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Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4How to Use This Book in Your

Campaign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4What You Need to Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Chapter 1: Races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Chitines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Deep Imaskari . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Drow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Duergar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Gloamings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Grimlocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Kuo-Toas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Slyths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Svirfneblin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Other Character Races . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Derro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Mind Flayers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Orogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Minotaurs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Quaggoths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Tanarukks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Troglodytes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Age, Height, and Weight . . . . . . . . . . . 21Character Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Height and Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Chapter 2: Regions and Feats . . . . . . . . . . 22Character Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Reading the Region Descriptions . . 22Regions for Characters

above 1st Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Chitine Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Deep Imaskar Region . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Gloaming Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Grimlock Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Kuo-Toa Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Slyth Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Character Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Wild Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Axeshield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Bowslinger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Caustic Adaptation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Caver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Elfhunter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Enhanced Adhesive . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Exotic Armor Proficiency . . . . . . . . 25Extra Wild Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Familiar Spell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Graft Illithid Flesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Highborn Drow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Improved Levitation . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Lolth’s Meat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Metanode Spell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Node Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Node Sensitive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Node Spellcasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Node Store . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Portal Sensitive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Stone Soul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Strong Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Tunnelfighter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Tunnelrunner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Wisdom Breeds Caution . . . . . . . . . . 27

Chapter 3: Prestice Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Arachnomancer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Cavelord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Deep Diviner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Drow Judicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Illithid Body Tamer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Imaskari Vengeance Taker . . . . . . . 37Inquisitor of the

Drowning Goddess . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Prime Underdark Guide . . . . . . . . . . 40Sea Mother Whip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Shadowcrafter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Vermin Keeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Yathchol Webrider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Chapter 4: Magic and Spells . . . . . . . . . . . 48Lore of the Underdark . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Faerzress and the Underdark . . . . . 48Node Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Portals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

New Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Balance Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Portal Domain (Alternative) . . . . . . 53Watery Death Prestige Domain . . . 53

New Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Spell Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Chapter 5: Equipment and Magic Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Adventuring Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Armors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Other Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Poison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Magic Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Magic Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Magic Armors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Rings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Rods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Staffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Wondrous Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Minor Artifacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Artifacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Illithid Grafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Chapter 6: Monsters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78All-Consuming Hunger . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Annihilator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Arachnoid Creature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Baphitaur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Chameleon Creature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Earth Glider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84Elder Brain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84Faerzress-Infused Creature . . . . . . . . . . 86Giant Cockroach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Giant Maggot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Gloura . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Devious Glouras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Half-Illithid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Ineffable Horror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Kuo-Toa Leviathan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Lith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Lurker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Maur (Hunched Giant) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Maur Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Mineral Warrior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Phaerlock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Portal Drake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Stone Flyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Training a Stone Flyer . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Chapter 7: Exploring the Underdark. . . 100Geology and Environments . . . . . . . . 100

Topography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100Rocks and Rock Formations . . . . . 103

The Underdark Environment . . . . . . 106Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107Ecology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Underdark Hazards . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Spelunking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110Cramped Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110Climbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112Getting Lost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Underdark Encounter Tables . . . . . . 113Encounter Chance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113How to Use the Tables . . . . . . . . . 113Group Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

An Underdark Primer . . . . . . . . . . . . 117The Upperdark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117The Middledark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118The Lowerdark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Chapter 8: Geography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122Underdark Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122Sites of Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126Ammarindar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126Araumycos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126Blessed Seahaven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127Blingdenstone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Wererats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129Ogremoch’s Bane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129Drow Scavengers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

The Boneyard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130Denizens of the Boneyard . . . . . . . 130

Brikklext . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Cairnheim,

Demesne of the Dodkong . . . . . . . 132Chaulssin, City of Wyrmshadows . . . 133Ched Nasad,

City of Shimmering Webs . . . . . . . 133Krashos Morueme . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133Daughters of the Shadow Weave . 134

Ch’Chitl, the Kingdom Below . . . . . . 134Cloakerhaven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137The Darklake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

