Into the Black

[Ghostwind]

Into the black expands a GMs options for four underground environments. GMs get information on caves, catacombs, mines and sewers. Each one is explored in five ways: Environment, Plants and animals, rocks and minerals, hazards and monsters. For players, there are magic items, materials, substances and spells to add flavor to any game.

I didn't know what to expect with this book. Would there be prestige classes for players to take in order to fully explore the underworld? Would it have rules for mining and how much mineral wealth could be taken out of the ground and sample maps? A little yes but mainly no.

The focus of the book is in giving the GM ideas on what lurks underground and how best to portray that through technical information. For example, when talking about plants, illustrations are few and far between, but information on what type of knowledge check, often dungeoneering or nature, are provided but the game effects are listed in a latter chapter. When providing stats for humanoids with information on using the creatures as a race, the effective character level isn't clear. The Pallemon, a humanoid that fought humanity long ago, are creatures with a CR 8 with a Level Adjustment of +10. When looking at these creatures with superior mental abilities, similar to another underground race we all know and love, I note that they have no racial traits. Not necessary for a powerful creature but what of the other creatures?

The Cavern Giant for example, is a fairly standard giant in that it has the good old unarmed strike and stalactite, (think huge stone club) and has a level adjustment of +10 for a CR 7 creature. So far so good. It then provides racial stat bonuses. What it doesn't provided is information on things like racial hit dice which are important in determining the creatures effective character level, which does not equal it's level adjustment, unlike how it works here. The assumption that this is a ECL of 10 means that a 1st level fighter would be an ECL of 11 with 1d10 hit points as no racial hit dice, feats, or skills are noted.

When talking about mines, its good to know about information on mining towns, common diseases and some of the gems and other goods, but where are the actual rules for mining? How much wealth can be taken from the land? While it's good to know that “the vital raw materials unearthed by the earliest miners gave rise to the subsequent slew of technological and societal advances”, what I want to know is how quick can people dig into these vertical and horizontal shafts and how much do they dig up? If Douglas Niles could answer that in 1986 through the Dungeoneer's Survival Guide, it should be easy enough now.

Material that can be aimed at players is found in the rear of the book. This includes new magic items, materials, substances and spells and is probably some of the easier material to quickly introduce into a campaign. Now I'm an old fan of stuff like laen from Rolemaster, a volcanic glass that's razor sharp, and I'm always willing to look at other materials. These materials are expensive and exotic but have game effects that can help a low magic world compensate in terms of power. For example, diamond can ignore up to +2 armor bonus from armor, shield and natural armor so a creature with all three would loss 6 from it's armor class.

In terms of new materials, these add a touch of personalization to a campaign. It's one thing to fight a stone golem. It's another to fight one crafted with animantrium, a material that increases the base cost of the golem, while granting it improved armor class and strength bonuses. Some of the themes could've been grouped and priced out as one. Many types of metals that augment certain spells by a one level when used. No need to have separate price information for each metal.

Spells are arranged by class, level and alphabetical, but for arcane spells, school was left out. Spells range from Ghosthunter, a 3rd level cleric spell that allows weapons to strike incorporate undead, to the Biblical inspired 7th level arcane spell, Pillar of Salt.

The book is sturdy and is priced competitively for its construction, but priced high in its page number value compared to other resources. Books that run 128 pages are often $21.95 and those that are 96 pages usually go for $19.95. Art is well done by fan favorites like Danilo Moretti, Ed Bourelle, Marcio Fiorito and others, but sparse. The author writes intelligently, but very dry, like he's trying too hard to give the reader the full experience. Layout is good with minimal white space, but chapters flow into each other with no separation. One big problem is that the dash '-' is missing making anything with a range hard to read like 15 20 instead of 15-20. The company is listening to readers who want the utility of an index.

Another useful tool are the encounters. This ranges from the four environments and the monsters that inhabit them to the different types of rocks and miners you can find in each area.

