Close
Close
Advanced Search

DDA4 The Dymrak Dread (Basic)Click to magnify
Full‑size Preview
https://watermark.drivethrurpg.com/pdf_previews/17143-sample.pdf

DDA4 The Dymrak Dread (Basic)

ADD TO WISHLIST >

Are you ready to meet the Lord Forester's challenge: to put an end to needless death and destruction by doing away with the goblin war chieftain, Kosivikh, and his evil bad of raiders? Eager to prove yourselves as new adventures and to collect a sizable bounty, you travel to the goblins' dungeon in the Dymrak Forest--a place that has captivated your interest for years, a place where few have dared to venture. Only you and your fellow adventurers can put and end to the rampant bloodshed and return peace to the territory.

This module is recommended especially for beginner Dungeon Masters and players who are interested in dungeon exploration.

  • Recommended for four to seven characters, level 1-3
  • Handouts and cardboard stand-up characters provided
  • For use with both the Dungeon & Dragons Game box and the D&D Game Cyclopedia
  • Can be use as a follow-up to the DDA3,Eye of Traidar module or it can stand alone
  • Features easy-to-follow rules on dungeon adventuring in the heart of the Dymrak Forest
NOTE: This product does not contain the fold out map.

Product History

DDA4: "The Dymrak Dread" (1991), by John Nephew, is an adventure for the Basic D&D game. It was published in November 1991.

About the Cover. The cover has a little box in the bottom right cover that shows a dragon. It's such an obvious add-on that modern reviewers seem to think it was used to cover up some mistake on the cover. In truth it was part of a new branding program intended to differentiate the products for the new Basic D&D game. Bruce Heard explained in Dragon #174 (October 1991), saying: "a dragon icon indicates an adventure module; a sword-and-shield icon denotes a common supplement; a scroll (like on the side of the D&D boxed set) designates rules; and, finally, a castle indicates a special accessory containing 3-D material or special components."

Origins (I): From the DDAs to Thunder Rift. The basic D&D line had been in flux since the publication of The New Easy To Master Dungeons & Dragons Game (1991), or the black box, some seven months earlier, and that continued to be the case for "The Dymrak Dread". When Nephew signed his contract on September 11, 1990, he was asked to write a 32-page adventure, and planned to intricately connect it to all of the previous adventures in the "DDA" series. This was the book that was advertised in the "1991 TSR Product Catalogue" (1990). However by 1991, Nephew was being asked to cut his book back to a mere 16 pages and was being asked write a fairly simple dungeon crawl.

This caused a real schism with the previous adventure in the "DDA" series. DDA3: "Eye of Traldar" (1991) had advertised that DDA4: "The Dymrak Dread" would be a sequel. Presumably the characters, on the run from the Baron of the Black Eagly Barony, would visit Luln before taking the Eye of Traldar to the seer at the Lake of Lost Dreams. But that all went out the window as well.

These changes were the result of TSR deciding to turn Basic D&D into a very introductory line — at least in "entry level" modules, like "The Dymrak Dread". This new trend toward simpler, shorter, and less detailed adventures would reach its full height a few months later. TSR never published any "DDA" adventures after "The Dymrak Dread", instead replacing it with the new "Thunder Rift" line, the first of which was "Quest for the Silver Sword" (1992).

Origins (II): What Could Have Been. The published "Dymrak Dread" is quite different from the adventure that John Nephew originally planned, and those changes begin with the name. Nephew conceived of the Dymrak Dread as a magical war machine created by the goblins and now gone mad. Instead the Dymrak Dread would end up being just a goblin chief. Nephew also planned to have one of the goblins in this new adventure be related to Yalag from DDA1: "Arena of Thyatis" (1990); meanwhile, he'd connect the adventure up with the pursuit and the Eye of Traldar from DDA3: "Eye of Traldar". The intended plot was quite complex, involving Boris Torenescu of Karameikos as well as the Black Eagle Barony and two different tribes of orcs. There would be a siege of Luln and high-level political manipulations.

But that was all put to the wayside by the simplification of the "entry level" Basic D&D line.

Origins (III): Quieting the Mob. Bruce Heard clearly knew that this simplification would have critics. As he said in Dragon #174, "I can already hear some grumbling out there." However, he told players it would ultimately be for the good of the Basic D&D line: "Please understand that the more new gamers these types of products are able to bring in, the more likely we will later be able to increase the number of products that are so dear to you." So the plan genuinely was to produce products for the Basic D&D line that TSR knew current players wouldn't like, in the hope that more complex products could be brought out later.

And TSR did produce a final few "Challenger" products for the Basic D&D that had more depth, from Wrath of the Immortals (1992) to Champions of Mystara

Origins (IV): Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch. Though John Nephew continued to write for TSR, he was also working on his own company, Atlas Games. Some of his brainstorming and notes for "The Dymrak Dread" was written on the back of dot matrix printouts of the laid out pages for "The Sorcerer's Slave" (1990), an adventure for Ars Magica.