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Deep Imaskar, City of the Great Seal . . . . . . . . . . 138Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138Deep Imaskari Society . . . . . . . . . . 139The City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Deep Shanatar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140Barakuir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141Drakkalor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141Holorarar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141Iltkazar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141Korolnor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141Sondarr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141Torglor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141Ultoksamrin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142Xothaerin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Deepburrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142The Slickers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Dolblunde . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143Drik Hargunen,

the Runescribed Halls . . . . . . . . . . 143Dunspeirrin, City of Sunken Spires . 145Dupapn, Waters of Deep Hunger . . . 145Durgg-Gontag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147Earth’s End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147Eryndlyn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148The Fardrimm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148Fluvenilstra, Garden City of the

Lowerdark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149Fraaszummdin, Steederhome . . . . . . 150

The Wandering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151Gatchorof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151Giant’s Chalice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152Gracklstugh, City of Blades . . . . . . . . 152The Great Rift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155Guallidurth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155Holy Mother Cauldron . . . . . . . . . . . 155Iltkazar, the Mithral Kingdom . . . . . 156

King Mith Barak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Kuragolomsh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158The Labyrinth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158Llurth Dreir, the Accursed City . . . . 158LoobliShar,

City of Welcome Darkness . . . . . . 159Lorosfyr, the Maddening Dark . . . . 160Maerimydra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160Mantol-Derith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160Menzoberranzan, City of Spiders . . . 161

Visiting Menzoberranzan . . . . . . . 161Nuur Throth, the Great Door . . . . . . 164Oaxaptupa,

World Beneath the World . . . . . . . 164Oghrann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166Ooltul, City of Tyrants . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Visiting Ooltul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166Oryndoll, City of Loretakers . . . . . . . 168

Visiting Oryndoll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169Reeshov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170Rringlor Noroth,

The City of Soaring Shadows . . . . 171Rrinnoroth, Dwarven Ghost Town . . 173The Sharnlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Sloopdilmonpolop, City of Pools . . . . 174Sshamath, City of Dark Weavings . . 175Sphur Upra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176Tethyamar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178T’lindhet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178Throrgar, the Shrieking Abyss . . . . . 179Tomb Tapper Tomb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179Traaskl Thorog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179Undrek’Thoz, the Segmented City . . 180The Wormwrithings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183Yathchol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Chapter 9: Adventures in the Underdark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184Dungeons in the Underdark . . . . . . . 184Adventure Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Drowned Multum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186Gduar’s Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188Shape of Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

SidebarsChitine Web Implements . . . . . . . . . . . . 7The War of the Spider Queen . . . . . . . 10Scarification Ritual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Spiderkind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Spider Servant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34The Imaskari

Vengeance Taker Code . . . . . . . . . . . 38The Vermin Keeper’s

Vermin Companion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Earth Node Access Variant . . . . . . . . . 50Sample Portal Graffıti . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Underdark and Core D&D . . . . . . . . . . 53The Underdark Maps and the

Epic Level Handbook . . . . . . . . . . . 76Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101Seeing Distant Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106Torchstalks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Shadow Portals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120Pliil Seachild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128Headband of Idiocy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130Gorothir’s Girdle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134Illithilich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136Nurr’Korzahg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137Uskura . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140Anti-illithid devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151King’s Knife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153Hizagkuur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157City of the Spider Queen . . . . . . . . . . 160Creeds of Oryndoll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168Reeshov City Traps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

TablesTable 1–1: Racial Ability Score

Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Table 1–2: Other Underdark Races . . 19Table 1–3: Random Starting Ages . . . 21Table 1–4: Aging Effects . . . . . . . . . . . 21Table 1–5: Random Height

and Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Table 2–1: New Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Table 3–1: The Arachnomancer . . . . . 29Table 3–2: The Cavelord . . . . . . . . . . . 31Table 3–3: The Deep Diviner . . . . . . . 32Table 3–4: The Drow Judicator . . . . . . 34Table 3–5: Spider Servants . . . . . . . . . 34Table 3–6: The Illithid