Into the Black expands a GMs understanding of the way the environments work but needs more art, sample maps, lairs and utility to go head to head with other products covering similar ground.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

The dark realms beneath the surface conceal an immeasurable wealth of wondrous riches and terrifying mysteries awaiting discovery by those daring enough to venture into these lightless kingdoms. From dense veins of precious metals and mesmerizing, luminescent crystals to unknown and seemingly alien species of plants and animals, the deep places of the earth support a diverse and often bizarre ecosystem utterly foreign to most surface dwellers. Yet, tales of the subterranean world’s

magnificent treasures tantalize brave adventurers seeking to wrest them from the clutches of the wicked beasts and monstrous denizens that call this forsaken land home.

Into the Black prepares players and GMs alike for the perilous quest into this inhospitable territory, arming players with the tools necessary not only to survive in this treacherous domain but prosper. Potent new substances, magic items, equipment and material await underground explorers, while a full arsenal of innovative spells aids them in their quest. Likewise, Into the Black gives GMs a diverse spectrum of potent monsters from the insidious and cerebral pallemon to the sly and crafty barathelar as well as campaign ideas and a complete background on each of the four subterranean environments: caverns, catacombs, mines and sewers.

 

[lwmarti]

Exactly what are the products that cover similar ground to this one that it's inferior to?

 

[JoeGKushner]

I personally felt that both Wizard's of the Coast Underdark and Goodman Games Underdark offered better value for the dollar and will see more use as they have a higher rate of utility by including things like maps.

For me, because I'm so old school, I still get a lot of use ouf of books like the Dungeoneer's Survival Guide, which has stuff for say, mining, as well as methods of making your own maps in a different style.

 

[trancejeremy]

"Into the Black" is a fairly unusual d20 sourcebook from Bastion Press. Rather than being a splatbook or a monster book or something fairly typical, it focuses on a specific environment type. Not really a dungeoneer's, spelunker's, or miner's manual, it details the ecological environments of under the earth (or rather, Earth-like fantasy planet). It's a sequel of sorts to a similar book of theirs, "Into the Green" which focused on 4 above ground green environments.

This also focuses on 4 environments. In this, though, the differences between the 4 main areas are much more obvious than the difference between a "woods" or a "forest". "Mines", "Cavern", "Sewer" and "Catacombs". With the exception of the last one, most people should know what they are. (In this book, "Catacombs" is used in its burial place meaning, like in Rome)

Each chapter devoted to a terrain type follows the same basic pattern - an explanation of the terrain, some plants and small animals/bugs, notable hazards (diseases, gases, cave-ins, etc), then some monsters. It starts with a very detailed explanation of the environment, and goes into the basic ecology of them. A bit dry, but fascinating, somewhat like reading an encyclopedia.

Much like "Into the Green", I think the best part of the book are the ordinary plants/animals and the substances. All sorts of molds, mushrooms, mosses, truffles, lichens, etc, are described, ranging from the useful, like Snake Eye, which can give dark vision, to the mostly useless, like Grave Yeast, which makes really good bear. A variety of minerals and metals are covered, Boron, Chromium, Sulfur, Halite, Limestone, Marble, Mercury, etc, plus a few fantasy ones. Each of these things gets a long paragraph (sometimes very long), describing them and it's properties and uses and includes a Difficulty Class for spotting them.

The monsters are probably the weakest part of the book. The only thing that really springs out at me as great is the Pallemon, which is something of a Mind-Flayer clone (or replacement). Basically, they sort of look like evil versions of Joe Camel. But with long tongues.

One seems a bit overpowered, especially for the challenge rating. The Xastrial, basically a big evil, smart stone golem from outer space (which is almost a song, actually). The background didn't make much sense to me, but more importantly, looking over it's powers, I'm not sure how anyone could beat it. Basically, it can teleport 120' as a move action every round, and so still attack. It has a very nasty range weapon - basically a cosmic ray gun, that does 2d6 to 4d6 damage, depending on the range. It's semi-immune to magic, anything cast at it has a 50% of failing, even things like magic missile. It's also immune to sneak attacks and such. It also weighs 10,000 lbs, larger than Rosie O'Donnell, Roseanne Barr, Oprah, Dom Deluise and Marlon Brando combined - this is notable because their great weight and their teleportation ability would make a great attack (squish!). Having been body slammed by a 250 lb person, I would have to think that a 10,000 lb-er would be devastating.

