The Ruined Tower of Zenopus video review by captcorajus

Over on Youtube, captcorajus has a new video review of the Ruined Tower of Zenopus, part of the "RPG OSR Review" series on his channel. Followers of this blog may remember several of his earlier videos that I have featured here, including ones for Holmes Basic (2015), for the original version of the Tower of Zenopus (2019), and for the Maze of Peril (2020). There are also videos for a number of TSR modules and other RPG products. And as I mentioned in the post linking to the review of the Maze of Peril, I had the pleasure of meeting captcorajus at Scrum Con this past February, where he played Bardan the Dwarf in my Zenopus sequel game, In Search of the Brazen Head of Zenopus.

To watch the review, follow this link to YV or click on the video below:

And find RTOZ here:
The Ruined Tower of Zenopus on DMs Guild

And click here to read reviews of the RTOZ

The Tower of Zenopus in Dragon+ Issue 32!

Wander over to the Wizards site, where you will find that the latest issue of Dragon+ features the Tower of Zenopus, both old and new:

Dragon+ issue #32 (June 23, 2020)

...And There Be Snowy Owlbears!

This electronic publication is the successor to Dragon magazine, and runs a regular column by Bart Carroll called "D&D Classics", who has written history pieces for WOTC for years, including a few mentioned on this blog previously (here and here). It uses the earliest masthead for "The Dragon" as a header (see the image up top).

This month's installment of "D&D Classics" has three parts: "Color Me Adventurous", "The Green Dragon Inn" and the "Tower of Zenopus". The first relates to the 1979 AD&D Coloring Album and the second to the Greyhawk version of the Green Dragon Inn (rather than Holmes' version), and with a tie-in to the Green Dragon in the "Maps of the Month" column.

The "Tower of Zenopus" section includes links to two free pdfs: the original dungeon (the same available on their website since 2008), and an excerpt of the section of Ghosts of Saltmarsh that briefly describes the Tower of Zenopus adventure site. 

It also plugs The Ruined Tower of Zenopus at DMs Guild, and for new content features an interview with me, where I answer six questions posed by Bart Carroll! A thank you to Bart for asking me to do this. The kid in me is geeking out a bit on finally getting into Dragon...

Click here to read "D&D Classics" in Dragon+ #32

Click here to see the full Table of Contents for Dragon+ #32

[As of 2022, Dragon+ has been removed from its original site so the above links are now directed to the pages as saved on the Internet Archive]

Click here to find The Ruined Tower of Zenopus on DMs Guild

Click below on the "RTOZ review" label to find reviews of the Ruined Tower of Zenopus

Fen Orc on the Ruined Tower of Zenopus

Fen Orc is relatively newish but very productive blog I'd recommend to any fans of this one. Per the sidebar, like many of us of a certain age, the author "got into D&D back in the '70s with Eric Holmes' 'Blue Book' set". Early on Fen Orc got my attention with a review (perhaps the first!) of my mini-dungeon, Beyond the Door to Monster Mountain and a look at the Legacy of Zenopus. 

Fen Orc has also been hard at work on material for you to use at the table, including a compilation of scenarios, the Fen Orc Almanac, which are compatible with Holmes Basic/Blueholme, and also a 2nd level for the Zenopus dungeon, Beneath the Ruined Wizards' Tower, which is pay-what-you-want on Drive Thru RPG.

I meant to highlight this earlier, but back in March, Fen Orc wrote an almost poetic review of The Ruined Tower of Zenopus. Here is a lovely excerpt:

"Two bucks buys you 18 pages, faultlessly formatted and a beautiful cover painting (Thomas Cole’s 1838 Italian Coast Scene with Ruined Tower) that seems to symbolise the whole project: the crumbling tower is the monument of Holmes’ Basic D&D; the idyllic shepherd tending his flock in the shadow of the tower, that is Zach; the little boat out among the islets, that’s us, wondering if we should put ashore: in a moment the shepherd will stand up and wave to us to drop anchor. There’s treasure here, you see, that Zach knows about, in a place long neglected."

