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RPG Retro Review: Isle of dread

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This classic Island wilderness adventure was the first experience for outdoor adventuring for a generation of gamers. Packed with pulp like action, this module had everything. Cannibals? Check. Dinosaurs? Check. A mysterious race living on an isolated plateau? Check. Lets take a look back at the "Isle of Dread"!!
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5 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 124

@cwesley2005 3 года назад

Holy crap! I recently got back into d and d. I remember my first adventure at age 8 on the isle of dread but thought this was a distant figment of my imagination. I love reminiscing about basic and expert d and d!

@erikmyers1573 6 лет назад

Dungeon Magazine ran a whole Adventure Path with the Isle of Dread at its heart. There were several adventures added to its shores, as well as an addendum to a couple of other OS Modules. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savage_Tide

@versioncity1 4 года назад

Have been playing this recently and it's turned into a mini-campaign. While the only 'adventure' as such is the central plateau it gives a good template for all sorts to happen. I also set the lost shrine of Tamochan here - the players, while riding on a dinosaur, fell through a hidden pit in a massive & deep underground lake inhabited by a Kraken. After crawling out the water they found a narrow cave route that slowly led up and came into the ancient pyramid complex. After getting back to shore they found their boat had been stolen and are off to find it. Those damn pirates!

@biffstrong1079 2 года назад

Love Hiding Tamoachan here.

@DMHightower 4 года назад

Another great review. I've always loved The Isle of Dread and wanted to run an in-depth campaign there. Your ideas to flesh out and improve the story are excellent and very INSPIRING!

@ripx187 8 лет назад

This is my all-time favorite Module EVER! It is easy to convert, not only did I convert it to AD&D second edition, but I also used the RAVENLOFT: Masque of the Red Death setting to play it, and it worked so beautifully that I have recommended its inclusion to any DM who is also running that setting. A perfect Module!

@namelessjedi2242 4 года назад

Interesting setting setting for it.

@ThaiThom Год назад

DMing this back in 1981 is when I had my real "breakthrough" as a DM. DMing Isle of Dread was when I knew I was getting good at D&D. I'll always have fond memories of Isle of Dread for that reason. Truly a blast from the past.

@LibraGamesUnlimited 5 лет назад

This was either the very first adventure I played when I started D&D in second grade in 1982 (or was it 83) and everyone died. As I recall we kept slipping on mud puddles and these monsters massacred us.

@stairwayunicorn4861 6 лет назад

I really like the idea of adding this to my world as an "Island in the sky", reachable only by airship or dragon flight.

@namelessjedi2242 4 года назад

Cool idea

@thecosmic8248 3 года назад

Man I’ll have to use that

@legisnuntius 4 года назад

This adventure influenced so many others. It probably even influenced Gary Gygax to write the similar, but more challenging adventure, Isle of the Ape. The setting for Isle of Dread required the adventurers to be sea faring. Other X series adventures, such as Quagmire!, Drums on Fire Mountain, and War Rafts of Kron expanded on adventures on the high seas and among volcanic islands. It was also a natural progression from the U series with the Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh. Saltmarsh was an excellent setting for PCs investigating the U series with Quagmire! and Temple of the Frog enjoying a very similar environment. It was great to see so many modules set in similar environments that could be strung together in a cohesive campaign and interesting that the sea faring setting really took off. This was a very influential module on DnD game designers, DMs, and players. If X1 had been set in the desert, mountains, or woods, a great chunk of campaigns and published material would have been very different. I'd like to see WotC create a book drawing on the source material from the seafaring X adventures and updated for 5th edition.

@biffstrong1079 2 года назад

Yeah we ran Saltmarsh to The Lendore Islands for Bone Hill and then on to the Isle of Dread.

@mmestari 7 лет назад

This module is where my longest run campaign is/was left. My cousin's cleric character is under the charm of the kopru. And my brother's character, who is low expert level magic-user, is hiding in kopru's cave, bidding his time, because he has no chance of killing that kopru alone or surviving in the wilderness. Everyone else is dead. The NPC party members actually mostly came along from the Rahasia module.