Body Tamer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Table 3–7: The Imaskari

Vengeance Taker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Table 3–8: Inquisitor of the

Drowning Goddess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Table 3–9: Prime Underdark Guide . . 41Table 3–10: Sea Mother Whip . . . . . . 42Table 3–11: Shadowcrafter . . . . . . . . . 43Table 3–12: Vermin Companion . . . . . 45Table 3–13: Vermin Keeper . . . . . . . . 46Table 3–14: The Yathchol Webrider . 47Table 4–1: Earth Nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Table 4–2: Typical Earth Node

Granted Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Table 5–1: Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Table 5–3: Donning Armor . . . . . . . . . 66Table 5–2: Armors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Table 5–4: Special Items . . . . . . . . . . . 67Table 5–6: Melee Weapon

Special Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Table 5–5: Poisons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Table 5–7: Specific Weapons . . . . . . . . 69Table 5–8: Armor Special Abilities . . . 70Table 5–9: Specific Armors . . . . . . . . . 71Table 5–10: Rings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Table 5–11: Rods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Table 5–12: Staffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Table 5–13: Wondrous Items . . . . . . . 73Table 6–1: Arachnoid Creatures . . . . . 81Table 7–1: Spotting Distances . . . . . . 107Table 7–2: Underdark Diseases . . . . . 110Table 7–3: Tunnel Constriction . . . . 112Table 7–4: Encounter Chance . . . . . . 113Table 7–5: Upperdark

(Underground, Settled) (EL 2–7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Table 7–6: Upperdark Wilds(Underground, Frontier) (EL 5–10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Table 7–7: Middledark (Underground, Settled) (EL 6–13) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Table 7–8: Middledark Wilds(Underground, Wilderness) (EL 6–14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Table 7–9: Lowerdark (Underground, Wilderness) (EL 8–16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Table 7–10: Lowerdark (Underground, Desolate) (EL 10+) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

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Tavern tales across Faerûn’s sunlit lands whisper ofthe Underdark, a lightless, subterranean realm thatis home to fabled races and ancient, unspeakable evil.It is a domain of primeval mysteries and unending war, a hiddenworld of cruel masters and hopeless slaves, filled with monstrousraces that were old before humans were born. It is a dank, dismalplace of fungus, rot, and slime. It is a land where a few lucky mer-chants have found a lucrative trade, but where many more havebeen slain (or worse) for their effrontery. So dire is the reputa-tion of the Underdark and its denizens that mothers caution theirchildren to behave, lest the dark elves steal them away.

A proper account of the Underdark must include the coldmachinations of the hateful illithids, the unwholesome cities ofthe drow elves who pay homage to the bitter Spider Queen, and theunending servitude of the lesser creatures that fall into theclutches of these two races. Unlike the upper world, where civi-lization and the light of day protect travelers from horrors, theUnderdark holds the promise of deadly peril. Illithids, drow, phaer-imms, and aboleths vie for supremacy in its dark tunnels and sun-less seas. They fight one another with armies of slaves, terrible andancient magic, and mind-shattering psionics for control of theencompassing tunnel systems and the extended caverns, vaults,cavities, gaps, and nodes that riddle the earth beneath Faerûn. TheUnderdark is literally an entire world, most of which is inhabitedby monstrous and evil creatures that shun the daylight. Hundredsof independent cities, towns, and strongholds are scatteredthroughout the caves and caverns that make up this realm.

Tunnels in the Underdark extend for miles, some ballooninginto caverns thousands of feet across, only to shrink to spaces too

narrow for a halfling to squeeze through. The largest cavernhalls are often representations of the surface in miniature, withhills, valleys, underground rivers, and lakes. Most races native tothis realm make use of the walls and ceilings of their caverns,accessing the higher levels via natural or magical flight or levi-tation, or even wall-crawling mounts such as giant spiders andcertain breeds of lizards.

