Grimtooth's Ultimate Traps Collection (Honorary)

Grimtooth's Ultimate Traps Collection was written, according to the credits, by Grimtooth the Troll. Personally, I suspect Grimtina wrote much of it, and Grimtooth took the credit. The foreword is by Harley Stroh. There are interviews by Jim Wampler, Rick Loomis, Paul Ryan O’Connor, and Bear Peters. Additional material is by Steven S. Crompton. Art is by Steven S. Crompton, Liz Danforth, Michael Von Glahn, Scott Jackson, Steve Jackson, Jim Wampler, and Jeff Dee. The publisher is Goodman Games. The original publisher of the Grimtooth's Traps series was Flying Buffalo Inc.

This product was produced following a successful kickstarter campaign, and is given an honorary listing because of the (at the time of this writing) upcoming Grimtooth's Trapsylvania for Dungeon Crawl Classics. Two Grimtooth's adventures have already been published for DCC: Grimtooth's Museum of Death and Grimtooth's Tomb of the Warhammer.

This product contains the full text and contents of the original Grimtooth's Traps, Grimtooth's Traps Too, Grimtooth's Traps Fore, Grimtooth's Traps Ate!, Grimtooth's Traps Lite, Grim Buck, Grimtooth's Traps Comic, Grimtooth's Traps Bazaar, and Grimtooth's Dungeon of Doom. New material includes interviews, the Grimtooth's Traps Boardgame, illustrations, and a new bonus traps chapter.

Essentially, this book is a hell of a lot of traps, many of them exceedingly cruel and/or devious in nature, and a system-neutral dungeon which utilizes many horrific traps. Let extreme paranoia be your watchword, for it will surely be that of your players once you spring these on them!

Five classic Traps books collected in one volume, giving you over 500 engines of destruction, delver dicers and player character crushers. Now remastered and with new art by original Traps artist Steven S. Crompton. This collection also includes an entirely new section of never-before-seen traps from Grimtooth's archives, along with behind the scenes articles on the origins of Grimtooth and the Traps phenomenon. Plus rare art, Grimtooth comics, Trap puzzles, and more!

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Grimtooth's Museum of Death

DCC #87.5 Grimtooth's Museum of Death is a 1st level adventure by Jobe Bittman with Steven S. Crompton. It was illustrated by Doug Kovacs, S.S. Crompton, Stefan Poag, and Brad McDevitt. The publisher is Goodman Games.

A bit of history: Flying Buffalo Games published the first Grimtooth's Traps book in 1981, leading the market in traps that you might hesitate to place in your dungeons. These traps were tough, and what they would do to the PCs who fell into them was often tougher still, but they generally had internally logical rules that would allow very canny players to defeat them. The "mascot" of these books was a troll named Grimtooth.

It didn't take long at all for gamers to learn to associate the name "Grimtooth" with "Killer Dungeon".

Fast forward to January 3rd, 2015, and Goodman Games begins its kickstarter for Grimtooth's Ultimate Traps Collection. Not only did this lead directly to the creation of Grimtooth's Museum of Death ("Based on the stretch goals achieved so far, we will be creating a Dungeon Crawl Classics module featuring Grimtooth."), but Grimtooth's Trapsylvania looms. From the Ultimate Traps kickstarter page:

Many moons ago, the adventurous entrepreneurs at Goodman Games visited my realm, and seeing its wonders, begged me to reveal to unwashed humanity, the splendors and horrors of Trapsylvania. After sufficient groveling and the payment of vast sums of platinum ingots, I agreed to give them a tome of greatness that would lay out my little empire so that GMs and dungeon masters everywhere might benefit from my vast wisdom.

The book is all written and I even allowed Goodman Games to add appropriate DCC stats and info on all the characters, creatures and traps within the book, so that all you Dungeon Crawl Classics players could use this book all the easier. There are of course my usual 1-5 skull ratings so that everyone else can use this book as well.

From the April 2017 update, it seems quite clear that a Grimtooth's Trapsylvania kickstarter is in the near future.

If Grimtooth, the Troll of Trolls, is synonymous with the killer dungeon, then Grimtooth's Museum of Death lives up to all expectations. That said, it is nonetheless survivable, and it is possible even to profit from your excursion to Castle Grimtooth. Stats are given for both Grimtooth and Grimtina...if you attack them, you are very likely going to die. Very, very likely. Even more likely than that.

Then again, the odds are also good that you are going to die if you do not attack them, but merely tackle the dungeons below Castle Grimtooth as planned. You may wish to bring your second-best character. The dungeon is "extremely hazardous and completely unfair"...so much so that an "Accidental Death & Dismemberment" sidebar is provided for "[w]eak-hearted judges" who wish to "temper the lethality of the traps".

