Re-watched this and it occurred to me that, if you were running the Salt Marsh arc, and the players failed at some point that you could pull this module in as a follow-up. Beaten down, the lizardmen now turn to an ancient evil and wake the Lizard King from his long slumber to wreak vengeance upon those who wronged them. Have dead sahaugin start to wash up on the beaches and townsfolk start to disappear from surrounding villages as the lizardmen feed their undead king.

You know your adventure is tough when the 400-year-old dragon isn't the toughest encounter.

I successfully played this module some 20 years ago and creatively linked it with the module N1: Against the Cult of the Reptile God. My party played through N1 first, and the creature to fight at the end wasn't a Naga but was the King of the Lizard's instead. After the players defeated the Lizard King the body was taken by the remaining Lizardfolk and corrupted priests who entombed the body in a ritual burial. Instead of a vampire the Lizard King in my game was a mummy. The mummified Lizard still had terrible powers that made him a powerful foe. The players loved that they were facing an enemy they had met and vanquished before.

lol, Sakatha's scared of a 7th-level cleric, but one of his random minions can cast Flame Strike? Who's really in charge here?

I would foreshadow the Lizard King by having a tapestry hanging in the Count's keep, depicting the military victory of humanoid forces over the Lizard King's hoard. It would establish the existence and importance of this historical figure, without necessarily requiring an NPC to exposite about it at length. Or if exposition does occur, having it be an NPC explaining the tapestry to the players would be a good way to justify it. If you're running this in 5e, I'd recommend using a Young dragon stats for the black dragon. You may even want to lower the AC, HP, and damage output, if it still seems too strong a foe. With the cave encounter - with the wights and the lizard men - one thing you could try is making the lizard men hate and fear the wights. Sure, they're on the same side and won't outright attack one another, but that doesn't mean the two groups like it. So when the PCs show up, the lizard men could deliberately avoid drawing attention to themselves, in the hopes that the PCs will destroy the wights for them. You may even leave room open for the party to use diplomacy on the lizard men, so they can join forces in killing the wights. This, of course, depends on whether the lizard men would be okay with the party then going forward, to potentially kill the Lizard King. But I imagine that there might be a select group within the Lizard King's ranks, who see their undead lord as having fallen from grace. That it's unbecoming. They may decide that it's _better_ that he be killed, if for no other reason than because they don't want to be his next meal.

I would have been disappointed if there wasn't a Jim Morrison joke

Hearing the early description about how the Lizard King is after the descendant of his enemy, and that there was a twist about the final boss, I jumped to the idea that *the Count* was a vampire, pretending to be his own descendant. This whole thing could be rivalry down the ages between a pair of vampires. Give the assassins some anti-vampiric weaponry/scrolls (that Flame Strike isn't a bad start) and a) the PCs might pick up on it and realize what's up with their employer and b) they'll undoubtedly keep the stuff, giving them better odds against Sakatha.

The Count offers his son's hand in marriage, but his son is Vecna.

Nicely done Seth. I tried playing this module as a player 5 times. Each time I made it further than the previous attempt. The DM added Diseases from insects in the swamp, Parana in the water, and Hungry Hungry Hippos. That Idea came on the fly, because his little sister was playing it in the same room we played. I agree with your closing comments.

Pro DM Tip in order to make this adventure more fun for players I’d start them off at 6-7th level and just give Sakatha Legendary Resistance (3/day)

Lets stat out Jim Morrison: I'm thinking Epic Level Bard with a high charisma.

Generally speaking, the AD&D Gratitude conversion rate is 8 Gratitude Units = 5 gold pieces.

Just wanted to say thank you for the review videos of modules. I use modules often and it's always nice to get an idea of challenges you might face running them. I appreciate the time you put into these and want to encourage you to do more in the future.

I like how you give modules that you don’t necessarily like, equal treatment in your reviews. These comprehensive reviews are a pleasure to view!

When I run this, I'm just going to play Jack's rendition of the song and save myself the singing.