The Underdark is divided into three levels. The upper Under-dark (Upperdark) is close to the surface, and its residents haveconsiderable interaction with surface races. The inhabitants ofthe middle Underdark (Middledark) tend to see surface races aspotential slaves. The lower Underdark (Lowerdark) is an incred-ibly strange place filled with alien societies and bizarre cultureshostile to those unlike them.

How to Use This Bookin Your CampaignThis book provides everything you need to explore the Under-dark in your own FORGOTTEN REALMS® campaign. The subter-ranean world is a fantastic realm for characters to explore, andthis book contains the tools for building exciting adventuresthere. The Underdark is also a good place in which to set a dis-tinctive and memorable campaign involving a lengthy quest thattakes characters ever deeper into the sunless world.

If you don’t intend to use this book in your FORGOTTENREALMS campaign, you can easily adapt the material on under-ground adventuring for any game in which characters venturebelow the surface. Any subterranean realm you design can bene-fit from the concepts presented here.

Races: This chapter features a number of races native to theUnderdark, including spiderlike chitines, the stealthy gloamings,the fierce grimlocks, the inexplicable kuo-toas, and the bizarreslyths. These races are suitable for use as both player characters(PCs) and nonplayer characters (NPCs).

Regions and Feats: New regional feats and a number of gen-eral feats useful for characters native to the Underdark can befound in this chapter.

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Prestige Classes: The Underdark nurtures enclaves of spell-casters, practitioners of taboo arts, and sects of alien researchers.This chapter describes a number of prestige classes often pursuedby natives of the Underdark.

Magic and Spells: Drow, phaerimms, and other abominationsof the subterranean world are known for their arcane abilities.This chapter presents a number of new spells, as well as a newmagic system called node magic.

Equipment and Magic Items: The drow are renowned as the cre-ators of new and deadly magic, and illithids possess strange psioniclore for item creation. This chapter offers a number of items forgedby the creatures of the Underdark, as well as a variety of specialdevices, weapons, and gear useful for exploring deep places.

Monsters: This chapter presents a number of monsters nativeto the lightless tunnels, damp caverns, and sunless seas of theRealms Below. The monsters native to the Underdark includethe elder brain, the maur (or hunched giant), the mindwitness,and the dreadful all-consuming hunger.

Exploring the Underdark: In this chapter, you’ll find infor-mation on underground formations, cave systems, and spelunk-ing, as well as an overview of the various monsters and perilsthat lurk in the depths. You also find encounter charts for theUpperdark, Middledark, and Lowerdark.

Geography: This chapter describes more than one hundred dis-tinct locations in the Underdark of Faerûn, ranging from infa-mous realms such as the city of Menzoberranzan to secret placessuch as the hidden kingdom of Deep Imaskar. These sites are pre-sented in an encyclopedic format. This chapter also includes anumber of short sidebars describing unique individuals or person-alities who might be encountered in the Underdark.

Adventures in the Underdark: This chapter presents the mostnotorious dungeons of the Underdark. Also included are severalpartially keyed locations and statistics for NPCs that you can useas the seeds for adventures, small diversions in your overall trekthrough the underworld, or even the foundations for whole cam-paigns. These sites are scattered throughout the upper, middle,and lower portions of the Underdark, so the deeper the heroesventure, the more danger they encounter.

What You Needto PlayTo use this sourcebook, you need the FORGOTTEN REALMS Cam-paign Setting, plus the three core rulebooks of the DUNGEONS &DRAGONS® game: the Player’s Handbook, the Dungeon Master’sGuide, and the Monster Manual.

The Psionics Handbook is recommended, since the characterclasses psion and psychic warrior appear several times. If youdon’t have the Psionics Handbook, substitute the sorcerer classfor the psion class and substitute the fighter/sorcerer multiclassfor psychic warrior.

Monster Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn and MonsterManual II are also recommended, since a number of the crea-tures described in this publication can be found in those books. Ifyou don’t have those books, substitute the appropriate creaturesfrom the Monster Manual, as noted in parentheses below.

