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Night Below: The Underdark Campaign
The ultimate dungeon adventure is back in print again because the fans demanded it Set in the Underdark and designed to be used in any AD&D"RM" campaign, Night Below presents an epic adventure that takes player characters from 1st level to loth level and beyond. Available again for a limited time, this huge adventure is packed with plots, subplots, sinister conspiracies, and action on a grand scale.
192 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 6, 2024
Billed as "The Ultimate Dungeon Adventure", Night Below comes - as I understand the term at least - far, far off that mark, almost to the point of coming across as false advertising. The dungeons it offers are small and linear and have little in the ways of exploration, sidepaths, secrets, or freedom. They never feel that deep, on account of how often and easily the players get to return to the surface to train and re-equip and buy and sell stuff: a terrible missed opportunity, where you could have offered all of these things in the dungeon. Isn't that what Underdark is all for, too? All the weird and alien cultures and societies for the players to get acquainted with? Little of that too, here.
Instead, we have walls upon walls of text on the subject of plot, NPC stats and magic items and strategy, and, most damningly, what the players should and should not do and how to keep them on track. The story imposes its own precise way on how things are done, and by jove we're not going to let petty things such as player choice or freedom get tangled into that. This could have been a book.
It's not the worst or the most offensive of its time - some good artwork, for one, and the plot as it is has its moments - but I'm inclined to knock off an extra star just for the unfulfilled hype. It claims to be something it's not - something better, something we used to have and no longer get. Dungeons & Dragons as I know and love it was well and truly dead by this time.
Instead, we have walls upon walls of text on the subject of plot, NPC stats and magic items and strategy, and, most damningly, what the players should and should not do and how to keep them on track. The story imposes its own precise way on how things are done, and by jove we're not going to let petty things such as player choice or freedom get tangled into that. This could have been a book.
It's not the worst or the most offensive of its time - some good artwork, for one, and the plot as it is has its moments - but I'm inclined to knock off an extra star just for the unfulfilled hype. It claims to be something it's not - something better, something we used to have and no longer get. Dungeons & Dragons as I know and love it was well and truly dead by this time.
February 2, 2013
The book description for this epic boxed set is as follows:
Book Description
Publication Date: November 1995
“Night Below, the first epic campaign adventure for the AD&D game, is designed to take the player characters from 1st level to 10th level and beyond. The PCs start as beginning adventures on a routine courier mission who soon become drawn into combating a sinister plot that menaces the pleasant land of Haranshire. By the end of Book I, The Evils of Haranshire, the player characters should have worked their way up to 5th level. Book II, Perils of the Underdark, shifts the scene underground as the characters search the seemingly endless realm of the underdark to discover the fate of the kidnappers' victims. By the time they reach the dark cavern of The Sunless Sea in Book III, they should each be 10th level or above, ready at last to confront the ultimate evil behind the far-reaching conspiracy. "Inside this box are* Three 64-page books compromising a single grand-scale adventure, which can be placed in any AD&D world.* 16 Player Handout sheets featuring art, maps, charts, and letters.* 8 two-sided DUNGEON MASTER Reference Cards providing cutouts, monster rosters, and two new evil deities.* An eight-page booklet of new MONSTROUS COMPENDIUM entries, detailing three new races and two new monsters.* 6 full-color poster maps detailing all the important locations in the entire campaign setting.”
The reason this story works is because the authors made it different in these ways:
(1) They put in actual methods to negotiate. So, rather than just bash everything, PCs can talk their way out or even make alliances. Additionally, not all the creatures of the Underdark are out to kill you so it allows more chances to talk things out. ;
(2) There's a great deal of context and History; especially in book one in the area of Haranshire (a backwaters shire); good to great character descriptions. You could easily use this for any campaign setting, not just AD&D 2nd edition though you would have to change the stats of several things;
(3)Superb overland map you can share with your players (just don't show the back); include a few battle maps for key sections of the long adventure);
(4) Lots of overland adventures; some not just fighting but puzzle related or negotiation related; additionally, you get to deal with the locals;
(5) Great details of natural hazards in the Underdark;
(6) A variety of different monsters in the Underdark;
(7) fairly good linkage;
(8) big finale at the end; and
(9) PCs have the opportunity to actually have allies!
I think past reviewers are correct in that book two isn't as linked. This was done mainly to let the PCs go up in levels so that they would be ready for the later big fights.
Not a problem for me. I increased the size of the map and added more features and also changed the nefarious end as I felt it was too cliche'.
