The Isle of Dread Review - Dungeons and Dragons Module X1

The Isle of Dread Review - Dungeons and Dragons Module X1 is an adventure for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, meant to introduce players and Dungeon Masters to wilderness exploration. This module is a teaching module and there are lots of good tips and advice found throughout, in this video, I’ll offer my tips and advice for running this iconic Dungeons and Dragons module.

All the links:

X1 The Isle of Dread -

BX Expert Rules -

B2 Keep on the Borderlands Review -

RPG with DBJ the Dreaded DM -

Critical Hit Publishing -

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[artvandelee]

I agree with you 100%. X1 and B2 are my favorites from playing and growing up in the 80s with BX D&D. It’s what got me hooked. Still DMing and playing strong almost 40 years later! 😊

[ezekielcarpenter-hyland]

I played & ran X1 many times back in the 80’s. What people fail to understand about X1 is that it’s not simply a sandbox hex-crawl, it’s a sandbox hex-crawl WITHIN a sandbox hex-crawl. Sadly, this unique aspect of the module is often just left out.

X1 provides the first appearance of “The Known World”. This is not just fluff, nor is all the narration and instruction to integrate Expert Rules. Somehow the players are supposed to get a ship, then go on an a waterborne hex crawl to get to the Isle of Dread. This initial hex-crawl is actually what sets the mood and frames the “adventure” that follows. Without it, the atmosphere of the adventure just ends up lacking.

Just getting to the Isle of Dread a major undertaking. It’s a 1000 miles from Specularum, so under the best of circumstances it will take 2 weeks to sail to Tanaroa. With all that could happen, it may end up being closer to a month.

Several weeks at sea is a long time for all kind of bad things to happen in the Cook/Marsh world. Heavy storms are quite possible, as are becalming. Many random encounters are also expected. While it was possible to survive storms in the right kind of ship, the 1981 Expert Set random encounter tables at sea can be overwhelming. That was pretty much in line with X1, so you just “roll” with it.

My friends and I quickly learned why it’s called the Sea of Dread as we and ship crews were repeatedly wiped out by all manner of sea creatures, pirates and dragons (yep, there be dragons flying at sea). There are few things more devastating to a ship and it’s crew than a blast of dragon breath. There is just no way to escape except jumping overboard, and then the dragon just picks up its pre-moistened snacks and flys off.

The 1981 Expert rules were also harsh when it came to getting lost at sea, so a navigator was an major requirement. The journey takes MUCH longer without one, so the navigator often becomes the most important person on the ship. Loosing your navigation can easily result in a TPK as water and food runs out at sea and a cleric is the party will likely be too low lever to remedy this with spells.

If you decide to run/play X1, I would strongly suggest you do so using the module to its fullest extent. This means including the seabourn hex-crawl. You will most likely loose several parties before getting there (restarting the party in Specularum), but once a party DOSE arrive at the Isle of Dread they will be fully primed for whatever “theater of the mind” the DM provides. The party will also be prepared for the very deadly nature of X1.

Hope you enjoy it.

[DanBoyo]

A nice look into the module and good advice and tips for wilderness adventures.

[joeylee]

Wilderness adventures are my favorite !

[RPGwithDBJ]

Thanks for the shout out! But honestly, I'm enamored by your enthusiasm and dedication to the hobby and community in general.

[VeritechGirl]

My brothers and I actually played this module while on a family cruise vacation - we actually got two other people on the ship to join in.
Yes - we actually played Isle of Dread while on a cruise ship - the atmosphere was perfect. Nothing beats DnD and tropical smoothies! 😃😃😃

[jeremydurdil]

Love this module. I’ve had it since 1987 but never got to run it back in the day.
These days I run 2 ongoing campaigns in the same Mystara world. My winter league found the map at the end of year 1. Spent year 2 adventuring to get there and year 3 meeting the locals and dealing with pirates. I’ve been running the Isle of Dread for years and my players have only seen 10% of it.
Emergent story is the heart of the game here. You never know what the party will do next. Embrace it, enjoy it, love it.

BECMI Forever!
Long Live King Elmore!!