As a new-ish DM with a light reading disability I cannot BEGIN to tell you how useful this video was for me!! I love mining old adventures for ideas and adventure arcs but I really struggle with the old school modules both in terms of layout and just in typeface and text formatting. This video is just *chef's kiss* fuckin subscribed, my man

This is one of those deals where you just take an active hand and adjust the encounters to reflect the group at your table, versus the module as written. The entire scenario from start to reveal has so many GOOD things going for it. There's political intrigue, interesting traps, puzzles and encounters.. and of course a dragon! Just scale things back, which is especially easy to do with 5E and just have fun with it. I especially liked the ideas for the rewards you mentioned in the beginning and the time frame for the 'assassin' was pure genius, which I'm totally stealing the next time I run this.

So the module as written calls for throwing 16 to 19 enemies at 9 or more players. I can't imagine getting through any combat encounter of that size in a single play session. "Okay, everyone roll initiative and remember your numbers because there are 15 wights and 35 lizardfolk in the next room, and you only have half a dozen murder hobos left on your side. We'll see how that turns out next week."

Jack's terrible song almost topped Bonesaw for the funniest thing I've seen in your reviews. XD. BUT! Seth, you missed a golden opportunity to have karaoke style lyrics scroll on the video like those old Disney sing along videos. You could of had a bouncing lizard over each syllable as Jack song it. I mean if you're going to have cringy-oke, you need to turn it all the way up to eleven with Z E R O regrets for our ears and your own sanity.

I watched this video 3 times while I worked on Tomb of the Lizard King. I updated it for 5e, ripped out the cavern level and my party of 8, 7th level characters had the most epic time! It was great fun, they still talk about it. Thanks to you, Seth, I was able to run this module and make some great memories for my table! It was so much fun for me to run it, after 30 years away from D&D. Sweet!

Rewatching this specifically for them Jim Morrison dad jokes. Just want to say thanks man, I love your work.

You really deserve more subs and FAST, Seth. Your channel/videos are among the most well-written and produced on the platform, you have great charisma ... THIS IS AMAZNG

Back in the later days of 2nd Edition AD&D, I had a game collapse because my big bad was a vampire with wizard levels. It was an encounter designed to match the players level, but they threw a holy hissy fit when "just a measly vampire" cast magic missiles at their cleric. For me, the fun of being a GM and creating my own adventures is coming up with encounters that break the players expectations.

Totally using bits of this for my current 5e campaign. It's gonna be sick :)

IIRC, that "turned as higher type of undead" substitution was being done in adventures even back in the day. I agree that the author should've also made that simple change. I'm sure plenty DMs did so when they ran it.

I’m surprised , considering from what I’ve seen that most undead are assumed to be human (banshees aside), that they simply didn’t make the Lizard King’s turn resistance far higher as he’s a "monster undead" and stronger than a standard vampire.

Knowing how early modules tended to railroad players a lot, it isn't so surprising that this one does much of the same. The inclusion of the songs though we're a good idea and it was ahead of its time with the monster race vampire. Thanks for sharing your insights into this both from the player and DM sides of the table

The only thing I love more than these old school modules is watching your reviews. Thanks!

Easy way to counter the cleric's turn undead ability without neutering the party would be to give the Lizard King an Amulet of Turn Resistance +5, making the guy harder or impossible to turn.

In my four-player DND group in the early 1980s we always had two characters each: voila, a party with 8 PCs capable of handling any module, with built-in resilience should any PCs die. Not sure why this is not more common. Tomb of the Lizard King was a fun challenge. We had a number of henchmen for this one, thanks to our DM recognizing the need. It was full of mystery leading into a classic "harder-every-step" dungeon crawl. And the final reveal did indeed surprise us. We had a 6th level cleric, but if we had a higher-level one, so what? The DM would have given the Lizard King a magic item or some divine protection that ensured he could not simply be turned. Thanks, Seth, for giving this module some visibility with modern players, and for making some great recommendations to make it even better. I don't agree with your judgement that this is a bad module but agree that it is ripe for improvement, and with the great advice you have given, I can't see how anyone could argue this will be a fun and challenging adventure.

