Conversion Crawl Classes 5: Basic D&D: Palace of the Silver Princess (1)

We are looking at a second Basic D&D module because this one was specifically requested on my Patreon. If you find this content helpful, and would like to tip – or if you want some input into what conversions I am looking at (or other material I produce), you should consider joining.

I do not have a history with Palace of the Silver Princess, and I wasn’t even aware of it until decades later when the Interwebs gave me some insight into this somewhat controversial adventure.  By 1981 I was already entering the world of AD&D, and foolishly thought that “Basic” adventures would be less interesting than their “Advanced” cousins. The controversy centered around an illustration on page 10, “The Illusion of the Decapus”. Or, possibly, there was some complaint about Erol Otus caricatures of TSR staffers. In any event, the original, orange cover, version was largely destroyed. A green cover version, rewritten by Tom Moldvay, was then published.

This is a pity for two reasons. The first is that Jean Wells, the woman who wrote the original version, was the first woman hired to do this sort of work for TSR, and this was her first and only foray into the field. Having her adventure pulled on the basis of the art – over which she had no control – must have been heartbreaking. The second reason is that I am looking at the original version of this adventure for this post, and that is a bit harder to come by than the later version. However, even if you do not have the adventure, you should be able to follow along easily enough.

I intend on spending two posts with Palace of the Silver Princess. This first post will outline general conversion notes. The second post will convert at least some of the monsters unique to this version of the adventure.

Starting Observations

Palace of the Silver Princess includes a wilderness area and a dungeon area, similar to The Keep on the Borderlands. It also includes several areas where information is left for the judge to fill in, similar to In Search of the Unknown. The wilderness map is, unfortunately, not on a hex grid…or even a square grid. The adventure has a strong fairy-tale vibe. It also has a strong theme of gender conflict, which I think is worth keeping. It is certainly unique.

Consider that Jean Wells was the first female game designer TSR hired, and TSR was the 500-lb gorilla in the rpg industry at that time. Jean Wells took a number of characters who would have been described as male by her colleagues, up to and including making the Silver Princess a legendary figure. On top of that, we have the “fierce young female fighter called Aliegha”, the “evil of Baroness of Gulluvia, Lady D’hmis” and the Sword of Spartusia which “once belonged to the legendary female warrior Spartusia Ericsdottir” and bears a curse that causes it “to constantly search for a true female descent of Spartusia.”

The most unique new monsters in the adventure are the humanoid ubues, which literally embody gender conflict. Each ubue has three heads – two of one gender and one of the other. If the majority of the heads are male, the ubue is male. If the majority are female, the ubue is female. They literally always embody what was then known as the “battle of the sexes”. According to the text, “One of the three heads will always be of a different sex from the other two and it will always be in the middle…Due to this division of heads, there is a great deal of argument between the heads from time to time. Sometimes these arguments are untimely, as in the middle of a battle (15% chance).”

To further demonstrate the gender divide, “The strongest male ubue is the tribal chief” although a male ubue can challenge the chief at an time. In contrast, “If more than one babe is born, the tribe’s shaman will kill one of the babies. If one of the babes is female and the other male, it will be the female that dies, otherwise the shaman cast sticks onto the floor searching for signs from the gods as to which child to slay.”

Nor does the author always depict her own gender as preferable. Consider the description of Gulluvia:

This is a ruthless place filled with terror. The ruler of this chaotic nightmare is Lady D’hmis. She rules this barony with a firm and unforgiving hand. To gain supreme rulership of the tiny barony, she killed her husband. A prime example of the type of laws her ladyship favors is one forbidding males, except those in her service, from being on the streets after the sunset unless accompanied by a female who is age 15 or older. This law meets little resistance as everyone fears her baronial guards. Though D’hmis’ warriors are primarily male, her commanders are all females; tough, chaotic women who instill fear by a mere gaze and who fear little save D’hmis and the elite male fighters who serve as her personal bodyguards and paramours.

This sort of gender-based difference is pretty common in the formulative fiction of the game, and certainly casts a long shadow in Appendix N. While common in the source literature, Jean Wells turned it on its head, and certainly took a playful stance towards the issue. Take, for instance, the decapus encounter whose illustration so dismayed TSR:

A beautiful young woman hangs from the ceiling. Nine ugly men can be seen poking their swords lightly into her flesh, all the while taunting her in an unknown language and pulling at what few clothes she has on. Part of her ankle length hair has been wrapped around her legs, securely binding them together, while the rest of her hair has been used to tie her hands to a ceiling beam.

Apart from the obvious sexual imagery (poking their swords lightly into her flesh), there is a reference her to the story of Rapunzel, and with it the symbolism of uncut hair indicating virginity and/or purity. (The Biblical Samson partakes of the same symbolism, losing his power when he allows his hair to be cut.) And the scene is illusory; the stereotypical gender roles being seen here are in fact the lure of a cunning predatory monster which uses “both ventriloquism and illusions to appear as a helpless, beautiful woman, usually hanging from the ceiling and being taunted by nine ugly men. In its true form it has ten long tentacles extending from various parts of its body.” Again, Jean Wells is poking fun at standard fantasy adventure fare, and it is unfortunate that she wasn’t better supported by TSR. Certainly the issues raised herein are still relevant today.

Another thing I wanted to point out was the Misty Swamp, which “changes magic-user spells in strange and unpredictable ways”. In some ways, this foreshadows “Magic Here and Magic There” on page 358 of the DCC core rulebook, just as Jean Wells’ creation and use of unique monsters foreshadows “Make Monsters Mysterious”. With different illustrations, completed encounter areas, and a somewhat grittier tone, this would be a very DCC adventure indeed.

Basic Considerations

Our basic considerations for this adventure are very much like those for The Keep on the Borderlands – we need to reduce treasure by approximately 1/10th the listed value and reduce placement of inconsequential (dull) magic items. In this particular case, we also need to determine what to place in those areas left unkeyed by the author. When doing so, we should remember the value of “empty” rooms – not everything need be an encounter!

Other than this, the methods used to convert The Keep on the Borderlands (Parts 1, 2, and 3) work exactly the same here.

For examples of “Magic Here and Magic There” in action, see “The Mysterious Valley” in DAMN #1, The Falcate Idol, Through the Cotillion of Hours, or Curse of Mistwood. These are not the only examples to look at, but they can give you some idea of how to adjust magic in the Misty Swamp. Given the overarching theme of the adventure, it would be worthwhile to include some gender-based effects to magic, which David Fisher and I did in Curse of Mistwood.

Ending Observations

In my next post, I will include conversions of some of the unique monsters in this adventure. You can use them as examples of the conversion process, but I am not going to break it down in this case – it is really no different than in this post.

If anyone knows why the Martian Manhunter appears in the back cover illustration, though, I would be interested to hear it.

Next Post: Palace of the Silver Princess (2): Monster Conversions