Return of the Necromancer

Just when you thought trying to figure out where Sword & Sorcery Studio (or is it "Studios"? I'm not sure anymore--I've seen it both ways) fits into the White Wolf universe was confusing enough, along comes Necromancer Games. Necromancer Games is a curious little entity that seems sort of like it might really be an alter ego of Sword & Sorcery Studios. Some of the names are the same. For example, Clark Petersen and Bill Webb, the authors of Rappan Athuk--The Dungeon of Graves: The Upper Levels, are listed as producers of Relics & Rituals.

The Sword & Sorcery logo is emblazoned across the top of all of the Necromancer Games products to date. Like a reluctant father, the signs of Necromancer Games' involvement in the birth of the product are small. There is a symbol of a goat-headed demon wielding a skull-tipped scepter (who you AD&D 1^st edition veterans should recognize), and a small rendition of their company name and their tagline. To wit:

"Third Edition Rules, First Edition Feel"

To some people, that may not be much of a selling point. One poster on RPGnet wrote regarding Necromancer Games' tagline, "that's a threat, not a promise." Well, at the very least, it should help target the product, no?

They do, however, mean it. One review of Necromancer Games' Crucible of Freya blasted it for having the gall to put a wandering monster table into it. Well if that bothers you, you are going to have a conniption fit when you get a load of Rappan Athuk! The authors quite obviously hope to cast the adventure in the mold of the classic AD&D First Edition dungeon crawl.

Rappan Athuk was alluded to in the Necromancer Games' Crucible of Freya as a place that veteran adventurers all knew of, a great dungeon of mythic proportions. The adventure itself has the moniker "R1", hearkening back to days of AD&D first edition when all published adventures were called modules and bore a specific letter/number tag. We are promised that "R2" and "R3" are forthcoming, to finish out Rappan Athuk.

The authors are rather unapologetic about the fact that this module IS a dungeon-borne bash in the tradition of first edition. They proclaim that this "module" pays homage that original idea from which D&D and the RPG hobby sprang, and well, sure role-playing might happen in Rappan Athuk, but if it does, they certainly didn't plan it that way.

Would the "Target Audience" Please Stand Up?

Necromancer Games' tagline should make it clear who they think will buy this module: people who were in a coma during second edition.

What's that? You think that's putting to fine a point on it? Well, I can't think of many other people who are going to be drawn in by their tagline. Sure, I know a lot people who were in a virtual coma during the era of AD&D 2^nd edition, having left for what they consider better games. However, part of the reason that many of those people left it that they were tired of dungeon crawls.

There are people who never went on the 2^nd edition but went on to play D&D 3e. But my experience is that those people are few and far between. Most 1^st edition diehards I know are still playing 1^st edition.

Okay, so let's make the assumption that the target audience isn't quite as narrowly defined as the Necromancer Games' tagline—and the unapologetic preface—makes it appear at first glance. This product is a dungeon crawl, and is going to have some value for anyone who wants one for whatever reason. Well, I begin to fit into that target audience. My campaign has politics, intrigue, wilderness treks, and mysteries. But there comes a time when its time to set aside the courtly affairs and dress uniforms and get down and dirty in the den of Evil (TM). If you scour the corners of my campaign world, you will find that I have liberally borrowed FR's Ruins of Undermountain and Greyhawk's Greyhawk Ruins.

If we look at the product from that angle, perhaps it will be possible to give this module a fair review without dwelling on aspects that the authors clearly did not mean to cover. Perhaps.

A First Look

Rappan Athuk is an embodiment of the idea of a classic "stack" dungeon—that is, a dungeon that consists of many underground levels, one on top of the other, and in which the relative nastiness of the denizens is proportional to how deep you are. Rappan Athuk—The Dungeon of Graves: The Upper Levels, AKA "R1" covers the uppermost 6 of these levels. We are promised that R2 and R3 will round out the dungeon with the deeper levels.

The book itself has a green cover, and is staple bound. You'd think if they were really going for first edition feel, they would put it in shrink wrap, put the maps on the inside cover and not staple the cover to the rest of the book. Okay, so maybe that would be a bit much to ask...

