White Plume Mountain (adventure)
| White Plume Mountain (adventure) | |
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| The Cover of S2 White Plume Mountain, art by Jeff Dee (1981). | |
| Type: | Adventure module |
|---|---|
| Code/Abbreviation: | S2 |
| Edition: | AD&D 1e |
| Author(s): | Lawrence Schick |
| Cover Artist(s): | Jeff Dee |
| Interior Artist(s): | Dave "Diesel" LaForce, Jim Roslof, Jeff Dee, Erol Otus, Bill Willingham, David Sutherland III |
| Series: | S1 S2 S3 S4 Return to White Plume Mountain |
| Publisher: | TSR |
| First Published: | 1979 |
| Pages: | 16 |
| ISBN: | 0-935696-13-X |
| Class: | Officially published source |
S2 - White Plume Mountain by Lawrence Schick is an adventure for AD&D 1e, published by TSR in 1979, occurring in the same location.
White Plume Mountain is notable for its extensive art by Erol Otus; its bizarre, often puzzle-centric challenges (which include numbered flesh golems, a sphinx's riddle, and a levitating stream); the first mention and depiction of Dragotha, the undead dragon; and the soul-devouring sword Blackrazor. Similarities between Blackrazor and Stormbringer, the soul-devouring sword in Michael Moorcock's Elric saga, have been noted.
The "S" series of classic TSR adventures are stand-alone, complete adventures with unique challenges. The "S" stands for "special"; other adventures in the series include S1 - Tomb of Horrors, S3 - Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, and S4 - Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. These adventures are meant to be especially challenging and unique in the canon of early, first edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons products.
Plot
White Plume Mountain is set in the World of Greyhawk.[1] The module is a dungeon crawl,[2] precipitated by the theft of three magical, sentient weapons:[3] a trident named Wave, a war hammer named Whelm, and a sword named Blackrazor (all three were introduced in this adventure).[2] The weapons' former owners each received a copy of a taunting poem, instructing them that the weapons are located in White Plume Mountain. The poem is signed by the wizard Keraptis, who thirteen hundred years ago descended into the volcanic mountain with a company of gnomes and disappeared.[2] The PCs' goal is to follow the same path[4] and retrieve the weapons from Keraptis' lair.[3]
The adventure is divided into 27 encounters across a 16-page module. Encounters are varied and each presents its own challenges. Encounter seven necessitates characters jumping from platform to platform above a sea of hot mud whilst evading erupting geysers; this in turn leads to encounter eight and a room of permanent darkness where a vampire guards Whelm. Encounter 17 occurs in a giant but fragile bubble located above a boiling lake, with the players needing to defeat a giant crab and retrieve Wave without damaging the bubble. Encounter 26 involves negotiating a magical ziggurat populated by various monsters (including sea lions, giant crayfish, giant scorpions, and manticores) before encounter 28, a battle against an ogre mage who possesses Blackrazor. A final challenge on departing is an encounter with two to four efreet if the characters have succeeded in taking two or three of the magical weapons.
Critical reception
White Plume Mountain was ranked the 9th greatest Dungeons & Dragons adventure of all time by Dungeon magazine in 2004, on the 30th anniversary of the Dungeons & Dragons game.
White Plume Mountain was parodied by cartoonist Aaron Williams in Dragon #267.
Publication History
The original White Plume Mountain adventure was written by Lawrence Schick, and was published by TSR in 1979. It features interior art by Erol Otus and David C. Sutherland III, calligraphy by Darlene, and a front cover by Sutherland.[5] The adventure includes a 12-page booklet and an outer folder which featured a two-color cover in the original printing; the adventure was expanded to 16 pages and rereleased with a full-color cover by Jeff Dee in 1981.[6] The adventure was included as part of the Realms of Horror abridged compilation produced in 1987. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Dungeons & Dragons game in 1999, a reprinting of the original adventure was made available in the Dungeons & Dragons Silver Anniversary Collector's Edition boxed set, with slight modifications to make it distinguishable from the original (for collecting purposes).[7] Wizards of the Coast also released a sequel to the adventure in 1999, Return to White Plume Mountain, as part of the TSR 25th Anniversary series of publications. The events in the sequel are assumed to take place 20 years following those in the original.[8] It was made into a novel of the same name by Pauli Kidd for the Greyhawk Classics series.