@namelessjedi2242 4 года назад

I quite like your idea of having the PCs meet the captain rather than just finding his map. Of course, treasure maps are a staple of the genre too, and could be found in a dungeon hoard or some such prompting low level Basic PCs to investigate “wilderness” (sea) travel for the first time. Lots of ways to go with this one!

@jonathanduplantis1403 3 года назад

It was always about the trade route establishment. Capturing dino eggs for wizards. Defeating the zombie cult. I loved the flooded lower level on plateau.

@JoeSchmoeVideos 9 лет назад

Great review. David Cook has written some of the most awesome D&D modules ever.

@captcorajus 9 лет назад

Joe Schmoe I must concur!

@drewwill6497 5 лет назад

The thoroughness to your video topics is most appreciated. Just loving these videos. My job as a DM has been made so much easier. Thanks again for all your hard work.

@paavohirn3728 3 года назад

Ah the nostalgia 😀 I love your hook ideas! I browse through the adventure now and then. Maybe I should really consider running it some day.

@danboud8135 6 лет назад

Ostensibly, the Isle of Dread also appears in Faerûn in the form of Chult.

@sve7n182 4 года назад

The Faerun setting has stolen a lot of things from Greyhawk, especially in recent years (Undermountain, dungeon of the mad mage is literally Castle Greyhawk, and the dungeons of Zagyg). Most of the 5e modules were originally set in greyhawk and then subplanted in the forgotten realms. I mean which is fine I guess, because modules are supposed to flexible enough be set in any world you choose and fit in any campaign but it's still annoying they aren't conveting oldschool FR content.

@namelessjedi2242 4 года назад

Undermountain dates back to 1975 and was the original dungeon in Ed Greenwood’s home game. It’s not “literally” Greyhawk. Or are all large dungeons Gteyhawk to you? By that logic Greyhawk is literally the Mines of Moria, or some even earlier megadungeon.

@sve7n182 4 года назад

@@namelessjedi2242 That's interesting I didn't know that

@derricklarsen462 3 года назад

@@namelessjedi2242 i have undermountain and castle greyhawk. They are not the same sir.

@john-lenin 6 лет назад

Many years ago, couple of players at a game store asked me if I could run a game for them, so I bought this off the shelf and started in. I ended up running a campaign for a year with just this module.

@fredrickwheeler3123 8 лет назад

Excellent review. I ran this adventure with the D&D 5e rules and my players characters were animal wranglers for a Circus, looking to capture exotic beasts for a zoo on the mainland. Yes, I stole a lot of ideas.

@hakbash7588 Год назад

It was a good module. I ran it way back in the day. Sometime in the 80s.

@jamesalderman9691 3 года назад

Wow d&d I played this in the 90s awesome my kids are gonna love this page and the background music want to cover❤️🥁

@Usagi1970 8 лет назад

We finished this a couple of weeks back, it claimed the lives of 4 PCs. Deadly, but very enjoyable. I would have happily spent more time exploring the Island, but I think the other players wanted to push on.

@LibraGamesUnlimited 5 лет назад

About the various monsters. Hearing this the very first thought I had was "what if the island moves throughout realities and people and things get stranded on it from time to time, like a "Land of the Lost" kind of deal"? I was going to do something like that for my superhero game except with people lost in time.

@VeritechGirl 6 лет назад

I remember playing this years ago and having a love/hate for it because it was so deadly

@donc7664 5 лет назад

Your hook ideas really make me wish I could find an old school d&d group that takes the game seriously. Sub'd

@captcorajus 5 лет назад

Good luck finding your players my friend.

@Quelqueshue 4 года назад

I've recently started playing again online, with the guys played with back in the 80's, using " Roll 20 ". It's been great, we're still using first edition. I believe its possible to join games on the Roll 20 platform.

