Third-Party D&D: Terror from the Underdeep
Those of you who follow my D&D reviews know that I’m a sucker for 5E Kickstarters. Obviously, I don’t jump at every single Kickstarter or Backerkit project that hits the scene. But there’s a few publishing houses that I follow pretty religiously and Goodman Games is one of them. That’s why when Joseph Goodman announced a crowdfunding effort for a new Fifth Edition Fantasy project called Terror from the Underdeep, I knew I was going to open my wallet without a moment’s hesitation.
Terror from the Underdeep is a boxed set adventure campaign designed for players level 8-16. The box contains a total of four softcover books, a collection of campaign related maps, and a set of thick cardstock inspiration tokens. As an early backer, I also received a number of bonus books and add-ons. However, since these items are not included with the final retail product, I won’t be discussing them here. This review is going to focus solely on items that are included in the regular boxed copy you can find at your local hobby store.
The first thing I’ll mention right away is that this boxed set isn’t cheap. The MSRP for this product is $80. That may seem like a lot to shell out for an adventure. But, trust me when I say that this set is worth every penny. For starters, the contents of this box promise to contain over a year of adventuring (assuming your D&D group meets once a week). Compare this to your standard $50 adventure book and it’s easy to see the value.
With that out of the way, let’s dive into the contents. The first thing you should know is that the books included in this set are softcover, not hardcover. I know that many consider this to be a major downside. And it’s true, the standard for D&D books these days is a durable hardcover. But, I personally don’t have a problem with adventures being presented in a softcover format. For ages, older TSR modules were always sold in a soft folder-like cover. Plus, the box is there to protect the contents from shelfwear. So for me, this is no issue. Even being softcover books, the quality of the product is exceptional. The covers are glossy and they feature excellent color artwork. The spine/glue is nice and tight and the print quality of the pages is excellent. The artwork inside the books is all black and white. It nails that old school feel perfectly. The included maps are large and glossy. The maps are thick and colorful. They seem quite durable and should last a lifetime as long as they are treated with respect.
The first book in the box is the GM’s Guide. This book includes an introduction to the campaign, background info that the DM should know before running the adventure, and a handful of new items, spells, and characters. There’s also a section in the back of this book that includes player handouts. As you might expect, a number of the monsters included in this book are very specific to this campaign. But, several of them will undoubtably find a use elsewhere. All in all, I found the contents of this book to be very well done. Also, having this information separated from the rest the adventure should be quite handy at the table. I’d like to see this format used in the future.
The second, third, and fourth books contain the actual adventures themselves. The first book includes three adventures largely focused on dealing with various breeds of giants. It introduces the players to the strange events that continue in the next book – which again focuses on more races of giants. The adventure finally concludes in the fourth book, which contains three more adventures, this time taking the players into the depths of an underground mega dungeon – complete with Drow and other Underdark (or I should say Underdeep) denizens. Finally the adventure ends on a long lost island where the players will do battle with a gargantuan beast…
The adventures included in this box are designed to work in tandem with each other, but they have also been designed to be modular enough to played separately or inserted into any homebrew campaign setting. I will be forthcoming and admit that I have not personally run any of the contents in this set at my table. But I have spent a great deal of time reading over it and I’m impressed at how well written and cohesive the contents of these books seem to be. I can’t wait to spring of some this stuff on my players. The set up is unique and interesting and the plot contains a number of cool twists and ideas that should be able to surprise even the most seasoned players.
I always struggle with how many details I should actually share when I write these reviews. I don’t want to come off as too vague, but I also don’t want to spoil any surprises. So, I try to walk a fine line. As you might have guessed from the summary above, this big draw here is GIANTS. That’s the initial hook. This adventure will have the players dealing with just about every race of giants in the core rules. But, what starts in the giantlands, quickly descends into a subterranean adventure that the players will never forget.
Terror from the Underdeep represents the type of D&D that I fell in love with when I was a young player. This is classic dungeon crawling with a retro feel. Yet, it’s also not too grindy so it should still appeal to most modern players. Yes, the cost is a bit high. But when you consider all that you’re getting, this set is well worth the cost.
This is a release that I highly recommend to anyone who is looking for that classic pulp feel. This is classic TTRPG fun for modern rules.
