It's interesting to see this review as there are a lot of things here that are shown as weaknesses, that from my experience playing this in B/X D&D I saw as strengths. The unnamed NPC make it so I could tie things into my own world & the dungeon wasn't a problem as my group runs with a large number of retainers when needed and that resolves the balance issue easily without effort (if they still have trouble, drop a few extra scrolls and potions to get them through). I can totally see from the approach of a modern gaming adventure module writing that these things would totally be a negative and that's just not how people usually play the game anymore. Kind like the point you made about the maps, that they aren't in the best place when viewed in pdf, but the original print version had them all as pull outs. You mark this as a negative, I see it as a lost positive. Having the pull out maps was amazing. Prep was easier, playing was easier. But again that's because I'm approaching it from a table top pen and paper perspective, whereas many players, dare I say the majority, now play online, so pull out maps is a right pain in the ass. Glad to see people are still playing ands appreciating this epic module. If you ever get a chance play it with Ad&D or B/X or BECMI d&d it plays even better!

The box sets were not bad for what they were. The adventures were ok, but neither were really plus adventures. The problem is with D&D fifth edition itself! The game is too hard to run, tends to run too slowly, and not as well constructed a game as it should be.

5E sort of switched around the Wraith and Spectre - the Spectre used to be the real nasty one.

Great review! Thank you

I think you need to put into context that this is an OLD module written during a time when MANY of us were just thankful to be playing this great game. As long as TODAY'S DM is honest with his/her players that this is a railroad module, im sure a good DM will make adjustments to make the players feel like they have more agency..

Why does this module need "Sensitivity Consulting" as mentioned by Teos on the Mastering Dungeons channel?

The lizard king is what Bart Simpson would’ve become if he had drunk the water in Duff's world instead of Lisa.

While technically it might be considered piracy, i think its fine if you already own the books and dont want to buy them all over again, but im one to talk cuz i dont have the books :/

This was exactly the information i needed.

Hickman = railroad. Not a good designer imo.

In oldschool D&R they Level Drain.

I've got to disagree with a lot of the comment here. Yes, it's contrived. Yes, it's a railroad. But I've played it as a DM 3 or 4 times and I played the Desert of Desolation series start to finish as a player and I loved it. We had a lot of fun. It was a game of it's time and while by modern standards it's got its short comings, in the moment and at the time it was as good as module's got.

spoken audio is mixed crazy low but the intro music is regular volume. bout blew out my speakers

Why not both and combine the best of both? I am not trying to be sarcastic either. I am new and genuinely want to know. Is there some sort of incompatibility I do not know about?

I want essentials kit

A good and fair review. We just finished the I3-5 series using AD&D 2E, and while I liked the monster fights a lot, the path was very railroad-y.

Lost mine is an awesome adventure. Its a ton of fun to play and to run as the DM. Dragons of icespire peak is a bunch of great locations with only a so so story stringing them together. Its a lot more work for the DM.

I still have a great feeling for these three modules. I definitely try to avoid the railroad with my players. Loads of fun. Interesting dungeons. Some clever magic items. Loved the Skysea and enjoyed the adventures through the three realms. Time Chaos and Death? The third one was generally the weakest and felt like a rehash of what we'd seen before in the first two modules. Black abyss is a disappointing resolution though I love the travel through the abyss. We killed the NPC's while chasing them through the abyss. I will want my players to defeat the evenly balanced giant monsters. More time there? Is that a joke? Harsh.

This was great dungeon with a fun Egyptian theme 17 years before Brendan Fraser and the Mummy. The railroad to start was annoying and then you are basically stuck on the rails out in the desert, but honestly, in the day, we were there to play whatever module the DM had worked up. Kicking against being thrown into the desert because of some crime you didn't do was pointless. Lets go play the module. You can rework the start so it doesn't insult your players. That is mostly what I objected to. It's been so many years , do they send you into the desert without your magic items too? Cause I wouldn't do that to my players. Love the Hickman dungeon, the atmosphere, the fact that you can't immediately make your way in to this secret place. They also put together interesting tricks traps and magic items in these three modules. Loads of fun.

This site has worked for me occasionally, but is down more often than not. A few times now that I've been using it, I click to another page and it shuts down on me, becoming unusable for a few days or more. I've looked everywhere for information on the site, anyone have any idea why it's so unstable?

i enjoy the oasis setting as well, , but i have one *huge* questionmark regarding the writing: why i anu's name are the dervish cultists all of a sudden described as evil? this makes no fucking sense. in bralizar and around the pyramid the dervishes were an interesting group with beliefs not tolerated by the durpari majority, but with their own rules and customs. why are they now worshiping "evil" deities and following clerics with zombies and all that crap? i couldnt belief what i was reading, after such nice descriptions of the oasis settlement, the temple of set and evil cultists make zero sense.... i am puzzled.

This is great! Looking at these for ideas for homebrew desert setting. Won’t be running as is at all, but sounds good for scavenging.

This is quite helpful! Looking into these for inspiration for my own homebrew desert. Won’t be running it as written, but hope for some interesting ideas.

