D&D: Quests From The Infinite Staircase Unites the Eras

Admist a milestone year, Dungeons & Dragons has been simultaneously looking to its past and laying the groundwork for its future. The latest of their efforts, Quests from the Infinite Staircase , represents a culmination of all Wizards of the Coast’s recent anniversary fanfare by transplanting 6 classic adventures into the current Fifth Edition (5E) paradigm.

Over the last few months Wizards have published Vecna: Eve of Ruin , a campaign book that serves as a victory lap for 5E by uniting its various official adventures, and The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons: 1970-1977 , a massive tome reprinting the various drafts and ephemera that laid the game’s foundations.

Quests from the Infinite Staircase , out July 16, is like the third part of this trilogy of 50th anniversary tributes. As someone who only started playing D&D back in Fourth Edition and hasn’t truly experienced firsthand the way adventures went in the early years, I was eager to check out these newly reimagined quests—here’s why you should be too, and some ways you can incorporate these tools into your own game.

A Multiversal Tool

If nothing else, 5E has established many ways for players to traverse the multiverse in Dungeons & Dragons . You can cross through Sigil in Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse , take a space-faring boat in Spelljammer: Adventures in Space , or find a portal in the otherworldly bazaar in Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel .

Like these, Quests from the Infinite Staircase adds another way for Dungeon Masters to justify taking their parties across the universe. The Staircase itself is a demiplane linked to every plane in existence; across its ethereal expanse are mysterious doors leading to any realm one could imagine.

The possibilities are as endless as this demiplane itself, as the book’s first chapter illustrates. The Staircase is not a safe zone, nor a quick Super Mario Bros -style warp zone, either. A party might seek to reach another plane through it, but finding the right door and surviving the unique encounters and geography of the demiplane could make for some thrilling sessions in themselves.

Most campaigns don’t need multiversal hijinx, per se, but this tome can still be a handy resource. Each of the six adventures can be transplanted into practically any setting with a little effort on the DM’s part. Plus, the Staircase itself could even be used as a last resort if the party needs to get across their own world quickly when more conventional travel won’t suffice (not unlike the Ways in The Wheel of Time ).

Djinn Hospitality

More so than any other 5E adventure compilation, Quests from the Infinite Staircase is designed so that a group can play through it front-to-back as a campaign. Core to this approach is the noble genie Nafas, a new entity designed for this book. Nafas grants wishes from all across the multiverse, but cannot leave the Infinite Staircase himself. Thus, he has to employ outside agents to visit various planes on his behalf and assist his supplicants.

Thus, as a campaign Quests from the Infinite Staircase casts the players as agents of Nafas. Player characters may have some incredibly difficult request that can only be achieved through his phenomenal cosmic powers—especially since Nafas can be confined to an itty bitty living space, and isn’t as beholden to the consequences of D&D ‘s traditional Wish spell.

• REDISCOVER BELOVED FIRST EDITION ADVENTURES—Uncover the ruins of an ancient kingdom, dig through the wreckage of a futuristic spaceship, and explore an enchanting fairytale garden; these treasured tales have been carefully chosen and lovingly remastered for fifth edition
• PLAY INDIVIDUALLY OR AS A CAMPAIGN—Designed for maximum flexibility, all 6 can be played as standalone adventures, dropped into an ongoing game, or run together as a cohesive campaign that takes characters from level 1 to 13

In return for completing the requests in the campaign version, Nafas grants the players boons like supernatural charms, otherwise unattainable information, or even uses of Wish. Receiving a part of their grand master plan each time they return to base can be a thrilling, additional shot of dopamine for players, on top of the satisfaction of a quest well done.

Alternately, a DM might appropriate this concept for a one-time use situation instead of running it end to end. If there’s a particular adventure in Quests from the Infinite Staircase that jumps out to you, but you don’t want to invest in the entire campaign, it’s easy to transplant players from any setting into a situation where they can help Nafas out once.