Overall, this is superlative boxed set. As it isn't terribly pervasive, it can fit in to almost any campaign. For a DM who has little put together, you could do a whole campaign this way but the PCs have to enjoy tromping down in the Underdark. In my campaign, this started at about 50% of the possible adventures but as more and more happened, it's about 15-20% now. That's sort of b/c now that they're higher level they've gotten involved in big time politics. :)
CONCEPT: B plus to A minus; IDEA EXECUTION: A minus; MAPS/PROPS: A minus; CAMPAIGN DEPTH: A minus to A; OVERALL GRADE: A minus; WHEN REVIEWED: March 2001 (revised review end of July 2012)
Book Description
Publication Date: November 1995
“Night Below, the first epic campaign adventure for the AD&D game, is designed to take the player characters from 1st level to 10th level and beyond. The PCs start as beginning adventures on a routine courier mission who soon become drawn into combating a sinister plot that menaces the pleasant land of Haranshire. By the end of Book I, The Evils of Haranshire, the player characters should have worked their way up to 5th level. Book II, Perils of the Underdark, shifts the scene underground as the characters search the seemingly endless realm of the underdark to discover the fate of the kidnappers' victims. By the time they reach the dark cavern of The Sunless Sea in Book III, they should each be 10th level or above, ready at last to confront the ultimate evil behind the far-reaching conspiracy. "Inside this box are* Three 64-page books compromising a single grand-scale adventure, which can be placed in any AD&D world.* 16 Player Handout sheets featuring art, maps, charts, and letters.* 8 two-sided DUNGEON MASTER Reference Cards providing cutouts, monster rosters, and two new evil deities.* An eight-page booklet of new MONSTROUS COMPENDIUM entries, detailing three new races and two new monsters.* 6 full-color poster maps detailing all the important locations in the entire campaign setting.”
The reason this story works is because the authors made it different in these ways:
(1) They put in actual methods to negotiate. So, rather than just bash everything, PCs can talk their way out or even make alliances. Additionally, not all the creatures of the Underdark are out to kill you so it allows more chances to talk things out. ;
(2) There's a great deal of context and History; especially in book one in the area of Haranshire (a backwaters shire); good to great character descriptions. You could easily use this for any campaign setting, not just AD&D 2nd edition though you would have to change the stats of several things;
(3)Superb overland map you can share with your players (just don't show the back); include a few battle maps for key sections of the long adventure);
(4) Lots of overland adventures; some not just fighting but puzzle related or negotiation related; additionally, you get to deal with the locals;
(5) Great details of natural hazards in the Underdark;
(6) A variety of different monsters in the Underdark;
(7) fairly good linkage;
(8) big finale at the end; and
(9) PCs have the opportunity to actually have allies!
I think past reviewers are correct in that book two isn't as linked. This was done mainly to let the PCs go up in levels so that they would be ready for the later big fights.
Not a problem for me. I increased the size of the map and added more features and also changed the nefarious end as I felt it was too cliche'.
Overall, this is superlative boxed set. As it isn't terribly pervasive, it can fit in to almost any campaign. For a DM who has little put together, you could do a whole campaign this way but the PCs have to enjoy tromping down in the Underdark. In my campaign, this started at about 50% of the possible adventures but as more and more happened, it's about 15-20% now. That's sort of b/c now that they're higher level they've gotten involved in big time politics. :)
CONCEPT: B plus to A minus; IDEA EXECUTION: A minus; MAPS/PROPS: A minus; CAMPAIGN DEPTH: A minus to A; OVERALL GRADE: A minus; WHEN REVIEWED: March 2001 (revised review end of July 2012)
January 11, 2025
As a full campaign in a box, this is an interesting adventure. Reading it against the more recent 5E adventures, there are many similarities—it has a clear structure with relatively minimal ability to get the characters back “on track” if the campaign starts to go off the rails, suggests places where you can add or expand with side-quests, although only minimally detailed (and this was much more necessary in 2E, since leveling would take so much experience that even a very complete run of the material provided would leave many parties underleveled for the final section).
However, the even those design problems don’t detract from the parts of this that make it so much fun—it is a huge adventure, with fairly reasonable pacing and flexibility (enough urgency that they are likely to keep going, but not so much that they won’t have time to run a side quest), and one that does not rely on powerful or plot-necessary NPCs to drive the “story” while leaving the players as sidekicks. It presents an Underdark that is fairly weird, but also chock full of treasures to be found and monsters to be slain.
However, the even those design problems don’t detract from the parts of this that make it so much fun—it is a huge adventure, with fairly reasonable pacing and flexibility (enough urgency that they are likely to keep going, but not so much that they won’t have time to run a side quest), and one that does not rely on powerful or plot-necessary NPCs to drive the “story” while leaving the players as sidekicks. It presents an Underdark that is fairly weird, but also chock full of treasures to be found and monsters to be slain.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews