Expedition to Underwhelm-ountain!

[HiLiphNY]

Not a review - I took a quick flip at the local semi-FLGS, and was completely flabbergasted at the lack of any maps. At first,I assumed that perhaps the maps had fallen out, or were maybe being kept safe at the front counter. Nope. No maps. What gives, WotC?

 

[Arnix]

It gets worse from there. I picked it up expecting an "adventure" like Ravenloft or Demonweb Pits. Instead I got some "encounters" shoved into a create your own adventure. I already own the second edition version so this book was a waste of $35. The only thing I don't regret is that I bought it from my FLGS. I would have been happier just donating $35 to the store and not getting a crappy rehash of stuff I already own.

If you want Undermountain, get on EBay and buy the second edition versions of the 3 (4?) boxed sets. They actually have maps and room descriptions.

Sorry if I sound ticked, but I am.

I will have to read a large chunk of the Castle Greyhawk book before I pick it up.

 

[Frostmarrow]

Not a review - I took a quick flip at the local semi-FLGS, and was completely flabbergasted at the lack of any maps. At first,I assumed that perhaps the maps had fallen out, or were maybe being kept safe at the front counter. Nope. No maps. What gives, WotC?

What's this then? -Ham on rye?

Seriously, aren't these in the book?

 

[Ryltar]

They are in my copy .

Sorry, I really can't understand all the bashing going on. The encounters may be a bit bland, but that's the extent of my complaints. The book takes a somewhat different approach than the other Expedition ... products, but that's no reason to talk about a lack of quality.

Check out the introduction for what "Expedition to Undermountain" is supposed to be, and what it isn't.

 

[HiLiphNY]

Sure, they're in the book as pages, and most of them significantly less than 8.5" x 11".

 

[rowport]

I got Expedition to Undermountain a few weeks back. (It was a Father's Day gift to me from my lovely wife.)

I do think some of the hate on the boards for Expedition to Undermountain is a bit overstated, but I am also disappointed with it. It is not as useless as many posts have implied (or stated outright), but the main weakness with it is that it would require significant prep work for the DM to get the most out of the encounters, since there is very little metaplot included. Since (I thought!) that was the point of the Expedition series-- to have immediately useable material that saves GM time-- in that sense it fails fairly badly. I also note that many or most of the encounters are ridiculously difficult for the party levels proposed.

I disagree that the encounters are boring, predictable, etc., however. I think that taken as bits rather than the whole they are just fine. My plans for the book will be to either pull out a series of encounters for one-shot games, or alternatively use them to populate other longer games (such as many of the boring repeat encounters in the World's Largest Dungeon).

 

[Arnix]

but the main weakness with it is that it would require significant prep work for the DM to get the most out of the encounters, since there is very little metaplot included. Since (I thought!) that was the point of the Expedition series-- to have immediately usable material that saves GM time-- in that sense it fails fairly badly.

This is my main beef. I could handle the tiny maps, if this was a coherent adventure. If I had known that the book was not an adventure I would not have bought it.

I disagree that the encounters are boring, predictable, etc., however. I think that taken as bits rather than the whole they are just fine.

I haven't noticed anything about the encounters themselves that are boring or anything, just not put together like they should be in an adventure. This book feels more like a book of encounters. Maybe I am just disgruntled.

Seriously, aren't these in the book?

When I mentioned a lack of maps, I was meaning a lack of truly useful maps. The maps you link to are at < 8.5"x11" when the originals were something in the neighborhood of 2'x4'. The smaller maps are far too small and devoid of any useful information. I have been unable to even find the "well" (room 1 on the smaller map) on the larger map of the first floor.


This book may turn out to be useful if combined with my own plot and the 2nd edition boxed sets, but then what work has this book really saved me?

Check out the introduction for what "Expedition to Undermountain" is supposed to be, and what it isn't.

When a book deviates from the others of a like title in a "series" (real or perceived) then the change, especially this dramatic, should be more readily mentioned. Say on the back cover or something. Maybe part of the problem is on me since I didn't read part of the book in the store.



Bah, I am just grumbling over buyers remorse. Can't please everyone.

 

[Frostmarrow]

When I mentioned a lack of maps, I was meaning a lack of truly useful maps. The maps you link to are at < 8.5"x11" when the originals were something in the neighborhood of 2'x4'. The smaller maps are far too small and devoid of any useful information. I have been unable to even find the "well" (room 1 on the smaller map) on the larger map of the first floor.

I see your point. I love the large ones myself that can be used as battlemats. Really, I'd rather have encounters reuse the same maps than lack maps for certain encounters.

 

[rgard]

Folks mentioned the 2E version of the supplement. Have a couple of questions...how faithful to the 2E version is the 3.5 version? Do the 2E versions of the maps coincide with the descriptions and small maps in the 3.5 version?

Just trying to gauge how useful the older version is with the newer version.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Arnwyn]

Yeah, for the most part (except the 2e maps are far more clear and far more detailed. And, you know, are complete to the edges.)

In fact, AFAIC, one needs the 2e box to even adequately use the 3.5 EtU.