Sample file

95732720_Ch00_intro.indd 1 4/18/07 10:27:09 AM CREDITS

DESIGNERS ART DIRECTOR ERIC L. BOYD, , CHRISTOPHER KATE IRWIN LINDSAY, SEAN K REYNOLDS COVER ARTIST DEVELOPMENT AND EDITING MICHAEL KOMARCK BILL SLAVICSEK INTERIOR ARTISTS THOMAS M. BAXA, STEVEN BELLEDIN, FREELANCE MANAGER ED COX, RALPH HORSLEY, RON SPENCER, GWENDOLYN F.M. KESTREL BETH TROTT

EDITING MANAGER CARTOGRAPHERS KIM MOHAN ROBERT LAZZARETTI, DENNIS KAUTH

DESIGN MANAGER GRAPHIC DESIGNERS CHRISTOPHER PERKINS KATE IRWIN, NICK ISAAC, MICHAEL MARTIN

DEVELOPMENT MANAGER GRAPHIC PRODUCTION JESSE DECKER SPECIALIST ANGELIKA LOKOTZ

DIRECTOR OF RPG R&D IMAGE TECHNICIAN BILL SLAVICSEK SVEN BOLEN

SENIOR ART DIRECTOR D&D PRODUCTION MANAGERS STACY LONGSTREET JOSH FISCHER, RANDALL CREWS

Based on the original DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® rules created by E. and and the new DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game designed by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, and Peter Adkison. This product uses updated material from the v.3.5 revision. This ® game product contains no Open Game Content. No portion of this work may be reproduced in any form without written permission. To learn more about the Open Gaming License and the d20 System License, please visit www.wizards. com/d20.

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620–95732720–001–EN DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, , d20, d20 System, WIZARDS OF THE COAST, Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s ISBN: 978-0-7869-4157-5 Guide, , Expedition to Undermountain, all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., in the U.S.A. and other countries. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the First Printing: June 2007 material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. This product is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, or events is purely coincidental. Printed in Samplethe U.S.A. ©2007 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. file Visit our website at www.wizards.com/dnd

95732720_Ch00_intro.indd 2 4/18/07 10:27:11 AM Contents Introduction...... 4 2. Sluggard Sentrypost ...... 52 Creatures ...... 124 The City ...... 5 3. Sluggard Guardpost ...... 53 P1: Landing Zone ...... 124 The City and the Dungeon ...... 5 4. Hall of Many Pillars ...... 53 P2: Guard Station ...... 124 Adventurers in the City ...... 6 5. Hall of Shattered Mirrors ...... 53 P3: Barricade ...... 124 Power, Wealth, and Authority ...... 7 6. Mimic’s Larder ...... 54 P4: Cavern Portal ...... 124 Halaster’s Call...... 7 7. Chasm of the Mad Mage ...... 54 P5: Staging Area ...... 125 8. Black Water Corridor ...... 54 P6: Ready, Set, Die! ...... 125 Chapter 1: Undermountain Awaits ...... 9 9. Curtain of Darkness ...... 54 P9: Drexlyn’s Lair ...... 125 What’s the Mission? ...... 9 10. The Hungry Face ...... 55 Deeper Descent ...... 140

