I was looking forward to the release of this dungeon since 3.0 first came out. I had run my sons through the original boxed set about 10 years ago, and they still remember that as the best gaming ever. At this point, I have only prepped the first adventure, not run any of them. I will revisit this review when I have run some of it.
Overall look and feel.
Excellent, my binding was good, I was able to flatten the book onto my scanner to anotate some maps without problem.
Artwork.
Good: the quality was typical of WOTC, pretty good, but in this case, fairly sparse (which I don't mind). More about maps later.
Content.
First off, this is not the boxed set of old: no attempt is made to detail a large number of rooms scattered throughout the dungeon. The style here is to detail 4 distinct parts of the dungeon and provide level appropriate adventures in those areas. There is plenty for the DM to expand on. There is even an excellent series of online articles that one can use to flesh out more of the first level, and one can use the 2nd edition boxed set for more detail of other areas.
There is a brief (3 page) introduction to Undermountain as a whole. This also introduces the "hook" for the adventure series. Some may find it rather contrived or weak, I was ok with it, to me it is more about the adventure rather than the hook.
The next chapter (Undermountain Awaits) goes over major personalities and factions, and draws an overview of the geography of Undermountain. There is an excellent Profile map, and many of the levels are illustrated in whole or in part. This is where the real problems set in.
Anyone trying to run the adventures will quickly realize that the specific adventure's map does not quite correspond to the level maps of the first level. Then the 2nd adventure is not even on the portion of the 2nd level map given. None of the level maps are labelled or anotated. One can (and I did) labouriously comb through this book and the 2nd edition boxed set, labelling things, scanning and cross-referencing in order to both give me proper orientation, should my players ever step off the beaten path or be "portalled" to places unknown (an ever likely feature of an Undermountain campaign), and to allow me to explain where the characters are in a coherent fashion.
In addition to the maps problem, there are some continuity problems that may or may not be map problems (but the maps are not clear enough to figure that out). The most intriguing feature explored is Belkram's Fall, a huge (120 ft diameter) lava tube descending into the depths of Undermountain. Unfortunately, to me the description was as clear as mud, when referring to the maps provided. I have yet to find the "Dwarf Temple" or "Belkram's Tomb" on any of the level maps (and I can find no mention of which level these are on). The detailed diagram of the shaft does not include the lifts, nor any idea of where the various main dungeon levels intersect with the shaft.
Adventures.
150 pages of the book are devoted to the adventures. There are 4 self-contained adventures detailed, that together would bring characters from 1st to about 10th level.
These I found to be the best features of the book. Although very deadly, I felt that they well reflect the design intent: players should be running scared, racing their surviving colleagues pell mell for the safety of the Yawning Portal after a misjudged ancounter. This starts as a very tough adventure for first level, I would recommend at least 6 characters in a well practised, well optimized party.
A quick comment on the new format: I liked the breakout of significant encounters from the descriptive text. If a party did not "trigger" the encounter, I can continue on. If they do, I flip to the "Tactical encounter" section and run the encounter. Typically, everything I need to run the encounter is in those pages, along with a mini-map with the encounter laid out. Nice touch.
There is a good combination of role requirements by the adventures. No standard class need feel ignored or slighted, a party will need plenty of brawn, guile, firepower and healing to survive each adventure, and solve each problem.
The book concludes with a brief (7 page) chapter of Magic Items, Spells and Monsters peculiar to Undermountain.
Conclusion
Perhaps my expectations were a little high, but I have to say, the product almost pulls it off. My overall impression is that it was rushed to press before some serious debugging could occur, especially of the maps. And just so you know, I am not a big Realms fan as far as settings go, but I have always admired the production values of things produced for the Realms. I tend to use a lot of their stuff in other campaigns.
I would like to give two ratings: one for the product as it is: 3 stars. Had the maps worked properly, I would gladly have awarded 4 stars.
Overall look and feel.
Excellent, my binding was good, I was able to flatten the book onto my scanner to anotate some maps without problem.
Artwork.
Good: the quality was typical of WOTC, pretty good, but in this case, fairly sparse (which I don't mind). More about maps later.
Content.
First off, this is not the boxed set of old: no attempt is made to detail a large number of rooms scattered throughout the dungeon. The style here is to detail 4 distinct parts of the dungeon and provide level appropriate adventures in those areas. There is plenty for the DM to expand on. There is even an excellent series of online articles that one can use to flesh out more of the first level, and one can use the 2nd edition boxed set for more detail of other areas.
There is a brief (3 page) introduction to Undermountain as a whole. This also introduces the "hook" for the adventure series. Some may find it rather contrived or weak, I was ok with it, to me it is more about the adventure rather than the hook.
The next chapter (Undermountain Awaits) goes over major personalities and factions, and draws an overview of the geography of Undermountain. There is an excellent Profile map, and many of the levels are illustrated in whole or in part. This is where the real problems set in.
Anyone trying to run the adventures will quickly realize that the specific adventure's map does not quite correspond to the level maps of the first level. Then the 2nd adventure is not even on the portion of the 2nd level map given. None of the level maps are labelled or anotated. One can (and I did) labouriously comb through this book and the 2nd edition boxed set, labelling things, scanning and cross-referencing in order to both give me proper orientation, should my players ever step off the beaten path or be "portalled" to places unknown (an ever likely feature of an Undermountain campaign), and to allow me to explain where the characters are in a coherent fashion.
In addition to the maps problem, there are some continuity problems that may or may not be map problems (but the maps are not clear enough to figure that out). The most intriguing feature explored is Belkram's Fall, a huge (120 ft diameter) lava tube descending into the depths of Undermountain. Unfortunately, to me the description was as clear as mud, when referring to the maps provided. I have yet to find the "Dwarf Temple" or "Belkram's Tomb" on any of the level maps (and I can find no mention of which level these are on). The detailed diagram of the shaft does not include the lifts, nor any idea of where the various main dungeon levels intersect with the shaft.
Adventures.
150 pages of the book are devoted to the adventures. There are 4 self-contained adventures detailed, that together would bring characters from 1st to about 10th level.
These I found to be the best features of the book. Although very deadly, I felt that they well reflect the design intent: players should be running scared, racing their surviving colleagues pell mell for the safety of the Yawning Portal after a misjudged ancounter. This starts as a very tough adventure for first level, I would recommend at least 6 characters in a well practised, well optimized party.
A quick comment on the new format: I liked the breakout of significant encounters from the descriptive text. If a party did not "trigger" the encounter, I can continue on. If they do, I flip to the "Tactical encounter" section and run the encounter. Typically, everything I need to run the encounter is in those pages, along with a mini-map with the encounter laid out. Nice touch.
There is a good combination of role requirements by the adventures. No standard class need feel ignored or slighted, a party will need plenty of brawn, guile, firepower and healing to survive each adventure, and solve each problem.
The book concludes with a brief (7 page) chapter of Magic Items, Spells and Monsters peculiar to Undermountain.
Conclusion
Perhaps my expectations were a little high, but I have to say, the product almost pulls it off. My overall impression is that it was rushed to press before some serious debugging could occur, especially of the maps. And just so you know, I am not a big Realms fan as far as settings go, but I have always admired the production values of things produced for the Realms. I tend to use a lot of their stuff in other campaigns.
I would like to give two ratings: one for the product as it is: 3 stars. Had the maps worked properly, I would gladly have awarded 4 stars.
