D&D: Dead In Thay Shows Off How To Do Higher Level Play
Red Wizards, magic labs, and a vault full of phylacteries, what more could you want? Dead in Thay, the first 5E Module, shows how to handle high levels.
Higher level adventures are hard to do in D&D. Folks often lament the frustration that comes with cooking up challenges for characters that can teleport across the world, shift through the planes of the multiverse, banish foes, bewitch creatures into being new friends, and in general go around acting like they’re rulers of the roost.
Enter Dead in Thay. The title tells you exactly what is likely to happen if you play it–after all this module was originally released as part of the D&D Next/5th Edition spin-up, as part of the Adventurer’s League’s Dreams of Thay campaign, as a tribute to “killer dungeons” like Tomb of Horrors and Ruins of Undermountain.
Set in a mysterious magical complex known only as The Doomvault, Dead in Thay is a perfect example of how to handle the hijinks that come with high level characters. To start with, extraordinary characters need extraordinary challenges, and at the heart of Dead in Thay is a sprawling magical research/vault for liches/wizard complex that is made up of several distinct wings, each with its own distinct purpose.
Again, this isn’t something you’d find in a typical “medieval fantasy” pastiche. It’s bordering on something out of a sci-fi or superhero story. But it’s on these bones that you sow the seeds of high adventure. Adventurers are sent to the Doomvault which holds the phylacteries of Szass Tam and all his lich friends. It is meant to be a lightning quick assault on the dungeon before guards and reinforcements can be summoned. A ton of fun–and again, it sets up higher level players with the goal of “get in, get out, and while you’re there stir up some Red Wizard infighting.”
But what makes this dungeon stand out is the way it models the rising alert in the complex. An alert level mechanic ensures that things get more and more hectic as the alert level of the Doomvault rises. It’s got good pacing, a narrative to it, and some fairly challenging encounters. This is a good benchmark of 5th-edition design philosophy in action.
We won’t go over every detail of the dungeon, but this section shows off the fun of the different themes as well as its mechanical complexity. Here is the Ooze Section for you.
Secret of the Ooze
Adventurers who aid the “rebellious” Red Wizard resurrectionists in Dead in Thay will find themselves venturing deep into the Doomvault, which shows you just how much Szass Tam has embraced his own villainy. At any rate, characters will inevitably come across a portion of the Doomvault where Red Wizards were carrying out experiments with ooze for…some reason. Reading through the section gives the impression that the Red Wizards aren’t sure what they’re hoping to gain either. So the Ooze Wizards are like that one department that everyone is sure must do something because they’ve always been around and get funding…but nobody remembers why.
At the heart of this (after moving past a gelatinous cube that has engulfed four warriors and other delights) players will confront the Ooze Master, a massive monster created when one of the wizards merged with an ooze–presumably for immortality? I don’t know. Anyway he monologues of a day when all Red Wizards shall be joined with oozes and tries to turn the characters into oozes themselves. I guess he just really likes slime.
Encounters like this abound. Hard fights, narratively driven fights, and patrolling rapid response teams make resting a challenging business. This is a hard dungeon, but well worth exploring. You can find an updated version of this in Tales from the Yawning Portal with full 5th Edition rules.
Happy Adventuring