CREATURES FROM MONSTERS OF FAERÛNAballin (gray ooze)Baneguard (ghast)Bat, night hunter (dire bat)Bat, sinister (vargouille)Beholderkin, death kiss (hydra, 12 heads)Beholderkin, gouger (hydra, 12 heads)Chitine (ettercap)Choldrith (aranea)Cloaker lord (cloaker Wizard 9)Deepspawn (hydra, 9 heads)Dragon, deep (green dragon)Dragon, shadow (black dragon)Dragonkin (gargoyle)Ghaunadan (doppleganger)Gibberling (goblin)Giant, phaerlin (troll)Ibrandlin (very young red dragon)Malaugrym (phasm)Phaerimm (aboleth)Quaggoth (bugbear)Spectral panther (fiendish leopard)Spider, hairy (spider swarm)Spider, sword (Large monstrous spider)Stinger (drider)Yochlol (rast)

CREATURES FROM MONSTER MANUAL IIAvolakia (half-fiend hydra, 9 heads)Banshee (lich)Boggle (choker)Bone naga (purple worm)Breathdrinker (invisible stalker)Desmodu (salamander noble)Ethereal slayer (ethereal marauder advanced to 15 Hit Dice)Famine spirit (dread wraith)Myconid sovereign (shambling mound)Psurlon, average (mind flayer)Psurlon, elder (mind flayer Sorcerer 4)Psurlon, giant (mind flayer Sorcerer 8)Raggamoffyn, shrapnyl (Huge air elemental)Rampager (gray render)Reason stealer (ochre jelly)Rogue eidolon (stone golem)Runic guardian (shield guardian)Shadow spider (fiendish Huge monstrous spider)Spawn of Kyuss (mummy)Spellgaunt (retriever)Teratomorph (chaos beast advanced to 24 Hit Dice)Vaporighu (bebilith)Wyste (snake, giant constrictor)Yugoloth, marraenoloth (horned devil)

CREATURES FROM PSIONICS HANDBOOKBlue (goblin sorcerer)

INTRODUCTION

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Several races commonly found in other parts ofFaerûn—dwarves, elves, gnomes, and orcs—can befound in the Underdark as well. However, the Under-dark versions of these races vary wildly from their surface-worldcousins—few would mistake a drow for a sun elf, a duergar for ashield dwarf, or an orog for an orc.

The Underdark is also home to several races isolated by thedepths of rock that shield them from others or by the earthenvaults in which they live. Their unique environments enablethem to thrive, or at least to eke out an existence not possible onthe surface.

Of the cousins to the common races, drow are the mostnumerous in the Underdark. Several distinct ethnicities are rep-resented among the drow, though upperworlders and members ofmost other races have a hard time telling one from another.

Surface-world dwarves sometimes impinge on the Underdarkin their excavations, but their deep cousins, the derro and theduergar, are the true dwarvenkind inheritors of the RealmsBelow. Encampments and communities of these two races arefound in almost every type of cave system or tunnel complex ofthe deep earth.

Surface gnomes are rare in the Underdark, but their cousins,the svirfneblin, dwell in great cities deep underground. Thesvirfneblin do their best to keep the locations of their homessecret from their enemies (the drow, the kuo-toas, and most espe-cially the mind flayers).

Planetouched also exist here and there in the Underdark.Earth genasi in particular often ally with other humanoid racesagainst the monstrous mind flayers and aboleths.

Half-elves, halflings, humans, and surface elves are hardlyrepresented at all in the Underdark. However, rumors persist ofan Underdark human race, and those rumors have their basis intruth: the ancient Imaskar empire has flourished in secret deepbelow the earth for centuries.

Many even stranger Underdark races, including the chitines,the grimlocks, the kuo-toas, the gloamings, and the slyths, arealso suitable as player characters for Underdark campaigns.Table 1–1 provides the racial ability score adjustments andfavored classes for these and the more common Underdarkraces.