Schick wrote the adventure while applying for a job with TSR. He took what he felt were the best parts from his previously created dungeons and put them together to create White Plume Mountain. After looking at it, TSR hired him and published the adventure without making any changes. Looking back in an interview, Schick said that he was "a little embarrassed to this day by Blackrazor, inasmuch as it's such a blatant rip-off of Elric's Stormbringer; I would not have put it into the scenario if I ever thought it might be published."[9] Schick later admitted that it was gratifying to have his adventure published as-is, "but also a little embarrassing, since the adventure was really just a sampler of clever ideas that were never fully fleshed out. Its central conceit, a 'funhouse' dungeon full of tricky obstacles designed to challenge adventurers for the amusement of a mad wizard, was already a cliché even at that date."[10]
In 2005, an online version of the adventure was released as a free download, updated to conform with 3e. The revised adventure is designed for 7th level characters. Return to White Plume Mountain has also received a v3.5 update and was likewise available for free download on their website. Beginning in 2016, both adventures are available from the DMsGuild. In both of the revised adventures, the classic weapons associated with them (Blackrazor, Whelm, and Wave for White Plume Mountain, Frostrazor for Return to White Plume Mountain) have been converted into "Legacy Weapons".[11]
All four adventures of the S-series were included as part of the Dungeons of Dread hardcover collection, released on March 19, 2013.[12] In the foreword, Schick wrote that "unlike Tomb of Horrors, the challenges in White Plume Mountain were designed to make players think, work together as a party, and ultimately win through and feel successful. Players liked that."[10]
Wizards of the Coast released a revised version of the adventure, updated for third edition, as a free download on their website. The revised adventure was designed for seventh level characters. It was also accompanied by a web enhancement by Robert Wiese, titled "Outside the Mountain is Just as Dangerous as Inside."
In 2017 Wizards of the Coast released a new version of White Plume Mountain updated for fifth edition, as part of the Tales from the Yawning Portal anthology, which had six of its seven adventures being originally "classic" adventures from or related to Greyhawk.[13]
Sequel
Wizards of the Coast also released a sequel to the adventure in 1999, Return to White Plume Mountain, as part of the TSR 25th Anniversary series of publications. The events in the sequel are assumed to take place 20 years following those in the original module.
Novelization
White Plume Mountain was turned into a novel by Pauli Kidd in 1999, featuring the cast of characters he also used in his novels Descent into the Depths of the Earth and Queen of the Demonweb Pits.
References
Citations
- ↑ Stark, Ed (2004) "Greyhawk" in 30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons, Wizards of the Coast, p. 57 ISBN: 0-7869-3498-0.
- ↑ a b c (2006) Dungeon Master For Dummies, For Dummies, pp. 320
- ↑ a b Bambra, Jim (April 1983). "Open Box - White Plume Mountain Review". White Dwarf 40.
- ↑ La Farge, Paul (September 2006). "Destroy All Monsters". The Believer Magazine.
- ↑ Schick, Lawrence (1979) White Plume Mountain, TSR, Inc., pp. cover, 3–5, 9, 13 ISBN: 978-0-935696-13-4.
- ↑ Schick, Lawrence (1991) Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games, Prometheus Books, p. 113 ISBN: 0-87975-653-5.
- ↑ Silver Anniversary Collector's Edition Boxed Set. Wizards of the Coast , 2003).
- ↑ Cordell, Bruce R. (1999) Return to White Plume Mountain, Lake Geneva, Wis.⧼colon⧽ TSR, pp. Back Cover ISBN: 978-0-7869-1434-0. "Two decades ago, however, Keraptis reappeared in White Plume. The mountain and its insane lord proved too much for most, but eventually courage and justice triumphed. Keraptis was finally dead or so the world thought. Now, twenty years later, a face has appeared in the volcano's smoke the face of Keraptis himself, say those who should know. Is the vile wizard immortal after all? Or is there an even greater thereat building beneath White Plume Mountain?"
- ↑ Maliszewski, James. An Interview with Lawrence Schick. Grognardia.Blogspot.com, May 16, 2009.
- ↑ a b Dungeons of Dread: White Plume Mountain. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ White Plume Mountain (Revised). Wizards of the Coast , December 7, 2005.
- ↑ Dungeons of Dread. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Tales from the Yawning Portal. Wizards of the Coast , 2017-02-21.
Bibliography
- Shick, Lawrence. White Plume Mountain. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1979.
- Cordell, Bruce R. Return to White Plume Mountain. Renton, WA: TSR, 1999.
- Kidd, Pauli. White Plume Mountain. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 1999.
- Erik Mona, James Jacobs, et al. "The 30 Greatest D&D Adventures of All Time." Dungeon #116. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2004.
- Shick, Lawrence. White Plume Mountain. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1979.
