Long ago, the Mage Mage Halaster built a massive deep underground dungeon that has faded away into mystery and legend. No one really knows what happened to the mad mage or even if he’s still alive
Was this game sent for review or self-purchased?: Self purchased.
In two sentences, what is the premise of the game?: Players will explore a massive 23 level mega dungeon in search of the Mad Mage. Along the way they’ll encounter numerous creatures, beasts, demons, fauna, and all manner of humanoids.
Have we played any other titles by this publisher?: We have played numerous titles by Wizards of the Coast.
What was surprising about this book: The amount of monsters that are in the dungeon is astonishing. It features so many creatures that I found myself referencing the Monster Manual more often than I ever have during a prewritten campaign. It features everything from goblins to flumphs to minotaurs. There were some creatures that I had forgotten even existed in the worlds of Dungeons and Dragons.
How complicated is this to run as GM?: For an adventure module that boasts approximately 1200 rooms, the adventure is surprisingly easy to run. Instead of giving detailed descriptions about what color the wallpaper is, each room has at most a paragraph or two detailing the most important features and goings-on. So if you’re uncomfortable with a bit of improv as a GM, it may not be to your liking. If however, you can go with the flow and all you need is a prompt or two to get you going, this is a great adventure and well worth your time.
How complicated is this to play as a character?: It is standard 5e. Depending on your GM they should be able to accommodate nearly any character type in this game. There is nothing that is particularly limiting save for a few spells that are rendered a little less useful (no spoilers).
Are other books required for play?: Technically, yes. This game does require a copy of the Dungeon Master’s Guide, Players Handbook and the Monster Manual but there are enough resources out there that you could get away with the free rules on DND Beyond and a creative GM to play this with just a copy of the free rules and Dungeon of the Mad Mage.
Artwork: Excellent. There is gorgeous artwork at the beginning of each level and the occasional sprinkling of a monster here and there. The only downside is the maps are absolutely basic which isn’t a bad thing. When floors can have 50+ rooms, why waste the space to have details so tiny on the page that they’re unnoticeable? Overall the artwork that is present is great, but most of the book is composed of brief chunks of text and black and white grid maps.
Quality: Great. The book boasts a hardcover and semigloss pages that hold onto the ink well. Fingerprints aren’t noticeable when flipping through and touching pages.
What is included?: The book includes 23 levels of a dungeon, a full campaign with a a few adventure hooks and side quests. There are a few stat blocks included in the book for unique creatures and characters. There aren’t character classes, new rules or any player maps or player aids. Just a mega dungeon with some beasts.
Organization: The book is surprisingly very well organized for being a book about a massive dungeon that houses multiple different species, warring factions, a forest, an asteroid, cavern systems, a river, oh and of course the Yawning Portal (Waterdeep’s most well known tavern).
Final thoughts: If your party likes dungeon delving, defeating all manner of monsters, the occasional puzzle and a few opportunities for roleplaying then this is for you. If you’re expecting a detailed campaign setting or a sandbox style adventure then this may not be a good fit. This is an old school dungeon crawl at its core and it does its best to keep an ongoing story throughout but that’s not what the adventure is really about. The adventure was the journey we had with our friends… As they tried to loot the corpses.
Sushiball Games 