Underdark - anyone has it?

[Windjammer]

Rechan, I seriously don't know. The book starts on a serious High - the myth of Torog, which is simply brilliant (well done and exceedingly well written).
But a lot of the stuff that follows (now that I've read a bit further into the book) isn't nearly as brilliant, and a lot strikes me as pretty average.

I like that there's more info and fewer delves.

"Fewer" than what? There's 32 pages of encounters in the Dungeon Delve style (some complete delves, others 1-off encounters) in total in the book. Plane Below had 12. Any other book with delve pages by WotC have mostly a higher page count - e.g. the 2 Draconomicons. Seriously, the percentage of delve material in this book is rather high.

Speaking of, is anyone else getting a little bit of a Malazan-style Crippled God vibe from Torog? Or is that just me?

-O

The comparison to Malazan is unfortunately lost on me due to sheer ignorance (*blushes*---> please enlighten me), but I'd like to submit another point of comparison: Golarion's Rovagug.

Rovagug is Paizo re-crafting two Greyhawk deities of old: Erythnul (the vicious god of savage beasts) and Zagyg (the imprisoned God). Like Rovagug, 4E's Torog is buried by the gods in a prison "deep below the earth". But 4E's Torog has more of Zagyg, in that he's not just imprisoned but also raving insane. See more on Zagyg here.

 

[Keefe the Thief]

I've read the first two chapters in some detail, and skimmed the rest.

Great, inspiring book. Lots of very interesting ideas. I find the Torog stuff to be highly inspirational. I'd really like more fluff on grell and some other monsters some day, but there is some interesting stuff in here none-the less.

Have I missed something in the fluff someplace (here or elsewhere) about why Shadar Kai hate drow?

Everybody hates drow. Even drow.

And any book that references DMG2 a lot gets a thumbs up from me - that book was awesome.

 

[Jhaelen]

Finally, the side-bar by Matt Sernett about how you should characters always let escape a combat that's overwhelming them... well, that's just plain bad and is bound to draw as many howlers as the infamous "That's right, I cheated … in the players' favor" editorial by Chris Youngs

I'm not entirely sure but I think you've missed the point of the sidebar:

What it actually does is to tell DMs that it's okay to use overpowering encounters once in a while as long as you give the players a fair warning beforehand. IOW: Yes you can have a sandbox game in 4e.

Considering some of the forum posts I've seen that is excellent advice.

(Although, to be honest, when reading the sidebar, my thoughts were: 'gee, do they really have to tell this to newbie DMs these days? OF COURSE, it's okay to use encounters of higher level than the pcs!')

 

[Raven Crowking]

Underdark may just be one of the best D&D supplements of any edition. (And believe you me, that is not praise I offer lightly.)

I am going to pick up the book on the strength of this recommendation, even though I don't play 4e. I assume there is enough to convert to other systems? And a PirateCat adventure? Sounds good.


RC

 

[LostSoul]

What is the Torog myth?

 

[Jack99]

I am going to pick up the book on the strength of this recommendation, even though I don't play 4e. I assume there is enough to convert to other systems? And a PirateCat adventure? Sounds good.


RC

Just an encounter, but still.. its a P-kitty original(tm)

What is the Torog myth?

Supershort version:
He got stuck in the UD fighting a Primordial named G-something while the Dawn War raged and was thus left behind when the other gods ascended to the Astral Sea. Mad with rage, he smashed things around, creating the UD as it is today. Due to a "curse" by the Primordial, the power of Torog seems linked to the UD, so leaving is not an option.

 

[Piratecat]

I am going to pick up the book on the strength of this recommendation, even though I don't play 4e. I assume there is enough to convert to other systems? And a PirateCat adventure? Sounds good.

Just a five page encounter. Better to buy it for all the good story ideas in the rest of the book! I like how it came out a lot.

 

[Obryn]

"Fewer" than what? There's 32 pages of encounters in the Dungeon Delve style (some complete delves, others 1-off encounters) in total in the book. Plane Below had 12. Any other book with delve pages by WotC have mostly a higher page count - e.g. the 2 Draconomicons. Seriously, the percentage of delve material in this book is rather high.

Good point on Plane Below - I've only skimmed that one... I was comparing it to the Draconomicons and Open Grave, and it seemed like a lower percentage overall. I could be wrong!

The comparison to Malazan is unfortunately lost on me due to sheer ignorance (*blushes*---> please enlighten me), but I'd like to submit another point of comparison: Golarion's Rovagug.

The Malazan Book of the Fallen is (as of right now) a 9-book epic, high-power, insanely sweeping fantasy epic by Steven Erikson. It's one of those series where you either love it or hate it. I, personally, love it - but it's hard to recommend because it's just so enormous. It's a smart series, though - it doesn't do much in the way of explaining stuff to you; you have to puzzle out a lot of it on your own. The Crippled God is a major antagonist in the series.

Rovagug is Paizo re-crafting two Greyhawk deities of old: Erythnul (the vicious god of savage beasts) and Zagyg (the imprisoned God). Like Rovagug, 4E's Torog is buried by the gods in a prison "deep below the earth". But 4E's Torog has more of Zagyg, in that he's not just imprisoned but also raving insane. See more on Zagyg here.

I could see that, too!

-O

 

[Scribble]

So does the Kings Highway in the Under Dark link up to the King's Highway from KoTS?

Torog also kind of reminds me of the god of the dark elves in Scarred Lands.