Of great potential interest to the judge who remembers the Grimtooth's Traps series with fondness, the authors supply a complete patron write-up of the Great Troll, including all patron spells.

Not for the faint of heart. Perhaps not for regular campaign play, both due to tone and lethality. Nonetheless, you can adventure like it's 1981.

After three decades of preparation, the evil troll Grimtooth has finally thrown wide the gates of his abode to all comers. The troll has sent ravens far and wide inviting delvers to share in the vast wealth of his treasure room. Of course, there is a catch. The adventurers must wend their way through a maze of traps in Grimtooth’s Museum of Death, a curated collection of the deadliest and most devious traps ever assembled in one place. Along the way, they might even cross paths with a few of Grimtooth’s allies: Grimtina, Spike the Grimdog, and Sludgeworth. Tread lightly, delver. There are no refunds for this tour.

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Grimtooth's Trapsylvania

Grimtooth's Trapsylvania is "A Sourcebook for Grimtooth's Traps Locations", written by Grimtooth the Troll (the DriveThru RPG page identifies Steve Crompton), with DCC stats by Joseph Goodman and Terry Olson. Art is by SS Crompton, Liz Danforth, Micheal Von Glahn, Scott Jackson, Jeff Dee, and Phil Longmeier. The publisher is Goodman Games, under license by Flying Buffalo Inc.

So what is this thing? A tongue-in-cheek setting for Dungeon Crawl Classics adventures, which might be part of a normal campaign setting (although that would seem strange), the basis of a gonzo campaign setting, or a place which might be visited as a result of a planar step gone awry. Each area described contains maps, encounters, adventure hooks, and more. Not surprisingly, there are new traps. There is enough material in this book, if used as a campaign setting, to keep the average group busy for years.

Being Grimtooth's, building up replacement characters will be part of what keeps them busy! The Grimtooth's books hail from the early days of gaming, and have a slant mixing humor with slaughtering PCs, so nothing herein should be considered safe or fair. Nor is it necessarily politically correct by modern standards (the minor succubus found herein, for instance, can force a Will save that, if failed, causes her victim to disrobe and stand helpless for 1d3 turns). If this is what you are looking for, you will not be disappointed.

You get descriptions of a Seaport & Abandoned Village, Grimtina’s Petting Zoo, the Fetid Swamp, Warthog’s School for Wayward Trolls, the Death Maze Testing Center, Grimtooth’s Airship and its Hangar, the Lighthouse & Dragon Grotto, the Forest of Doom, the Hallway of Infinite Corridors, Grimtooth’s Inner Sanctum, and more. You can learn everything you ever wanted to know about Restrooms in Trapsylvania, and why you might wish to avoid them!

The DCC Trapsylvania Appendices supply game-specific statistics for the creatures, personalities, and objects found herein:

Appendix 1: Creatures contains full statistics for 87 entries (by my count), and offers a Snake Poison Table for some of the venomous serpents found in Trapsylvania. Yes, some of these monsters are a bit silly, such as the Kiwi Time Snitcher, "Merv" Griffin, or the Giant Killer Dodo - but a lot of them are surprisingly solid monsters that could be used in any DCC RPG campaign.

Appendix 2: NPCs gives stats for over 20 named beings in the Trapsylvania setting. This includes gods (Shub-Niggurath and Yidhra the Dream Witch Goddess), Grimtooth and his sister Grimtina, and more.

Appendix 3: Items contains over 20 items, and statistics for the minor (Type I) succubus. The author notes that "Many items listed below have magical powers that can significantly impact a campaign. The judge may decide that certain items’ enchantments only function in Trapsylvania." This is probably good advice.

For the first time ever: the Legendary locations of Grimtooth’s Traps revealed! And fully compatible with DCC RPG!

For over 30 years Grimtooth’s numerous Traps books have horrified players and inspired gamemasters with hundreds of dangerous devices, deadly deathtraps and hilarious hijinx! Now Grimtooth (with a little help from kid sister Grimtina) will take you on a personally guided tour of his realm and the central hub of his vast Traps empire.

Run your own Grimtooth campaign or pick and choose locations you can use in your own single location adventures.  Explore Grimtooth’s caverns, visit his Inner Sanctum, escape the Deathmaze Testing Center, attend Warthog’s School for Trolls, take a ride on Grimtooth’s Airship, tour Grimtina’s Petting Zoo or get lost in the Infinite Corridor of Hallways and many more gigantic places of doom. Each of these infamous locations include maps, descriptions, Non-player character details, scenarios, all with in-depth DCC stats and lots of art by Traps artist SS Crompton.