Most of the other monsters are a bit uninspired. There's a race of snail men, a race of cricket men, a race of hermit crab men. Still, given the number of d20 products out there, including probably a dozen or so critter books, it's probably hard to come up with original things. But this does manage a few.

One made me laugh, a race of evil felines. The author must not be a cat owner, as the description of it says "Unfortunately for the average member of the feline family, its infamous affiliation with malevolence results largely from the barathelar's activities rather than its own actions.". Hah! Spoken like someone who doesn't have a cat*. (For the record, I have a legion of them, and even the nice ones have an evil streak in them...). Actually, it's specifically referring to the legend that cat's steal people's breath while they sleep. But I've noticed that cats actually do creep up to your mouth when you're in bed and think you're asleep. Why? My guess is to make sure you're asleep, so they can steal money out of your wallet. Or to make sure you're still alive. But it's cool to see a monster based on that legend.

There are actually some other monsters based on legends. One for the mines, the "Nokker", aka "Knocker", aka "Kobold". This is much more like the real ones, than the D&D Kobolds. At first glance, I thought the Deviant Mimic might be based on Michael Jackson impersonators, but it's actually just a form of the regular D&D Mimic.

Also, while I might be nitpicky on this, as I wrote a computer program to roughly calculate the mass/weight of human shaped creatures, some of the weights of monsters are off. For instance, the Cave Giant is 9' tall, but only weights 300 lbs. He would have to be literally skin & bones to weigh that much - a skinny 9' person will still weigh around 450 lbs, an average physique closer to 600. Of course, this is fairly common in RPG books. But it drives me crazy.

So the monsters are something of a mixed bag. Out of the 22 in the book, I'll probably only end up using about 4 or 5 of them. Which is not bad, but not great, either. On the plus side, in the cases where it's relevant, they included a level adjustment (so they could be used as PCs, possibly).

A number of diseases and ailments are also covered. Mostly in the Sewers section. I had heard of schistosomiasis, but had no idea what it was. Now I know (and have rules for it in d20) and it's not nearly as funny as the name. Downright icky, actually. Cholera, Dysentery, Hemorrhagic Fever, Tuberculosis, and Typhoid Fever are covered, plus fantasy diseases (I think) such as Cracked Foot, Blotch Worm, and Nerve Twister. Oh my! It's nice having rules for these, but it can be annoying to players, you might want to use them sparingly. (Unless they happen to be Harn fans)

After the chapters on each environment, there's a section on the new materials introduced in the previous chapters and magic items based on them. This is probably the most obviously useful section for most players. You can get shields made out of lead, diamond tipped arrows, helmet visors made out of Alutromun, and more generally, there are rules for making things out of Beryllium. Actually, all the substances have hardness given, so they are useful for a lot of applications. The most notable magic item is the Rocket Broom, which is basically a broom of flying enhanced by boron.

There are a handful of new spells. And by handful, I mean 5 pages worth. I like "Floral Bouquet", which is designed to help counteract bad smells. I think most gaming groups could use that spell in real life. Most of the rest are what you'd expect, spells to detect gas (insert your own joke), assist in mining, or have to do with minerals.

Lastly, there are a number of tables. Encounter tables for both monsters and minerals. I'm not sure I'd use the monster encounter table, there is a huge variation in the Encounter Level (EL) of the monsters, and it goes as high as 18.

It's an okay looking book, if somewhat bland. The layout is nice, with the exception that chapters all run together. While on the one hand, it is a waste of space to start a new chapter on the next page, it is easier to read that way. Still, it's packed with text, there is almost no white space in the book at all. There's an index and table of contents, both very usable which makes finding things pretty easy (which is very helpful when writing reviews, especially when you have to spell "schistosomiasis"). And like all Bastion Press books since they switched to Black & White, it's very sturdy.

Most of the art is well, not bad, exactly, but somewhat cartoonish looking, a bit more abstract than is my taste. One piece in particular has what must be halfling, only it's proportions are more drawn like a puppet. Very creepy looking. One of the artists is also apparently a fan of Evil Dead/Army of Darkness. Still, by sticking to pieces of one style, it gives the book a more coherent feel.