Creating the Illusion of Detail ...... 10 CONTENTS

11. The Librarium ...... 55 Dwarf Temple ...... 140 OF TABLE The Lockout System ...... 10 12. Gateway to the Forest Kingdom ...... 55 Belkram’s Tomb ...... 141 Random Encounters ...... 11 13. Falling Stair ...... 56 T1: Statuary ...... 141 Halaster’s Rules...... 11 14. Southfort Portal ...... 56 T2: The Grand Stair ...... 141 Undermountain’s Factions...... 11 15. Choker Corridors ...... 56 T3: Foyer ...... 142 Agents of the Eye ...... 12 16. Chamber of the Well ...... 56 T4: Melairkyn Tomb ...... 143 Church of Loviatar ...... 12 17. Storeroom ...... 56 T5: It’s All Clear ...... 143 Church of Shar ...... 12 18. Whitehelm Tomb Trap ...... 56 T6: Slimed Again (False Tomb 1)...... 143 Halaster’s Heirs ...... 13 19. Crypt of Shields ...... 57 T7 and T11: Leering Guardians ...... 143 Skulls of Skullport ...... 13 20. Whitehelm Statue ...... 57 T8 and T12: Purifi cation Chamber . . . . . 144 Minor Factions ...... 14 21. Whitehelm Mausoleum ...... 57 T9 and T14: Hall of Alcoves ...... 144 Entrances and Exits ...... 14 22. Whitehelm Tomb ...... 57 T10: Guardians True (False Tomb 2) . . . 144 Physical Links ...... 14 Conclusion ...... 57 T13: Portal Passage ...... 144 Portals ...... 15 T15: Belkram’s Tomb ...... 145 Chapter 3: Crypt of Yeldoon ...... 82 The Levels of Undermountain ...... 16 Bottom of the Shaft: Fire That Crawls . .145 Background ...... 82 The Upper Levels ...... 16 Conclusion ...... 145 The Deep Levels ...... 16 Random Encounters ...... 84 The Dark Levels ...... 16 Other Threats ...... 86 Chapter 5: The Maze ...... 156 The Gauntlet Below ...... 16 Adventure Hooks ...... 87 Background ...... 156 Sublevel A: Finding the Crypt ...... 88 The Maze Level ...... 157 The Citadel of the Bloody Hand ...... 16 Quiet Zone ...... 88 River Graymurk ...... 157 Level 1: The Dungeon Level ...... 18 Doppelganger Camp ...... 88 Adventure Hooks ...... 157 Level 2: The Storeroom Level ...... 20 What The Doppelgangers Know ...... 89 The Minotaur Lair ...... 157 Level 3: The Sargauth Level ...... 21 What The Doppelgangers Sell ...... 89 M1: Minotaur Shore ...... 158 Sublevel B: The Shaft ...... 22 What The Doppelgangers Buy ...... 90 M2: Crystal Chamber ...... 160 Level 4: The Farm Level ...... 22 Hall of the Black Helm ...... 90 M3: Throne Room ...... 160 Sublevel C: The Wyllowwood ...... 23 Deepspawn Territory ...... 90 M4. Minotaur Embankment ...... 160 Sublevel D: The Lost Level ...... 25 1. Helmwatch ...... 90 Afterword ...... 161 Sublevel E: Trobriand’s Graveyard ...... 26 2. Mortared Rubble ...... 92 Fidelio, Prologue: A Paladin Cursed ...... 161 Sublevel F: The Slitherswamp ...... 27 3. Chamber of Floating Pillars...... 92 Fidelio, Quest I: Helmed Horror ...... 161 Sublevel G: Muiral’s Gauntlet ...... 29 4. Grimlock Haven ...... 92 Fidelio, Quest II: Annis Hag ...... 162 Sublevel H: Troglodyte Warrens ...... 29 5. Dwarven Labor ...... 93 Fidelio, Quest III: Umber Hulk Lair ...... 162 Sublevel I: The Obstacle Course ...... 29 6. Well-Tiled ...... 93 Drow Outpost: Kyorlamshin ...... 184 Sublevel J: Maddgoth’s Level ...... 29 7. Crawler and Thickmist ...... 93 House Tanor’Thal ...... 184 Sublevel K: The Crystal Labyrinth ...... 30 8. Hukurus’s Lair ...... 94 Captured! ...... 186 Sublevel L: Arcturiadoom ...... 30 9. Crawler Hatchery ...... 94 Random Encounters ...... 186 Sublevel M: Vanrakdoom ...... 31 Crypt of Yeldoon ...... 95 D1: Guardpost ...... 187 Level 5: The Maze Level ...... 32 10. Slimy Skeletons ...... 95 D2: Drow Priestesses ...... 187 Level 6: The Seadeeps ...... 32 11. Guardians of the Tomb ...... 95 D3: High Priestess ...... 187 Level 7: The Caverns of Ooze ...... 33 12. Crypt Chamber ...... 96 D4. Slave Farm ...... 187 Sublevel N: The Runestone Level ...... 33 Crypt Aftermath ...... 96 D5. Lolth Temple ...... 187 Level 8: The Terminus Level ...... 33 Getting to Belkram’s Fall ...... 96 The Runestone Level ...... 188 Sublevel O: Shadowdusk Hold ...... 34 Random Encounters ...... 189 Chapter 4: Belkram’s Fall ...... 112 Level 9: The Mad Wizard’s Lair ...... 35 Runestone Chamber ...... 190 Adventure Hooks ...... 113 Havens in the Deeps ...... 36 R1: Storage and Bedchamber ...... 190 Finding Belkram’s Fall ...... 113 Murkstones ...... 36 R2: Lore Cave ...... 190 Spiderhaven...... 113 The Promenade of the Dark Maiden . . . . .36 R3: Flameskulls ...... 191 Key Sites ...... 114 Skullport ...... 37 R4: Crystal Control ...... 191 Exploring Belkram’s Fall ...... 118 Spiderhaven/Underhaven ...... 39 Using the Runestone ...... 192 Guardians of the Upper Terrace ...... 119 Wormbarrow ...... 39 The Twisted Rune ...... 193 GS1: The Battlement ...... 120 2: The Adventure Begins ...... 40 GS2: The Yard ...... 120 Appendix: Magic and Monsters ...... 214 Background ...... 40 GS3: The Gallery ...... 120 Crown Adamant ...... 214 Yawning Portal Inn ...... 41 GS4: The Barracks ...... 121 Magic Items ...... 215 Environs of the Entry Well ...... 47 GS5: Offi cer’s Quarters ...... 121 Spells ...... 218 RandomSample Encounters ...... 50 GS6: Arsenal and Storeroom ...... 121 Monsters ...... file...... 220 Dungeon Level Location Descriptions . . . . .52 The Citadel ...... 122 Beholderkin, Eyeball Swarm ...... 220 1. Entry Well ...... 52 Skeletal Scaffold ...... 123 Myconid Venom Spore ...... 221 3