TABLE 1–1: RACIAL ABILITY SCORE ADJUSTMENTSRace Ability Score Adjustments Favored ClassChitine +2 Dex, +2 Con, Rogue

+2 Int, –4 ChaDeep Imaskari +2 Int, –2 Str WizardDrow +2 Dex, –2 Con, Cleric (female)

+2 Int, +2 Cha Wizard (male)Duergar +2 Con, –4 Cha FighterGloaming –2 Str, +2 Dex, Sorcerer

–2 Wis, +2 ChaGrimlock +4 Str, +2 Dex, Barbarian

+2 Con, –4 ChaKuo-toa +2 Str, +2 Con, Rogue

+2 Int, +4 Wis, –2 ChaSlyth –2 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Wis DruidSvirfneblin –2 Str, +2 Dex, Bard

+2 Wis, –4 Cha

Some of the stronger Underdark races begin with a numberof Hit Dice before adding any character levels. A character ofone of these races receives maxiumum hit points for his firstmonstrous humanoid Hit Die, but all Hit Dice for his class levelsare rolled normally, and he does not automatically get maxi-mum hit points on his first class level Hit Die. These charactersdon’t get the ×4 multiplier for skill points acquired from a first

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CoverCreditsTable of ContentsIntroductionHow to Use This Book in Your CampaignWhat You Need to Play

Chapter 1: RacesChitinesDeep ImaskariDrowDuergarGloamingsGrimlocksKuo-ToasSlythsSvirfneblinOther Character RacesAge, Height, and Weight

Chapter 2: Regions and FeatsCharacter RegionsCharacter Feats

Chapter 3: Prestice ClassesChapter 4: Magic and SpellsLore of the UnderdarkNew DomainsNew Spells

Chapter 5: Equipment and Magic ItemsAdventuring GearMagic Items

Chapter 6: MonstersAll-Consuming HungerAnnihilatorArachnoid CreatureBaphitaurChameleon CreatureEarth GliderElder BrainFaerzress-Infused CreatureGiant CockroachGiant MaggotGlouraHalf-IllithidIneffable HorrorKuo-Toa LeviathanLithLurkerMaur (Hunched Giant)Mineral WarriorPhaerlockPortal DrakeStone Flyer

Chapter 7: Exploring the UnderdarkGeology and EnvironmentsThe Underdark EnvironmentSpelunkingUnderdark Encounter TablesAn Underdark Primer

Chapter 8: GeographyUnderdark DomainsSites of InterestAmmarindarAraumycosBlessed SeahavenBlingdenstoneThe BoneyardBrikklextCairnheim, Demesne of the DodkongChaulssin, City of WyrmshadowsChed Nasad, City of Shimmering WebsCh’Chitl, the Kingdom BelowCloakerhavenThe DarklakeDeep Imaskar, City of the Great SealDeep ShanatarDeepburrowDolblundeDrik Hargunen, the Runescribed HallsDunspeirrin, City of Sunken SpiresDupapn, Waters of Deep HungerDurgg-GontagEarth’s EndEryndlynThe FardrimmFluvenilstra, Garden City of the LowerdarkFraaszummdin, SteederhomeGatchorofGiant’s ChaliceGracklstugh, City of BladesThe Great RiftGuallidurthHoly Mother CauldronIltkazar, the Mithral KingdomKuragolomshThe LabyrinthLlurth Dreir, the Accursed CityLoobliShar, City of Welcome DarknessLorosfyr, the Maddening DarkMaerimydraMantol-DerithMenzoberranzan, City of SpidersNuur Throth, the Great DoorOaxaptupa, World Beneath the WorldOghrannOoltul, City of TyrantsOryndoll, City of LoretakersReeshovRringlor Noroth, The City of Soaring ShadowsRrinnoroth, Dwarven Ghost TownThe SharnlandsSloopdilmonpolop, City of PoolsSshamath, City of Dark WeavingsSphur UpraTethyamarT’lindhetThrorgar, the Shrieking AbyssTomb Tapper TombTraaskl ThorogUndrek’Thoz, the Segmented CityThe WormwrithingsYathchol

Chapter 9: Adventures in the UnderdarkDungeons in the UnderdarkAdventure Sites

Back Cover