Master of the Desert Nomads

Master of the Desert Nomads

Code	X4
Rules required	D&D Expert Set
Character levels	6-9
Campaign setting	Mystara
Authors	David Cook
First published	1983
Linked modules
X1, X2, X3, X4, X5, X6, X7, X8, X9, X10, X11, X12, X13, XL1, XSOLO, XS2

Master of the Desert Nomads is a Dungeons & Dragons adventure module designed by David Cook for use with the Expert D&D set.

This is the first part of a two-part adventure, with Temple of Death being the second part.

Plot summary

In this scenario, the adventurers follow a river and cross the desert to find an evil abbey.^[1] The adventure details a number of wilderness encounters.^[1]

Tribes of nomad raiders from the Great Waste have begun sacking town, prompting the governor of the Republic to send out a call for help to fight these nomads. When the party joins the reserves to meet the main army at a recently-liberated village, they discover signs of the nomads and camp there for several days.

At the beginning of the mission, the player characters must use stealth to find out more about the Master of these nomads, and report back to those who hired the party.

Publication history

X4 Master of the Desert Nomads was written by David Cook, with art by Tim Truman, and was published by TSR in 1983 as a 32-page booklet with an outer folder.^[1] This module was the first in the "Desert Nomads" series.^[1]

Reception

Rick Swan reviewed the adventure in The Space Gamer No. 71. Swan felt that "Not only does Master of the Desert Nomads provide welcome relief from the tedious dungeon exploration all too common in TSR D&D modules, it's a genuine epic in every sense of the word." He complemented the encounters, saying they are "not only exciting in themselves, they also provide alert players clues and insights about the Master and his evil secrets," and that "the DM will have no problem keeping track of the action". He calls the ending "somewhat of a cheat," because the characters never encounter the Master in this adventure, and felt that "the entire module is really just a prologue" to Temple of Death and "it isn't very satisfying just played by itself". He concluded by saying that, "Taken together, the Desert Nomad series is one of the most imaginative and exciting adventures produced by TSR in quite a while."^[2]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Schick, Lawrence (1991). Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games. Prometheus Books. p. 149. ISBN 0-87975-653-5. 
2. ^ Swan, Rick (November/December 1984). "Capsule Reviews". The Space Gamer (Steve Jackson Games) (71): 56.