IDDC II - Advanced Division

TSR Periodicals' Second International Dungeon Design Competition (IDDC II) was divided into Basic and Advanced Divisions.  (Basic Division entries were covered, yesterday).

List of IDDC II - Advanced Division winners, appearing in Dragon #53 (September, 1981).

The IDDC II - Advanced Division winners were announced in Dragon #53 (September, 1981).  The top three Advanced Division entries were published in "The Dragon".

As might have been expected, the overall quality of the entries took a distinct step up from the previous contest. What was not expected was the great increase in quantity — nearly 200 entries were received for the AD&D™ division of the contest, and every one of them had to be looked over before we could make even the most preliminary selections.

Dragon #53 (September, 1981)

First Place:

Howard de Wied (Boston Mass.) "The Garden of Nefaron"

"The Garden of Nefaron" (16 pages) by Howard de Wied was published in Dragon #53 (September, 1981).  Title page and interior illustrations by Jim Holloway.

"The Garden of Nefaron" is the only AD&D adventure I'm aware of that involves psionics (one of the monsters encountered includes a ki-rin).

A new monster, the "guardian" is described (a magical construct), as well as a new magic item "Merithus' Mist Maker".

Finally, the properties of "psychogems" are described (a powerful NPC is trapped within a psychogem, a form of crystal prison, similar to that in revised module B3).

Second Place:

Michael Malone (San Diego, Calif.) "The Wandering Trees"

"The Wandering Trees" (16 pages) by Michael Malone was published in Dragon #57 (January, 1982).  Title page illustration by Harry Quinn.  Interior illustrations by Quinn and perhaps Jim Holloway.

"The Wandering Trees" is more of a mini-setting, than a dungeon adventure.

It’s a change of pace, in a lot of respects, from what we have come to call a “normal” module. (Which is about as hard to define as a “normal” game player...) And it worked out sort of nice that our special inclusion for the chilly month of January is an adventure through a forest that is alive with greenery (and other things besides!)

From "Cover to Cover" in Dragon #57 (January, 1982)

The adventure was reviewed here, on Dragonsfoot (September 23, 2019).

Michael Malone also wrote module B8 "Journey to the Rock" in which the PCs need to locate one half of a magical talisman.  ("The Wandering Trees" might be a good location for the other half!)

Third Place:

Jennie M. Good (Groton, Conn.) "Quest for the Midas Orb"

"Quest for the Midas Orb" (11 pages) by Jennie Good was published in Dragon #61 (May, 1982).  Title page and interior illustrations by Jim Holloway.

"Quest for the Midas Orb" involves a two-level dungeon and includes a description of the Midas Orb, a powerful magic item.

Fourth Place:

Douglas Selph (El Cerrito, Calif.) "Obeatus Vigilard"

This adventure was never published.

Fifth Place:

Michael H. Reitzel (Sagamore Hills, Ohio) "Catskull"

This adventure was never published.