@PaulGaither 5 лет назад

I am just getting into D&D and being a DM. As a result, I just found this 3 year old video and more. This is great content and I need to download them to save for later. Wonderful work.

@jmet1lv 5 лет назад

Paul Gaither check out Goodman games reprint on it

@jonathanduplantis1403 3 года назад

Good luck! Welcome

@mikesands4681 2 года назад

i use the Goodman Games update version. the isle dread was a major sidequest of the Saltmarsh campaign.

@tbb4023 6 лет назад

You could put the Dwellers of the Forbidden City module in the extinct volcano and put the kopru in the city. The volcano mouth sides can be the cliff sides surrounding the city

@montgomerybrantley4680 4 года назад

Thank you for the great review. The picture of the missing pop-out was priceless as I do own the orange version.

@JdrD30 9 лет назад

Ran it in the 80's and the 90's. Makes me want to rerun it with a more mature perspective! Thanks for this review!

@Usagi1970 9 лет назад

Really enjoying your reviews. Can I make a request for a review of X2 Castle Amber next :-) all the best, Andy

@michaelwallace6851 7 лет назад

This is my all-time favorite module. In fact, it is one of only a handful I have kept over the years. In the last campaign I ran, the players established a trade route between the Isle of Dread and their home city (Marienburg from WFRP 1e rulebook). The entire party was enslaved by the Kopru and they took the Kopru coral statuette which allowed the Kopru to enslave them back to Marienburg and placed it into the Mariners' Guild hall, helping to enslave others.

@rickl9462 2 года назад

Have my like sir. Love every one of your videos. And your Intro - Outro music gets me every time.

@Samwise7RPG 9 лет назад

This is one module that I have not ran but want to some day. Thanks for the review.

@captcorajus 9 лет назад

***** Yeah, if you played D&D in the 80s you sort of had to play this adventure. Its a classic, right along with Keep on the Borderlands.

@Samwise7RPG 9 лет назад

I ran KotB at a local convention (12 hours worth) and managed to finish it. That was a lot of fun. I hope to do that again with a classic module like this one. Though this year I am going to be running Deep Carbon Observatory which seems like a lot of fun.

@Alan13448 9 лет назад

great video! have used the isle of dread many times before, and i'm sure i will use it many more thru the years. big shout out to the boyz, Dan, Ed , Gillen, Tony, Bus, Stone, George, Ben!

@williamozier918 5 лет назад

I used the Lost City, Isle of Dread and Hidden Shrine of Tomoachan as a campaign. The idea was there was once a powerful civilization that built these three pyramids across the world. The priests of Lost City were corrupted by the worship of a Cthulhu like creature, that corrupt worship spread throughough the civilization. The surviving uncorrupted priests cast an apocalypse level spell that destroyed their own culture. When they defeated Zargon the Lost City the only way out was teleporter that teleported them to the ruins in the Kopru city, the Kopru being cthulhu worshippers. So I did Isle of Dread reverse, the players started in the middle and had to get to the shore and then figure out how to get off the island. When they did they washed up on the shore that led to the Lost Shrine and to the final leg of the campaign.

@Unhacker 7 лет назад

Good work, this video is helpful for DMs prepping to play (or cop from) this module.

@stephenclements6158 5 лет назад

Man, I miss your reviews so much I'm going back through and re-watching them. :) Good stuff. I played through the Isle of Dread one time, but sadly the DM used it in name only, as I don't remember meeting any dinosaurs. Basically, he put us in a dungeon he made up on a place called the Isle of Dread, and that was it. I so wanted to cast Find Familiar there and get a small dino as a familiar, but he shoved us right along and I didn't get one. :(

@captcorajus 5 лет назад

Don't worry! I'm making more!!

@Jayce_Alexander 8 лет назад

Would love to hear your thoughts on the Desert Nomads series!

@jonathanduplantis1403 3 года назад

Yea!!! Love it.

@Henrikdead 7 лет назад

Thank you so much for this review. The time and effort that you have put in is amazing, so now with your help I have made better scents of how to run the this adventure. Plot hooks are a great help too.

