The Isle of Dread

The game module included in the latest D&D Next playtest packet is The Isle of Dread, a sandbox environment that's chock full of King Kong-style escapades (ancient jungles! giant apes! rampaging dinosaurs!), but with little guidance for the Dungeon Master. The adventure requires a lot of preparation; I'm reminded again that 4e adventures spoiled us with their carefully crafted encounters and DM-friendly layout. Of course, 4e adventures also tended to be monotonously linear and scripted...but I digress.

The Isle of Dread is adapted from a 1981 adventure that was included in the D&D Expert Set. While the Basic ("red box") Set introduced me to the D&D game, the Expert Set introduced me to the D&D world -- TSR's campaign setting of Mystara and its many nations. Mystara was the setting for my first campaign as a player (run by Brian, the older brother of my good friend Kevin, in the mid-to-late '80s) and later my first campaign as a DM (which started in 1989 and was the last Front Porch campaign actually played on my parents' front porch).

I may not be especially pleased with the current state of the D&D Next rules, but I did feel a genuine tinge of nostalgia when I saw that The Isle of Dread was included in the packet. I have fond memories of poring over those maps (so many maps!) and planning expeditions into the untamed wilds of that mysterious and dangerous island. Perhaps one day I'll return there...but only after Wizards fixes the damn game rules!