Ken returns to the Dungeon of Dread by Rose Estes, the first of TSR’s Endless Quest books for Dungeons & Dragons.
The book places you in the role of a young warrior who befriends a halfling thief. The halfling just escaped the lair of a magic-user, so naturally he’s up for going back there with you… It’s a classic book, and one that went on to inform a lot of Ken’s early D&D campaigns (and his ongoing affection for water weirds…)
Chapters
0:27 A D&D Geek’s First Endless Quest
0:56 Mechanics and Flavor Text – No Dice Required
1:55 Cryptic Warnings and Classic Monsters
3:22 The Nostalgia Factor
4:27 Next stop … Gamma World?
5:00 Outro – Share Your Own Endless Quest Stories
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Show Notes
- Overview of Dungeon of Dread (1982) by Rose Estes
- Introduction to the Endless Quest series (1982–1987)
- Roleplaying without dice: choose-your-own-adventure style
- Your character: a slim 5’9″ adult human fighter
- Gear as flavor text, not inventory
- Early monster encounters: water weirds, kobolds, hobgoblins, basilisk
- Narrative decisions that lead to death or danger (e.g., falling in holes)
- Personal nostalgia: how these books fueled imagination between D&D sessions
- The roots of Ken’s love for green slime and traps
- Collecting vintage Endless Quest books
- Teaser: Gamma World’s Light on Quest Mountain
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