@captcorajus 7 лет назад

Thanks for the feedback!! Awesome that you found it useful!

@markhumphries6020 9 лет назад

Great review and one I have been looking forward to! Looking forward to the next one as well,

@genghisdon1 9 лет назад

I vastly prefer the art of the blue/original to the later version, but aside from that, nice job.

@randalthor6670 5 лет назад

I think this review was a bit short, there is a ton of possibilities here and listing a few more could have made this better. But, I love the Isle of Dread and used a one-shot, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants session (in which the GM didn't show and I ended up GMing) to kick start a campaign. I went with a ship wrecked start with the 5th level characters (D&D 5e) arriving on the NW side of the island. It was a fantastic session that ended up starting my longest running campaign in 10-years. (Maybe longer.)

@totaltrek553 4 года назад

The price must have gone up since this video posted. The cheapest copy (blue copy) on Amazon is $12 + shipping.

@captcorajus 4 года назад

Yeah, as the popularity of D&D has increased, and more people have come back to the game, and newer players become interested in old school D&D the price on a lot of things has gone up, but on ebay the module seems to be about the same price.

@spiderlime 4 года назад

i still remember that although a giant ape was mentioned, none actually appeared

@jakeman251011 5 лет назад

The isle of dread is an absolute treasure trove i have the Goodman games 5e conversion iv gotten so much out of it for a homebrew campaign im running

@andrewtomlinson5237 3 года назад

I buy the Lost World comparison more than the King Kong one for Isle of Dread. I think "Isle Of the Ape" had more Kong vibes going on, what with the (Spoiler???) Enormous Ape Smackdown in the latter. In one of the few campaigns I played rather than DM'd one of my high points playing a Magic User was figuring out one of the main hurdles in Isle of the Ape, and winning the day using Tenser's Transformation and a couple of Shocking Grasps! Isle of Dread always reminded me more of those "Land That Time Forgot" type movies that would feature someone like Doug McClure in a ripped shirt or maybe Peter Cushing as some bonkers Professor.

@captcorajus 3 года назад

Well, why not both? King Kong itself at its core is a 'land that time forgot' adventure yarn. King Kong battles dinosaurs and giant snakes in defense of Fay Ray. Also, the Tanere live on the Island's souther tip with a giant fence build to keep out the giant creatures of the island. Also, Tom Moldvay and Dave 'Zeb' Cook specifically have said that King Kong was the inspiration for the module. :)

@andrewtomlinson5237 3 года назад

@@captcorajus No I agree that there were Kong influences in there, but Isle of Dread was a more a case of taking lots of "Mystery Island" tropes and bagging them up together. I'd say, given the "You find a treasure map." lead into the adventure and amount of pirates running about, RL Stevenson's "Treasure Island" is just as much, if not more, of a comparable story than King Kong. I get that they were trying to showcase Expert Rules' expanded Overland and Wilderness possibilities, and they probably went through a bunch of "Hidden Valley" "Haunted Forest" ideas along with "Mysterious Island" in order to keep the setting of that first example self-contained. And settled on the latter because it offered so many different options in one generallocation, allowing them to basically do an above ground "Keep On The Borderlands" style, "Over here there are THESE monsters, and if you travel west a few hexes, there are THESE monsters". All in order to avoid making the switch up too different for a Basic playing DM and party to get to grips with. As a template module to show a novice DM how to switch up from "You arrive at the dungeon" crawl-to-crawl campaigns, it's a major accomplishment, so I don't want anyone to think I'm knocking it. And as far as BE/CMI D&D goes, it's one of the best "Buy and Run" modules TSR released. In fact the one thing that I would have a minor issue with is that what would be expected to be the final showdown is in a Temple rather than in the jungle or... well... anywhere in the wilderness. A showdown with even a huge angry monkey (if a truly gargantuan one was too tough an ask at that level) would have been a more fitting climax. I imagine that if Isle of Dread hadn't been, essentially, the starter mod for Expert level players there may have been an opportunity to throw an enormous behemoth Ape at them, or giant tiger, or crocodile or whatever... But starting at L3, the levels that they would have been expected to reach for a climax, such a beast would have to have been somewhat less than it should in terms of stats. But as far as King Kong comparisons go... it ain't no Isle of the Ape.