95732720_Ch00_intro.indd 3 4/18/07 10:27:15 AM THE ENCOUNTER FORMAT Introduction This campaign adventure uses the new encounter format for Undermountain. The name conjures images of sprawling presenting encounters throughout Undermountain. Every dungeoncrawls, fantastic adventures, insidious monsters, and encounter in the adventure is presented as a one- or two- wondrous treasures. Originally presented as a huge (really huge) page unit containing the information necessary to run the adventure for the campaign setting, this encounter, including the situation and how it might develop, expedition presents Undermountain as a grand adventuring statistics for monsters and traps, and a keyed map of the area for any DUNGEONS & DRAGONS campaign. Undermountain encounter area that can easily be translated to a battle grid contains nine main levels and more than twenty sublevels, or D&D Dungeon Tiles for use with D&D Miniatures. connecting to more extensive dungeons and caverns, and No two encounters provide exactly the same kind of ultimately to the . In other words, Undermountain information. Each one is tailored to account for the event it is just too big to fully detail in any single volume.

describes. If another part of the adventure should be refer- Instead, this campaign adventure treats Undermountain enced when running a particular encounter, the appropriate as an unexplored underground region, a new realm that can page reference is also included. attract characters for months or even years (as in the case of INTRODUCTION many nonplayer characters, or NPCs) of game time. It pro- vides the plots, power groups, and lore to enable a Dungeon Master (DM) to detail any corner of Undermountain, to WHAT YOU NEED TO PLAY This adventure is intended for use in any DUNGEONS & create a vibrant long-term adventure setting—the ultimate DRAGONS game. It can be dropped into any setting. You can dungeon crawl that feels realistic, exciting, and dangerous. use the entire sprawl of Undermountain, or you can use The encounters presented in this book are designed to select parts of the massive dungeon to tell a specifi c story. take a party of player characters from 1st level to 9th or 10th The modular approach to the design allows you to customize level. If the characters in your campaign are already higher the adventure to meet your specifi c needs. than 1st level, it’s still possible to get a lot of play value out You need the Player’s Handbook (PH), Dungeon Master’s Guide of this adventure. (DMG), and Monster Manual (MM) to make best use of this Undermountain stirs beneath a large city in your campaign material. world. In the FORGOTTEN REALMS campaign, Undermountain Throughout this book, superscript abbreviations are often stretches throughout the bowels of Waterdeep, the famed used to denote game elements and other materials that appear metropolis on the Sword Coast. In your game, it can exist in certain supplements. Those supplements and their abbrevia- beneath any large city you want, long known in rumor and tions are as follows: Champions of Ruin (CoR), City of Splendors: legend or newly discovered and waiting to be explored. Waterdeep (CoS), Complete Adventurer (CAd), Complete Divine The missions and possibilities are endless. This book brings (CD), Complete Mage (CM), Complete Warrior (CW), Draco- Undermountain to life—make it your own!