[qsviewsrpgs]

That's part of what makes this module so great, is that a party cannot and should not, just try to fight everything. Many of the encounters are going to lead to a TPK. I love how this forces the players to think about their strategies and fully understanding their role in the party to be successful, which still isn't guaranteed. Thanks for taking the time.

[ITSACRITICAL]

Bill every time i watch your videos i want to play classic D&D even more! Awesome video buddy.

[qsviewsrpgs]

Absolutely, in other words, to make this module truly shine, you can't be a lazy DM. You gotta put in the work, however, if you do, it's so very rewarding to you as a DM, the players and they'll be begging for more. Awesome stuff!

[sockeye]

I have to say, I'm really picking up on your concept of "Theater of the Mind" It a good reminder for a DM to narrate the area including the non visual and auditory environments that will draw the players in to the world. You're a good man.

[joejames]

I played this module in the 80s and it was the first outdoor adventure I dungeon mastered the way you explained the feel of the outdoors is exactly how it felt I just bought the older rulebooks and plan to dm this and revisit the Isle of dread ☠☠☠

[Wolfogre]

X1 is an excellent sandbox. Back when I first got it I didn't quite get it. But now? Oh yeah!

[Scutifer_Mike]

Your positivity and excitement in this video is great. It makes me more interested in running this module.

[bskec]

15:43 is still the best kopru picture ever published. No one else ever gets the tail flukes right.

[Jojirius]

I have a lot of success applying theater of the mind to enhance dungeons and intrigues, as you say...but to be honest, yeah, it doesn't work for my hex crawls.

I don't want to say it makes them worse, cuz that's not true either. But hex crawls in general just are something my groups struggle with. I think one big challenge is that for humans who don't have a lot of hiking, camping, canoeing, etc experience, it's hard for theater of the mind to really successfully evoke something.

"You're in the moorlands - wild sage flits to your nose, and clouds of gnats serve as pinpricks of darkness against the rising sun."

"Okay, Anthony...uh. Is this hex empty then? I guess we keep traveling."

It's just very...I dunno. It's not that I get blank stares so much as I have players who can't figure out what to do. If they pick the wild sage...what does that do? If they go and shoo away some clouds of gnats, what do they see? Oh, the gnats were over some wild heather? Okay...

Does that make sense? The flavor exists and they can appreciate I'm putting effort in, but they don't gain any "gameable" material.

And when the monsters do show up - it's usually this binary of fight or flight. It's pretty rare that they'll try to find some non-combat way of defeating something. Usually they just run, and are exasperated that it takes more resources to circumvent the hex. The constant resource-tax and acts of circumvention end up being...rote, almost. It's not fun, it's not lively, it's not really much of anything.

We've mostly devolved to either using "fast-travel", where we just sort of do a series of descriptive montages to at least get some setting color in without any encounters, or we use "point-crawl" procedures, where there isn't this map to navigate and this backtracking to do, just lines and points (as you might imagine, I tried to use mapping to entice players, and they were similarly unimpressed with this, considering it more "drudgery" than "gameplay").

[JRChiossi]

Loved the video! A great overview of the module, plus I love your enthusiasm towards it, it makes me want to run it ASAP. I'm thinking about incorporating it to my Hyperborea game, I believe it fits perfectly. Keep it up, your content is always interesting and well delivered.

[lionelhutz]

Great overview of a classic. I would love to hear your opinion on how D&D spread worldwide so fast. I met exchange students from Ireland and Spain that loved D&D (may have been AD&D actually) and wanted to buy modules to bring back home...and this was back in 1984!
I honestly think there was a real hunger for fantasy entertainment that Hollywood and books couldn't match. I tried D&D because of my love for Ray Harryhausen monster movies. But after playing Isle of Dread this 13-year old had better stories and adventures than any Hollywood screenwriter. 😏

[MrHyde-bpnb]

This module is a blast to run and while I know it quite well, I love that your channel helping to introduce a new generation to one of the greats. I’m also interested in that Goodman version simply because it’s easier to find a 5e group in 2020 but I don’t have it yet.

[joeylee]

Would you consider doing the lost city? It was a little later, I also really enjoyed Pharaoh, desert of desolation etc! I love what you do!