Dungeoneer's Survival Guide

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition

by Douglas Niles

Compilations of rules, settings, and information for the Advanced dungeons and dragons game, featuring new rules for creating and stocking dungeons and advice and guidance for surviving the new challenges

Genres: Role Playing Games, Fantasy, Gaming, Dungeons and Dragons, Games, Reference

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Douglas Niles is a fantasy author and game designer. Niles was one of the creators of the Dragonlance world and the author of the first three Forgotten Realms novels, and the Top Secret S/I espionage role-playing game. He currently resides in Delavan, Wisconsin with his wife, Christine, and two Bouviets, Reggie and Stella. He enjoys playing his guitar, cooking, and visiting with family.

Reviews

[Matthew Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is heavily coloured by Nostalgia Glasses(TM). This book was my first D&D book, a 50p purchase from a seaside charity shop in my late preteens; it has consequently had a great effect on me.

The rules for underground movement, encumbrance and such like are all very fine and solid pieces of work - charmingly over-done in the manner of AD&D (who can forget the 'how badly did you sleep in your armour?' chart) but they are not my main focus.

The fantastic, brilliant, exuberant pre-made dungeon that takes up the latter part of this book is, for me, the greatest feat of imagination-mongering. Even now whole areas of it sit fully realised in my mind, with the focus on the dynamics of power and natural resources giving it a great feel of reality.

All told, an incredible work of imagination.

[Taddow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back in my old days of gaming, I found this book to be quite useful (and it still is to some extent). It contains information on adventuring underground- we’re talking spelunking here, and includes several rules and tables that a DM can use to create and run adventures in that environment. Even today, I found that many of the rules are still good in this “modern” age of gaming.

When I first got this book, I remember being so enthralled by the perspective mapping technique. The examples in the book and their accompanying Deepearth descriptions were a great revelation to the possibilities of underground campaigns. Of course I had to buy some tracing paper and take a shot of making my own maps. It was also good to have additional information on how some of the underground races lived and interacted with their environment.

In addition to some rules, tables, mapping techniques and an example of an underground land, there is also a section on practical game mastering advice, much of which is still great advice today and highlights a lot of answers to the questions of many game masters. Topics, such as player and group dynamics, awarding treasure and Experience, resolving encounters and playing sessions and campaigns are addressed. I would recommend that section to new game masters of any system.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

So these adventurous players are gonna head out underground. Of course they are totally clueless on how to survive down there. Here is the solution. Great game reference book. Recommended for gamers

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a stickler for details, which this provided. Adventuring underground caused me to want to spelunk. All the various lists and types fleshed out the information needed to be a creative dungeon master.

[Ross Kitson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought as a decision to complete my 1st Ed AD&D hardback collection, I recall this and it's sister book being released in the late 80s. I never bought it as by then I was investing more on other RPGs, and I already had enough with the usual rulebooks and three monster manuals.
Douglas Niles is a good writer, and a prolific one too during that period. The book covers a lot of ground: rules for Underground environment such as climbing and swimming; new equipment; non-weapon proficiencies (then in their infancy); fatigue and exhaustion; combat rules underground; loads of stuff on design of underground settings; cultures and races of the 'Deepearth'; and a campaign environment, the Lands of Deepearth.
All of this was interesting and transposable to later editions without much effort. I found the Campaign considerations, essentially advice on design, gameplay, story structures, narrative technique very interesting. Much in here would have been fascinating at the time, although now with internet resource and large sections in the 5e PHB anD DMG, it seems more commonplace. But kudos to Doug Niles for bringing all of this into a mainstream hardback, rather than it just sitting in Dragon articles.
All over, a nice read. Look forward to the wilderness one.

[Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thorough expansion of explanations of how to build and run underground campaigns. The author DOES make the mistake of confusing 'game' with 'campaign'. The other major issue I have with the book is that it IS game-specific, to Dungeons & Dragons, forcing me to think in terms of that game much of the time - still and all, confusing as the rules ARE in places, the basic ideas ARE there, and it is possible to use them for ANY role-playing game.

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nowadays Veins of the Earth drained a great deal of this book's appeal, managing the same premise with far more atmosphere and far less clunky rules, but there's still plenty of reasons to read it if only for the sake of history.

[Messorem Animarum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing material for the detail-oriented, with the DM section containing some of the finest DM tips anywhere.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

An adequate supplement for the AD&D role-playing game, it has rules, mechanics, and gear that are of interest to many players, adding a level of interest, "realism," and material for die-hard fans of "1st edition AD&D."

[Evan Markiewicz · Rating 2 out of 5]

was never able to put into use, but was well laid out

[Iain Watson]

Dungeoneer's Survival Guide (Advanced Dungeons and Dragons) by Douglas Niles (1986)