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REALMSLORE: WATERDEEP day serves the living as a green, pleasant park—and is locked Waterdeep is primarily a human city with the best natural up at night due to hauntings. harbor on the Sword Coast. The harbor and much of the city The city’s south end is occupied by another two districts. are sheltered from storms howling across the Sea of Swords by South Ward, in southeasternmost Waterdeep, is dominated the soaring rampart of Mount Waterdeep. by warehousing, stabling, and caravan-equipping businesses, The city is divided into “wards” (districts). The northwest- and is home to many poor laborers. Dock Ward lies to its ernmost is Sea Ward, by far the wealthiest part of Waterdeep. west, bounding the north and east sides of the harbor. It’s It’s crowded with the palatial residences of “old money” the fishing, naval shipping, and notoriously lawless “seedy” nobles, the grandest shops, and great temples. Adventurers end of Waterdeep, where the smells and squalor are greatest, might find patrons in Sea Ward, but can expect to be followed drunken sailors brawl, and violence and street crime are most by the city Watch at all times. North Ward, the northeastern- common. most city district, is almost as wealthy as Sea Ward, and is It’s been said Waterdeep’s true religion is making money. No home to most nobles whose villas aren’t in Sea Ward. It’s official faith dominates, and almost all are tolerated or (in the also where the majority of wealthy but non-noble Waterd- case of evil or oppressive deities) worshiped in secret. Temples havians dwell, and is dominated by grandiose “new money” and private shrines are found throughout the city, and in Trades mansions. Ward soars the all-faiths tower known as “the Plinth,” serving Waterdeep’s center holds three districts. Castle Ward, the as a grand temple for all faiths that lack their own holy building. civic heart of the city, wraps around the landward side of It’s where “clerics for hire” are most likely to be found. Mount Waterdeep and contains Castle Waterdeep, Piergeiron’s Many of the names associated with Waterdeep are used SamplePalace, and the great open marketplace known simply as “the throughout this adventure to referfile to a certain place or a certain Market.” Directly east of Castle Ward is Trades Ward, the city’s part of the city that stands above the great dungeon. Feel free to bustling heart of shopkeeping and artisans’ “finework.” It use or change these names as you like, to suit the city you have wraps around the City of the Dead, a walled cemetery that by chosen to serve this role in your Undermountain adventure. 4 pqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqrs

95732720_Ch00_intro.indd 4 4/18/07 10:27:16 AM nomicon (Dra), Epic Level Handbook (ELH), Expanded Psionics jostle to make or keep fortunes. Feel free to place Under- Handbook (EPH), Faiths and Pantheons (FP), (FF), mountain beneath any large, wealthy, seaport/trade city in FORGOTTEN REALMS Campaign Setting (FR), Heroes of Horror (HH), your campaign. (LM), Lords of Madness (LoM), Lost Empires of Faerûn (LE), Magic of Faerûn (Mag), Miniatures Handbook (MH), Monster Manual II (MM2), Monster Manual III (MM3), Monster Manual THE CITY AND THE DUNGEON A long-ago sage once said, “There is no city without Under- IV (MM4), Player’s Guide to Faerûn (PG), Player’s Handbook II mountain, and no Undermountain without the city.” The city (PH2), Races of Stone (RS), Spell Compendium (SC), Tome of Battle and the sprawling dungeon beneath it have infl uenced each