And can you uncover the horrendous secret that lies deep beneath Grimtooth’s caverns and back into his family’s history? It’s a great read and a useful campaign setting all in one book.  What are you waiting for? Get yours today!

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Related Products

Grimtooth's Tomb of the Warhammer

Grimtooth's Tomb of the Warhammer is a 4th level adventure by Ken St. Andre and Steven S. Crompton, with Dungeon Crawl Classics statistics by Terry Olson. It was illustrated by S.S. Crompton. The publisher is Goodman Games, under license from Flying Buffalo, Inc.

If you want to know a little more about Grimtooth and Trapsylvania, read here or Steven Crompton's blog post here. The second link also discusses Tomb of the Warhammer.

As with Grimtooth's Museum of Death, this adventure is not for the faint of heart. The tone also matches that of the Flying Buffalo Grimstooth products, not surprisingly as Steven Crompton has been there since the beginning. There is no small bit of silliness at the heart of the blood-soaked events, which may seem off-kilter in an ongoing campaign milieu. In this adventure, the PCs enter the Tomb of Grimfang, Grimtooth's father. It is a killer dungeon. The authors are upfront about that. "The Judge should be relentless in his attempts to slay the party, but don't do it too easily."

I would find it hard to use this adventure as written in an ongoing campaign. As a one-shot, a dream sequence, or an alternate plane of existence/planet, though, who knows? As part of Grimtooth's Trapsylvania, where the players know to fear to tread...well, everywhere? Probably.

Can you go where no troll dares to tread? Long ago, the elves killed Grimtooth’s father in a great battle. They hid the troll leader’s body and his mystic warhammer somewhere in the vast plains beyond Trapsylvania. After years of searching, Grimtooth has finally located his father’s tomb, but the elves have magically rigged it so that no troll can enter. Now Grimtooth is looking for a party of foolhardy adventurers to enter Grimfang’s Tomb and return with the legendary warhammer…

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The Curse of the Kingspire

Dungeon Crawl Classics #88.5: Curse of the Kingspire, was written by Harley Stroh and published by Goodman Games. It is a 2nd level adventure, originally written for 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons and converted to Dungeon Crawl Classics by Daniel J. Bishop. The original 4th Edition adventure was written as part of the "Master Dungeons" series published by Goodman Games.

Disclosure: I am the Daniel J. Bishop who converted this adventure from 4th Edition rules. Somewhat related to this, Terry Olson has now been added to the roster of official Goodman Games converters, with his conversion of Grimtooth's Tomb of the Warhammer by Ken St. Andre and Steve Crompton. Also, a shout-out to Goodman Games' new weekly column, Forgotten Treasure.

It is always nice being asked to do a conversion. Having done official conversions from 3rd Edition and 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons, I find that 4th Edition requires a bit more work, but Harley Stroh's writing and vision makes it all worthwhile.

4th Edition skill challenges, in particular, need work to be translated to a less crunchy system. Many examples of skill challenges are rather banal. Stroh's skill challenges, however, actually increase the pulp adventure feel of the work...reading the original, I could very much feel the Appendix N vibe. In some ways, this adventure and its companion in the "Master Dungeons" series, Dragora's Dungeon, feel like direct antecedents of the Dungeon Crawl Classics rules. Making sure that these challenges were somehow incorporated into game play, without being a series of rolls, was important to me. I hope that I succeeded.

Statblocks are also far larger in 4th Edition, and use a scaling system altogether different from that of previous editions of Dungeons & Dragons. The focus on miniature-based combat means that creatures may have powers designed to take advantage of a grid...not always the best choice for Dungeon Crawl Classics. I tried to make the encounters feel the same, even if they do not strictly play the same.

The original adventure makes use of the Eladrin from 4th Edition, a group of elf-like fey beings with a limited power of teleportation. I wanted to make use of the sense of them, while leaving Wizard of the Coast's intellectual property behind. The result in this module are the "Elder Kith", which are called "Elder Kindred" in my own Through the Dragonwall, mostly to avoid confusion with the Kith of Peril on the Purple Planet.

There is a time travel element to the adventure that is wonderfully presented. Harley Stroh knocked it out of the park. And there is a magic sword which cannot help but remind one of Stormbringer in Michael Moorcock's Elric series. Very little work was needed to adjust this weapon for Dungeon Crawl Classics - as far as I know, Harley created the first DCC-style sword before the game existed.