Very good review. The Desert of Desolation adventures are 2nd only to I6 as my favorite old school modules. I have great memories running these back in the day!

oh surprise, a hickman module thats really a railroad

All great points in this review - thanks for doing it up! I've been DM'ing a long time, and so know to not necessarily take any module 'as written', but to adapt to what my players (hopefully) will love. With that in mind, I've been taking one of my groups thru "the classics" that I remember from the 80's hobby store shelves but never played myself (updated to 5e rules). So far we're done 'B7 Rahasia' (great), 'B4 The Lost City' (amazing, especially after your expand out the undercity), and into 'X8 Drums on Fire Mountain'. After that I pushed them deeper into the desert and we played 'I3 Pharoah' (the desert exploration was probably better than the pyramid itself) and 'I4 Oasis of the White Palm' (this was the module I was least 'sure' about, but it turned out to be a highlight -loads of role-playing intrigue!). We just started 'I5 Lost Tomb of Martek' this week: the bones are all there for a great adventure only, like you said, it all requires some additional work by the DM to make it run best. The Skysea "special encounter table" in the module has a number of great 'starter' ideas (pirates, ghosts, and ghost-pirates!), and when they reach the 'Garden of the Cursed' section I have some old 'bad guys that got away earlier in the campaign' that are going to show up again (including an old friendly NPC that they 'lost' back at level 4). Oh, and you can be sure it'll be the PCs who take down the Efreet at the end-game, not Martek! ;)

My only complaint so far is that the artwork led me to belive that the characters would be from the cartoon I watched as a child. Oh well still having fun.

Love this module. It needs some work but was always much more playable than the Assassin's Knot which was another "mystery" module that came out at the same time. I always bring in characters who have had at least one other adventure and are at least 3rd level to start. Like to have the PC's coming to Orlane to pick up an NPC they met in their last adventure. Their friend is missing and their mother/wife/brother /husband doesn't know what happened to him. They beg the party to try to find him. I always turn down the Overpowered NPC who aids the party. The first time we played he ended up taking over the adventure and we were mostly along to transport him. I have him blind and only able to see through his Familiar's eyes , Whiskers the Weasel's . I also have him very old and frail. Played this twice , the second time I was a mute, and Dmed it twice. It was very successful each time. Only one near TPK which is a definite possibility if this module isn't worked with. It doesn't have the breakneck speed that Assassin's Knot had . I have seen two complete fails with The Knot and just way less fun play. I always have the players up at least a level or two during the module. Four fifth level characters whould have a good chance of success. This one is lots of fun. Love the Temple of Merikka and I have had dawn ceremonies at the temple where the local worshippers come by for hot porridge before they move on to the fields to work. The locals are complaining that the porridge isn't as good as it once was, less berries, no hot cream. Lets players see the temple and maybe get a first hint that things aren't as they should be but also have the temple as a functioning part of the town.

This genuinely helped me a lot, just got some friends together and were planning on starting D&D sessions in October :D

I do the 5 seconds in other adventures . After a while , my players figure out I was doing that . I would suddenly count to five then start rolling dice behind the screen . It would get them worried even when I did not do anything to them

Don't forget the Percentile dice buddy :) Thank you for the tips.

Okay My least favourite of the three modules . We did have an inexperienced DM who ran it and he was a little rigid in what he would allow. Appreciate your review.

This was extremely helpful. Now I know what I need to mod if I decide to run the Desert of Desolation series. I like that you pulled no punches in your ratings too.

These reviews are the best of their type I've yet found. I hope you make more.

1982, a year before Duran Duran released Union of the Snake kzfaq.info/get/bejne/pJygaLRnxLCmlac.html

Weird, every other review of the essentials kit says that Dragon of Icespire Peak is fantastic for first time DM's and its ranked pretty high on most ranking of premade adventures, where as the one from the Starter Set usually gets called good for a group new to Dnd but overall pretty uninteresting and railroady.

this has to be the worst time to find this video (At the time of writing, wikidot is down)

I fought a imbuded wight in icewind dale an couldn't understand why I couldn't hit him

Oh yeah… here’s the music I wrote about this module because I love it so much… feel free to use it if it suits your take on it. It exists for no other reason… kzfaq.info/get/bejne/p9t3Z5ae3qmWe6s.html

Shameless self promotion, based in serious love for this adventure…. I wrote a double album of music about/for this module, which I played as a lizardfolk Barbarian. Back in the day, I was aware of it but never got to read or play it (I’m 50)… so the mature take my DM of 32. years took, while being true to the letter and spirit of the original module, so inspired me I made this music about it. It’s free should anyone find it matches their game’s mood/feeling…. links to follow. Love this module! PS: “Gorgarex” and “Last Egg” are references to the customization of the module, wherein GORGAR the albino outcast lizardfolk turns out to have a very dark and surprising lineage, eventually rising to take Sekatha’s place as Gorgarex - the Last Egg…

Did this even make the list in dragon magazine

Can any premade adventure like curse of Curse of Strahd be played by a DM and 2 pc's?

I think this adventure would make a good escalation of the Saltmarsh arc. Either have the lizardmen awaken their ancient king or have modify the backstory so that Sakatha isn't so ancient but he either makes the wish to help him defeat his enemies or or he had made it when they go through the events of the The Final Enemy, I think the awakened king angle works better if you wanted to fit it into a continuation of the Saltmarsh story.

I am using the city as part of Isle of Dread. I am placing it inside the caldera instead of the normal island that is found there. I am coupling this with The Lost City and Zargon in place of the kopru as the BBEG.

Don't listen to this guy you need the starter set I have the starter set and this guy is lying.smh.

i played the set in its original print way back in the day and always thought the glass sea was under played

I have fought dozens of these guys at once, luckily they are not resistant to psychic and have a pretty poor INT save so going first an dropping a synaptic static on them makes them pretty manageable, since they will miss most of their attacks. They also have a pretty poor AC so that helps.

Although this video ends with the recommendations of taking the essential kit, I still wish to try the Starter set first just because the essential kit story seems too overwhelming. Nice video though.

Wow, that intro is loud.

I'M GETTING BOTH!!!!