Rappan Athuk promises “the grand-daddy of all dungeon crawls”! It delivers.
Third Edition Rules, First Edition Feel.
That’s Necromancer Game’s tagline. In their introduction to Rappan Athuk they expand on what this means: “Why is the dungeon there? No one knows. Why do the monsters usually fight rather than talk? We aren’t really sure. Why are there 16 trolls in a cave with a jug of alchemy? No one cares. What do all the monsters eat? We don’t know that either. And we don’t have to know these things. This isn’t an ecology experiment; it’s a dungeon.”
So what’s the point?
To have fun, of course.
To a certain extent, though, I don’t feel that Rappan Athuk quite lives up to this ideal. Sure, they’ve adhered to the classic, first edition format: Here you have your tables of rumors about the dungeon (some true, some false); random encounters; a plethora of monsters, traps, and treasure. But Rappan Athuk isn’t quite as random or meaningless as their introduction would lead us to believe: There is a logic to why things are the way they are.
Does Rappan Athuk strain credulity? Perhaps. Is it really as illogical as TSR’s “classic” modules? I don’t think so. It seems more akin to Ruins of Undermountain than Palace of the Silver Princess.
Not that I’m criticizing this, by any stretch of the imagination. I am, to the contrary, more than happy to see that Rappan Athuk will not be featuring, for example, levels of bloodthirsty Lewis Carroll characters incomprehensibly assaulting adventurers (as Castle Greyhawk did).
In fact, for me, Rappan Athuk is an exciting product – a product that makes me itch to retrieve my game manuals, dice bag, and character sheets and start rolling up stats. The pure, high-octane fun of an epic-level dungeon crawl carried out with style really shouldn’t be underestimated.
Sure, there are folks who consider themselves too “mature” for this sort of thing. Those people are boring. Ignore ‘em and strap yourself in: It’s time for a ride…
CONCEPT
Warning: This review will contain spoilers for Rappan Athuk. Players who may end up playing in this module should stop reading now.
One thing to note right up front is that this particular module is the first in a trilogy of modules, covering only 6 of Rappan Athuk’s 37 levels.
That’s right: Thirty-seven levels!
Damn, that’s cool.
But I digress.
Rappan Athuk, the Dungeon of Graves, was founded by the Temple of Orcus, following their defeat in an ancient conflict between good and evil. The priests of Orcus’ foul temple escaped the final conflict, and fled to a vast complex of underground caverns. Over time, the priests adapted these caverns to their purposes, continuing with their foul rituals, and hidden from the light. Eventually their spreading influence could no longer be concealed, however, and parties of adventurers came to the dungeon seeking to end the evil for ever. They failed.
(One nice touch to the design of Rappan Athuk is that it is a “legendary dungeon” which takes into account the fact that, as a “legendary dungeon”, it will attract adventurers on a fairly regular basis. The upper levels of the dungeon, presented in this module, show the signs of recurrent adventuring parties – who can only delve so deep before retreating or being destroyed.)
Rappan Athuk: The Upper Levels presents Levels 1, 2, 3, 3A, and 4A of the dungeon (as well as Ground Level).
Ground Level: On the surface, Rappan Athuk is primarily accessed from a graveyard. The main order of the day here is traps, which are all designed with the intention of keeping adventurers out of the dungeons and away from the Temple of Orcus hidden deep beneath the earth. A number of access points to the dungeon below exist, including the Rat Tunnels, the Mausoleum… and the Well.
But those who have been to Rappan Athuk in the past have one very important piece of advice: Don’t go down the Well!
Another nice feature of Rappan Athuk is that it is not a linear dungeon: One does not simply go from one level down to the next. Rather, the levels link together in a complex myriad of possible approaches. Entering the dungeon itself can take you to a variety of locations: The rat tunnels can lead to Level 1 or Level 2. The Mausoleum leads to Level 1. The Well leads to Level 3A. From Level 1 one can go to Ground Level, Level 2, or Level 9. Level 2 has exits to Ground Level, Level 1, Level 3, and Level 4. And so forth.
Level 1: Level 1 is a natural cave system, primarily inhabited by wererats. However, the level as a whole is named after the “Dung Monster” – a mutated mimic which disguises itself as a toilet in order to lure in its victims. (Don’t laugh – it works in every single playtest I’ve run.)
Level 2: Level 2 is a finished level, featuring the home of Marthek the Madman and Ambro the Ogre. In a sealed portion of the level which adventurers have never successfully penetrated, one can also find the Tomb of Saracek – an undead, skeletal warrior with a history connected to the dungeon as a whole.
Here, again, you can see the nice contrast between “adventurers have plundered here” and “adventurers have not successfully plundered here” in the dungeon design. You can also begin to see, at this point, the subtle way in which Webb and Peterson have made Rappan Athuk believable, if not necessarily realistic: The wererats have a reason for living where they live. Marthek and Ambro have reasons for living where they live. The presence of the Tomb here makes sense.
Another strength which can be seen here, again, is the dynamic complexity of Rappan Athuk. PCs who come to Level 2 for the first time will most likely not be able to gain access to the Tomb of Saracek until they have delved deeper into the dungeon. Rappan Athuk defies a “loot it room by room” mentality – again helping to subtly reinforce its believability.
