Sunday, March 20, 2022

X1: Sequels of Dread

Following publication of the revised, orange-cover version of "The Isle of Dread" (1983), additional material was released, further detailing the forboding Sea of Dread.


The Sea of Dread:

XSOLO "Lathan's Gold" by Merle M. Rasmussen includes a parchment map of the Sea of Dread, as well as six solo adventures (one of which involves an expedition to the Isle of Dread).



Parchment map of the Sea of Dread, from XSOLO "Lathan's Gold" (1984) depicting coastal trade routes.



Module X6 "Quagmire!" (1984), also by Rasmussen, includes the village of Tanaroa as a possible starting point, and is similar in some ways to X1 "The Isle of Dread".*

*one of the major differences is the scale of the hex maps (24 miles/hex for "The Wild Lands" of module X6, compared to 6 miles/hex for the Isle of Dread) which translates into major differences in pacing, (see X6/I1 Quagmire/Dwellers of the Forbidden City mash-up for a potential fix)



The Sea of Dread "Underwater Map", from module X7 "The War Rafts of Kron" (1984) by Bruce Nesmith.


Module X7 "The War Rafts of Kron" (1984) by Bruce Nesmith describes encounters both upon and far beneath the surface of the Sea of Dread.

CC3 "The Sea People" (1990) by Jim Bambra provides additional rules for underwater adventures, as well as playable races (including the kopru!)

Finally, one should check out Threshold #3 "The Sea of Dread" (March, 2014) and Threshold #4 "Return to Dread" (June, 2014).


Return to the Isle of Dread:

For the past several years, David Cook, co-author of the original module X1 "The Isle of Dread", has run a "Return to the Isle of Dread" scenario at various cons:

Days ago a note arrived imploring you to join a voyage to the Isle of Dread. It’s been over 30 years since you last saw the shores of that made your reputation as an adventurer of note. You would have ignored it but for the sender’s name — Rory Barbarossa. The old piratical soul painted of picture of terror and regret, one last chance to set wrongs right. So now you’ve come out of retirement for one last adventure—and a return to the Isle of Dread. Of course, you've not come alone—your brave companions and a loyal crew stand by your side!

David "Zeb" Cook "Return to the Isle of Dread"


I was actually signed up to play in Cook's game at Gary Con XII, shoulder-to-shoulder with none other than Joe Manganiello, when Covid-19 resulted in the cancellation of the physical con.

No comments:

Post a Comment