More details have been revealed about Infinite Staircase Queststhe upcoming Dungeons & Dragons anthology that Wizards of the Coast is calling “the premier adventure book for the 2024 ruleset.” At a recent press conference, lead game designer Justice Ramin Arman shared more details about the anthology’s six adventures.
Releasing July 16, Quests from the Infinite Staircase brings back six old-school adventures, each of which can be played as standalones over three or four sessions. If you want to link them together, the DnD Book offers a framework and a quest giver that will connect the adventures. These are the Nafas, the cool but potentially an end of campaign noble genius, and the titular Infinite Staircase itself.
This place has a long history. “The Infinite Staircase is first mentioned in Planescape 2nd Edition,” Arman explains. “It was mentioned again more recently in the 2014 Dungeon Master’s Guide.” “It’s this extradimensional staircase that winds its way through an infinite expanse,” he adds. “It has all these doors that lead to every plane, every world, and places that are otherwise hard to access.”
“What makes it special is that you just have to stumble upon the right door to find the infinite staircase,” Arman explains. “As a DM, it’s a really easy way to introduce planar travel to your group.” That means traveling between key locations DnD Settings like Ravenloft, the Feywild, and the Forgotten Realms has never been easier.
Time can get a little unstable in interplanar space, and Infinite Staircase is a book that blends the old and the new. In addition to bringing decades-old adventures to fifth edition, Arman sees the anthology as a celebration of fifty years of D&D, as well as a flagship book for the new era of A DnD.
“I always try to approach projects with respect, especially when we’re taking something that’s already been there and putting it out there for new and returning players to explore,” he says. While Arman says it was important to “preserve the spirit” of the old adventures, “we had an eye on the future to make sure there was no friction.”
According to Arman, this book is “the bridge between the old and the new” Dungeons and Dragons. “Rather than being the last book with the 2014 rules, I like to think of it as the first adventure book for the 2024 rules.”
Arma explains that each of the adventures in the anthology was also chosen to showcase what D&D has accomplished in its half-century of existence. Some are incredibly popular adventures from back in the day, while others are more obscure but still hugely influential. Others might be the first time a classic has been created. DnD Monster appeared.
The first adventure in the anthology is The Lost City, which is designed for adventurers level 1-4. already played part of The Lost City, and it feels like very kind of like an introduction to D&D. According to Arman, “the original adventure was trying to teach new DMs how to be DMs.” While there has been a lot of rebalancing, that core goal remains.
In The Lost City, you will have to find and explore the ancient city of Cynidicea, much of which is now underground, in a half-buried ziggurat. During your adventures, “the characters will encounter these strange factions, remnants of a bygone civilization, each seeking to restore Cynidicea to its former glory.”
These joinable factions promise strange roleplay, unique buffs, and animal-themed masks. Deeper within the ziggurat, a secret and more ominous faction can be found, worshiping a massive, supposedly indestructible tentacled monster called Zargon. Arman makes not I recommend fighting Zargon for now, but “lower level characters might interact with him and come back to fight him later.”
Next up is When a Star Falls, “the first adventure in this book that comes from the British team at TSR.” As the name suggests, you're going to hunt down a star that fell from the sky, because some evil wise men want to use its power of prophecy to do evil things. The adventure takes place from level four to level six.
Arman doesn't reveal many details about the adventure's plot, but the monsters' stat blocks give some clues. Players might encounter the Memory Web, a living web that hides the memories of the creatures it kills. They'll also see Derro, humanoids from the Underdark who are currently busy reanimating the dead for mysterious reasons. And “yes, there are dragons” in this adventure, Arman says.
Beyond the Crystal Cave was also originally written by the British team at TSR and is clearly inspired by Shakespeare. You'll be looking for “two young lovers who ran away from their parents because they didn't approve of their relationship.”
The level 6 and 7 adventure takes place in a beautiful, magical garden that looks so much like the Feywild that Wizards of the Coast updated the adventure to take place there. You’ll chat with talking pixies and unicorns, and you don’t even have to fight them. “Even in the ’80s, it was ahead of its time in that you could complete the garden section without resorting to combat,” Arman says. “Chris Perkins mentioned that adventure as the inspiration for The Wild Beyond the Witchlight.”
This realm of delights is ruled by an Archfey known as the Gardener. The original adventure featured a more traditional Green Man character, but Arman explains that “we wanted to play more of a Nature Guardian type Archfey.”
This is followed by an adventure called Pharaoh, which was first created by DragonlanceTracy and Laura Hickman. The characters are “beseeched by the ghost of a long-dead pharaoh” who wishes to be freed from a curse. This naturally involves exploring an Egyptian-style pyramid, which Arman says has been made “a little more deadly.” Less traditionally, you’ll also visit a boat in the clouds.
In addition to increasing the difficulty level, Wizards of the Coast has made efforts to make this adventure more inclusive. “We reached out to someone who specializes in ancient Egypt,” Arman says. Additionally, “we removed some of the more culturally insensitive elements or repurposed them to help maintain the spirit of the adventure and make it shine in the best possible way.”
The fourth adventure is Lost Caves of Tscosjcanth, the first half of which was released earlier this year as a tournament adventure. “The two parts you’ll see that weren’t in this one are the wilderness exploration section before the actual dungeon,” Arman explains, “and the second half of that dungeon—now you have access to the larger caverns.” This adventure runs from levels 9 to 11.
The witch Tasha (or Igwilv, as she is called here) is more present in the updated version of the adventure. You will also meet Drelnza, Tasha's vampire daughter.
Arman says Expedition to the Barrier Peaks “is probably my favorite adventure” in the anthology. This level 11-13 adventure has a reputation as “the adventure that gave your party laser guns.” It takes place on a crashed spaceship, and you’ll encounter all sorts of weird robots. “There’s all sorts of fun futuristic technology that the characters will find in this adventure,” Arman says.
A lot of tweaks have been made to this space-age classic. Maps are apparently smaller and a looser narrative structure has been given to the whole thing. “We've also moved some encounters around to place more memorable encounters in locations that players are likely to visit.”
This includes nightclub encounters, which we think every spaceship should have. “As great as the original adventure is, it’s also a bit silly at times, and we want to keep that silliness in the new update,” Arman explains.
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