Avoid this module. The module is poorly written and instead of going into detail it uses excuses to "let the DM flesh out the module". When I pay good money for a product I want a detailed account. Not a product that is just an outline I have to fill in. I could have made a better module roling on the random charts.

Very frustrating and worthless.

Let’s get right to the point: Dungeons of Golarion is an excellent supplement. Although Golarion specific (rather unsurprisingly) its contents could in most cases be easily adapted to fit almost any GM’s campaign world. What it is not, however, is a fully developed megadungeon and people buying it on the assumption that they’ll be able to dive right into adventure are going to be disappointed. Rather, it presents flavoursome summaries of six such locales, giving enough information for a GM to roll his sleeves up and put his own stamp on the chosen megadungeon.

The great thing about the six megadungeons in this book are that they all have their own flavour which sets them apart from their fellows. I love that as at their best, megadungeons are interesting, unique places while at their worst they are boring hackfests which exist simply to contain monsters and treasures. Because megadungeons are at the least rather unrealistic, having a good story and background for such locales is absolutely vital. That’s something that this supplement easily delivers.

Even if a GM never gets around to using any of the specific dungeons in this supplement, this is an excellent resource to mine for ideas. It makes me want to design a megadungeon for Raging Swan!

My home grown campaign is going to culminate in a quick jaunt through Gallowspire. While that is a long way off I still thought I would pick this up for a bit of light reading. This is a great book and sure to inspire anyone designing the great dungeon crawl...

From the start, the dungeon has been the mainstay of fantasy roleplaying, a wild and weird place with violence and mystery (and hopefully treasure) around every corner. Dungeons of Golarion is an collection of six such places in the Pathfinder home campaign setting of Golarion. The book covers some of the classic ideas of dungeons such as the haunted mine, the monster-riddled cavern system, and the mad wizard’s tower, but all done with enough of a twist to keep it fresh. Each dungeon gets its own ten-page chapter, complete with a map giving an overview of the dungeon’s levels. Each level gets a brief description, hints as to the inhabitants and particular dangers, and recommended challenge rating for the encounters and hazards within. There is also a two page introduction that expounds on the idea of the megadungeon, and lists almost twenty other examples in the setting. Note too that while all of these dungeons are tied in to the Golarion setting, they can all still be used in other worlds with a little work.

The first dungeon listed is the Candlestone Caverns, a nasty place filled with vermin, kobolds, duergar, drow, and assorted horrors of the Darklands. It also lists some sample traps and treasures within, gives information on the Black Claw kobold tribe, describes a sentient and cursed axe, and has a detailed sample level for low-level characters.

Secondly is Gallowspire, probably the most dangerous and high-level dungeon in the book. A classic lich’s lair, Gallowspire is literally swarming with undead and evil spirits. It’s a bit different from most dungeons in that the idea here is not to open the place up but to keep it shut. It also has a new undead template, the Gallowdead, as well as an artifact for treasure.

Then comes Hollow Mountain, lost fortress of the Runelord of Wrath, Alaznist. It’s a bit different in that the safest chambers are at ground level, with things getting nastier and more horrifying the higher into the mountain and deeper into the earth you go. It has a new monster created by Alaznist, the savagely venomous shriezyx, and a sample new spell for those who dare the depths of Hollow Mountain.

Next is the Pyramid of Kamaria, a temple-tomb erected by a mad pharaoh that is now swarming with monsters. It has a new monster template, the Dream Eater, and describes the artifact that creates them. It also has a gaggle of squabbling demon cultists, all of them fighting each other and looking for allies and victims. Sometimes both at once!

Then comes one of my personal favorites in the book, the Red Redoubt of Karamoss. It’s the classic mad wizard’s tower with the twist of including super-science along with the magic and monsters. Fans of the old classic AD&D 1st edition module ‘Expedition to the Barrier Peaks’ should feel right at home amidst the sonic swords, murderous robots, and rampaging mutants. You get a template for turning any construct into a robot, samples of weird technology, and a written-up sample level as well as plot hints that add a layer of intrigue on to everything.

Last is my other favorite dungeon in the book, the Mines of Zolurket. This dwarf mine, abandoned when a collapse lead to starving miners dying and returning as ravening ghouls, now has several different and nasty power groups living in it for the players to fight and maybe even talk with. The chapter also describes Feast-O’-Marrow, the lord of the mines, as well as several traps and hazards and a few magic items intended for use against the undead. Pity about those undiscovered flaws, though… Again, this is a dungeon filled with chances for diplomacy and scheming as well as the usual mayhem. Only the lack of a detailed level prevents it from being the very best dungeon in the book.

If you want ideas for six good dungeons, get this book. If you want ideas, monsters, templates, treasures, traps, and assorted weirdness for places of your own creation, get this book. You will not regret it.

Dungeons of Golarion may not be as useful for novice GMs who are running things from premade adventures, but it is a slice of heaven for the Build Your Own Total Party Kill Adventure Crowd! Check my full review Dungeons of Golarion