This video jogged my memory hard... I actually own the 1st edition copy of this, and never played it! I had it all these years. It was a hand-me-down and seemed lame. And I have to say: I really appreciate you making these videos!

Just rewatched this when it popped up because I had to hear Jack sing again. That’s one way you know Seth is an awesome GM - he sung it!!! I also like the historical perspective on the innovation of the BBEG here and the use of class / undead levels

This is one of my favorite modules of all time for AD&D. That being said, I'm a huge fan of lizard men and that has probably shaded my view of things. I appreciate your review and I think you definitely point out some shortcomings in the adventure that I had not thought of and some well thought out suggestions that will make this awesome adventure even more awesome and more important... believable for my players. I'll be replaying this just before I actually run the adventure making some good use of your ideas, as usual. Thanks for another awesome vid!

Hell ya lizardfolk I think they're so cool and wish they where used in more campaigns

Seth I have watched almost every one of your reviews, and I have never seen you look as irritated as you have been reviewing this module. As this is my first comment (though I have viewed a ton your your material, and bought a couple book, and support your patreon), let me say I love your work. I have never encountered some one go so far out of their way to make shop talk about the hobby so much fun.

Would love it if you could do a review of Desert of Desolation, or any other desert themed AD&D Module.

I played this as a PC in ‘87?, then DMd it in about ‘90. It is legendary in my group (we’ve been playing together since) as the most original and dangerous pregenerated module we’ve ever run. I solved the issue of the kings reticence by having a rumor table with true, false, and 1/2 true rumors, one of which was that Sakatha was a sorcerous undead monster. Party effectively laughed that one off. The highlights were the 9th level Thief getting melted by the Black Dragon in the first encounter with it, the party charming the Captain of Sakathas guard (8th level fighter, I rolled a 1) and using him to bypass all of the traps, the 70 lizard men at the bridge, and going straight to the High Cleric. The party attacked the Cleric and his minions which caused the charm to break. There was a heavy fight which the party won without getting too dinged up but the Cleric was able to flee to Sakatha. They have chase but arrived in Sakathas lair just as the Lizard King completed his Cloud Kill spell. Four PCs failed their saves in what is possibly the saddest display of rolling at any of our sessions, where I swear the sum total of their saves was less than 20. The two remaining PCs a 7th Level Cleric and a 7th level Magic User got demolished by Sakatha

"Curse" you Seth Skorkowsky. Because you sang the awful "Ballad of Sakatha" in your video, now I have to in mine (which starts at the 16:54 TimeMark on my video).

My honest idea, scrap the lizard king being a vampire and instead have there be some sort of secret ritual happenning that involves tricking the party into killing him because it’ll revive the king as a Demi Lich or high level ghost with magic Just imagine it as the lizard king’s body slumps down dead. The room goes cold and dark and his ghostly laughter fills the room as he rises from the dead and begins either a brief second stage fight or leaves to return once again later on.

I have been looking to run this for a while with 5e. The criticisms you put forth are valid and whats need to be changed to make it playable. That said I might just mine it for ideas

Can’t wait for The Doors module

Had a blast running this one back in the day!

LOL. The Jim Morrison thing was perfect. Now I want to write a scenario where players actually have to fight him.

I have this module from back in the day. Awesome review!

Seth, thanks for another great review. Always informative and always entertaining.

Great review and interesting thoughts, Seth! It is fascinating how far the concept of roleplaying games has come: they evolved to be more diverse, inclusive and maybe even more fun. However there is still much to learn from older games which is wonderful 😄

Possibly my favourite video from Seth. Witty, balanced, and revealing.

I loved that module so much. I got it with the Dungeon Masters Guide and Players Handbook for a Birthday plus Christmas present from my parents. It was a really good module too, plenty of meat.

"I like that shirt, Friend!"

"...super happy fun slide..." Brings back my days at the carnival LMFAO

I remember as a young DM specifically avoiding this module because the player count was so high. At the time I wasn't confident enough as a DM to modify the module

Excellent thoughtful insights. I agree with so much of everything you said - I use your conclusions to edit my own modules I create. Very entertaining video too. I subscribed and will look for your others.