Also, oddly, my copy of the book (and this appears to be a widespread problem) seems to be almost entirely missing the "-" sign, which can be a bit disconcerting - I had something of a twilight zone moment, where the universe suddenly changes from how you remember it ("My God! The universe suddenly has no minus signs!". That's happened to me twice, and I really hate it when that happens). There actually are a few minus signs in the book, but only in one small section of the books.

Much like "Into the Green", the value of this book really depends on what sort of game you are running. If you are running a game where you have a Witch or an Alchemist of sort sort, and they need materials for brews or potions or plants, the stuff in this will be very helpful. If you want to create a realistic down below environment for your dungeons, then this is great. If you run and underdark game, then again, this should be useful. If you want a replacement for the Mind Flayers who have been excised from the SRD, then this has one that could do the trick. I would say it's good, but some of the things in it didn't do much for me, like the snail people (in fact, they just make me hungry. Mmmmm...escargot), or the cricket men, or the hermit crab merchant men.

I also think it is missing an underground type - just a normal building, not a catacomb. Like say a dungeon or subway or something. In my home brew setting, there are ancient subway tunnels that have been converted into underground roadways (largely inspired by the Great Underground Highway of Zork). None of the underground environments in this book quite fit those sort of tunnels.

So, the plants and substances get an A+, the monsters a C-, the rest about a C, so I would call the whole thing about a B.

Basically, if you liked "Into the Green", you should like this. It's not quite as good, and the author's writing style isn't so spritely in this, but is perhaps more useful for the standard D&D game.













* Apparently the author does have a cat , but is one of those cat owners who falls for their innocent act.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

By Bruce Boughner, Staff Reviewer d20 Magazine Rack

Initiative Round
Into the Black is a 96-page sourcebook published by Bastion Press . The author is Thomas Knauss. The cover is by Terry Wolfinger and features a wizard and dwarf warrior encountering a rare crystal while a stony surprise creeps on them from behind and it is available for $22.95.

Into the Black is the next in the Bastion Press products focusing on spicing up terrains for game play. This book is primarily a DM aide providing many ways to accentuate the flavor of a game by adding additional elements to adventuring in the dark beneath our feet. The fist section is a general overview of life in subterranean realms. The following chapters follow the pattern of Into the Green and describe four common settings, Caverns, Catacombs, Mines and Sewers and in the next chapters Equipment and Spells for underground adventuring.

Subterranean Life is described in the first chapter in general terms as the individual sections are better defined in their own chapters. A brief explanation of the evolution of plant and animal into the realms below is given. With the absence of sunlight to provide photosynthesis to plants and circadian rhythms for animals, extrasensory perception to allow beings to function in the complete darkness among other aspects of life. The connection to the surface is very important as roaming surface creatures account for much of the food supply. Any creature residing totally underground is considered a Troglobite. Visual organs diminish as does skin pigmentation, making most troglobites sightless and colorless.

Caverns are caused over centuries, usually by erosion or other natural phenomena. Surface weather has little effect on caverns after one venture past the immediate entrance of the cavern. There is also more carbon dioxide hence more humidity. Other similar environmental changes are discussed in chapter two. Although not as prevalent as on the surface, caverns have a variety of plant life and several new species are listed here, including Arsenic Mold, Crown Mushrooms, and Sailor’s Moss. The seventeen new plants are described not only physically, but for their edibility, alchemical use and toxicity. Twelve new cavern dwelling animals are then given. Ranging from the Brown Spider to the Ice Rat and the Oilbird. These subterranean creatures are described to be encounters of flavor rather than monsters to be killed. Their use is similar to the plant life in that the edibility and alchemical uses are described in more detail than just stat blocking them out. Rocks and minerals are also given in 20 different kinds from the familiars Gold and Platinum to the new and exotic varieties like Animantrium (that makes an excellent material for Stone golems) or Stibnite (that can be fastened to wands of explosive varieties to make them more volatile). Environmental hazards are many in deep caverns, rock falls, plants and animals but there are other hazards as well. A handful of new diseases can be found here. Three of these can be gain through contact and one is an inhaled infection. Rules for triggering a collapse of a cavern are also given.

