By Bruce Cordell, Gwendolyn F. M. Kestrel and Jeff Quick
-I’ve been doing considerable research for a bunch of things tangentially and directly related to the Underdark, so the book has been sitting here next to me on my computer desk for a while now. I just realized that I have never given it a review, so, I might as well do so now.
-Underdark is, I think, one of the best 3e era Forgotten Realms sourcebooks that exist. This is pretty amazing when you think about that. I mean, the book itself is 191 pages. Of those 191 pages, eight pages in the back are devoted at an adventure, and the first 110 pages or so are mostly dedicated to mechanics. That leaves the remaining 70 or so pages for lore about the Underdark, places in the Underdark, and all of that. But, the book so seamlessly integrates D&D mechanics for Forgotten Realms information that it doesn’t seem like the first hundred pages are mostly mechanical things. There’s information about things like Earth Nodes (Shouldn’t they technically be ‘Faerûnian Nodes’?), which I think are pretty cool, the strange flora that grows in the Underdark, and what happens when these things are harvested, hazards like poisonous air pockets, and other neat things.
-Concerning the lore parts, I wish that there were more maps of individual cities and places. As compared to Drizzt Do’Urden’s Guide to the Underdark, Underdark lists more locales and places, but too many, in my opinion, don’t have all that much information about them. For example…Fraaszummdin, also known as Steederhome, on page 150, seems like a pretty interesting place. A Duergar city where they raise riding lizards, giant vermin, and other things like that. There’s a decent amount of information on the place. A map would have been nice. I mean, really…Undrek’Thoz, Menzoberranzan, Gracklstugh, and the Blessed Seahaven were the only maps of cities in the entire book. Do we really need another map of Menzoberranzan? Seriously? A big, fold-out map, like in DDGttU would have been nice as well.
-The book introduced a lot of new concepts that I liked: Deep Imaskar, Earth Nodes, Gloamlings, a few of the Prestige Classes, a few of the Feats (the ones related to Earth Nodes). I was most disappointed with the section on monsters in the Underdark. Really, out of all of the ones presented, I don’t like any of them. In one of my own games, currently, the PCs are in the Underdark. I went through this book looking for some threats to throw against them as they traveled to where they need to go, but didn’t find anything I liked. Which is a pity, really.
-So, in the end, out of a possible Five Beholders, I give Underdark Four Beholders.
18DELTA (CHOSEN OF CYRIC) ;)
-Underdark is, I think, one of the best 3e era Forgotten Realms sourcebooks that exist.
QFT, save that I don't think it's one of the best, I know it is.
It's just one of those rare 3E books that not only got the mix of fluff and crunch just right, but blended the two together so that a DM or player could use the book to seamlessly transition what they were reading into game mechanics and elements to use in play (creature templates, themed magic items, NPCs, etc...).
And boy was it damn useful to me. When I ran City of the Spider Queen and the side adventure Spiral of Manzessine, the Underdark sourcebook was absolutely clutch.
Maur Giants, Annihilators, the Arachnoid creature template, resizing weapons, rules for squeezing and moving into tight spaces, the various Prestige Classes that made great NPC bad guys (can you say “Illithid Body Tamer”?)....the book just rocked.
Good maps, good lore (tho some would argue there was less than a satisfactory amount) and great maps.
As for 'earth nodes' they mean earth as soil & stone, not planet.
As for 'earth nodes' they mean earth as soil & stone, not planet.
-I know, I know. But, technically, shouldn't earth (as in soil and stone) be called "faerûn" there? We call it 'earth' because it's what forms our planet, which is called Earth. Likewise...
;)-I know, I know. But, technically, shouldn't earth (as in soil and stone) be called "faerûn" there? We call it 'earth' because it's what forms our planet, which is called Earth. Likewise...
It's a translation thing. They probably do call it 'faerûn', but it translates to english as 'earth'. ;)
It's a translation thing. They probably do call it 'faerûn', but it translates to english as 'earth'. ;)
That's what I would assume, as well.
One would have wished that they had saved some place on the PrC for monsters, though playing a kuo-toa might apeal to someone. Illithid Body Tamers are beyond normal character levels though and thus essentially "just" interesting canon fodder for DMs to utilize. Undrek-thoz ... those designers should really give more thought to names. Drow are elves and use a language that at least sounds like Elven. So please, try to give them and their places names that can actually be pronounced, will you?
Anyway, alongside Drizzt do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark, this is the book you want to have.
I'd give it those four beholders and all the eyestalks of the fifth. Still top of the lot IMHO is Magic of Faerûn.
I'd give it those four beholders and all the eyestalks of the fifth. Still top of the lot IMHO is Magic of Faerûn.
-I tried using MS Paint to modify the emoticons, and make up some "custom ones", like a Beholder without it's eyestalks or whatever, but it didn't exactly work. So, I just gave up on it.