Hi !
First of all, I don't play in Golarion. However, I'm a fan of underground settings and I already own Underdark (WotC), Drow of the Underdark (WotC) and City of the Spider Queen (WotC). I'm currently running an Underdark homebrew campaing in the Realms. With all the material that I already possess, I must say that I'm not sure if I'll find anything very useful in this 64-pages-only book to help me run my Underdark campaing. Would you recommand me to buy this product, or should I save my money for Ultimate Combat? :)
Contributor
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Hi !
First of all, I don't play in Golarion. However, I'm a fan of underground settings and I already own Underdark (WotC), Drow of the Underdark (WotC) and City of the Spider Queen (WotC). I'm currently running an Underdark homebrew campaing in the Realms. With all the material that I already possess, I must say that I'm not sure if I'll find anything very useful in this 64-pages-only book to help me run my Underdark campaing. Would you recommand me to buy this product, or should I save my money for Ultimate Combat? :)
Hi, Maerimydra.
Although "Into the Darklands" is pretty Golarion-specific, if you're looking to spice up your Underdark campaign with some new stuff, I think you could do a lot worse.
The book is divided into 5 chapters. The first chapter is about 16 pages long and covers the basics of exploring the Darklands. About 5 pages are devoted to known entries into the Darklands of Golarion, but the rest of the chapter contains information that could easily be applied to the underground setting of any world.
Chapters 2 through 4 detail specific strata of Golarion's Darklands and are the most setting-specific sections of the book. Again, there's some really cool stuff to mine for ideas, but things like the Vaults of Orv don't have anything to do with the Realms, so you might not find them as useful.
The bestiary has information on some good Underdark creatures. Some of them are generic enough to be used in any setting. Others are detailed to provide OGL options to replace traditional D&D monsters like mindflayers and yuan-ti.
In all, if you think you've got plenty of stuff to build your homebrew Underdark with, and you don't want to add hazards like radiation or new fungi, then I'd suggest saving your money for Ultimate Combat.
However, if that stuff does interest you, or you just want to read a really great supplement that does cool stuff with the subterranean realm, then I'd say pick it up...even if you just purchase the PDF.
Thank you for your answer. But know I want to know, does this book contain detailed maps of specific locations (underground cities, dungeons, caverns, temples, etc.) that I could use in my game, or does it feature mostly fluff and almost no crunch (beside the monsters and the few fungi)?
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Contributor
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Thank you for your answer. But know I want to know, does this book contain detailed maps of specific locations (underground cities, dungeons, caverns, temples, etc.) that I could use in my game, or does it feature mostly fluff and almost no crunch (beside the monsters and the few fungi)?
The only maps in the book are the ones that show where certain parts of the Darklands lie in relation to the surface world of Golarion's Inner Sea Region. There are no temples, dungeons, cities or any other site maps in the book at all.
The vase majority of the book is fluff (although it's REALLY GOOD fluff). The crunchy monsters and other creatures from the bestiary and other places scattered throughout the book are interesting and could be included in most any setting.
If you're looking for maps and stuff like that, I'd recommend the Gamemastery flip-mats and map packs, instead.
Also, Lost Cities of Golarion has a map and description of a subterranean city, as do some of the episodes of the Second Darkness Adventure Path.
Thank you. I think I'll let this one go. I really liked the description of the big drow city in Drow of the Underdak (WotC) and that was the kind of stuff I was hoping to find in Into the Darklands. I'll save my money for Ultimate Combat, Ultimate Magic, or maybe the Condition Cards (those goblins really know how to sell a product). :)
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Contributor
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Thank you. I think I'll let this one go. I really liked the description of the big drow city in Drow of the Underdak (WotC) and that was the kind of stuff I was hoping to find in Into the Darklands. I'll save my money for Ultimate Combat, Ultimate Magic, or maybe the Condition Cards (those goblins really know how to sell a product). :)
That sounds like it would be a good call for you. I can also suggest Endless Night, chapter 4 of the Second Darkness AP. It has a full description of the Drow city of Zirnakaynin.
I suggest City of Strangers, it has an Underdark feel, the map extends way beneath the city, maybe more interesting than Skullport.
Many thanks! I'm a sucker for every "vertical" layered cities (Ched Nasad, Ewoks' village on Endor, etc.), so I might check this out.