D&D General Experiences with Empire of the Ghouls, Night Below, or Other Underdark Adventures?

[Hexmage-EN]

I'm running an Underdark campaign, and as a DM I (for some reason) like to put more work on myself by scouring published materials for content to integrate into my campaigns. Currently I'm trying to look more into high profile Underdark adventures like Empire of the Ghouls and Night Below, though pretty much any Underdark adventure would be of interest to me. I'm looking for interesting encounters, environmental details, roleplaying scenarios, etc. I'm going to continue looking into these myself, but if anyone has any prior experience running or playing in these or other Underdark adventures I'd be glad to hear about them!

 

[JustinCase]

Well... there is Out Of The Abyss. I'm running that one, and it is filled with encounters, environmental hazards and random encounter tables.

But I imagine you know that. It's not exactly obscure.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

Here's what I've noted from Night Below so far:

• The svirfneblin fear that reckless adventurers will cause enemies to make moves that could endanger their own safety. They also do not allow visitors to see or learn much about them or their home, knowing that other creatures may have means of extracting information.
• The svirfneblin will give false information to adventurers to see if they are capable enough to be worthy of cooperation and trust, leading them into dangerous situations to see how they fare.
• The entrance to the svirfneblin community is hidden both by a secret door and my illusion magic.
• Glyphs of Warding are extensively used by the svirfneblin for security.
• A Wall of Stone hides an acid trap.
• Svirfneblin share their special wine, Gogondy, only with trusted friends. An outsider who accepts such a drink from a svirfneblin leader becomes an honorary member of the community.
• It is possible to avoid a grell nest, but the alternate route is potentially hazardous itself. Clearing out the grells makes passage easier in the long run.
• The grell have an uneasy truce with a deepspawn, capturing creatures to supply to the horrible monster. The chamber of the deepspawn is strewn with organic detritus and dominated by a polluted pool of water.
• Glassrock is an artificially-created green stone with swirls of white and red. Its creators wished to keep deep gnomes from caverns rich in gems and used magic to cause layers of glassrock to form in unnatural shapes. Caverns coated by glassrock radiate enchantment magic, creating an antipathy effect that repels gnomes of all varieties.
• A certain chamber appears to have a humanoid figure embedded just beneath the rock. Those of elven blood feel unnerved even being in the chamber.
• In the Swirl Maze the red and white stripes in the green glassrock rise to form 15-foot walls. In the center of the maze is a glassrock formation that looks like some being’s crude attempt to create an imitation of a tree. The formation radiates transmutation magic and bears 5d20 bloodstones that hang like fruit. Xorns frequent the “tree” to pick bloodstones that form.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

Well... there is Out Of The Abyss. I'm running that one, and it is filled with encounters, environmental hazards and random encounter tables.

But I imagine you know that. It's not exactly obscure.

I've never run or played it, so anything you found particularly noteworthy I'd be glad to read about.

 

[JustinCase]

The cities (Gracklstugh, Sloobludop, Neverlight Grove) are pretty detailed and realistic, although of course there is the demonic influence (madness) that is the core of the adventure.

I haven't been running it long, but I like how you can combine terrain and monster/NPC encounters. It's all pretty loose on how any DM wants to present is, and I've already thrown in a non-official monster or two. (Really, how are choker ambushes not meant for underdark exploration?)

There's a whole subreddit filled with tips on OotA; check out their megathread.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

One refreshing aspect of Night below: no drows!
Night below has many great places, traps and allies and enemies to be found. On the other hand, it is quite lengthy and in and out game takes quite some time to complete, if you don't have the luxury of gaming weekends.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

My intention is to mine these adventures for content in my own campaign rather than run them as is, so no problems there.

Funny coincidence that Night Below doesn't feature the drow, as so far my campaign barely has either. The main conflict at the moment is between the party and a deep gnome enclave that is being secretly manipulated into being more aggressive than normal.

 

[darjr]

I’m in a night below campaign right now. Just started.

 

[GuyBoy]

Night Below is a fantastic campaign but also has some great locations to strip-mine for your own campaign.
Similarly, I’d suggest looking at the old Necromancer Games module, Vault of Larin Karr is worth a look.
If you want real old school, the D series from TSR holds a warm place in my memory from the early 1980s when I ran it.
Good luck with the campaign.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I’m in a night below campaign right now. Just started.

It is a great adventure to play in. So I try not to spoil anymore.
Just one thing. Be aware. Many things in this adventure serve a purpose and anything can be a hint to the overall plot.