During the 1970s while a student at Kent State University in Ohio, Moldvay was a writer for the science fiction fanzine Infinite Dreams.
[3]: 11 As an employee of TSR, Moldvay authored or co-authored landmark D&D adventure modules such as Castle Amber, Isle of Dread, the rewrite of Palace of the Silver Princess,[4] and Secret of the Slavers Stockade, all published in 1981.
Of these, X1 – Isle of Dread was one of the most widely played modules of the time because it was distributed inside the D&D Expert Set rules.
Moldvay developed Lords of Creation, a role-playing game published by Avalon Hill.
[2] After Moldvay's death in 2007, Steve Winter called Isle of Dread "Tom's work that had the widest impact", as its inclusion in the Expert Set "made it one of the most widely known and played adventures for years".