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Introduction
This book touts itself as a "campaign adventure" and it delivers on that claim 100%. In this review, first I will present a product overview, explaining exactly what this adventure is about without any spoilers. Next, I will first comment on the technical aspects of the book, its layout/appearance, ease of use, etc. Next, I will talk a bit about what it is and what it is not. Moving on, I will over some comparison with other products on the market (Bleeding Edge adventures from Green Ronin and the Paizo Game Mastery series of modules). Finally, I will offer some closing words as well as my personal opinion.
Overview
Undermountain is a large dungeon crawl, while not quite as ambitious as say, the World's Largest Dungeon, it does sprawl quite an expanse beneath Waterdeep (or other metropolis in your game). The story begins with hordes of adventures feeling supernaturally pulled towards the depths of Halastar's dungeon. Some even experiencing dreams of the Mad Mage's face, apparently worried over something, getting the impression that some as of yet unknown tragedy is in the future with Halastar somehow unable to stop it. The scores of would-be saviors and treasure hunters flock to the Yawning Portal Tavern, which contains the least dangerous and well-known entrance into the labyrinth. With them come the con artists, vendors, and other scavengers that you would expect to see during a gold rush.
As our band of heroes, navigate the perils of Undermountain they begin to piece tighter clues of what has happened and brushes against some of the major power players located in the dank recesses under the City of Splendors. They also come into possession of an extremely powerful item that gives them a winning edge against the host of adventuring parties come seeking the riches below.
With luck, by the end of the series of linked adventures/encounters they should be around 10th level and fixed the "problem" that is plaguing Undermountain.
Layout/Design
The first thing you see is the cover. The matte finish of the book is a great, a real treat in contrast to the high gloss covers of other WoTC products. Whether it will hold up better than they (which tend to scratch easily) remains to be seen. The deep brown-red color is also satisfying to the eye as is the actual art that hints that this module will throw the players into deep kimchi very quickly. It says, "Oh dear what have we gotten ourselves into?" In addition, the "bejeweled" theme that is prominent in other WotC books is definitely muted, although still present. This for me is a plus, as it is bad enough for my public image carrying DnD books around without them looking like my daughter got hold of them with a hot-glue gun, some rhinestones, and a score to settle.
Cracking the spine, we find that the hardcover book is bound well, with no sign of pages coming out. Graphically the layout is excellent, conforming to other books in the past (like the "Completes" but with influence from other lovely WotC products like Book of Nine Swords and Tome of Magic which are truly works of art). It is not revolutionary but sticking with what is familiar is not always bad thing.
The organization of the book is very nice, with all of the encounters in the back of each chapter on one and two-page spreads that to me says "gamer porn." These centerfolds are worthy of the term. Just like the other Expedition books, this format shows you all the "goods" up front. With a stat block that is easy to follow, enemy tactics, possible hazards, a tactical map, and the treasure right there, all that work has been cut out for the DM. They are a real time saver for any DM who might have a life outside the hobby. (Don't laugh, they exist I've seen them!)
The only flaw in the layout/design aspect of this book is the lack of an index. A redeeming feature here is that the book is cross-referenced throughout, always-giving page numbers where necessary. Still, this Gygaxian device, while helpful will result in much page flipping.
What it is/is not
This book is primarily a reference book. The first chapter has loads of tips for getting players into the action, running the town above (including prominent NPCs), highlighting the major areas of the massive dungeon (with small maps of the major levels), a brief synopsis of what you will find in each chapter, each of the factions of the city above and the dungeon below, as well as the general plot of the adventure (which is pretty thin). Each subsequent chapter details a specific area in more-or-less sequential order as is natural for them to be explored. Some areas are optional and will be noticed as such. The sections also contain a slew of great baddies for the player characters to challenge or with which to negotiate. Now is a good time to point out that the book recommends that players learn when to talk, fight, and run.
Expedition to Undermountain is by no means a contained setting. The task of filling in the blanks (which includes the numerous tiny maps that serve as a springboard to adventure rather than a systematic area-by-area list of things to do) as well as developing the story and characters presented therein and bringing it to life falls on the shoulders of the DM. The book says as much however, so it does not come as a surprise. The first area "Environs of the Entry Well" is the only section that has numbered listings that you would normally expect in a module. It presents an example of the work that you have cut out for you in future sections if you wish to run the game with the same level of detail.
Undermountain is a toolkit with all the pieces necessary to run a fun and lasting dungeon crawl campaign. It does a lot of the work for you and clearly points out what is left for you to do. It presents adequate tactical challenges and inventive enemies to fight, while driving the action towards finality.
Comparison
There are a hundreds of modules out there, offering something for everyone. This module offers a lot of hack and slash, with an emphasis on tactical combat. Other modules such as the Paizo Game Mastery line offer some similar hack while also offering the good roleplaying and story elements that Undermountain lacks. Conversely, products like the Bleeding Edge adventures from Green Ronin offer average roleplaying and story elements (that tie in with their Freeport campaign) they offer the same amount of good hack and tactical combat and additional organization of the initiative cards for all the monsters presented by the Game Mechanics. Ultimately, you as a GM will need to decide what type of game you are interested in running and how much work you are interested in putting into, in order to choose a module that is right for you and your group. As far as value goes, if you want solid combat and variety you cannot beat the Undermountain book, it packs a lot of crunch in its hefty 224 pages.
Closing Comments
Expedition to Undermountain is a solid offering to a very core audience that plays DnD. It is targeted at the GM with little time to prepare combat whose players might be more tactically able than he or she. It is also fairly setting with neutral, with not many elements from the original Forgotten Realms setting in which it originates. This is good for many GMs who run their own home games and so makes the product more accessible, however I would personally prefer more realms material anyway. I understand the choice, and I cannot fault them for it. What it does however, is make more work for GMs to bring it to life.
It is also rather long, and like the aforementioned World's Largest Dungeon may descend into tedium rather quickly. A lot of weight is on the GMs shoulders here to add to the product what it lacks. Still the book specifically mentions these elements and delivers what it sets out to do admirable. My own players have expressed interest in trying it, even though they quit the WLD before exploring half the first level.
This brings me to my last opinion about Expedition to Undermountain. Without spoiling too much of the plot (okay it is a tiny spoiler, stop reading if you want to know nothing about the plot) I will say that the story is extremely flimsy. The players are railroaded (with great suggestions on how to do that in the first chapter I might add, such as cave-ins and abusing the ever-shifting nature of the dungeon) throughout the adventures and the clues that they uncover are minimal at best. It requires some effort to adapt the story to give the players the feeling that they really know what is going on. Furthermore, if they succeed in the ultimate goal of the campaign they may never actually learn what threat they have forestalled. This would be frustrating for players and GM alike as exposition of the "villains" is a prime part of this type of adventure (that is against an as-of-yet unknown force). Again, though this does provide an open door to the GM to continue the adventures or to modify the plot in such a way to fit their own game world.