- Shick, Lawrence, Andy Collins, Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, and James Wyatt. White Plume Mountain (Revised). Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2005. Available online: [1]
- Wiese, Robert. "Outside the Mountain is Just as Dangerous as Inside." Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2005. Available online: [2]
- Williams, Aaron. "Climb Every (White Plume) Mountain." Dragon #267. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2000.
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Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index
The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.
| Topic | Type | Description | Product | Page/Card/Image
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Druids Fane (White Plume Mountain) | Place | Return to White Plume Mountain | 3, 4, 9, 55, 56, 57, 60 | |
| Return to White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | Dragotha's Lair (RPGA Tournament Module) | 2, 10 |
| Return to White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | Into The Unknown: The Dungeon Survival Handbook, D&D 4e | 107 |
| Return to White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | Dungeon magazine #077 | 32, 56 |
| Return to White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | Outside the Mountain, D&D 3.5e | 1 |
| Return to White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | White Plume Mountain (Revised), D&D 3.5e | 1 |
| S2 White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | Dragon magazine #241 | 75 |
| S2 White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | Dragon magazine #344 | 86 |
| S2 White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | Into The Unknown: The Dungeon Survival Handbook, D&D 4e | 107 |
| S2 White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | Dungeon magazine #077 | 32, 56 |
| S2 White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | From the Ashes: Atlas of the Flanaess | 73 |
| S2 White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e | 28 |
| S2 White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | Ghosts of Saltmarsh, D&D 5e | 28 |
| S2 White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | Living Greyhawk, Living Onnwal Gazetteer, D&D 3.5e | 5 |
| S2 White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | Monstrous Arcana: Evil Tide, AD&D 2e | 32 |
| S2 White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | Outside the Mountain, D&D 3.5e | 1 |
| S2 White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | Return to White Plume Mountain | 3, 4 |
| S2 White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | S1-4 Realms of Horror, Adventure Booklet | 21-35 |
| S2 White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | S1-4 Realms of Horror, Illustration Booklet | 19 |
| S2 White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | S1-4 Realms of Horror, Inscription and Map Booklet | 2, 4-5 |
| S2 White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | White Plume Mountain (Revised), D&D 3.5e | 1 |
| S2 White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | Tales from the Yawning Portal, D&D 5e | 4, 96 |
| S2 White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | Tales from the Yawning Portal, D&D 5e | 94-107 |
| S2 White Plume Mountain | Adventure | Located in: Rift canyon, | World of Greyhawk boxed set (1983) | 30 |
| White Plume Mountain adventure | Adventure | Reference | SEE S2 White Plume Mountain | |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | Into White Plume (RPGA) (High Level Version), D&D 3.5e | All |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | Into White Plume (RPGA) (Low Level Version), D&D 3.5e | All |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | Dragotha's Lair (RPGA Tournament Module) | 2, 10, 16 |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | Dragon magazine #241 | 78 |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | Dragon magazine #290 | 86 |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | Dragon magazine #293 | 88 |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | Dragon magazine #299 | 102, 103 |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | Into The Unknown: The Dungeon Survival Handbook, D&D 4e | 106, 107 |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | Dungeon magazine #077 | 32, 33 |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | Living Greyhawk Gazetteer | 154 |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | Monster Manual 1, D&D 5e | 280 |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | Outside the Mountain, D&D 3.5e | 1, 3 |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | Player's Guide to Greyhawk | 27 |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | Return to White Plume Mountain | 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 26, 27, 35, 36 |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | S1-4 Realms of Horror, Adventure Booklet | 22, 23, 24, 25, 30 |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | S1-4 Realms of Horror, Illustration Booklet | #2-1 |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | S2 White Plume Mountain (1st-3rd printing), AD&D 1e | |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | White Plume Mountain (Revised), D&D 3.5e | All |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | S2 White Plume Mountain {Expanded} (4th+ printing), AD&D 1e | |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | The World of Greyhawk Fantasy World Setting (Folio) | 25 |
| White Plume Mountain {Feathered Mound} | Geographical feature | Mountainous, | World of Greyhawk boxed set (1983) | 60 |
| White Plume Mountain, Revised (D&D 3.5e) | Publication | Into The Unknown: The Dungeon Survival Handbook, D&D 4e | 107 | |
| White Plume Mountain, Revised (D&D 3.5e) | Publication | Dungeons & Dragons 3.5, Web Update | ||
| White Plume Mountain, Revised - Maps | Publication | Map-A-Week Archive, 2005 | Web | |
| White Plume Mountain (novel) | Publication | Novel, | To be determined |