David Cook’s X5: Temple of Death is where the Desert Nomads series gets good. It is also where it ends, which kind of begs the question whether it needed to be a series at all. Taken together with X4, it is a pretty fun ride, so whatever.

X5 mirrors X4’s construction, sending PCs through a series of wilderness locations before ending in a dungeon – the titular temple the Master uses as his stronghold. There is some bizarre stuff in here – rock people, an airship full of undead, a ladder to the moon and more. There’s also the Master himself, sort of a caricature of the historical Hassan-i Sabbah – he’s pretty dull compared to the rest of the module, in all honesty. Still, this probably ranks as one of the very best BECMI adventures.

The real treat of the module is the lush Tim Truman artwork, particularly the sweet map/illustration of the Temple of Death. Sepia tone was underused in classic D&D, I think.