The International Dungeon Design Competition

TSR Periodicals' International Dungeon Design Competition (IDDC) was advertised as "A Contest for Advanced D&D Dungeon Designers and Masters of Writing, Designing and Imaginative Skills".  The top three entries were published in "The Dragon".

Ad for "The International Dungeon Design Competition" appearing in The Dragon #21 (December, 1978) - #23 (March, 1979).  Deadline was extended to May 1, 1979 in The Dragon #24 (April, 1979).

While the 1e Monster Manual (1977) and 1e Players Handbook (1978) were available, the 1e Dungeon Masters Guide wouldn't be released until August, 1979 (although a 9-page "Sneak Preview" was published in The Dragon #22.)

The winners of the IDDC were announced in The Dragon #32:

The easiest decision, surprisingly enough, was on the winner, which we are proud to present in this issue. Judging an endeavor such as this requires a great deal of subjective evaluation, and we felt the the more judges we had, the less important that aspect would become. As it turned out, all of us were in complete agreement as to the winner. All of the finalists were strong entries in more than one area. The winner, though, had the best combination of imagery, imagination, design, deviousness, and originality in one package.

The Dragon #32 (December, 1979)

The judges were Tim Kask and Jake Jaquet (editor and assistant editor of "The Dragon", respectively) with input from the design department at TSR.  Decisions regarding second and third place were more difficult, possibly accounting for the multiple honorable mentions.

First Place:

Karl Merris (San Diego, CA) "The Fell Pass"

"The Fell Pass" (16 pages) by Karl Merris was published in The Dragon #32 (December, 1979).  Title page illustration also by Karl Merris.

Legend and Introduction:

Along the caravan routes that tie the Cities of the West to the Kingdoms of the East, many tales are told of the mountains called the Towers of the Sun. One of these legends concerns a dark road said to be hidden among the twisty trails that spiderweb the mountains. Into the earth the road leads, into and through a series of vast caverns filled with treacherous traps and cunning monsters.

"The Fell Pass" from The Dragon #32

The Fell Pass may be situated within any mountain chain in a DMs campaign world.  It is divided into three major sections (the West End, the Lower Caverns, and the East End).  Room descriptions are interspersed with tips for the DM and entertaining commentary by the author.

Although clearly written using the AD&D Monster Manual (one encounter involves jackalweres) and AD&D Players Handbook (a 10th level NPC cleric has AD&D spell progression, including "flame strike"), "The Fell Pass" has an undeniable, freewheeling, OD&D aesthetic.

Author Karl Merris recounts its gaming origins, in a post on Facebook:

The original Fell Pass from my campaign was a much larger and more empty location than what you find in the module. Given the constraints of the contest, I had to cram my favorite bits close together, so as published it seems overly crowded. Please imagine long galleries of shadow connecting each of the encounters.

Some of my favorite bits: "Poisonous" snakes whose bite acts like a potion (inspired by a comment by WC Fields: “I always carry a small snake.”). Casrac the Mountain-Splitter, a willful weapon that deliberately seeks strong but stupid wielders. The "Geyser Djinn." The Treadmill.

Karl Merris (July 10, 2014)

The adventure was reviewed here, on Dragonsfoot (June 17, 2018), and appears to be best suited for character levels 5-8, based on comments in the thread.

(Module X5 "The Temple of Death" (1983) by David Cook includes a section called "The Great Pass", which is similar in certain respects to this adventure.)

Second Place:

Stephen Sullivan (Sharon, MA) “The Pit of the Oracle”

"The Pit of the Oracle" (16 pages) by Stephen Sullivan was published in The Dragon #37 (May, 1980).  Illustration by Jeff Dee.

"The Pit of the Oracle" describes the town of Narrion and surrounding lands, a mini-sandbox, similar in style and presentation to the wilderness area described in the original version of module B3 "Palace of the Silver Princess" (1981) by Jean Wells.*

*Sullivan was hired by TSR in September, 1980 and is credited, along with Edward G. Sollers, with editing and production for the original version of module B3.  He reminisces about assisting Wells on the module in this post on Facebook

The implied setting* for the adventure is the same as in the D&D comic ads (for which Sullivan wrote most of the scripts):

I was really writing the D&D comics as if they were set in my game world of ILLION, though not in any specific place, and Narrion and the rest of that adventure as well.  Heck, I wrote Pit of the Oracle while I was in college, before I went to work at TSR, so clearly it was/is more my world than anything from TSR.  (Though the editorial change of my white box Balrogs into far more powerful demons probably completely unbalanced the setting!

Steven Sullivan, from a thread on the Piazza (August 1, 2021)

*also the setting for Sullivan's "Twilight Empire: Robinson’s War" comic, illustrated by John Hebert, and published in Dragon starting with issue #156 (1990-1994).  The strips were collected and released in graphic novel format in 2011

Sullivan makes excellent use of the "Featured Creature" from The Dragon #7 (June, 1977), a monster which didn't make it into the 1e Monster Manual, as well as "the Jarkung" from Creature Feature Contest #1, published in The Dragon #14 (May, 1978).

A rudimentary map of the town of Narrion is included, as well as a table of rumors and legends, an imaginative two-level dungeon, table for wandering monsters, and new monsters (elemental demons/gremlins, and a unique monster, "the stalker").

The adventure was reviewed here, on Dragonsfoot (December 19, 2017).

Third Place:

David Luther* (Denver, CO) “The Halls of Beoll-Dur”

*co-authored by Jon Naatz, Dave Niessen, Mark Schultz

"The Halls of Beoll-Dur" (16 pages) by Dave Luther et al. was published in Dragon #41 (September, 1980).  Illustration by Roger Raupp (signature is "Roger" in Tengwar script).

"The Halls of Beoll-Dur" describes a three-level dungeon, the former stronghold of a dwarven clerical order, built into the rim of a volcano.  It is designed for characters of at least 8th level or greater.

The adventure has a Tolkienesque feel, although lacks a specific hook.  (It seems to be intended as an adventure location the party stumbles upon while exploring in the wilderness.)

The characters may encounter a dwarven god, based on Zeus from "Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes" (the relevant passage is reproduced).*

 *"Deities & Demi-Gods" was released around August, 1980.

The adventure was reviewed here, by Fractalbat (February 18, 2014).

(Solo module XS2 "Thunderdelve Mountain" (1985) by William Carlson is a similar adventure.)

Honorable Mention:

Richard Cambra (Aurora, CO) “Death Keep”

David Craig (Tacoma, WA) “The Demon Orb”

John Hopper (Chester Springs, PA) “The Pyramid of the Jaguar”

Gay Peyre-Ferry (Media, PA) “Heimdallson’s Hall”

Kenneth Ritchart (Boulder, CO) “The Castle of the Thusinsu”

Grant Sigsworth (Coronado, CA) “The Logic of Chaos”

Gerald Strathmann (Waukegan, IL) “The Stronghold of the Black Earl”