Pharaoh! Largely considered to be one of the best D&D modules, for good reason.

This is an example of how a long development and lots of playtesting can be seen in the end product. The Hickmans originally wrote and published the module privately, running it for local groups in ‘77. Pharaoh was then retooled in 1980 for Daystar West, a small press that published D&D supplements. The TSR version surfaced in ’82 – the Hickmans sold it to the company to recoup losses from a failed business. TSR liked it so much that they hired Hickman and made I3: Pharaoh the start of a trilogy of modules.

The main portion of the module (there’s a lot of secondary material, all worth checking out) deals with the ghost of a once greedy pharaoh doomed to wander the desert until someone plunders his thief-proof pyramid (it is unusual to encounter a D&D module with a clear moral to the story, let alone one that seems so clearly anti-capitalist).

The pyramid is tightly designed with a multitude of clever traps and encounters. Pharaoh boasts one of the best module layouts up to that point, with clear and concise descriptions of every room. There are also a number of side view maps, which I find both helpful and delightful. Jim Holloway, whose work sometimes leaves me cold, is on point here, with lots of punchy illustrations and a fantastic cover painting. I love the spectral pharaoh with the empty headdress.

If you have the chance to grab this, definitely pick it up – even if you don’t run it as is, you can use it to fill your own games with traps for months.