@Gotwar 2 года назад

This is a fantastic review! I had this module back in the day. I really love your channel and appreciate the level of detail and research you put into your videos. Where do you find all these facts! Amazing😀👍👍

@legomegacy 7 лет назад

These are just great man. brings me back

@LibraGamesUnlimited 8 лет назад

Played this one twice, way back in the day. The first time we all died, the second time I don't fully recall but I'm pretty sure we all died again. :)

@rebelaxesix3496 8 лет назад

Awesome review. I got mine in the Mentzer version as it was the one out when I bought the Expert set. It is one of my favorite D&D modules.

@azmendozafamily 6 лет назад

The Aisle of Bread... Lol

@diaz5292 5 лет назад

Lol... now I'll think of this module every time I walk down the bread aisle at the grocery store... lol

@adampender4727 8 лет назад

love your videos. I was wondering if you could dlo some reviews on accessories and supplements? maybe starting with forgotten realms and then the supplements for it. I'd love that.

@TheCrazybros2 8 лет назад

How do you not have more subs... Well count me in I like your style

@biffstrong1079 2 года назад

Great Module I can't believe I haven't added a Giant Ape yet. Great Review . Seth Skorkowsky also has a nice read on the module. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-E371f5pHrXU.html The weakest part of the Module was the end game. Good idea making something of the Copru and their temple. Forgot about the Aranea and Rakasta who I think you see again at Amber Castle.

@straysod 9 лет назад

great review man keep them coming i really enjoyed watching that the only problem was there wasn't more.. :(.

@captcorajus 9 лет назад

+drchickins Coming soon!

@adampender4727 8 лет назад

love your videos. I was wondering if you could do some reviews on accessories and supplements? maybe starting with forgotten realms and then the supplements for it. I'd love that.

@kmoustakas 3 года назад

Greed is the best motivation. D&D was sword and sorcery, not fluff and fluffier! Note, 'was'

@rob-brown 9 лет назад

great review sir!

@user-eh3iq4fm1k 4 года назад

No mention of Savage Tide Adventure Path?

@captcorajus 4 года назад

Nope.

@mountedpatrolman 5 лет назад

I just saw a 5e version of this has just been released. You should add a small piece about it.

@jimamos7984 7 лет назад

If modified for the 1e rules, this module would be much higher level. Just from some of the random encounters. Unless, of course, the party has the sense to know when to run...

@COMICBOOKJEDI1 9 лет назад

I was thinking of using the Undermountian in my 5th edition game could you do a retro review of the ruins of undermountian maybe? .

@captcorajus 9 лет назад

COMICBOOKJEDI1 Oh hell yeah. I've been looking at the box on my shelf for awhile now, and thinking about doing one, as The Ruins of Undermountain is one of my all time favorite module adventures, and I ran a Waterdeep campaign for close to 10 years back in the 90s, and early 2000s. Great idea.

@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself 6 лет назад

I've been DMing Undermountain since the mid-90s. It is so huge. Endless adventure.

@udasu 5 лет назад

Can you cover the Lankhmar content from the 80s? I modded Lankhmar Nights for NWN because I miss playing in that old setting. Leiber never gets as much love as Howard.

@captcorajus 5 лет назад

We'll see. Its not on my radar at the moment with all the other projects, but certainly those are classic and great supplements and definitely worthy of attention.

@udasu 5 лет назад

As another old school gamer, I appreciate your content. Thanks for all you do!

@regdar770 9 лет назад

Can you do a review of the I6 ravenloft module for this October Halloween season?