Seven new monsters close the cavern chapter. Cave Hermits and Cavern Giants lead the pack. The Cavern Giant is one of the smaller giant sub-species and is a consummate grappler, stats for playing the Giants as characters are also presented. Deviant Mimics and Mal’Orm (cricket men) are among the other new monsters. Pallemon or Pale Men are given, a kind of human answer to the same evolution that created the Drow and Duergar, as with Drow they lean towards wizardry as a favored class, they also tend to be more like Illithids in appetite for consuming a foes intellect.

The third chapter handles Catacombs. These are artificially created underground chambers made by human or dwarven hands mainly for disposing of surface dead. Much like caverns, the environmental qualities of catacombs do not vary greatly. As with caverns, new varieties f plant and animal life abounds here. Nine new plants like Corpse Mold, Grave Yeast and Greenlight (a lichen) are given. Eight new indigenous animals such as Crypt Rats, Marrowsnakes and Ivory Frogs are presented as well. Different mineral deposits can be found as well. Minerals such as Bergasalt (a rare mineral that can prevent the re-animation of a corpse), Lead and Marble used in tomb construction and Obsidian (that can be harvested for spell components and used tools) are given for a DM to better flavor a campaign.. Again four new disease are presented in this environment, all of these are inhaled and some are familiar like Tuberculosis and Typhoid Fever. Tomb traps and undead is common hazards of this environment.

Five new monsters are presented in this section. Crypt Guardians are a stone golem-like hazard for your catacomb. The Hellcorn is a spiteful revenant seeking to wreak havoc on their killers. The skeleton-like Leytru stalk the underworld feasting on humanoids. Silent Reapers seek victims to feast on their memories attacking their victims like mantis. Walking Dead are humanoids pronounced dead by healers who are still quite alive. Buried they succumb to death from dehydration and madness and return to the world seeking their own destruction and the destruction of the living.

Mines are the third section covered about the black. Mines are designated in two varieties, vertical and horizontal. Vertical mines are shafts driven downward into the earth while horizontal mines are tunnels dug into a hill or mountainside. Towns and settlement often form around mines, their economies driven by the ore retrieved from the rock. As was demonstrated in our own history, the west and Appalachian regions of our country is dotted with ghost towns where mines have played out and the people moved on. As pointed out in the text, it is not uncommon for major lodes to be found by common people doing everyday chores such as washing clothes in a mountain stream uncovering gold or silver. As opposed to humans, dwarves will construct massive subterranean cities near the veins of ore. Human mines are typically exposed to the surface elements and thus weather outside is typical of the weather inside the mine. The preferred style of mine is horizontal, for both human and dwarf, they are easier to build and to extract ore from. Regardless, mines are cramped, harsh and dangerous. As with catacombs, they are artificial constructs and home to transient dwellers like bats and bears. Mines generally do not support a native plant life. Ten minerals and rocks are discussed here, with the characteristic Copper, Gold, Silver, Coal and Iron. There are new materials like Barg jural, a jewel used by dwarves that is found in iron and magnesium deposits or Vuldemite, which is prized by Orcs as Elves have an allergy to it.

Environmental hazards can greatly vary in a mine. Wards and guards are artificially created hazards but coal dust can cause illness after long exposure. Volatile gases, cave-ins and floods can also be deadly mine hazards and can cut off oxygen to the mine.

Five new monsters are created for the mine section. Constructs like the Barangulaak created long ago by a greedy dwarven priest to hunt and acquire Barg jural for him. Flosid are is ooze that feed on fossilized deposits and are a deadly acidic danger. Gremmin are undead (mostly humans) whose greed for gold drives them on even after death. Nokkers are fey that are known as the spirits of the mine that bedevil greedy and rapacious miners. Orvenders are earth elementals that are amalgamations of lava and indigenous inorganic matter that protect the earth from despoiling miners.

