X1: The Isle of Dread

Module X1 "The Isle of Dread" by David Cook and Tom Moldvay was released together with the D&D Expert rulebook as part of the D&D Expert Set (1981).

While the D&D Expert rulebook contains most of the information necessary to design wilderness adventures, this module is another tool.  It is a graphic example of what a wilderness adventure may be.  It allows the DM to learn by experience about wilderness design and supplements the rules given in the D&D Expert and Basic Sets.

The Isle of Dread (1981), pg 2

Much of the module describes the Isle of Dread, although a two-page continental map and key were also included, with capsule descriptions for the setting, which eventually became known as Mystara (to be covered in a future post).

Players Map for the Isle of Dread.  Note similarities to the map from the Source of the Nile board game (Avalon Hill, 1979).

As with module B2 "The Keep on the Borderlands", Wizards of the Coast used "The Isle of Dread" as part of the D&D Next Playtest in 2012, introducing several new plot hooks.

David Cook discussed his collaboration with Tom Moldvay to create the adventure in this interview on Grogtalk (June 20, 2020) from 1:07:54 to 1:11:24.

Moldvay was primarily responsible for encounters involving the outer part of the island, while Cook was responsible for the central plateau and taboo island.

Introduction:

The PCs discover a partial map and part of a ship's log describing the island, in addition to tales concerning a great black pearl of "the gods".*

*a giant black pearl with magical properties is described in OD&D Supplement IV: Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes (negates all wind and earth turbulence in a 1 mile radius)

The party must obtain a ship to cross the Sea of Dread (if beginning in Specularum, the first part of module XSOLO "Lathan's Gold" can be used to commission a ship).

The Isle of Dread:

Moldvay drew inspiration for his portion of the Isle of Dread from the classic film "King Kong" (released in 1933, remade in 1976).

There is a 50' high stone wall outside the village of Tanaroa, stretching for two miles across the isthmus joining the southeastern peninsula to the main island.

The King Kong Brontosaur, the likely inspiration for encounter #22 "Plesiosaur Menace"

While there is no huge ape on the Isle of Dread, stats for gargantuan apes are presented in module WG6: "Isle of the Ape" (1985) by Gary Gygax, (also based on "King Kong").

*a connection between "The Isle of Dread" and "Isle of the Ape is mentioned in "Tides of Dread", published in Dungeon #143 (February, 2007).

Moldvay created the Rakasta, likely inspired by Larry Niven's Kzinti,* which featured in Moldvay and Lawrence Schick's "Known World", while Cook created the Phanaton (similar in ways to his Tasloi from module I1 "Dwellers of the Forbidden City"

*see Dragon #50 for an article about the Kzinti, by Robert Plamondon

In his essay "The Deranged Ankylosaur - That Was Me at My Best" in Goodman Games' OAR#2 "The Isle of Dread", Paul Reiche III describes his contributions to "The Isle of Dread".

Central Plateau:

The plateau in "The Lost World" (1912) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  Source: Wikimedia Commons

Cook has acknowledged "The Lost World" (1912) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as a source of inspiration for the Isle of Dread.

Doyle's novel features a high plateau with a central lake, as well as dinosaurs, including pterodactyls (the possible inspiration for encounter #15 "Pteranodon Terror").

The central plateau on the Isle of Dread also contains a lake within the crater of a dormant volcano, with a small, native village on its shore.*

*the tribal cleric worships Oloron, Lord of the Skies (a reference to Ọlọrun, ruler of the Heavens, in the Yoruba pantheon)

Taboo Island:

A mysterious island within the lake hides the ancient secret of the Isle of Dread.

Kopru, illustration by Erol Otus

Cook's conclusion to the adventure bears many similarities to module I1 "Dwellers of the Forbidden City", including the theme of a sinister, lost race:

This island was once the center of the kingdom of the Kopru, until native rebellion destroyed their power... The rocky island is now dotted with small ruins, statues, and broken terraces.

The Isle of Dread (1981), pg 23

In an interview published in OAR #2 "The Isle of Dread", Cook states "the kopru were modeled after various pulp horrors of the Burroughs/Lovecraft/Howard vein, especially the Mahar of Pellucidar".

New Monsters:

Allosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Aranea, Brontosaurus, Dimetrodon, Elk (Giant), Grangeri, Kopru, Megatherium, Native, Phanaton, Phororhacos ("Sword Beak"), Plesiosaurus, Rakasta, Trachodon

Inspirational Viewing:

In the decades since I ran "The Isle of Dread" there have been films and TV series that bring me back to the island, and serve as great sources of inspiration:

Jurassic Park (1993)
King Kong (2005)

Lost TV series (2004-2010)

The "Lost" TV  series in particular is packed with great ideas that would make a "Lost on the Isle of Dread" campaign a lot of fun.