@captcorajus 9 лет назад

+Reagan L Smith Done! I'll have it out by Monday.

@regdar770 9 лет назад

WoW, I mean thank you. I can not wait to see what you think of that legendary module.

@regdar770 8 лет назад

+captcorajus Can't wait to view your Ravenloft I6 video for Halloween. And I also can't wait to see more of your thorough videos and share them with my friends, while here in Japan.

@AgoodITguy 7 лет назад

Can you review In The Belly of the Beast please? From 3th edition

@mikemccoy5092 4 года назад

Will u do oasis of the white palm?

@captcorajus 4 года назад

Its definitely on the to do!

@blamp666 2 года назад

Were can i find print on demand in amazon?

@queenannsrevenge100 7 лет назад

Captain, fantastic review, much enjoying your series on old school modules. I saw someone mention this in another review of yours, but have you reconsidered doing an "Isle of the Ape" review for the 1e adventure by Gary? It's one of the very few "high-level" modules TSR produced, and even more true to the King Kong genre than Isle of Dread. It's available at DMs guild www.dmsguild.com/product/17396 and thank you for your videos!

@Kunstdesfechtens 6 лет назад

Great stuff. Subscribed.

@AAron-gr3jk 3 года назад

there's an Isle of the Ape, but this is the King Kong one?

@captcorajus 3 года назад

I have Isle of the Ape. Honestly I didn't think too much of it to be honest. Its a Gygax module. Isle of Dread is way better IMHO.

@WTFoolproof 6 лет назад

I could not run this without mixing it with Lost.

@captcorajus 6 лет назад

I know right? This begs for some Sleestak, and pylons.

@WTFoolproof 6 лет назад

and smoke monsters and magic number computers

@hellhammerCCCP 5 лет назад

Anyone have any ideas for player hooks?

@99zxk 2 года назад

Wasn't there a Conan story where he joined a pirate ship and the captain wanted to explore and they found a temple with degenerate people who turned into monsters?

@mikesands4681 4 года назад

Are you going to revise this video for the 2016 re-release?

@captcorajus 4 года назад

2016 release? I am unaware of any such release. Sorry. The only redo that I'm aware of is the one that came out last year from Goodman Games, as part of their 'Original Adventures Reincarnated' series. That is certainly a product i'll review, just like I did 'into the Borderlands'.

@mikesands4681 4 года назад

captcorajus Oh that was the one I meant.

@lindy9196 6 лет назад

I've read thru this one but never played it. I always liked the little raccoon people in here

@mandemande9196 5 лет назад

Ke los módulos de dyd5 los traduzcan todos al español ke yo los compro todos no se inglés y como yo mucha jente ke habla español

@aaronsmith2083 3 года назад

$3.50! Not anymore! 😆

@cryptking6283 7 лет назад

Hate to admit it but never played nor ran this adventure.

@craigbryant3191 4 года назад

Maybe I'm in the minority, but this is a lousy module. Put the nostalgia aside, and what do you have? A dry, dry, dry hexcrawl, with not remotely enough content. And that "climax" on the central plateau? My God. I can't remember another time I saw a dungeon fizzle so profoundly. I mean, really: read the module as written, and tell me Taboo Island was worth the journey. I think the players are going to be looking at you like, "That's it?" If the argument is that the DM can re-write things to make a good story, then, well, the DM can re-write anything. Or write from scratch. Whatever. I did...okay...running this by sending the players straight to the central plateau and moving pretty much every single encounter on the island to be on their path, and rewriting the temple from scratch to at least be a decent dungeon crawl. Not great, but okay. And I tell you: I won't give the credit to this module as it exists in black and white.

@captcorajus 4 года назад

Certainly, not every module is for everyone Some people like it, some don't. This is only 28 pages. Its provides a framework and SETTING for adventure, not the exact adventure you're to run. There are thousands of things that can happen with the framework provided, and the monsters detailed. How it goes is really up to the DM and the players. Its a sandbox, and that's really the nature of such things IMHO.