Thanks for the upload

Loving your videos. Would like to see more D&D reviews. I'm a new dungeon master/player looking for someone to hack through the weeds of the past 40 years D&D adventures and recommend the good stuff and tell me what to avoid. The clickbaity Top 10 video style would actually be a good format to use. Detailed reviews are also great. Really hope your channel keeps on growing.

I played that module converted to Palladium fantasy rpg and it was insane but now i know the original for add was even more insane. The black dragon was replaced to nightstalker dragon and the lizard king was an undead lizard mage which made the dragon easier but the lizard king was totally bonkers.

I have not run very many modules in my nearly 40 years of game mastering; I have extensively used the Book of Lairs though and things like that in my random encounters or planned encounters

From my notes when I ran this adventure (for AD&D2E)... Sakatha's Crown This piece of magical headgear, which automatically drains two levels from any living creature that dons it, grants a protective blessing to any undead whose head it sits upon. The wearer is immune to the turning attempts of clerics whose levels are less than the wearer's hit dice, and regardless of level the wearer of the crown may never be destroyed outright via turning. EDIT RE: The stinger. I once constructed a scenario where my players had to have a rap battle with frost giants.

I'm going to run the 5e conversion for our group starting next weekend, after we all agreed we wanted to try a meat grinder, something none of us have played before. I'm pretty hyped!

Hey Seth just wanted you to know I love your content and hope you keep making more, wish I could play in one of your games and you're awesome.

I'm loving all these new costumes Jack gets forced into wearing! He looked so put out being Patch! Fantastic funny video & great review, Seth. Now you do realise you'll have to eventually film fighting Jim Morrison, right?

Funny thing, when you sang that minstrel's song, I thought that the ring the lizard king had was going to be a pivotal point. I wasn't expecting him to be a vampire; I was expecting him to be a lich and the ring would be his phylactery, and for the players to truly destroy him, they'd have to destroy his ring, and if any of them put that ring on, they'd have to save against being possessed by the lizard king's spirit, otherwise in time he would take over the player's body and they would transform into a lizardman themselves, fully resurrecting the lizard king once again.

Jack's rendition sounds like something off a Rain Dogs-era Tom Waits album.

From re-reading some of my old AD&D modules, they did use to have an unrealistic number of player characters as their target. A typical number of players round a table (these days especially) must be significantly lower than seven to nine - G1-3 Against the Giants expected the DM to rustle up nine players for the campaign! There's echoes of MMORPG trends here, where they cater for more casual gamers (i.e.: with actual day jobs, families and social lives) nowadays. 4-6 players for Tomb of Annihilation is far more realistic.

SACRILEGE! THIS MODULE IS AWESOME! Had a lot of great memories attached to this one. All kidding aside very good review

Thanks for making theses great videos..well done.

Nice. Great to see another classic D&D module reviewed. Any chance of maybe doing Keep on the Borderlands?

Epic Bard battle featuring your party's Bard vs. Jim Morrison!!!

Okay, I know I'm not the only one who rewatches all these for the sheer entertainment value. That being said, how am I just now realizing Jack has (had..?) beef with Jim Morrison?!

Why not just make the baddy a lich And allow much higher level clerics?? Would it be inconsistent with other parts of the mod? Are lich lizards not sexy enough?

An excellent review, thank you. I know I played this module many years ago but I don’t remember it anywhere like you described. I suspect my DM may have fudged the game a little. Good singing, Jack. Better than I could do.

Love the I series...some of the most exciting action packed modules ever made.

I see your Jim Morrison and raise you: I ran a PF module (my first!) and had the characters smell sausages randomly, dream about pork products on long rests and have hallucinations of pigs every now and then. When they reached the evil wizard at the end and defeated him, they removed his mask to find out it was Kevin Bacon all along.

One of the few AD&D modules I don't have....still on the fence if I want this one. Great review as always, does look like it has some fun parts though.

That song was terribly painful, yet also hilarious. Good show chap!

