''The Ruins of Undermountain'' is a
boxed set
A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit.
Music
Artists and bands ...
for the
Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the second edition of the ''Advanced
Dungeons & Dragons''
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
role-playing game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...
. The set was written by
Ed Greenwood
Ed Greenwood (born July 21, 1959) is a Canadian fantasy writer and the original creator of the ''Forgotten Realms'' game world. He began writing articles about the Forgotten Realms for ''Dragon'' magazine beginning in 1979, and subsequently sold ...
and published by
TSR.
[ It featured box cover art by Brom. and was published in 1991.
]
Contents
The set consists of a 128-page booklet titled ''Campaign Guide to Undermountain'', a 32-page booklet titled ''Undermountain Adventures'', 8 double-sided loose-leaf monster statistics pages, 8 double-sided heavy-stock "adventure aid" cards, and 4 color fold-out poster maps.
It uses the same Brom cover art as the box cover itself, with interior art by Karl Waller and cartography by Diesel
Diesel may refer to:
* Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression
* Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines
* Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...
, Steve Beck, and David Sutherland David Sutherland may refer to:
* David Sutherland (baseball) (born 1985), Australian baseball player
* David Sutherland (comics) (1933–2023), Scottish comic book artist
* David Sutherland (cricketer) (1873–1971), Australian cricketer
* David Su ...
. This book contains detailed information on the dungeon Undermountain, including non-player characters (such as Halaster Blackcloak) that can be encountered within the dungeons or in the city above it, as well as spells
Spell(s) or The Spell(s) may refer to:
Processes
* Spell (paranormal), an incantation
* Spell (ritual), a magical ritual
* Spelling, the writing of words
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Spell'' (1977 film), an American ...
and magic items
Magic or Magick most commonly refers to:
* Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces
* Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic
* Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
that can be found. The book also keys the maps to what can be found in various locations and contains expansion guidelines for creating future adventures and deeper parts of the dungeon.
The set provides the "first three levels of the original dungeon of Undermountain, beneath the city of Waterdeep".[ The entire Ruins of Undermountain is purported to be the "deepest dungeon of them all" with nine levels and fourteen sub-levels.][ It contains two books describing the Undermountain complex.][ The larger is the ''Campaign Guide to Undermountain''.][ It includes Undermountain history and other related information.][ The second book contains adventures, monster descriptions, maps, and other products.][
There are over 350 rooms per level, but not all are detailed: "even with approximately 25 areas of interest on the first level, 26 on the second level and none on the third, a remarkably high percentage of rooms are left completely undetailed".][
The ''Undermountain Adventures'' booklet describes seven adventures designed to be used within Undermountain, but can be used in any dungeon. The booklet also contains a "Monster Guide" of statblocks and descriptions of monsters not otherwise featured in the boxed set, and a description of the city of Skullport. The booklet has a detached cover, with cover art by ]Jeff Easley
Jeff Easley (born 1954) is an oil painter who creates fantasy artwork for role-playing games, comics, and magazines, as well as non-fantasy commercial art.
Early life
Easley was born in Nicholasville, Kentucky in 1954. He spent time drawing as ...
, and maps of some of the encounters on the inside, with cartography by David Sutherland.
The monster sheets detail 11 monsters in the Monstrous Compendium style: elder orb beholder, death kiss beholder-kin, darktentacles, ibrandlin, scaladar, sharn
Eberron is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') role-playing game. The game is set primarily on the continent of Khorvaire following a vast destructive war. Eberron is designed to accommodate traditional ''D&D'' elements an ...
, slithermorph, flying snakes (flying fang and deathfang), steel shadow, and watchghost.
The cards are adventure aids for the Dungeon Master, detailing traps, encounters, treasure, and sundries that can be placed in the midst of adventures.
The maps detail the first three levels of the ruins of Undermountain; level three takes up two of the maps.
Publication history
Shannon Appelcline commented that "''The Ruins of Undermountain'' (1991), located under the City of Waterdeep, was one of the first real "mega" dungeons — though it trailed Greyhawk's own offering, ''Greyhawk Ruins'', by a year."
Reception
The adventure was ranked the 17th greatest adventure of all time by '' Dungeon'' magazine for the 30th anniversary of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game in 2004.
Keith Eisenbeis reviewed the module in the February 1992 issue of ''White Wolf Magazine
''White Wolf'' is a game magazine that was published by White Wolf Publishing from 1986 to 1995.
History
While still in high school, Stewart Wieck and Steve Wieck decided to self-publish their own magazine, and Steve chose the name "White Wolf" a ...
''. He noted the appearance of the product materials, especially the maps, as exceptional, but the remainder of lesser quality.[ Overall, he rated the product a 3 out of a possible 5.][
]
References
* Greenwood, Ed. ''Ruins of Undermountain'' ( TSR, 1991)
Further reading
* "Seeing the Sights in Skullport", ''Dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
'' #172
* "Understanding Undermountain--The King of All Dungeons", ''Dragon'' #167
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruins of Undermountain, The
Forgotten Realms sourcebooks
Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1991