Rappan Athuk 2 - The Dungeon of Graves: The Middle Levels continues the adventure arc that began with such promise in The Upper Levels and, presumably, will end with the Lower Levels. All told, the 3 combined adventures will contain 26 levels of dungeon crawling goodness (or, more accurately, evilness). The entire enterprise seems to be based on the original "Tomb of Horrors" idea - i.e. try to kill your players first, come up with reasons later. Now, Rappan Athuk isn't nearly as bad as the afore mentioned classic adventure, but some of the encounters do lack any real justification. That's okay, though, because you're essentially warned of this before even purchasing the product. I really recommend using the Upper Levels in conjunction with the Middle Levels. In fact, I intend to wait until the Lower Levels is released before unleashing this beast on my players.
Necromancer Games' motto is "Third Edition Rules, First Edition Feel" and Rappan Athuk 2 gives just that, with loads of tough encounters and rough, sketchy maps. The art, however, is considerably better than most first edition products (if a little sparse), as is the typesetting and the editing (of the text at least, more on this later). The cover art is, as usual for Necromancer Games, outstanding. The interior layout is quite well done, and I like the encounter description. There's very little "boxed" text to read to players, allowing the DM the best way to describe an encounter. The encounters themselves are arranged so that the general description of the key points is given first, then stat blocks for whatever needs them, then the tactics the opponents try to use, followed up by the treasure. Very easy to follow, and one gets used to it quickly. The descriptions and text are written very well too, without being terribly obtuse or pretentious, like many other TSR or WotC products. Not that it's terribly important, but there's a fair amount of humor involved, which just adds to the DM's sadistic enjoyment.
Rappan Athuk 2 falls far short, however, of the rarified air that The Upper Levels enjoys. Specifically, the maps are nothing short of a mess. Whereas The Upper Levels had very nice and tidy maps 2 to a page, still maintaining their quaint charms, The Middle Levels maps are sprawling, cumbersome things, with huge encounter numbers that often obscure portions of the room. Another problem with the maps is that there are no fewer than 9 rooms that are not labeled. *sigh* While it isn't terribly difficult to locate some of the rooms, others are, and that's not the point anyway. If I really wanted to figure out the maps on my own, I would've made them myself. Other problems; exits and entrances to dungeon levels that make no sense and aren't explained; extra rooms on the maps that aren't even hinted at in the text (there's something strange going on on level 6A...). Finally, the room numbering seems fairly random. Room numbers don't flow like you'd think they should, and I found myself searching the map for the next room and find it on the other side of the page (if at all). The maps alone really damaged this product for me.
Another problem I have with this adventure is the BS level. Let me explain. There's a difficulty level, which for these adventures is quite high, and I knew that going in. Then there's a BS level, which is to say, stuff that there is no way, without divine intervention, the players can cope with. I'm not talking about fighting hordes of undead or unbeatable creatures. Those are just difficult, and with enough forewarning, players can get past them, or around them. I'm talking about things for which there are one and only one way to continue on, and there is absolutely no clues left for the players to act upon. For example, the phrase "There is no other way to open this secret door" just burns me up as a DM. The Upper Levels had its fair share of this stuff, but The Middle Levels is just rife with it. If your players are anything like mine, be prepared for much complaining.
Also, The Middle Levels has a nasty habit of throwing in monsters that aren't described anywhere in the Monster Manual. Now, I understand that Necromancer Games wants you to buy and use their Swords & Sorcery products, and that's fine, but I'd like to know where the monsters that aren't in the Monster Manual are. I don't want to give anything away, but there are enough baddies in The Middle Levels that I don't know what they look like that aren't reference to irritate me. I don't care where it is; if it's in a non-core book, fine, just tell me where it is. This habit is absent, though, for magic items and spells. Unless there's something I missed, whenever a magic item or spell is used that isn't in the PH or DMG, it is specifically stated where to find it. While I'm on the subject of the PH, DMG, and MM, I would like to note that throughout the text, the authors refer to these books in just this way (although at one point they refer to the PH as core rulebook I...). I understand this is necessary according to the OGL, I just hope that it's obvious to everybody else who uses it.
I really, really wanted to like this adventure. I'd been looking forward to it for some time now, and went down to buy it as soon as I knew it was in. The purchase price of $11.95 US is outstanding. Every other Necromancer Games product I've purchased has been top notch, without exception, until now. The substance is quite good, given that it's designed to kill characters. But I just can't get over the absolute wreck of the interior maps. I really hope that Necromancer Games posts corrected versions of the erroneous maps (specifically, levels 5 through 8, including 6A & 7A) on their website.
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