Read the full review here:

The Ruined Tower of Zenopus by Zach Howard

We are entering the post-modernity of roleplaying games. The author is dead. How quaint it is to look back on the modern era (the 1970s and '80s) with its assumptions about authorship and ownership, of texts with single discourses, of official 'canons'. It's not like that now, what with retro-clones and open gaming licences and Old School Revivals.

Click on the "RTOZ review" label below to find more reviews of the Ruined Tower of Zenopus

The Ruined Tower of Zenopus is available on DMs Guild

The Ruined Tower of Zenopus Reviewed on EN World

DM's Guild Roundup, written by Sean Hillman, is a monthly or bi-monthly column on En World that highlights various DM's Guild releases with short reviews. The Ruined Tower of Zenopus appears in the most recent installment (posted earlier this week), which carries a modified title: "DM's Guild Extra: Community Reviews" and focuses on "three smaller offerings. One of these is an enhancement for your campaign, while the other two are adventures that can be set in your campaign". Full disclosure: I submitted the ROTZ to the column for review in reply to the February column. Here is an excerpt of Hillman's review of the RTOZ:

I enjoy all the products I review, but this adventure was of particular interest to me. The Ruined Tower of Zenopus appears in the original Basic D&D by John Eric Holmes as the Sample Dungeon. Many adventurers began their role-playing careers in this dungeon or other dungeons inspired by it. Zach Howard has brought this dungeon into the modern day with a 5E conversion...

Read the rest of the review here:

DM's Guild Extra: Community Reviews (click here)


Product Link:
The Ruined Tower of Zenopus on DMs Guild

Click here to read other reviews of the RTOZ

Reviews from R'lyeh on the Ruined Tower of Zenopus

Reviews from R'lyeh is, as the sidebar states, a "blog dedicated to reviews of RPGs and their supplements, with an emphasis on Call of Cthulhu and other Lovecraftian inspired games. All leavened with the occasional board and card game review."

They typically review multiple products each week, but cover each thoughtfully and in depth. Last fall I noted a review series dedicated to conversions and sequels to the modules B1 and B2. And I was very pleasantly surprised to find the The Ruined Tower of Zenopus covered a few weeks ago:

"At its heart, the Old School Renaissance is about emulating the style of play of Dungeons & Dragons from forty and more years ago, and about exploring the history of Dungeons & Dragons, so it is always fascinating to see what its adherents will find after ferreting around in the archives. The Ruined Tower of Zenopus is a perfect example of something surprisingly brought back to the attention of the Dungeons & Dragons-playing audience..."

Read the full review here:

"Sample Dungeon Redux"

Product Link:
The Ruined Tower of Zenopus is available on DMs Guild


Click on the "RTOZ review" label below to find more reviews of it.

The Ruined Tower of Zenopus Adaptation by An Abominable Fancy

Joel Priddy over at An Abominable Fancy has a great series of posts on his adaptation of The Ruined Tower of Zenopus to his own game world! 

Here is an excerpt:

"Portown becomes Bandar Arzoo, an outpost of Parsas, the pseudo-Persia of my campaign. Built on the ruins of an ancient city, the base of most of the buildings are large blocks of milky-white rock, fitted without mortar, remnants from the ruin. The town's master is a badly-mutilated Rakshasa in magical disguise, bidding his time being devilishly charming and enjoying what luxuries his position affords until he is sufficiently recovered to cause some real trouble.

The Green Dragon Inn becomes Tennin Ad-ham, which serves a spiked wine called The Mother of All Evils.

Zenopus' tower is called Tabah, the ruin, by those who don't recall the story of Zenopus, and the Thaumaturgist's tower is Beda-At, the new tower."

Here are links to the six parts; the last also has links back to all of them:

Nutshell Review & Prep Notes Part One: Room A

Part Two: Rooms B-E

Part Three: Rooms F & G

Part Four: Rooms H-M

Part Five: Rooms N-S3

Part Six: Wandering Monsters


Thank you, Joel!


Product Link:
The Ruined Tower of Zenopus on DMs Guild

Wandering DMs Live Chat Recording

I had a great time chatting with the Wandering DMs yesterday! We focused on the Ruined Tower of Zenopus and the original Sample Dungeon but naturally the conversation ranged to other Holmes-related & old school D&D topics.