From the Annals of History

Quests from the Infinite Staircase presents six adventures cherry-picked from the earliest years of Dungeons & Dragons ’ history:

• Levels 1-3: The Lost City , designed by Tom Moldvay; originally published 1982
• Levels 4-6: When A Star Falls , designed by Graeme Morris; originally published in 1984
• Level 6: Beyond the Crystal Cave , designed by David J. Browne, Tom Kirby, and Graeme Morris; originally published in 1983
• Levels 7-9: Pharaoh , designed by Tracy and Laura Hickman; originally published in 1980
• Levels 9-11: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth , designed by Gary Gygax; originally published in 1982
• Levels 11-13: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks , designed by Gary Gygax; originally published in 1980

Not only are these among the more notorious adventures for their contents, they also represent some key moments in the game’s history, or the careers of their creators. For instance, Tracy and Laura Hickman went on to create the famous campaign setting of Krynn and the franchise Dragonlance , while the Morris adventures were among the first published under TSR’s UK division. Then there’s Expedition to the Barrier Peaks , but… more on that later.

Again, as someone who’s only found Dungeons & Dragons in its last 15 years, Quests from the Infinite Staircase was appealing for the opportunity it offers to try these adventures for themselves. It’s not like the older editions aren’t available or playable anymore, but the game’s mechanics were much different back then, and it’s an investment to learn a more archaic version.

Classic Adventure, Modern Design

That being said, Quests from the Infinite Staircase does not simply reprint those adventures; they’ve been adjusted and modernized to fit 5E and the upcoming 2024 rules update (unlike the Making of Original D&D , which reprints facsimiles of original rules documents).

The content of the quests hasn’t changed, per se, aside from some instances where they’ve been adjusted for modern sensibilities. For instance, as you might imagine, Pharoah had some particularly dated cultural references, which have been smoothed out without overwriting the original spirit. This was handled without consultation from any of the original creators—not out of spite, but simply because the content itself wasn’t being changed.

However, some mechanical points have been altered, but mostly to sand down some rough design edges. For instance, the maps of Expedition to the Barrier Peaks have been adjusted to put key items in less obtuse points, and to make formerly empty dead ends a little more interesting. Beyond the Crystal Cave has been moved to the Feywild, but still has all the Romeo & Juliet -inspired drama that inspired 5E’s Wild Beyond the Witchlight .

The cherry on top of Quests from the Infinite Staircase is its stat blocks. These are some extremely potent Big Bads, from the Froghemoth Elder to Drelnza, and Nafas himself. (There’s a wicked twist to fighting him that I would love to throw in front of my players.)

D&D has come a long way in its design, both mechanically and culturally, but there’s still plenty to be learned from examining its earliest successes. Thanks to the Infinite Staircase, this history lesson gets a little easier—and brings plenty of new toys for the current game as well.

Bringing Kooky Back

With this return to D&D ’s roots comes the unique 70s/80s tone of that era. The adventures’ settings have some of that classic pulp fiction feel, like looking at the yellowed paperbacks in a used book store’s fantasy section. The art direction has admirably maintained that flavor with modern art.

The biggest example of this is the final adventure, Expedition to the Barrier Peaks . Hailing from the same infamous adventure series as Tomb of Horrors , this tale has a reputation for being more science fiction than fantasy—a departure from the norm not unlike the “Mothership Zeta” DLC from Fallout 3 . A spaceship, androids, keycards, rayguns… Expedition has it all.

Quests from the Infinite Staircase deftly translates all of this kooky retro-futuristic craziness into 5E. The 1950s sci-fi aesthetic is preserved, while the mechanics have been tightened, as mentioned above. DMs don’t need to fear the alien technology breaking the balance of the campaign, either; simply limit the number of power cells that players find alongside them, and the gear will only last so long.

It’s a bizarre but brilliant lesson in how far D&D ’s limits can be pushed. By all means, this adventure could look more like a different RPG altogether, but through the Quests from the Infinite Staircase ’s lens it makes perfect sense.

Quests from the Infinite Staircase is on sale July 16 at all major retailers, however early access on D&D Beyond begins July 9, and the alternate art edition will be available the same day at independent game stores.