Roll20 Review – Quests from the Infinite Staircase

A review copy of the module was provided. Read more Roll20 Reviews and watch the video reviews on my YouTube channel.

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Designed by: Wizards of the Coast

Sneaking in before the major launch of the new 2024 edition of Dungeons & Dragons in September, Quests from the Infinite Staircase has received little fanfare. It’s basically a follow-up to 2017’s Tales from the Yawning Portal, a collection of six decades-old Dungeons & Dragons modules, newly restored and updated for modern play.

And it’s a damn good collection.

The following is included in the Quests from the Infinite Staircase Roll20 bundle ($29.99):

• • Six adventure module add-ons
    • Beyond the Crystal Cave
      • 2 10-ft sq battle maps (subdivided 5-ft squares)
      • 1 region map
    • Expedition to the Barrier Peaks
      • 4 10-ft sq battle maps (subdivided 5-ft squares)
    • Pharoah
      • 5 10-ft sq battle maps (subdivided 5-ft squares)
      • 3 illustrative map-handouts
    • The Lost Caverns of Tosjcanth
      • 2 10-ft sq battle maps (subdivided 5-ft squares)
      • 1 region map
    • The Lost City
      • 4 10-ft sq battle maps (subdivided 5-ft squares)
      • 1 region map
    • When a Star Falls
      • 4 10-ft sq battle maps (subdivided 5-ft squares)
      • 2 region maps
    • Total maps: 19 grid maps, 5 region maps, 3 illustrative maps
    • About 200 monsters with statblocks, tokens, and player handouts (about 30 new)
    • About 25 named NPCs
    • About 85 magic items (10 new)
    • Over 75 player art handouts.
  • Compendium (includes new magic items and creatures)
  • Art Pack (150ish tokens with two sets of token art)

Quests from the Infinite Staircase is an anthology adventure book, in the same category as Candlekeep Mysteries, Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel, and its older brother, Tales from the Yawning Portal.

The six included adventures are from the earliest days of D&D, originally published in the 1970s or early 80s. I’d wager they’re a bit less infamous than the adventures in TftYP, with the possible exception of “Expedition to the Barrier Peaks” with its memorable sci-fi theme.

Like other Roll20 releases, creating a campaign with the entire module puts all seven chapters into your journal, as well as a Roll20 tips page, dynamic lighting sample page, and token page.

As an anthology, the adventures are also available as individual add-ons, allowing DMs to slide a single self-contained adventure into any ongoing campaign.

Unfortunately, like other 5e anthologies, QftIS also doesn’t do a great job combining its adventures into an overarching campaign.

The first chapter describes the Infinite Staircase, a world of, well, endless staircases, and doorways to other worlds and planes, ruled by a noble genie named Nafas.

DMs can use Nafas as the party’s quest-giver. He hears the pleas of others across the multiverse, sending the party to aid them.

It’s a thin excuse to teleport to these adventures. To be fair, none of them were originally connected, and the only reason to connect them now is the level scaling for a full campaign: the six adventures combined takes players from levels 1-13.

Lame hubwold and campaign aside, the updated modules are impressive, varied, and look gorgeous on Roll20 thanks to the multitude of awesome grid and region maps.

Chapters two through seven cover the six stand-alone adventures. Many early D&D modules were simple dungeon crawls, but only one of the included modules here lacks any pretense of story. The others have varying degrees of success making the party care about the plight of these worlds and situations.

The strongest stories (and the least dungeon-y) lie with “When a Star Falls” and “Beyond the Crystal Cave.” The former sends the party after a fallen gem, while forcing them to save the original quest-giver from a sudden coup at a large observatory. It richly combines overworld exploration, dungeon-crawling, and a social-heist event, and all ends with a climactic dragon battle.

“Beyond the Crystal Cave,” is a Feywild adventure that brings the party to a garden paradise tracking down a pair of eloped lovers. Big Alice in Wonderland vibes as the party contends with fantastical creatures in a uniquely role-play heavy adventure.

If dungeon crawling is more your jam, the other four adventures feature mega dungeon crawls. “The Lost City” gives off major BioShock vibes with its buried city and masked, half-crazed citizens, while “Pharoah” is a classic desert deathtrap tomb with tons of secrets and interesting verticality.

The real jewel is “Expedition to the Barrier Peaks,” an incredibly memorable foray into a crashed spaceship, complete with evil ship computer AI, killer robots, laser rifles, and tons of nasty threats. The story unfolds as the party works with (or against) the AI, while it has its own nefarious agenda.

The unique sci-fi battle map art is fantastic, including the colored doorways to denote the many levels of keycards.

Great map art does wonders for a virtual tabletop adaptation. These are already solid adventures, but with all the tokens, maps, and handouts available, Quests from the Infinite Staircase is practically a must-buy for Roll20 players.

Look for my full adventure ranking video soon on YouTube!

Pros:

• All six adventures are solid, ranging from good to great.
• Welcome updates, such as adding a sixth layer to “The Lost City.”
• Fantastic map art for each adventure.
• 19 grid maps plus multiple region maps!

Cons:

• The thinly-veiled hubworld is even less interesting than the Radiant Citadel.
• Every grid map is 10-ft squares.

The Verdict: Tales from the Infinite Staircase offers a varied buffet of less-famous and more eclectic classic D&D modules, with welcome updates and excellent map art that looks great in Roll20.

A review copy of the module was provided. Read more Roll20 Reviews and watch the video reviews on my YouTube channel.

Support my video work via Patreon.