother sets off a symbol spell of death). Then when they go through the temple, the alter (when touched or otherwise activated) sets off a force cage on the person closest to it while an artifact-like piece of it casts summon minor elementals, or summon lesser demons, or infernal calling at high level.

[@immortallord-ot5sn]

The first was suppose to be unfair because it was player vs dm on purpose. Characters didn't matter they were only there to help the players figure out the puzzles and solve the dungeon this isnt about what your character gets its bragging rights that you were able to beat the tomb

[@immortallord-ot5sn]

@@evannibbe9375 honestly if someone playing the tomb of horror even put any thought about the character they missed the point

[@harry_ord]

@@immortallord-ot5sn monks do away with the issues of losing your weapons.

[@TheBayzent]

@@harry_ord You are all still not getting the point of the dungeon. Levels matter a little and equipment doesn't really matter either. The few enemies in it are stupidly easy, you can change all of them with Kobolds and the dungeon would still be the same. The only hard one is True Acererak, and he only attacks if you touch him, so it is compketely avoidable, and even if you touch him, his Soul Trap is, you guessed it, a "He attacks you, you die, no save". The problem are "Wrong way, you die no save" chunks of it and many of the puzzles being rather obtuse. You can perfectly end the tomb butt naked.

[@odesseus]

I like your take on it. Thanks for making this available!

[@sulfurehessian2002]

Not gonna lie, i think those changes remove the atmosphere of the dungeon. I understand that is a bit too deadly, but experimenting back in the days was the job of the 10 feet pole. If there's something suspicious, you would get the pole and touch everything with it. The demon mouth with the orb of annihilation inside is a perfect example. I think that an NPC that tries that in front of the players could give them this hint (and proceed to die or to gtfo the dungeon).

[@breendart134]

Tomb of Annihilation is the best dungeon crawl I've ever experienced.

[@prinplup121]

I can’t blame you for removing a lot of stuff, because it’s so hard to make a shitty dungeon good without completely changing it. You kept the spirit somehow. I’m very impressed.

[@Pistonrager]

The point of the dungeon was to be bone grindingly hard.

[@Daredhnu]

he didn't keep the spirit at all, the dungeon was supposed to be a test of the players, this one isn't, it's not even challenging to the characters, this dungeon can simply be brute forced considering there are no real consequences.

[@Pottatow]

This is really funny, because I am currently running Tomb of Horrors, and I understand what you're talking about. My players have gotten to the thrones room and we left off where they picked up the exploding wish gem. At this point they're pretty much done with the dungeon wandering the corridors naked, and pretty defeated. Tomb of Horrors was defiantly made to be an antagonistic dungeon that's straight up not fun for players at a certain point. I was set on not changing anything, and having the players suffer. I felt as though changing Gary Gygaxis dungeon was a little sacrilegious, but half way through I just started ignoring traps, and toning down the overt cruelty the dungeon is. The only part that I really liked playing was the cave with the siren. It basically rewards the players for not being greedy, and offering help to some one they just met. Great video and thanks for the insight!

[@SgtAbramovich]

Because my DND group friend watches your channel, we'll never be able to use this :(

[@sagescribe_]

Add your own flavor :)

[@captainallercaptains3578]

Or use it later

[@StabYourBrain]

Have the same Problem with one of my players. He keeps watching Runesmith stuff and whenever i use something i see there for inspiration, he immediately recognizes it, no matter how many changes i make. Players who watch DM Guides are a real pain in the ass tbh.

[@colindarcas6532]

Two notes that might make the dungeon more fun and give a special magic item. The goblin skeleton is a bard of appropriate level to the party and casts spells by telling riddles such as "The more there is the less you see, what is it" and he casts darkness. Also what if you gave rewards centered around the rod and crown. When the rod end is placed into the crown when on a creature it gives a different effect. When the silver end is put in on a living creature it becomes an undead version of that creature and vice-versa when the gold end is put into the crown when on undead. If you put the silver end in when it is on an undead creature it is turned to ash and if the gold end is put onto a living creature the has the death ward spell put on them which recharges at dawn. The rod can be attuned to and functions with both the abilities of a staff of withering and a staff of healing. Once per seven days you can spend any number of charges (7 maximum) to cast a necromancy spell that deals necrotic damage or revives equal in level to the charges spent (you can also upcast spells like inflict wounds at 7th level using 7 charges), The Rod of Balance. They might also realize that the crown can be used to help in the fight but upon placing the crown on Acererak he immediately forms and tries to avoid the person with the rod while fighting and is frightened of the person holding the rod encouraging the team to work together to get Acererak to hold still while they place the silver end in the crown. If they place the gold end in for any reason the rod and crown are destroyed and Acererak becomes a full lich making the fight much harder.

[@willmangrum3686]

Glad to see I'm not the only one planning to steal the Zee Bashew clock puzzle. :D

[@DrMemeD302]

I never EVER use prewritten material. All of it is 100% homebrew. But I think I'm definitely going to use your version of the dungeon when I start my new campaign with my friends next fall after our current one ends, when they'll have newer characters around level 3 or 4, and put them through this (renamed of course so they don't have any idea what to expect). This has all the right puzzles and encounters that I think will make memorable and fun experiences for my players. Thanks so much man

[@bibbobella]

Holy shit I could see the convensation between the zombie and the party being absolutely hillarious P: "So..em..Mr..friendly zombie?..ehh..how did you die?" Z:"Ahh well I was locked inside this room without water or food so after around 3 days ya know..dead.." P:"Wait..what?! He locked you inside for you to die of dehydration?! that monster!" Z: "W..well..yes and no...I mean he did lock me inside but..he didn't really know I would die from lack of water or food" P:"..Huh?..Are you telling me he wasn't smart enough to NOT know that humans need water and food to survive?" Z: "Oh no no! everyone knows that! Obviously..he..just wasnt wise enough to notice my honestly fucking amazing zombie costume!" P: "...you..were dressed as a zombie?" Z: "Yep! best work I ever did! Flawless disguise if I had to say so myself!" P: "And you did that..because?" Z: "To get close to him! Who would expect a friendly zombie to suddenly attack you?!" P: "....e..everyone..fucking everyone would! No wonder he locked you away! He was probably fearing you would suddenly go feral and attack him in his sleep!" Z: "...Ohh...huh...I should have gone for skeleton instead I recon!"

