RAPPAN ATHUK 3
The Dungeon of Graves: The Lower Levels
CAVEATS
This is not a playtest review. There are moderate spoilers.
OVERVIEW
This is a 112-page volume, the third and final installment of the Rappan Athuk trilogy, covering a total of 13 levels, ranging in size from the goblin city of Grezneck (covering 17 pages) and the Great Cavern (12 pages), to diminutive levels such as the Portal of Darkness (2-1/2 pages). There are three pages of ads, the OGL, and a page detailing Orcus (a version published prior to that appearing in the Tome of Horrors). The bulk of the book is devoted to the levels themselves. Interior art is by Brian LeBlanc, and the maps are drawn by Chris Boll; they are infinitely superior to those appearing in Rappan Athuks 1 and 2, though Chris Boll did redo all the maps from those products as well, and they are available at www.necromancergames.com. The layout, margins, and font are all standard for Necromancer Games products.
POSITIVES
1. As mentioned above, the maps by Chris Boll are MUCH better than those of RA1 and 2, with grid, compass, and just the right amount of detail.
2. This book covers a LOT of territory, despite the fact that many of the levels are quite small and barely qualify as being called levels. There is enough dungeon here to keep a group of players busy for quite a long time.
3. As with the previous Rappan Athuk installments, you can play this as-is or cannibalize individual levels to form smaller, independent dungeons in your own campaign world.
4. The levels provided in this book cover more terrain than in the previous Rappan Athuks as far as overall feel. The Great Cavern is a good place to poke around, looking for small sub-caverns and hidden connections to other levels. The Well of Agammemnon (actually 2 levels) has an almost "Tomb of Horrors" feel, and once PCs enter it. The goblin city of Grezneck even affords the opportunity for roleplay and negotiation with the locals, though powerful parties could try juggernauting their way through the level. And the final encounter with the Master is almost guaranteed to slaughter even 20th-level parties-and the module is quite up front about this.
5. Because of the many interconnections between levels, and the vast scope of the dungeon, players have many options for exploration and adventure. Rappan Athuk, played as-is, is still best suited to forays after specific targets, and it still can be quite lethal in spots, but players will never feel as if they are marching down a set path. And unlike other mega-dungeons, there are no vast tracts of undeveloped dungeon for the DM to fill in as he sees fit.
NEGATIVES
1. Rappan Athuk 3 lacks a certain something that the first two had…a kind of unique individuality best expressed in some of the obscure encounters, like the pyramid located in a cave in RA2, or the purple worm cavern in RA1. Though there are many obscure nooks and crannies to explore here, it feels more impersonal. I suspect this is because, unlike RA1 and 2 which were heavily playtested over the years, few parties in Bill Webb's campaign ever made it this far down into the dungeon, so most of the levels had to be designed from little more than a sentence or two of descriptive text.
2. I thought that the finale of the dungeon, getting to and fighting the Master, was a bit disappointing. I was looking forward to a dungeon full of the most cunning and lethal challenges, Tomb of Horrors style, but once you make it to the gate to his domain, there really isn't much between the PCs and the final showdown. It could be argued, of course, that the entirety of Rappan Athuk represents that gauntlet!
3. There is still some trouble with the interconnections between levels being inaccurate. Some of the other parts of the complex have errors in stat blocks and such, but overall Rappan Athuk 3 is far more polished than the first two in the series. Fortunately, a complete errata is available at the NG website and forum, and I have created a Rappan Athuk cross-section which you can download to view the level interconnections (see any of my posts at the NG forum to access it).
RECOMMENDATIONS
Overall an excellent dungeon crawl. Though still plagued by the level interconnection difficulties, and lacking some of the unique charm of the first two Rappan Athuks, it is altogether more polished overall, which offsets these minor complaints. I was a bit disappointed with the finale, however, and these factors together cost Rappan Athuk 3 a star.
Rappan Athuk is designed for higher-level parties (at least level 10 with 6 PCs, I would say). One of its best features is that it can be used with the first two to form an enormous dungeon complex, or broken into parts and used to create over a half dozen dungeon complexes throughout your campaign world. Because Necromancer Games focuses on non-campaign-specific products, it is easily adaptable into most campaign worlds. Definitely worth picking up, especially if you own the first two books.
Note that it is an unabashed dungeon, however, so if you hate dungeon crawls you will not get as much use out of this. Still, some parts, notably Grezneck, should satisfy even the die-hard roleplayers in your group.