(ToB), Tome of Magic (ToM), and Underdark (Und). INTRODUCTION other greatly, and continue to do so to the current day. The people of the city hear endless rumors and gossip THIS ADVENTURE AND THE (usually fabricated or wildly exaggerated) about goings-on FORGOTTEN REALMS in Undermountain, and there’s a steady fl ow of “shady trade” No one can deny the strong connection between Under- between Skullport (a subterranean town nestled between mountain and the FORGOTTEN REALMS campaign setting. Still, the city above and Undermountain below) and the city. This we’ve endeavored to make the legend of Undermountain shady trade includes illicit goods such as poisons and slaves, more universal so that it can be used in any D&D game. In and legal goods moved through Undermountain to avoid the pages that follow, we’ve included occasional sidebars that guild restrictions, taxes, and the notice of the authorities and add bits of history and FORGOTTEN REALMS lore concerning trade rivals. Neither the Watch nor the City Guard patrols Undermountain. Use these sidebars for fl avor, to better use Undermountain. this adventure in a FORGOTTEN REALMS game, or to just gain City and dungeon affect each other because of the many a richer understanding of the dungeon depths. connections between them. The best known connection is the dry well, a shaft descending from the common room of the Yawning Portal Inn to the Dungeon Level below. The inn

THE CITY has at least two lesser-known links to Undermountain—a Illus. by R. Spencer The city above Undermountain is a bustling, cosmopolitan, water-fi lled well and a secret door in its cellars. mercantile crossroads where traders, shopkeepers, craftwork- Other physical connections between the city and Under- ers, nobles, sailors, and laborers of almost all intelligent races mountain are known to the general public only by many

Sample file

A typical street view in the City 5

95732720_Ch00_intro.indd 5 4/18/07 10:27:18 AM and sell gear and trophies brought back from the dungeon. Countless businesses throughout the city deal in such trade. Lodging: For short (and usually noisy) stays, rooms can be rented in most festhalls. Every ward has inns, at various levels of price and service, and rooms can be had for the week, month, or season. Greenglade Tower is a large, popular, and clean room- ing house in North Ward, Sapphire House is an “upmarket” Castle Ward inn and rooming house, and The House of Purple Silks in Sea Ward is a quiet, discreet, and luxurious festhall that rents INTRODUCTION rooms by the night or week. Divine Magical Aid: Ad- venturers can fi nd clerics at the Plinth (Trades Ward) and in temples across the city, and they can seek out visiting outlander priests at temporary shrines set up in South Ward ware- houses at dawn and dusk. Arcane Magical Aid: Wizards are most

Illus. by S. by Belledin Illus. cheaply hired at the Tower of the Order (Castle Ward), headquarters of the Watch- ful Order. A more expensive spell- caster is the tall, vain, jewel-adorned Tessalar Hulicorm (a well-liked wizard knowledge- Your friendly Watch able about Undermountain). More expensive still is the magical assistance available at Blackstaff Tower colorful stories. The City Guard, the Palace (workplace of city (Castle Ward). bureaucrats and civic workers), and the Watchful Order of Sages: Adventurers have traditionally discussed Under- Magists and Protectors (the wizards’ guild of the city) know mountain at the Yawning Portal Inn (for the price of drinks locations and details of most major pathways. The city’s adven- or a meal), but recently have taken to visiting the Great turers and sages agree that there are many lesser-known ways Library in the Font of Knowledge in Castle Ward, where up and down, some forgotten but most controlled and kept the city’s fi ercely independent sages gather daily to research. secret by a few individuals, a family, a merchant cabal, or by Savant Sandrew the Wise of the temple charges a 10% tax nobles and guilds. on all inquiries conducted in the library, which now hosts an informal daily “Council of Sages.” The reclusive sage ADVENTURERS IN THE CITY Haerun Mhammaster is also an expert on Undermountain; It’s said everything can be found, bought, and sold in the ask directions to his nearby house in the Elfstone Tavern city above Undermountain. The saying isn’t an exaggeration, (Castle Ward). Samplethough what is truly available at any given time is subject to Mercenaries: Seek Blazidonfile One-Eye (a burly, scarred, the normal whims of supply and demand. semiretired veteran fi ghter who’s always armed to the teeth) Adventurers intent on exploring Undermountain typically in Virgin’s Square by day (where caravan masters and citizens need to procure lodgings, healing and spiritual aid, magical looking to hire mercenaries know to fi nd him), and making 6 aid, sages, mercenaries and hirelings, and they need to buy the rounds of city inns and taverns by night, where he busily

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