[@jackjazzhands2357]

You dont know how much I laughed at the guy that died from dehydration .. cruel but.. the story was told so flat that made me giggle hard XD

[@shmlorp7927]

Bick bonk is life and I love him from here on out

[@FingFantasticFox]

Ok

[@TheAnthery]

Please stop.

[@cosmissonofwolf4306]

THE TOMB OF MINOR HORRORS

[@thac0twenty377]

Your DnD is so much different than what I grew up with

[@normal6969]

I liked the friendly NPCs you've made. This place for me looked more like a prison than a place to research more spells in undeath, so I'd make the demilich a prisoner, a friendly NPC here, like a damsel in distress. I had an NPC like this in my stories in all of the game systems and words - a simple lich who was convinced by the players to live a bit after constant reseach and experiments. So there is your friendly skeleton in shades and hawaii-patterned clothes, lounging in a deck chair with a coctail, a small umbrella in it. while offering friendly advice to a stuck party.

[@catowarmeowson9964]

"local 5th ed player think's they are smarter then gary gygax and makes the tomb of horrors the tomb of meh, news at 11"

[@Manahyde]

Things I'd probably change about this: 1. Let the players start in front of a perfectly accessible entrance. 2. The players do not remember how they got here, any attempt to leave the area results in the landscape beginning to gradually warp, trees begin to burn, ash flies in the air, the sky becomes red. They are ultimately teleported back in front of the entrance, once they've reached a certain distance. 3. Make the gelatinous cube invisible, and have the items it contains just seemingly "float" in the room. 4. Probably the biggest departure I'd do on the original: First reverse some of your safety measures and make the dungeon unfair/deadly again. Have the characters "respawn" in front of the dungeon as soon as they die, with no memory of having died or even ever having entered the dungeon. If only one character dies, the rest of the group has limited time until long, spectral arms reach out of the walls and into their chests, stopping their hearts. 5. In addition to the poem: Gradually reveal to the characters deja vus about this dungeon. They have a feeling they've been in here before. They remember hints to a solution to a puzzle, even if the actual players see the puzzle for the first time. They always get hints on puzzles the players themselves already solved. Also hint at the characters having been here for a lot longer than they remember. Feeling like having pulled lever X for the nth time just now for example. 6. Have the dead guy holding one of the keys be the corpse of one of the players. Not characters, players. Don't just say "the dead guy is Dave here", but instead describe their looks from memory and without staring at them. Also don't over describe, just a quick stature, hair etc glance over. I'll "explain" further down. If one of the characters actually had the key in a previous run, it's his/her player's corpse. "First" run just go random. 7. The NPCs in this dungeon can be revealed by the spell True Seeing to be Imps. The landscape outside can also be revealed to be Hell, but doing so creates an Anti-Magic Field around the characters and large, deep chasms into hellfire open under their feet. They start back at the entrance. Characters getting the idea to use True Seeing again, after having already done so in a previous run, will be overwhelmed by an immense feeling of dread. Use this for similar failure loops should they come up. 8. If the players just grab stuff and haul ass instead of fighting Acererak: At the entrance to the dungeon, the players are greeted by a Horned Devil, who slow claps on their arrival. Continue at 10. 9. Defeating Acererak results in him just getting up, dusting his robe off, clocking out, and then expressing how glad he is to get out of this disguise for a second. He then transforms into a Horned Devil. Continue at 10. 10. The Horned Devil notices a couple confused faces and explains: Hell took a page out of the book of The Great Tormentor Gary Gigax, and is now torturing the damned by having them run Tomb of Horrors for eternity. You guys (DM pointing at players) must've done some pretty bad things in life. The characters respawn at the entrance of the dungeon, the DM himself "resets" and pretends for the session to be just getting started. End You could probably also run this with characters that have actual background and will be used for later adventures. Maybe get rid of the meta layer (which I know isn't for everyone to begin with), have the characters break the cycle and escape hell. Might also be fun to gradually have their memories return on how they wound up here in the first place.

[@Coophack6584]

7:14 WHAT IF THEY JUST LEAVE AND NEVER GO BACK INTO THE TOMB???

[@clarkmilstead9927]

6:10 this puzzle was also featured in the Rick and Morty dnd crossover adventure and I was happy to see it since after watching that video it was my favorite puzzle ever

[@willw00t]

I really like this, I think you did a good job of keeping the spirit of the ToH and keeping it player friendly

[@immortallord-ot5sn]

It's kinda the opposite of the spirit of the tomb. Which was like dark souls were the point is to have characters die over and over to test the dungeon. Its was never suppose to have characters any deeper than stats. And you always brought backups. That's why losing equipment or changing alignments or even sex didnt matter because there wasnt even suppose to matter. Oh well I lost my stuff. Ill try the next door first so when this one dies I can bring in my 5th backup. Its about player skill not character skill. It was about the players metagaming and trying anything and everything . This is a chill dugeon you put in a level 5 party campaign.