5+ year old module review I'd long since given a 👍 to? Ok algorithm, you know I'm game.

A dragon, evil clerics, 16 wights, death traps, a vampire wizard lizard king.... brutal.

I had the crazy old raft guy put the black dragon in a glass ball as payment and walk away it was pretty funny considering the fact I accidentally made it a ancient black dragon

I Agree with Seth on what he gave for the Tomb, I mean at the time it was a great improvement to the RPG scene but they really did put a lot of stop gapes to the PC's. Great job Seth :) Also I love the song

My DM just ran us through this, so now I can watch the vid!

Great video. Just subscribed to see more videos from y'all.

:D i like the idea of the count giving out dollars. Great video.

I used this module in a savage frontiers game, in forgotten realms, that I introduced my players to a bunch of old-school goodness. Early on, they did the palace of the silver princess, and found out that the princess was a distant relative of one of the PCs (This played into the campaign’s climax). As they helped this kingdom integrate into the world of the party, settled in the village of Restinford where they played through the sinister secret of sal marsh and eventually to the secret of bone Hill (the wraith at the end of this adventure was the one who cursed the silver princess), And after a few adventures out of dungeon magazine, they braved the tomb of the lizard king, Where they also fought an avatar of Demogorgon 😈.

Jack the NPC is wearing a "mountain of daggers" medallion.

Loved the Jim Morrison reference!!!

I'm glad you call out some modules as outright bad. There's a lot of meatgrinders out there that have no concept of the roleplay aspect of roleplaying games. They just want you to throw paper-thin characters at them to die, and they're written with only that surface-level interaction in mind. I think a lot of convention modules are so railroaded and superficial, you'd be better off assigning a chat bot to play them. Good RPGs happen when you drop the lethality and let the players engage with the game, invest in their characters, and be interested in what's going on. Don't make it a cakewalk -- threats should still be threatening -- but death should be a threat not the central goal. This module was made before we'd really formalized these ideas.

I appreciate the singing of the songs!

I NEED THAT SONG for a ringtone! NOW :D

In AD&D, henchmen, retainers and hirelings were a common way to increase the number of characters (NPCs) in the party.

Heh. Classic dungeon crawl logic ... Lizardman 1: "Shhh. Did you hear that?" Lizardman 2: "What? The noise of magic and fighting in the neighbouring location? Yeah, same ol' same ol'." L1: "Shouldn't we do something? Like check it out?" L2: "Nah. we've only been paid to guard this particular cavern. Being a wandering monster is above my paygrade."

Seth, this makes me think: I’d love to see you get into DCC!

Could start giving the players the pregenerated characters to start out with. Tell them to just roll with it. Put them in the middle of the dungeon with absolutely no context. Have an hour of that hack and slash before (maybe?) they get to the vampire lizard and die. Then have one member of the party wake up and it was a dream premonition. Now they’re playing their real characters and are somewhat forewarned.

Jack did a great job singing the Ballard!!

In the boss encounter, the lizard king should sing a terrible song before the fight starts.

I bought and read this module back in the day but never had the chance to run it. After watching this review it seems fortunate since my players would have been annihilated very fast and I certainly wasn't an experienced enough DM to make the necessary modifications to it to make it survivable for them.

I also need to use spells on my boss to figure out what is going on. Sadly I don't have any, so I'm stuck being called after the fact because he's angry I didn't do something he didn't tell me to do.

I'm thinking about running my 5e group through this....and one of the rewards might be Bonesaw.....btw I will not have to sing it, Jack will sing it for me mwahahahaha.

great vid, keep it up

You've been playing D&D for almost thirty years?! Man... I feel old, considering I was born in the 90's.

A meat grinder of an adventure for the proposed levels Seth, unless the PCs are both experienced & have some good magical items/spells. Ironically, that tournament style of the adventure is also what makes me want to run it as-is just to see how far one can get into. In that case, it would be similar to running a DCC RPG funnel adventure only for higher levels. Your suggestions are all good but what made me subscribed instantly was the ballad :+)

That would be perfect twist at the end, thanks to Jack, the NPC