B4 The Lost City

I loved this module as a kid. I loved the premise of being stuck out in a desert with no where to go except a pyramid, with a mysterious secret entrance, and traps and treasure within.

I can only remember DMing this adventure one time, but it took many long, soda fueled, weekends of playing to get through it all. I believe the group went from level 2 up to level 6 or higher by the time it was all said and done. I really expanded the lower levels and had the group join the various factions ruling their dead civilization deep under the pyramid.

This actually started a trend in the campaigns where the players tended to want to take over the dungeon they just adventured through. Many years later, I read that Lenard Lakofka's campaign for L1 - The Secret of Bone Hill and L2 - The Assassin's Knot had similar outcomes, with his adventuring group taking over his dungeons and using them as a base to raid other areas.

Redux

I finally got a chance to skim through this module once again and it doesn't feel like it stands up to the test of time. Modules did get better as the years went by. They started concentrating more on the overall story, more detailed encounters, and sensible layouts. This adventure doesn't score well on any of those marks, especially the sensible layouts.

The entire lower levels of the pyramid contain stats for the monsters they contain and little else, leaving it to the DM to flesh out the rest of the content. At the very bottom lies the root of all the evil afflicting the societies of the pyramid, but the monster there makes little sense other than to appear as one grand final encounter.

One of the inside panels is used to list "Ye Fast Packs" which is a quick way for players to choose what equipment their starting character has. It basically lists 3 sets of items in backpacks, which can save a lot of flipping through the player's handbook. I do remember incorporating that idea into my campaigns to speed things along.

Read a different take on this module by going to

Mark Bertenshaw's Review for The Lost City