The archive video recording of our conversation can now be found on their YT channel here:

Wandering DMs Season 02 Episode 10

There are also a podcast versions (no video) available in various places: Wandering DMs site Spotify Apple Podcasts Stitcher Listen Notes

Thank you to Dan & Paul for having me on their show!

The Ruined Tower of Zenopus reviewed at the Hapless Henchmen

Last week Noah S. over at the Hapless Henchman blog wrote many words about the Ruined Tower of Zenopus (as well the Dungeons & Dragons vs Rick & Morty set...!). Here's an excerpt:

"...What do you get for the price? A literal jumping off point for hours and hours of fun with friends, and of course some tropes that are as warm and comfortable as a bubble-bath. Zach has lovingly taken a 40-odd year old thing and made it readily accessible for current audiences and users of the system..."

Thank you, Noah!

Read the rest over here:

Weview Wednesday - DIY Zenopus vs Sleek Corporate IP Rick

Hey fam! Been off the blogging train for a bit, trying to get my brain in order. Frankly, since the Death of Google Plus and the Great Migration, I haven't been nearly as involved in an online RPG community as I previously was, although I wish that I could be.

The Ruined Tower of Zenopus is on DMs Guild!

The Ruined Tower of Zenopus reviewed by Erik Jensen

Erik Jensen took the time to write out a nice review of the Ruined Tower of Zenopus in a series of tweets (also copied below).

Erik is the writer of the Wampus Country blog, organizer of Tridentcon, and GM on the schedule for Scrum Con this year and has a "Lumberlands" zine forthcoming. I've met Erik at Tridentcon and  Charm City Game Day several times; in fact, the first time I played 5E was in a game he ran at CCGD.

It's hard to get reviews for new products, so I want to thank Erik for taking the time for this:

Finally had the time to read The Ruined Tower of Zenopus: https://dmsguild.com/product/301308/The-Ruined-Tower-of-Zenopus…

@ZenopusArchives

has done an AMAZING job with this 5e update of the Holmes sample dungeon, and now I'm going to tell you why.

It's a solid dungeon using the classic map, but it's more than that. It's a great campaign starter for 5e with old-school sensibilities and trappings. It has new 5e monsters and items. Zach gives us 1st-level pregens.

Tips for situating the thing as part of 'Ghosts of Saltmarsh' to turn the beginning of that campaign into a sandbox. You want old-school? A nice rumor table. A delineation of the factions in the dungeon. A list of classic AppN stories that probably inspired Holmes' dungeon. 

'The Ruined Tower of Zenopus' is, stunningly, only $1.99. If you're a 5e DM, pick it up and put it in your go bag. If you're an old-school DM, pick it up and see what Zach did with this baby, you'll appreciate it. Strongly recommended, looking forward to using it myself. 

Get the Ruined Tower of Zenopus here on DMs Guild!

The Ruined Tower of Zenopus reviewed on oldschoolfrp Tumblr

Old School FRP is one of my favorite Tumblr accounts --- I've had them in the sidebar here for years; see the section called "Crystal Ball" --- and they consistently post great old school art from TSR and other FRPG products. Yesterday they posted a review of The Ruined Tower of Zenopus:

"I bought this and gave it a first read-through.  It is an excellent conversion of one of my favorite classic low level adventures, updated for 5e.  There are some new monster stat blocks and minor magic items, a little town map on a peninsula (which makes it easier to locate the town on almost any coastline), options for expanding some areas, notes on factions, rumors, and ways to tie Portown to Saltmarsh, plus even 4 pre-gen PCs. Check it out."

The Ruined Tower is available on DMs Guild

Old School FRP

zenopusarchives: This is a 5E conversion of the original Zenopus dungeon that I wrote and is now up on DMsGuild. Read more on the blog: https://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-ruined-tower-of-zenopus-5e-on.html I bought this and gave it a first read-through. It is an excellent conversion of one of my favorite classic low level adventures, updated for 5e.