Level 3: Level 3 is a return to the natural caves which drew the Temple of Orcus to the location in the first place. This level is inhabited by purple worms, who hunt viciously. The entire level is known as a bane to adventurers – as witnessed by graffiti warnings over the level’s entrance. This level also features an oracle of the Temple, dating back to the earliest days of the Temple’s presence in the caverns – and remaining a sight of unholy pilgrimage for the priests who live below.
Level 3A: Level 3A is primarily accessed via the infamous Well. It is the lair of Zelkor, an extremely powerful, undead wizard. The lair is, essentially, a death-trap for all but the most powerful of adventurers. Cocky adventurers who ignore the plentiful warnings (not to mention the scratch marks of those unsuccessfully attempting to escape the lair via the Well after making the mistake of entry) will learn their lesson the hard way.
One thing I like about Necromancer’s modules is the fact that they refuse to pull their punches. Your players will learn fear in Rappan Athuk, and they will learn to respect the dungeon. This makes for a highly effective game session – and adds to the mystique.
Level 4A: Level 4A is known as the Basilisk Caverns, which should be pretty much self-explanatory. There are also some lost goblins in this level.
The lost goblins point to another nice strength of Rappan Athuk: The goblins journeyed up from Level 12A via Level 7A and became trapped by the basilisks. This is just one example of the foreshadowing of later dungeon levels which occurs throughout The Upper Levels. I have seen some reviewers criticize Rappan Athuk as a series of disconnected dungeon levels – but I simply can’t agree with this assessment (and am unsure how such a conclusion could ever be reached).
WEAK POINTS
Rappan Athuk has a lot going for it. Of course, it’s not without its share of flaws as well. A few things that caught my attention:
1. Several of the monster stats presented in the book are incorrect to one extent or another.
2. Necromancer Games should invest in a copy of a good mapping program. The maps I have seen in their products to date do not impress me. In products whose professional qualities shine throughout, the maps present themselves as oddly amateurish. Unfortunately, since the first place most people look in a dungeon module is the maps, I have the feeling that Necromancer is shooting itself in the foot by making the first impression of its products a potentially negative one.
3. The highly interconnected nature of the Rappan Athuk’s various sections really demands that the entire trilogy be released before you play it. It’s no good, for example, “starting to play now and not reaching the lower levels until they’re released” when, in point of fact, you can take a left turn one Level 1 and end up way down on Level 9. Although notes are included for playing the Upper Levels in isolation, they essentially consist of “the lower levels are completely, absolutely, and utterly inaccessible behind magical doors”. I don’t find this a satisfactory solution.
CONCLUSION
No one in the movie Casablanca says, “Play it again, Sam.” The words “Beam me up, Scotty” never appeared on an episode of the original Star Trek television series.
There are a lot of things in life which are seen in our memory only through rose-colored lenses. They exist in a state of “Platonic perfection”, and when we go back to view them again we realize that they do not – in fact – embody the archetypes which we have crafted for ourselves.
In my opinion, the “classic D&D modules” of the early days of the industry exist in this state: As a collective community, we remember them through rose-colored lenses. Perhaps we simply edit out the bad parts for ourselves. Or perhaps our DMs fixed up those modules before running us through them. Or perhaps we’re guilty of drawing a little bit from The Tomb of Horrors, a touch from Queen of the Demonweb Pits, and a smidgeon from The Keep of the Borderlands and making up a memory which is greater than any of its parts.
Where am I going with all this?
In my opinion, Rappan Athuk succeeds at capturing the spirit of the classic dungeon crawl in a way which the classic dungeon crawl, in point of fact, never captured on its own. Rappan Athuk is the epic dungeon which could only be found in nostalgia before now.
Although I’ll reserve final judgment until the fully trilogy is released, I will say this of The Upper Levels:
Rappan Athuk looks like a classic. Buy it today.
Style: 4
Substance: 4
Author: Bill Webb and Clark Peterson
Publisher: Necromancer Games
Price: $9.99
ISBN: 1-58846-156-4
Product Code: WW8360
Pages: 48
I’ve lost count of how many different editions of Rappan Athuk have been released. In addition to the original trilogy, Rappan Athuk Reloaded was a boxed set that expanded the Dungeon of Graves even further. Frog God Games has produced versions for Pathfinder, 5E, and Swords & Wizardry. I think there was also an abortive attempt to adapt it for Dungeon Crawl Classics?
Rappan Athuk is probably my favorite published megadungeon. I’ve run the first level many times, but — despite a couple of attempts — never managed to run a truly successful campaign of the whole thing. Some of the very earliest material here on the Alexandrian was actually new material that I created for one of these abortive campaigns:
The Lost Goblins
Level 5a: The Caverns of Mist
Level 7B: The Ethereal Palace
Level 6 Mazes: 6-2A, 6-2B, 6-2C, 6-2D
Level 7 Mazes: 7A-A, 7A-B, 7A-C, 7A-D, 7A-E, 7A-F
One of these days I’ll probably revisit those campaign notes and restructure them into an open table. Flipping through them, I see that I also did a massive remix of Level 7, considerably expanding the mind flayers there. I wonder if anyone would be interested in seeing that?
For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.