The interior is black and white, and 48 pages—including two pages at the end holding the obligatory OGL and a plug for Relics & Rituals. The art is light to average in density, and of adequate to good quality, consisting of 7 half page pictures and one smaller picture of a skull. Overall, the printing quality is good, and the book does not suffer from the amateur printing quality that many other D20 products do.

The use of space is efficient, using compact yet readable font size and text spacing. The chapter and room headers were clear enough to aid in navigation, but not overly large. Each chapter has an information block containing salient details of the levels. The "read aloud" shaded text blocks are have jagged corners that make them resemble scraps of paper. The effect is not overdone and appears fairly attractive.

The maps appeared to be hand drawn, but of adequate quality. They do seem rather sparse, each level only having a handful of rooms and very little unused space. I'm not sure if this is a "bug" or a "feature." It leaves you precious little room for expansion (if you tend that way), but it probably gives players a certain sense of accomplishment if they "clean it out."

The introductory section discusses conventions associated with the rest of the "module", and an introductory blurb describing the back-story of the dungeon, and a number of rumors to give players to involve them in the dungeon.

The basic story behind the dungeon, as it is to be read to the players, is that a long time ago, there was a local temple of Orcus (demon lord of the undead, to whom 1e veterans need no introduction.) An alliance of heroes who didn't appreciate their presence routed them from the city and tried to chase them down. Neither the followers of Orcus nor the pursuing army were ever heard of again.

It turns out that the followers of Orcus won this fight, and set up a (huge) lair in the middle of the desolate wilderness, with a mausoleum dedicated to their foul patron. Adventurers soon learned of this place and started using it as a personal stomping ground—or one-way ticket to see the reaper, depending on how good they are.

A Peek Inside the Lair (Warning: Spoiler Territory!)

There are 6 levels detailed in the book: A ground level and 5 underground levels, including two "side levels." There are entries to deeper levels within the levels of R1, but the reader is advised that the locks are difficult or impossible to open without the right key. Upon you buying these follow-on books that detail these deeper levels, you can throw in a hapless acolyte of Orcus with the proper key.

The ground level is said to be a match for 6 4^th level characters. After a momentary dip in challenge (level one is said to challenge a party of 6 3^rd level characters) the remaining level ramp up to challenge a party of 6 9^th level characters.

The first level is the ground level, the theme being a Mausoleum and graveyard. There are a few scenes set up that suggest the heroic army of legend's grisly fate. The level starts the dungeon off with a few potential encounters with custom versions of classic creatures, including one of the dungeon's legendary"black skeletons" that were alluded to in the rumors. Overall, it's not a verybig level, having only 8 keyed areas.

Level 1 is a little larger, containing 11 keyed areas. The central encounter of the level is a trapper in the form of an, ahem, rather ordinary household fixture. Other than that, this level is some fairly ordinary traps and encounters that, to be honest, you could have come up with from a random dungeon generator.

Level 2 seems a little more interesting, and is sort of the living (using the term loosely) quarters for 2 npcs and a gang of ogres and some other undead. This includes some keyed areas including a magical walk-in freezer and a fungus garden (which for some reason the author feels compelled to provide sunlight to—I though the reason that fungus was a favorite underground delicacy was that it didn't NEED sunlight.) We get to meet the first exercise of the 3e rules here with a skeletal warrior blackguard. While this might have been a neat, challenging and creepy encounter for a group of delvers, the purist in me turns up his nose, for it is done mechanically wrong. The creature is undead and as such should have 1d12 for hit dice and no Con score.

Level 3 is named for its biggest thread, a classic big purple foe. No, not Barney! In addition to these beasties, the party may bump into umber hulks and trolls. This layer also begins in earnest into nasty traps and rewarding treasures, including some that are near the bottom of the "major" charts in the DMG. This is very definitely "first edition feel" stuff as the module quite knowingly (I assume) overshot the third edition treasure rules, but tries to compensate with a nasty curse. I imagine this approach may rub some DMs the wrong way.

Later in the level is another instance of a boon that is perhaps too much for some games: the services of a fairy dragon with some considerable spellcasting abilities. Unlike the magic item above, the means to get this involves overcoming some minor hurdle jumping.

Level 3 also has a fairly interesting take on an encounter with a Rakshasa. It goes into a fair amount of detail about the MO of how this Rakshasa will rake the party over the coals. The tactics are well thought out, a gives the DM a good bit more to go on than "there is a Rakshasa here."

