Gygax Adventures: Tolkien Towns and Moorcock Dungeons

[b-dog]

I think the secret of the Gygax adventures was that he uses the quaint Tolkien Town that is sort of like the Shire and then when they find out about the dungeon then it turns into a Moorcock type super high fantasy situation. The Drow series starts with various giants and eventually goes underground into a dark fairy realm of the Drow who are reminiscent of the Melnibonéans in their amoral chaotic behavior. The realm of the Drow is fantastically beautiful in a dark way instead of the ugly oppressive orc forces of Sauron. The same is true for the Tomb of Horrors where the Demi lich has constructed a beautiful artistic lair to await delvers trying to get to his treasure. The The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth has all sorts of teleportation nodes and the final treasure is guarded by the beautiful vampire Drelzna. This is my opinion of why Gygax had such good adventures, instead of a dark oppressive dungeon he made the dungeon the most fantastical part.