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## D&D Classics: I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City

Somewhere in the heart of the steaming jungle lies the answer to the whispered
tales – rumors of a magnificent city and foul, horrid rituals! Here a brave
party might find riches and wonders – or death! Is your party brave enough to
face the terrors of the unknown and find the Forbidden City!?

Parts of this adventure were used in 1980 for a major East Coast convention
tournament. Information is presented here to reconstruct this exciting
tournament and even more has been give to expand play. Here characters may
adventure several times in a unique and interesting mini-campaign setting.
Included in this module are background and tournament notes, referee’s keys,
new monsters, pre-generated characters, and eight different maps.

For characters levels 4 to 7.

Product History

I1: “Dwellers of the Forbidden City” (1981), by David “Zeb” Cook, was the
first adventure in TSR’s new “intermediate” series of adventures. It was
released in 1981.

Sources. When he wrote this adventure, Cook was going for the feel of the
Conan novella “Red Nails” (July – October 1936). Ironically, “Red Nails” was
also one of the inspirations for another adventure created around the same
time: “Dark Tower” (1980), a Judges Guild publication by Paul Jaquays. More
generally, “Dwellers of the Forbidden City” was one of several pulpy
adventures created for the D&D games in the early 80s. James Maliszewski
spotlights three of them in what he calls “Tom Moldvay’s Pulp Fantasy Trilogy”
– a series that includes X1: “The Isle of Dread” (1981), co-authored with
Cook.

More Origins. “Dwellers” started out as an adventure in Cook’s home campaign –
though at that time it didn’t include a full city, just the final ruins, set
in a jungle. Cook used the main hall as his writing sample when he was
applying for a designer job at TSR (and it worked, as he ended up being the
third member of TSR’s Design Department). Upon arriving at TSR, Cook expanded
his adventure to full module length, adding the rest of the city and the
mongrelmen to do so. He ran part of “Dwellers” as the official Advanced
Dungeons & Dragons Tournament at Origins 1980, prior to its publication.

A New Series. Prior to 1981, the module codes for AD&D adventures mainly
focused on individual story lines, as seen by the A-series (1980-1981),
D-series(1978), and G-series(1978) adventures. Oddballs were then published in
the S-series (1978-82) special adventures. Hence, I1 was actually supposed to
be S4… but then TSR came up with a new plan for their adventure publication.

Unlike its predecessors, the I-series of adventures was (mostly) unconnected.
Instead, it featured adventures for characters of a certain level:
intermediate. The result was one of TSR’s longest-running series, containing
fourteen books published from 1981-1988, covering Greyhawk and the Forgotten
Realms, and including modules originating at TSR UK, the RPGA, and the
Hickmans’ DayStar West Media. Over time, the intermediate adventures supported
levels 4-10, roughly matching Basic D&D’s expert level.

The I series was later supplemented by the N (novice) series(1982-87) and the
H (high-level) series (1985-88). By the end of the 80s, however, the N, I, and
H codes were all fading away, to be replaced by the next big thing: modules
focused on specific settings.

Expanding Greyhawk. “Dwellers” is loosely set in the World of Greyhawk –
mainly showing the increasing importance of the setting by the early 80s, and
its use by authors other than Gygax. More detail on the Forbidden City’s place
in Greyhawk appeared years later in The Scarlet Brotherhood(1999).

Monsters of Note. Cook leans heavily upon the just-released Fiend Folio (1981)
for monsters, including the giant bloodworm, the bullywugs, the pan lung, the
yellow musk creeper, and the yellow musk zombie. More notably, though, he
creates a number of brand-new monsters that have since become quite iconic:
the aboleth and the yuan ti. The mongrelman and the tasloi originate in this
adventure as well, but aren’t quite as important in the scope of the D&D game
– though they too have had at least a half-dozen appearances each over the
years.

About the Creators. 1981 was the year that saw Cook’s first major independent
work for TSR, including the Expert Set (1981) and the co-authored X1: “The
Isle of Dread” (1981). There was far more to come.

Converted by: Michael Davey

Released on May 06, 2019. Designed for Fantasy Grounds version 3.3.8 and
higher.

Requires: An active subscription or a one time purchase of a Fantasy Grounds
Full or Ultimate license and a one time purchase of the 2E ruleset.

Fantasy Grounds – D&D Classics: I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City (2E)