A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement X1 The Isle of Dread

X1 The Isle of Dread by David “Zeb” Cook and Tom Moldvay is a role playing game supplement published by Wizards of the Coast (originally TSR) for use with Basic Dungeons & Dragons. This is a wilderness adventure in the Known World, later called Mystara, and is an Expert level adventure for 6-10 characters of levels 3-6.

The supplement is available as a PDF from RPGNow for $4.99 but the original printed book can still be purchased from places such as Amazon. The original printed version is the one reviewed. The supplement has 32 pages and, as was common for the period, cardboard covers that weren’t affixed to the main book. The covers are three pages in size; two can function as a small DM’s screen and have maps on the inside and the third is detachable, having a players’ handout on one side and a mostly blank map of the island on the other. One page is the front matter and Preface and one page the Table of Contents and List of Tables and Maps.

The first page of content is Preparing for the Adventure. This explains that not only is this a wilderness adventure, it’s one that’s intended to show how to use the Expert rules for creating such. This page also has lists of the various maps, abbreviations used, recommended party size, strength and makeup and wandering monsters.

Beginning the Adventure starts with an explanation of the continent map, that being a two page hex map of the various starting nations. Not only is X1 set in the Known World, it is also effectively the adventure that introduces the place. The map has various countries marked, expanding on the Grand Duchy of Karameikos found in the Expert book, with a paragraph given on each area. This concludes with weather and climate.

Continuing this section is the adventure background, including a reproduction of the players’ handout and various methods of getting a boat.

General Island Adventures has several wandering monster tables (the island is home to a lot of dinosaurs) followed by various encounters that are marked on the main map of the island. The main village of the island, Tanaroa, is located on a neck of land separated from the rest of the island by a huge wall, something which will give deliberate Skull Island echoes, even if the place lacks a giant ape.

Central Plateau Adventures is a more detailed location with some more encounters and another wandering monster table.

Taboo Island Adventures is a small island in the lake of the Central Plateau with a single detailed temple, which is the closest to a traditional dungeon crawl.

The Appendix provides a number of alternate adventures that can be had on the island so that it can be reused, followed by some rules on creating human encounters.

There are three pages of New Monsters, sixteen in total with a lot of new dinosaurs, and a pronunciation guide for the various proper names used in the adventure.

There are eight pages of maps in the centre. Two pages are the previously mentioned map of the continent, one has a 1 hex = 6 miles hex map of the island and the remainder have various encounter maps, including two generic cave maps and a 1 hex = 1 mile map of the central plateau.

X1 The Isle of Dread in Review

The module has quite good navigation, with the lists of tables and maps. The text maintains a three column format and appeared to be free of errors. There is only one colour illustration, on the front cover, but there are various custom black and white illustrations and maps throughout. Presentation is good for the time.

This is one the earliest hex crawls created specifically for D&D, perhaps even the first. In terms of encounter density, it is unmatched by any of the later wilderness hex crawls published by TSR. This is due to the main island only taking up a few of the 24 mile standard hexes but the island itself, and the central plateau, are on a much larger scale, so there are literally dozens of encounters in the space of a few 24 mile hexes. Later supplements would have hundreds, if not thousands, of 24 mile hexes with only a few dozen encounters between them at most.

Unlike later supplements, in particular X4 Master of the Desert Nomads, X6 Quagmire! and X9 The Savage Coast, the area depicted on the continental map didn’t undergo the amount of revisions seen later. The island itself remained the same and the countries depicted on the continental map were simply covered in more detail in the Gazetteer series.

This is in general a pure hex crawl. There is no overarching plot other than to actually discover the island, although some of the adventure suggestions in the Appendix can be used in this way. Instead, the characters wander about the island exploring areas of interest, with there being one large encounter on the Central Plateau. In defiance of most pulp tropes of lost lands inhabited by dinosaurs with a dormant volcano, the volcano absolutely does not erupt and destroy the place minutes after the characters arrive.

This is very definitely an Old School hex crawl, which is not surprising given that it is precisely what such are patterned after. As mentioned, it lacks a genuine plot and it is entirely possible for characters to blunder into a situation that they can’t cope with. The encounters are aimed at the Expert level, but if characters are foolish, these types of adventures are far less forgiving than more modern ones. Even if there aren’t as many save or die poisons as are seen in some scenarios from the period. This is a wonderful example of how to make an Old School hex crawl, one that TSR would have done well to follow in some of their later supplements. X1 The Isle of Dread can be found by clicking here.