Adventure Tropes. As with most of the adventures for the black box D&D game, "The Dymrak Dread" begins characters at the entrance to a dungeon, and is then a dungeon crawl.

About the Components: Maps. "The Dymrak Dread" supports black box D&D in another way. Just like the original box, it features a battle map for exploring the dungeon, as well as standup cardboard miniatures of a few player characters and all the major monsters. A more typical map, that could be referenced in the pages of the module, is notably missing — causing some consternation for GMs.

The Thunder Rifts modules would find a better balance by including two different maps: one for GMs and one intended as a battle mat.

Exploring the Known World. The Dymrak Forest had previously been featured in B10: Night's Dark Terror (1986) and so this lower level "Dymrak Dread" adventure could have been a prequel. But it's not so much, primarily due to the lack of information on the setting. Oh sure, there are details on a band of marauding goblins and their lair, but there's no background beyond that. This was a purposeful trend in the new black box DDA adventures, which had previously seen a dearth of information on the Black Eagle Barony in DDA3: "Eye of Traldar".

About the Creators. Nephew got into the roleplaying business through Lion Rampant and his own company, Atlas Games, but he also tried his hand at freelancing. This was his fifth Known World book, following PC1: "Tall Tales of the Wee Folk" (1989), DDA1: "Arena of Thyatis" (1990), and DDA2: "Legions of Thyatis" (1990) and HWR1: "Sons of Azca" (1991).

About the Product Historian

The history of this product was researched and written by Shannon Appelcline, the editor-in-chief of RPGnet and the author of Designers & Dragons - a history of the roleplaying industry told one company at a time. Please feel free to mail corrections, comments, and additions to shannon.appelcline@gmail.com.

We (Wizards) recognize that some of the legacy content available on this website does not reflect the values of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise today. Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. This content is presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is a strength, and we strive to make our D&D products as welcoming and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end.

pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif
 
 Customers Who Bought this Title also Purchased
pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif
Reviews (3)
Discussions (3)
Customer avatar
Michael L June 02, 2018 5:13 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Hi folks,

I've scanned the map from this module as it is still not included in the pdf.
I hope Wizard is okay with me posting the link here, if not please drop me a line and I will remove the maps from my dropbox.

These are not the best scans, but they should be okay for playing the module as it was designed: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8v3dw42lkas6lq2/AADYzWM70KqSoMjYVjnj6pvla
Reply
Customer avatar
Andrew M July 26, 2018 9:51 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Thank you!
Reply
Customer avatar
Robert S March 06, 2023 10:22 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Thanks!
Customer avatar
Nathan M October 06, 2017 6:27 am UTC
PURCHASER
Yup no map included. I found one by searching google though.
Customer avatar
Zia M October 12, 2016 2:57 am UTC
PURCHASER
Cardboard stand-ups are there, but the fold out map is missing. As noted in the article, this is the only map of the dungeon in the set.
Reply
Customer avatar
Andrew K October 17, 2016 9:25 pm UTC
PURCHASER
That is a pretty big gap! Thank you for posting that Zia.
Reply
Customer avatar
MARTINO C March 08, 2018 5:53 pm UTC
PURCHASER
The map is still missing.
Browse Categories
$ to $
 Follow Your Favorites!
NotificationsSign in to get custom notifications of new products!















Product Information
Electrum seller
Author(s)
Artist(s)
Pages
16
Edition
1.0
ISBN
1-56076-073-7
Publisher Stock #
TSR 9272
File Size:
2.96 MB
Format
Scanned image Click for more information
Scanned image
These products were created by scanning an original printed edition. Most older books are in scanned image format because original digital layout files never existed or were no longer available from the publisher.

For PDF download editions, each page has been run through Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to attempt to decipher the printed text. The result of this OCR process is placed invisibly behind the picture of each scanned page, to allow for text searching. However, any text in a given book set on a graphical background or in handwritten fonts would most likely not be picked up by the OCR software, and is therefore not searchable. Also, a few larger books may be resampled to fit into the system, and may not have this searchable text background.

For printed books, we have performed high-resolution scans of an original hardcopy of the book. We essentially digitally re-master the book. Unfortunately, the resulting quality of these books is not as high. It's the problem of making a copy of a copy. The text is fine for reading, but illustration work starts to run dark, pixellating and/or losing shades of grey. Moiré patterns may develop in photos. We mark clearly which print titles come from scanned image books so that you can make an informed purchase decision about the quality of what you will receive.
pixel_trans.gif
Original electronic format
These ebooks were created from the original electronic layout files, and therefore are fully text searchable. Also, their file size tends to be smaller than scanned image books. Most newer books are in the original electronic format. Both download and print editions of such books should be high quality.
File Information
Watermarked PDF Click for more information
Watermarked PDF

These PDF files are digitally watermarked to signify that you are the owner. A small message is added to the bottom of each page of the PDF containing your name and the order number of your purchase.

Warning: If any files bearing your information are found being distributed illegally, then your account will be suspended and legal action may be taken against you.

Here is a sample of a page from a watermarked title:

File Last Updated:
October 10, 2016
This title was added to our catalog on October 11, 2016.