Sewers are the final section covered in the book. This is an artificial construction of humanoids under large urban centers, a source of many urban legends and a haven for everything from aberrations to homeless humanoids. With the fertile waste of civilization to breed in, diseases and vermin are plentiful. Early sewers depended on storm water and natural drainage to clean them but made natural breeding ground for mosquitoes and other hazards. New designs using tunnels solved most of these problems but created new one such as malodorous and explosive gases. This new system also made a safe haven for thieves. Most sewers are stone tubes 10-12 feet below the surface. Accessed by street vents and maintenance points, there is usually a brackish slow moving pool of water in the center of the tunnel ranging from several inches to 2 feet in depth. Filled with a horrid stench, there are drainage chambers large enough to provide humanoid habitation. Mosses, bugs and rats can be found here, mushrooms and mildew are also normal inhabitants. As this is an artificial tunnel, there are no usable rocks or minerals to be found here. The biggest hazards in the sewers are disease, three different contact diseases are given, Cholera and dysentery are among the more familiar. Movement and sewer gas are also hazards faced in this environment.

There are also six new monsters here. Barathelar are small shapechangers that prey on children in their feline forms. Ravvimen are monstrous, amphibious humanoids that can live in either the sewers or swamps that steal the kills of other predators. Sarrenal are small beasts that are evolutionary offshoots of eels. Walking Disease are undead humanoids that have perished in the sewers and are now mobile colonies of molds, bacteria and disease. The Wurggis are plants much like tumbleweeds that roll through the sewers.

New equipment is the next section. A small chart showing the availability of this equipment by it’s rarity and the size of the population center is given. This equipment includes thing like a Greenlight Torch that is powered by a phosphorescent lichen rather than fire. A Miner’s Hat and Hip Wader boots are also available. New magic items include a Collar of Sure Breathing that provides clean air to breathe under normal and magical conditions like suffocation and protects from airborne disease like tuberculosis. A Rocket Broom is similar to a Flying Broom but is powered by Boron and produces a devastating sonic boom. Evil priests can create a Scabrous Mace from the remains of a Walking Disease that inflicts disease on its victims. New materials created in this volume include Bat’s Thread made from the silk of a Guano Worm. Lavastone mounted on wands increases the output of fire-based spells. New substances such as Black Bomb (which is an explosive powder made of Coal dust) and Green Revealer (a faerie moss lichen) that can coat victims in a green sticky phosphorescent light are given as well. New armors made out of many of the minerals in the book are given with added abilities from the material added to them.

New spells are also provided with an edge towards underground use. Nineteen new spells include s Black Lung that fills a victim’s lungs with Coal dust and causes negative modifiers on their Concentration, Hide, Listen and Move Silently checks. It also provides Ghosthunter that enchants a weapon with the ability to combat undead. Four pages of encounter charts close the book.

Critical Hit
As a follow up to Into the Green, this book brings more depth to the Underdark settings available for any world. The clear and concise way the underground areas are divvied up and then broken done into animal, vegetable and mineral components as well as environmental hazards makes it easy for a DM to better flavor a campaign. Much of the new equipment is not any great shakes as far as excitingly innovative but they do make good utilitarian implements. The same with the spells, nothing earth shattering but some good common use spells.

Critical Fumble
Anytime I see a Bastion product I am trepidatious about the artwork. At times the art has been top quality but just so manga-esque I couldn’t stand it or it has been great. This book suffers from too little art. What is in it is great art, what I have come to expect in a D&D product but there could be much more useful art. Visual interpretations of the new equipment and more use of the new monsters presented in this volume would be good and of more use. A company that can produce Arms & Armor should have had this covered.

Coup de Grace
Into the Black is a great DMs tool, not really helpful for the average player, large on giving a DM some very useful tips on spicing up a subterranean campaign. The new substances, animal, vegetable and mineral can make for some great plot hooks such as a party could be hired by an alchemist or wizard to seek out some of these rare materials or just to add to the flavor of the existing game. Having covered the above ground and underground environs, I am in anticipation to see if Bastion goes Into the White and covers airborne environments or Into the Blue and goes underwater.

To see the graded evaluation of this product and to leave comments that the reviewer will respond to, go to The Critic's Corner at www.d20zines.com.