The Quest for the Legendary Dungeon Master: Tim Cain’s Search for a D&D Icon

Tim Cain is perhaps best recognized as the creator of the Fallout franchise, but considering how there likely would not be a Fallout without D&D, it’s logical that he has a keen interest in the legendary tabletop game. Indeed, that passion is so profound that Cain is currently on the quest to find a mythical player he heard tales of over thirty years ago.

In a recent YouTube presentation, Cain delves into the legend of the ‘1 million XP dungeon’, an extraordinary D&D challenge he learned about back in 1993 at a gaming convention in California. In this event, participants had to navigate through a complex, multi-tiered dungeon and were the first to reach the endpoint. To accomplish this, however, each player was granted one million XP to build their characters.

The XP could be utilized to elevate character levels or converted into gold pieces at a ratio of one XP to one gold, which could then be spent on enchanting items according to their designated value in the rules. Cain elaborates that this led to some players achieving maximum levels, while others relied on an array of enchanted items to help them traverse the dungeon. The majority found themselves somewhere in between, but the ultimate victor was a player who exploited the rules to their fullest potential.

Cain believes the prize was seized by a level 11 human Monk. A class typically characterized by unarmed strikes and lack of armor, Monks might seem like an unconventional choice; however, Cain explains how this character possessed a formidable armor class, several advantageous resistances and immunities, and the ability to avoid damage on most saving throws. Additionally, at level 11, Monks have a base movement speed of 25, which is double that of almost any other character, and even swifter than horses and other players under the effects of haste spells. Clearly, the strategy was to move very quickly, but the Monk faced a significant limitation – their class restricted them to just three magical items. With 700,000 XP allocated to leveling up, they risked not being able to fully capitalize on their build.

The items they selected included a Cloak of Protection +5 to enhance their already robust armor class and to grant a +5 bonus to their elevated saving throws, which they further amplified with a Scarab of Protection. The ultimate boon, however, was the Ring of Air Elemental Command – alongside additional perks like the Gust of Wind spell, this ring provided the wearer with unlimited flight and visibility.

Participants entering the competition were paired with a DM in groups of three to five, with the primary contender to reach the final objective out of the entire…
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participants triumphing in the contest. According to Cain, the enigmatic Monk in question aligned with their companions, became invisible, and bolted away. Moving at twice the speed of everyone else, effortlessly soaring over any obstacles and remaining unseen by foes, it appeared there was no competition whatsoever. The Monk reached the objective on the final level of the dungeon before most other participants had even made it off the initial tier – only a handful had even entered the castle.

Cain asserts that the mysterious Monk’s success was so pronounced that it compelled the organizers to revise the rules, ensuring that certain dungeon challenges would necessitate two players collaborating in order to advance. Despite all the crucial details he possesses about the competitors, Cain mentions that he “truly cannot find any information regarding it online,” despite having searched for any type of confirmation. He claims, however, that he’s heard about it from more than one individual – or perhaps the entire scenario was “a dream fantasy” concocted in his mind. Several commenters below the video suggest they participated in events akin to the one Cain describes, yet none have claimed to know the identity of the enigmatic Monk. All I can say is that I would have loved to witness them compete during the Iron Throne sequence in Baldur’s Gate 3.

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I am the news editor at GamesRadar, collaborating with the team to deliver breaking news from across the industry. I began my journalistic journey while pursuing my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also served as the Games Editor for the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I’ve led the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and have consistently contributed to PC Gamer. As you can probably tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can often find me playing League of Legends or the latest indie sensation on Steam.