What can I say? This is simply the greatest. If you collect role playing games, you absolutely have to have a copy of this book. The only question I have is -- when can we look for a sequel??? Mr. Schick, take pity on us and give us an update, please!

I began role-playing in the late seventies, when all of the earliest role-playing games were still available for sale. Reading "Heroic Worlds" is like returning to those early days, both in its comprehensive listing of every role-playing game release available up through 1990, and in its evocation of the state of the art of role-playing games in its early days. This book is bound to be a classic for a number of reasons: one, it's the only place that will serve the collector hoping to buy every single supplement for their favorite game; two, it's the best history available on the subject, even today; and three, it will serve the game designers of the future, in seeing what has already been done, and what still remains to be done. It's a wonderful read, as well. Now all we need is a second edition, that updates the subject to the present day!

What can I say? When you see a work like this on a hobby you're passionate about, you pick it up, and hope it's good. Schick delivers the goods here, but I would have liked to have seen more commentary from more people. Hopefully, like the other reviewer here, there will be a sequel for the past 9 years, there having been a real boom in certain games (White wolf, Deadlands, etc....)

These modules were designed as stand-alone adventures for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. S1 was the original tournament dungeon used at Origins 1.
S1 Tomb of Horrors by Gary Gygax
S2 White Plume Mountain by Lawrence Schick
S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks by Gary Gygax
S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth by Gary Gygax

These four were later (weakly) combined into supermodule:

S1-4 Realms of Horror

Following in the legendary footsteps of S1, Lawrence Shick created the ultimate puzzle-solving adventure. Voted one of the best 5 adventures of all time in the recent TSR fan poll, S2 features riddles, unspeakable traps, ingenious settings, three weapons of unbelievable power, and a series of unforgettably twisted monster encounters that will give your players migraines as they desperately try to save the lives of their favorite PCs. Well, at least it's lots of fun for the DM... :) for levels 5-10.

I first played this campain when i was 11! Afther that i was hooked on AD&D. I loved the artifacts (black razor*),the puzzles were some of the best i've seen (frictionless room). It had alot of great monsters too (merfolk*)It is simpley a great campain for beginner D&D players.

Yes, this truly is a piece of gaming history worthy of being enshrined. Why? Well, S2 was the first module to incorporate the following - riddles ("Roleplaying? Egad! Can't we just hack our way through?"), unique magical items with strong, evocative personalities (without approaching the "breaking point" of artifacts), extensive mysterious hooks (you never know who the prime antagonist really is; in fact, the DM is practically begged to make this adventure his or her own), and unique puzzles that can only be overcome through teamwork and sheer creativity (the frictionless room, the cavern of the geysers, etc.). Yes, it may seem crude by today's standards, but when you consider the quantum leap forward that this adventure represented (along with S1, which it strongly follows), and the fact that all of this was in 1979, we definitely have a magnum opus. I love it.

What is the point of this book? Gods from past and present real life religions are written up with combat stats. Why?

The purpose of writing up religions for role playing games is so that players can use those religions for their characters. Gods should not be "monsters" to fight with, so their combat stats are totally unnecessary.

When you discuss religions, even relgions that are essentially dead, you are discussing people's cultural heritage, and mythology that shapes their world view. It is insulting to write up these religions in a ignorant and wildly inaccurate way. It is even worse when you do this with religions such as Hinduism that millions of people believe in. If they had of written up Yaweh as having 400 hit points and the powers of a 20th level mage, and Jesus as a "Lesser god," with some kind of write up about how he is the god of healing, it would be obvious how strange and offensive this is.

If you want to use historical religions in your campaign, then go to the library and learn about them. If you want to use fictional ones, then make them up. Either way, this book is not useful.

While this book doesn't serve much purpose in most campaigns, it's still a good book to get. The reason I say it doesn't serve much purpose is because most campaigns don't use our world's mythology as a basis for the gods.

On the other hand, it's a good book, because it let's a DM see exactly how he/she should write up gods he/she creates. It also is a good referance for learning who the gods are throughout mythology.

While some might insist that it is somewhat insulting to faiths of the world, one should look at it not for the statistics that it gives, but what the D&D world/campaign was trying to do. The people at TSR, when they were fun and enjoyable under the guidance of Gary Gygax one of the best writers in the world of gaming...wanted...IMO...to show what deities were like in this world and how they might interact with the fantasy world of gaming, giving examples of how war gods, love goddesses, and those like can mean for the player characters. THIS IS NOT suppose to be a tell all on all the cultures and religions of the world. Hardly. If you want that, I would suggest you read the works of Joseph Campbell. If you want to look for something real quick to see how it might fit in to your campaign, this is for you. I love it myself.