CM8 "The Endless Stair" (1987) by Ed Greenwood is a D&D adventure for a party of four to six characters of levels 15 to 20.
CM8 "The Endless Stair" (1987) by Ed Greenwood. Cover illustration by "Jack Fred" (Keith Parkinson).
Creative Team:
CM8 "The Endless Stair" was written by Ed Greenwood (credited as Ed "Elminster" Greenwood), and published the same year as the original Forgotten Realms boxed set.
Ah! Space contraints (this was my "learn how to write TSR modules" module) forced me to leave out a lot of the catches (like side-effects, geases, quests, etc.) tied to all that magic. Without them, it's a treasure shop giveaway, at the end…
Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 24, 2018
The cover illustration is by Keith Parkinson, who used "Jack Fred" as his signature, a pseudonym shared by himself and fellow artists at TSR for work they felt was not up to their usual standard (as discussed by Larry Elmore, here).
Interior black-and-white illustrations are by Graham Nolan, with cartography by Dennis Kauth.
Special thanks were extended to: Jenny, Anita Buttemer, Jim Clarke, Andrew Dewar, Ian Hunter, John Hunter, Victor Selby, and (of course) Grimwald.
The Setting:
For those campaigns set in the D&D® game world introduced in the Expert Set, it is recommended that Daelzun’s Rest be located on a road somewhere in the Principalities of Glantri, at least four days' ride from Glantni City.
CM8 "The Endless Stair" pg. 2
Daelzun's Rest:
Illustration by Graham Nolan
The Endless Stair:
Illustration by Graham Nolan
The Seat of Power:
The Seat of Power
Seat Powers (usable only once per round, and only one power per round): Dispel magic (R 120', EF 20' cube, X8) meteor swarm (R 240', EF 4 for 8d6 + 8d6 or 4 for 4d6 + 4d6; C26) curse (R touch, EF limited; see X14) teleport (self only, from Seat; X15) create any monster (R 90'; DR 4T, EF 40 HD; M8) reverse gravity (R 90'; EF 30' cube; C22) heal (M9; automatic healing of self only) remove curse (R touch; X14) prismatic wall (R 60'; DR 6T, EF 10' radius or 500 sq ft; M9)
R = Range in feet, DR = Duration, T = Turn; EF = Area of Effect; page and volume number of rulebooks describing magic given at end of entry.
New Spells:
Stone Bolt (3rd), Control Bats (4th), Warning Trumpet (4th), Control Gargoyle (5th), Symbol: Spell Loss, Entrap (8th)
New Magical Items:
Crystal of Death Scrying, Dart of Death, Gem of Magic Missile Protection, Diadem of Disenchantment
From AC4 "The Book of Marvelous Magic": Buttons of Blasting (pg. 21), Cabinet of Ministering (pg. 22), Table of Plenty (pg. 64)
New Monsters:
Prying Eyes, Guardian Hand,* Skullwraith, Eater-of-Magic
*similar to Ed's "Crawling Claw" from Dragon #32 (December, 1979)
Prerolled Characters:
Baerum "The Bold", Neutral 16th level Fighter
Elensyl the Maga, Lawful 17th level Magic-user
Zanzir "The Mysterious", Neutral 20th level Magic-user
Durnath the Patriarch, Lawful 19th level Cleric
Thurlan "Evilscourge", Lawful 15th level Cleric
Orskil "Sharpeye", Neutral 15th level Thief
Sparnus "The Hand", Neutral 17th level Thief
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