Strange mists and weird lights glimmer and seethe along the banks of the Drachenvold Swamp. The folk of Kingshire have vanished like ghosts into the swamp, leaving only strange idols in their wake. At the heart of the fetid marsh, ruins of an ancient keep are all that remain of a once mighty band of rebel elder kith lords. But the ruined keep is home to a hungry curse capable of drawing the heroes back through time and space. Cast into a foreign realm of endless horror and bloodshed, it will take all your courage and cunning to end...the Curse of the Kingspire.

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Goodman Games Gen Con 2014 Program Book

The Goodman Games Gen Con 2014 Program Book is described on RPG Now as being written and illustrated by Goodman Games, and is published by Goodman Games as well. Apart from specific adventures, and self-reporting (bios, author notes, etc.), I didn't see any other attribution.

Disclosure: There is a preview for my The Dread God Al-Khazadar in this volume, with my Designer Notes and a short bio.

As with other discussions of "mixed bag" type products, my focus here is going to be on Dungeon Crawl Classics material. Let's look inside!

Gen Con Luck Chart: Not listed in the Table of Contents. You might have gotten a freebie from the Goodman Games crew if you rolled at the Goodman Games booth. Or you might have been asked to "Provide Doug [Kovacs] with a pint of your own blood to be mixed into his paint for the next DCC RPG cover." Seems to be the same as last year.

Age of Cthulhu: Transatlantic Terror: An adventure by Jon Hook for 1920s Call of Cthulhu. Could this be turned into a funnel scenario using Dungeon Crawl Classics period-based characters? Yes it could.

Dear Archmage Abbey: A bit of fun flummery.

DCC RPG Worlds Tour: Not sure why this made it to the Table of Contents.

Tales From the Road Crew: Stories and pictures of Dungeon Crawl Classics events featuring the Goodman Games crew, "The Curse of Many Faces" and "The Battle of Gary Con".

DCC Bonus Encounters: Preordering Intrigue at the Court of Chaos, The One Who Watches From Below, and Bride of the Black Manse gave you a chance to receive postcard-sized extras printed with extra encounter areas. These are reprinted here.

The Emerald Enchanter Strikes Back: In true Appendix N style, author Jobe Bittman reveals that the Emerald Enchanter did not die at the end of his titular adventure. Now he wants his vengeance, and he has a giant robot to help him do it. Not only that, but there is a nod to Doom of the Savage Kings!

2014 Mailing Labels: Cool art.

The DCC Cover Design Process: More cool art, and information about how those covers are designed.

The ABECEDARIAN Adventure: Featuring expanded material for The Dungeon Alphabet (O is Also for Omens by Michael Curtis, and no, it isn't in my expanded copy either, so I guess you can only get it in this Program Book!) and previewing the upcoming (at the time) The Monster Alphabet.

Maximum Xcrawl: Too Tough to Die: Fiction by C. L. Werner.

Metamorphosis Alpha: Coming of Age: An adventure by James M. Ward. Once again, I am going to suggest that this could be converted to Dungeon Crawl Classics...perhaps using The Umerican Survival Guide and Mutant Crawl Classics (when these become available) as handy source books for doing so.

Coming Soon for DCC RPG: Previews (with designer notes and bios) for several products. These are Against the Atomic Overlord, The 998th Conclave of Wizards, Journey to the Centre of Aereth, Hole in the Sky, The Dread God Al-Khazadar, The Making of the Ghost Ring, and The Four Phantasmagorias. This last product, by Michael Curtis, is still in the wings somewhere. All good things take time, and I imagine DCC Lankhmar has taken up a wee bit of Mr. Curtis' time between then and now. In addition, Joseph Goodman has a sidebar about Alien Planets in this section.

Other Products Coming Soon: The Adventurer's Almanac, GM Gems, Age of Cthulhu: The Lost Expedition, and two other "exciting hardcovers" that were announced at the "What's New With Goodman Games?" seminar. If memory serves, these should be Grimtooth's Traps and the Judges Guild Deluxe Collector's Edition.

D40 Questions: The Goodman Gang: The Goodman Games crew answer some randomly generated questions from a list of 40. Included are Jobe Bittmen, Mike Curtis, Joseph Goodman, Jon Hershberger, Keith Labaw, Brendan LaSalle, Doug Kovacs (who gets &^#!@ bleeped!), Brad McDevitt, Peter Mullen, Stefan Poag, Harley Stroh, and Dieter Zimmerman.

The Vandroid: Finally, Joseph Goodman delivers a "robot created from the components of a classic 1970's Ford custom van." Full DCC stats included.

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