D&D BECMI - Journey to the Rock

Journey to the Rock

D&D BECMI Rules

• Publisher: TSR
• Rules: Dungeons and Dragons BECMI
• Series: Basic Adventures
• Developer:
• Reference:

Product Description - Journey to the Rock

To a wizard, knowledge is power, and the wizard Lirdrium Arkayz wants to know the mysterious secret of The Rock. Many have tried to discover it?but The Rock keeps its secret well. The wizard offers a rich reward to anyone bold enough to solve this dark mystery.

But the road to The Rock leads to danger and hidden peril?dangers that have claimed the lives of many brave adventurers. Rashness and folly will lead to quick death, but riches await the clever and the brave. Have you the wits, courage, and skill to survive the Journey to The Rock?

For characters levels 1-3.

Product History

"Journey to the Rock" (1984), by Michael Malone, was the penultimate adventure in the original series of Basic D&D scenarios. It was published around December 1984.

A True Wilderness Scenario. Whereas the Expert Set (1981) adventures for Basic D&D were almost entirely focused on the wilderness, the same wasn't true for Basic Set (1981) adventures. The only exceptions prior to B8 were the very light use of wilderness in B2: "Keep on the Borderlands" (1979) and B5: "Horror on the Hill" (1983), both of which include some scant outdoor encounters before descending into the dungeons. B8 even reprints some of the wilderness rules from the Expert Set.

A Tournament Scenario? It's widely accepted that this adventure was a tournament scenario, though there seems to be no documentation of that fact. However, the adventure certainly reads a lot like a tournament, since it presents a linear path of problems to be overcome (or, rather, three linear paths, as you can choose one of three ways through the scenario). Some of the encounters also require thought and introspection rather than just combat.

About the Creators. Author Michael Malone's one other roleplaying publication was "The Wandering Trees," an adventure in Dragon #57 (January 1982), which won second place in IDDC II (1980), TSR's second International Dungeon Design Contest.

About the Product Historian

This history of this product was researched and written by Shannon Appelcline, 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.

Where it is used - Journey to the Rock

Timeline Overviews