Are you sure you want to do that? No truer words have been uttered than in the Tomb of Horrors. A labyrinthine crypt known to annihilate even the most powerful of characters, the Tomb of Horrors is home to the infamous demilich Acererak and has appeared in nearly every edition of Dungeons & Dragons.

To celebrate this dungeon, we're digging into the history and lore behind it, and previewing a Magic: The Gathering card that pays homage to it. The trading card will appear in the upcoming Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate set, which releases on June 10, 2022.

• What is the Tomb of Horrors?
• The lich lying in wait
• Lessons from the Tomb of Horrors
• Card preview: Tomb of Horrors Adventurer

What Is Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate?

Magic: The Gathering (MTG) is a trading card game by Wizards of the Coast. The upcoming set Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate takes players into the Forgotten Realms and beyond. But this isn't the first time the two games have had a crossover. The 2021 MTG set Adventures in the Forgotten Realms was the game's first big dive into D&D. Meanwhile, the D&D books Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica, Mythic Odysseys of Theros, and Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos have taken fifth-edition D&D players into popular MTG settings.

What Is the Tomb of Horrors?

Buried beneath a lonely hill lies the deadliest dungeon a D&D character can undertake, the Tomb of Horrors. Unforgiving traps, puzzles, and monsters lie in wait here, protecting untold treasures belonging to the cruel demilich Acererak. For most players, the treasures that lie at the end of this dungeon are an unrealized dream. But it isn't the loot that draws players to this adventure, it's the challenge.

Tomb of Horrors was written by D&D co-creator Gary Gygax to test players' meddle. It was introduced to the wider D&D community in 1975 for a tournament held at the first Origins game convention. During this tournament, players competed to see how far they could progress through the Tomb of Horrors.

In order to create an equitable play experience, Gygax included precise descriptions and imagery for DMs to use. This not only allowed players from different tables to share similar experiences in the adventure, but it also allowed DMs to be ruthless as their players failed to survive the many challenges found in the Tomb of Horrors—often in spectacular fashion.

Tomb of Horrors quickly rose to legendary status. It was first published in 1978 and has been republished throughout D&D's history, most recently in the adventure module anthology Tales from the Yawning Portal.

The Lich Lying in Wait

Every good dungeon needs a big bad at the center of it, and the Tomb of Horrors is no exception. Characters that survive a romp through the passages and rooms of the Tomb of Horrors can look forward to its deadliest encounter yet, a visit from the nigh-unkillable Acererak.

Like many great villains, Acererak has humble beginnings. He was a human wizard/cleric who sought immortality, and so started down the path to lichdom. Becoming a lich is no easy feat. Many mages conspire with evil gods, fiends, or other horrors to learn how to become a lich. I won't share such secrets, but I can tell you this much: A lich finally achieves immortality when they trap their soul within a phylactery. Doing so binds their soul to their mortal realm, preventing death. Maintaining a phylactery requires a lich to feed souls to it. (The eldritch lich is an exception to this rule.) Fail to do so, and the lich's undeath will begin to waiver, as was the case for Acererak.

Acererak is a demilich, which is a lich that has failed to feed enough souls to maintain its phylactery and whose body has turned to dust, leaving behind a haunted skull. But don't be fooled, this mere skull is enough to best even the mightiest of adventurers.

Lessons From the Tomb of Horrors

It's commonly said that you can only truly experience the Tomb of Horrors module once. It's intended to be run exactly as written, but that doesn't mean DMs can't borrow ideas or glean wisdom from it for future meatgrinder adventures. Without spoiling the traps that lie in Tomb of Horrors, here are tips DMs can use to make their sessions more challenging for players:

• Set Expectations From the Start: It's no secret Tomb of Horrors is a deadly dungeon delve. Players have been losing characters to it for decades. But if you're a DM who plans to run a meatgrinder adventure, it's important to communicate that with your players before the start of your first session. That way, no one is surprised when the bloodshed begins.
• Allow Your Players to Fail: Part of the joy of D&D is leaning into the failures that come during play. When it comes to meatgrinder adventures, it's important for DMs to set real stakes and to allow characters to suffer the consequences of their missteps.
• Use Precise Language: A solid Wisdom (Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) check won't necessarily reveal every secret behind a trap or unveil the answers to a puzzle. Provide literal descriptions to what the characters are seeing and let the players ponder over your answers. If they have follow-up questions, they can ask them and you can request additional rolls, if it's appropriate.
• Practice Your Poker Face: When the characters are prying open a treasure chest or hop-skipping down a corridor, there's no greater giveaway that a trap lies ahead than your own evil grin. Having a good poker face can keep you from inexplicitly giving away additional information to your players.

Card Preview: Tomb of Horrors Adventurer

The Tomb of Horrors is no dungeon for low-level adventurers. So, it's no surprise that our preview card for Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate is a six mana creature with solid power and toughness and abilities.

When the Tomb of Horrors Adventurer enters the battlefield, you take the initiative. This means you either enter or progress in the Undercity, a special dungeon tied to the initiative mechanic. As long as you have the initiative, you'll venture deeper into the Undercity at the beginning of your upkeep. Take combat damage from another player, though, and they'll take the initiative.

The card also rewards you for casting your second spell each turn. Do so and that spell will be copied. If you've completed a dungeon—it doesn't have to be the Undercity—you'll get two copies of that spell instead. Not bad, if you can get the Tomb of Horrors Adventurer to stick.

Let's Go on an Adventure!

With vast worlds to explore, countless NPCs with storied histories, and all manner of ways to enjoy the trials that come with adventuring, D&D offers countless hours of fun with your friends. D&D Beyond is the official toolset for the game and offers everything you need to start playing today, including the basic rules, the Lost Mine of Phandelver starter adventure, and tools that allow you to make your first character in minutes or prepare a session for your players. All you need to do to get started is sign up for a D&D Beyond account, which comes at no cost!

Michael Galvis (@michaelgalvis) is a tabletop content producer for D&D Beyond. He is a longtime Dungeon Master who enjoys horror films and all things fantasy and sci-fi. When he isn’t in the DM’s seat or rolling dice as his anxious halfling sorcerer, he’s playing League of Legends and Magic: The Gathering with his husband. They live together in Los Angeles with their adorable dog, Quentin.