Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Rappan Athuk 3
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2010439" data-attributes="member: 18387"><p><strong>RAPPAN ATHUK 3</strong></p><p><strong>The Dungeon of Graves: The Lower Levels</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>CAVEATS</strong></p><p>This is not a playtest review. There are moderate spoilers.</p><p></p><p><strong>OVERVIEW</strong></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p><strong>POSITIVES</strong></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p><strong>NEGATIVES</strong></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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!</p><p></p><p>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). </p><p></p><p><strong>RECOMMENDATIONS</strong></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Messageboard Golem, post: 2010439, member: 18387"] [b]RAPPAN ATHUK 3 The Dungeon of Graves: The Lower Levels[/b] [b]CAVEATS[/b] This is not a playtest review. There are moderate spoilers. [b]OVERVIEW[/b] 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. [b]POSITIVES[/b] 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. [b]NEGATIVES[/b] 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). [b]RECOMMENDATIONS[/b] 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. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Rappan Athuk 3
Top