Another colorful encounter on this level is a skull-like oracle, somewhat reminiscent of a mimir from TSR's Planescape setting. For a price, the oracle reveals secrets about the dungeon. I imagine that in campaigns that aim to use all 3 planned modules in the R series, the oracle will become a central element in overcoming obstacles later in the dungeon.

Level 3A describes the area that can be reached via one of the surface wells. This is the most difficult level in R1, being geared towards a party of 6 9^th level characters. It describes the lair of an undead wizard, a former member of the army of good who chased down the followers of Orcus that was subsequently corrupted. In addition, some other classical beasties and traps occupy the level. Some material in this level verges on the creepy again, and gives the level a bit of "horror" feel.

The undead mage and his lackeys are what promises to be the most daunting struggle in R1. However, once again, mistakes were made that will draw the ire of people expecting a professional product. Like that previous undead character, the mage also does not abide by the hit dice guideline for undead.

Further, amongst the treasure he holds is a wand of conjuration. A what? I thought we said "Third Edition Rules," guys. One of the most prevalent changes in items in 3e was the "one wand, one spell" principle. This may be a minor point, but I'm surprised that one slipped by.

The final level detailed in R1 is Level 4A, the Basilisk Caverns. It is infested with a number of classic creature encounters, and does make some use of the 3e rules with an encounter with some classed goblin NPCs – ones that don't attack on sight, nonetheless. Hmmm, should I consider that a flaw in living up to their aim of making a classic dungeon crawl. Nah, we'll give them the benefit of the doubt on that one.

Conclusions

On the bright side, I think that the module did what it set out to do: pay homage to the classic dungeon crawl. Further, it doesn't waste a lot of space if a classic dungeon crawl is what you are looking for. It is well organized and packed to the gills with pertinent information. It does throw in extraneous bits here and there, like mentioning that an ogre is the brother of an ogre in another product. Which makes me wonder, "why should we care?"

There are a lot of people who are not going to like this module or find it useful no matter what, simply because it represents a style of play that has become a pariah among many modern gamers. There is no underlying plot thread, no epic conflict to be solved, and just a looming feeling of a threat to be battered back. It is the sort of module that panders to the most basic of gaming techniques in evoking drama and excitement: threat of loss or gain in a very scary place. If that is enough for you, or you are struck with a fit of nostalgia over the whole concept, this module is for you.

The module is well organized, and I especially liked the boxed "level details" text at the beginning of each level that summarized things like wandering monsters, unusual effects, and appropriate party level. Beware, though. When it provides a party level, it deviated from the standard "four member party" assumed by the EL rules in the DMG; it assumes 6 characters of the stated level. Further, the module lacks an EL chart like many other published adventures have. If you aren't keen at gauging the challenge of monsters, and make the mistake of assuming that the difficulty level is in same terms as the DMG's EL, you could easily flatten the party.

Since the book consists primarily of keyed encounter areas vice plots, situations, and NPC personalities it seem to me that its primary value is as prepared rules material. That being the case I found the deviations from the prevailing D20 system mechanics rather grating. I find it doubly so because Necromancer Game's sister company, Sword & Sorcery Studio, did such an excellent job in keeping close to the core system in Relics & Rituals. I'm not sure what is going on with the two companies, but I definitely think that Necromancer Games needs to be taking some notes from the folks on the other side of that division. Little things like the wand of conjuration make the module seem less professional and more obviously a reworked "homebrew dungeon retooled for 3^rd edition D&D."

Though I admit that there are times I like to get down'n'dirty with a dungeon crawl, only Level 3 evoked memories of the most memorable of such adventures, such as the Ruins of Undermountain, the Tomb of Horrors, or Greyhawk Ruins. If Necromancer Games is going to compete against other D20 vendors they are going to have to take advantage of elements that made some of those 1^st and 2^nd edition AD&D dungeon crawls memorable: strong (and possibly varying) themes, underlying plots and goals, evocative locations and (gasp!) interesting NPCs that interact with delvers in a manner that doesn't involve swords and fireballs. The ground level and level 3 had some hints of a horror theme that could easily have been expanded upon to give the whole dungeon a more moody horror feel while still keeping the dungeon crawl approach.

-Alan D. Kohler