The Making of a Module: DD2 Dungeons of the Dread Wyrm

This article offers insight into how and why this adventure was developed and created.

By R. Nelson Bailey

I like dragons. Red ones, blue ones, exotic beasts that soar among the clouds, even tiny faerie dragons. Every Dungeons & Dragons player loves them. When a dragon appears at the table, players snap to attention, hearts racing. Some envision epic battles and the thrill of claiming a hoard of treasure. Others anticipate a grisly end for their beloved characters.

The inspiration for the module DUNGEON DELVE #2: Dungeons of the Dread Wyrm was simple: I wanted to craft a dragon adversary that was both challenging and unforgettable. In earlier editions of the game, this was no easy feat. Dragons were, frankly, underwhelming — especially when facing high-level adventurers. A typical encounter rarely lasted beyond a few rounds.

Published modules often compounded the problem. Dragons were relegated to supporting villains. Consider Aulicus, the black dragon in I2 Tomb of the Lizard King, or Brazzemal, the red dragon in G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King. In all my plays, these dragons fell quickly and anticlimactically, their fearsome legends reduced to brief bursts of breath weapon fire. By round three or four, they were dead. Hardly the terrifying monsters of myth — despite sharing the very name of the game itself.

Even worse, dragons were often depicted idling in unguarded lairs, waiting for adventurers to stumble in. But dragons are intelligent, long-lived creatures. Surely any clever wyrm would anticipate that bold treasure-seekers might one day come calling. Any self-respecting dragon would fortify its lair, laying traps and preparing defenses to punish intruders and protect its hoard.

Dungeons of the Dread Wyrm was my attempt to fix that. Felmurnuzza, the dragon at the heart of the module, is cunning, dangerous, and meticulous. She spent years crafting a labyrinthine lair designed to test adventurers at every turn. Those who survived her traps walked away with a new respect for dragons — and perhaps a touch of awe.

The module began life as Dragon Hunt, a multi-part mini-campaign. From the start, the idea was clear: a hidden, heavily defended lair, shrouded in mystery and peril. The lands surrounding it would be populated by wary locals, misdirecting adventurers toward false lairs or refusing to help at all. The player characters would have to gather clues, interpret cryptic hints, and uncover the true lair themselves.

The adventure would have taken players from a dungeon beneath a ruined keep, sealed by the dragon’s degenerate human minions, through a crypt teeming with undead, and finally into caverns housing a derro town reminiscent of Robert E. Howard’s story, "The Lost Race." Only then could they access the dragon’s sealed caverns, reachable solely via teleportation.

I never had the chance to run Dragon Hunt as an ongoing campaign. But when my annual D&D tournament approached, I needed a ready-made adventure. I distilled the concept into a high-level, single-session scenario. That weekend’s game became, with only minor tweaks, the published Dungeons of the Dread Wyrm.

And that, in essence, is how a dragon went from underwhelming footnote to unforgettable terror.

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