Quick Links
Picture a suffocating darkness, deeper than thought, stretching endlessly above. No stars pierce the inky void, only a gnawing emptiness that follows you. A horrifying truth dawns: this boundless night isn’t a sky, but a colossal cave. This is the lot of the Underdark, and you, playingDungeons & Dragons, must now attempt to eke out an existence for your character beneath it.
In a realm where the terrifying is mundane and horror is a way of life, the land of the drow may seem daunting to run on your own. This article will guide you through basic lore, geography, and mechanics to help you put your players through the enigmatic Underdark.
What Is The Underdark?
Think of the world as you know it. Think of the people, the buildings, and the streets. Think of the wilderness and the mountains. Now go far, far beneath that.
The Underdark is a massive series of subterranean cavernsthat house civilizations, lakes, and fungal forests. The people who live in the Underdark learned to adapt to its unforgiving nature, becoming unforgiving themselves in a bid to survive the perils of the area. You could almost think of the Underdark asthe ultimate dungeon, except to do so would be diminishing the sheer size of the caverns.
The Underdark’s caves can be as small as a coffin or feel as large and endless as standing in an empty field. It’s a world just beneath the Overland, so vast that some Dungeon Masters have made it a completely different plane to make up for its sheer size.
Survival And Fear
One of the most important aspects of running the Underdarkas a setting isemphasizing how terrifying it can be. Run your players ragged andplay with resource scarcity.If your playersare relying on a torch to light their way, consider havingdangerous monstersdrawn to it.
Keep them on their feetfor a few sessions, letting them get a taste of the hostility of the inhabitants and unwillingness to help.
The Underdark is brutal, and so the people who live within it have to be brutal in turn. The Underdark is kind to no one. Consider showcasing this when you can, andcreate encounters that accentuate how this viciousness keeps the denizens alive by pushing your players to act in similar ways.
What Are The Domains?
The domains of the Underdark function the same way they do in the Overland—certain topographical areas group to form separate regions. These domains are: Old Shanatar, the Earthroot, the Glimmersea, the Darklands, Great Bhaerynden, the Northdark, the Deep Wastes, and the Buried Realms.
To run the Underdark,you may need to decide where your players have entered and what domain they’ll be in. This will largely determine the creatures and folk they’ll encounter while exploring.It will also help you run environmental encounters, which, even underground, will be important and diverse!
Old Shanatar
Under Faerûn, Amn, Tethyr, and Calimsham
One of the more diverse areas of the Underdark, likely due to its size, drow, duergar, and illithids. It’s the most well-mapped area of the Underdark.
The Earthroot
Beneath Thay
The remains of many civilizations are found buried here, though drow and duergar dominate this area.
The Glimmersea
Under Toril
Kuo-toa, sahuagin, and aboleths make up most of the inhabitants of this domain.
The Darklands
Beneath the middle of Faerûn
The duergar are one of the more powerful inhabitants in the region, owing to their successful establishment of a city.
Great Bhaerynden
Beneath Shaar
Formerly the home of gold dwarves, this area was taken over by drow.
The Northdark
East of Waterdeep
Home to most civilization in the Underdark: Gracklstugh, Blingdenstone, Menzoberranzen, and Ched Nesod.
The Deep Wastes
Underneath the Dalelands and Moonsea
One of the most desolate regions, many attempts to settle have failed or resulted in the subsequent abandonment of their cities by the former settlers.
The Buried Realms
Beneath the deserts of Anauroch
Created to seal off highly magical aberrations, liches often control areas of the domain, especially where Netherese Ruins can be found.
There are three levels of the Underdark: The Upperdark, Middle Dark, and Lowerdark. Think of these like the sea’s depths.The further down you go, the more frightening and unknowable everything gets.Most living creatures will avoid the Lowerdark, even those that have spent their lives within the Underdark. Be sure to fill these areas with monsters appropriately.
What Are The Creatures Of The Underdark?
Many creatures call this intolerant landscape their home, and to run the Underdark, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with its denizens. These will be your NPCs, from fish-person to elf.The cultures of the Underdark are diverse as they are unfamiliarto many surface-dwellers, and you can certainly play with their unfamiliarity as the Dungeon Master.
Drow
The drow are perhaps the most popular inhabitants of the Underdark. Grey-skinned elves and frequently portrayed as red-eyed,these elves live in an oppressive, matriarchal societydominated by theworship of the Spider Queen, Lolth.
They might be described as cruel and xenophobic, believing themselves to be violently superior to their surface elven counterparts. Though this is their traditional portrayal (save for Drizzt and Jarlaxle), Wizards of the Coast hasrecently taken steps to make them more diverseoutside their original ‘inherently evil’ model.
Drow can now bethree different subracesof drow (aevendrow, lorendrow, and udadrow) but are more often than not grouped by those that are sworn to Lolth (udadrow) and those that follow the Seldarine.
Duergar
Duergar, or the ‘grey dwarves’were once the victims of mindflayer domination.They grew immune to many psionic effects, even learning to manipulate similar magics for their benefit. Now, many describe them asembittered and resentful, believing life would be toil until they died. Greed is said to dominate throughout duergar culture, but whether your duergar NPCreacts or behaves this way is entirely up to you.
Insular to a fault, duergar are not likely to accept outside help or assistance and are far happier to mind their own.
Deep Gnomes
Following the trend, deep gnomes (also known assvirfneblin) contrast their surface-dwelling counterparts by trading enthusiasm and love for life with the opposite. The deep gnomes maintain asullen and pessimistic demeanoras a defense against the horrors committed by the surrounding civilizations.
Metalworking is their trade, and, assuming they venture far enough to barter, it fetches an impressive price.
Myconids
The peaceful fungus folk of the Underdarkreside in coloniesthat focus on the here and now, rather than the past and what will be. While they may not be very worldly, they do use spores liberally and invite outsiders into the circle to ‘meld,‘a psychedelic mind-melding ritual.
Piercers, Bulettes, And Aboleths, Oh My!
Before playing in the Underdark, review all the monsters within the area you’re playing in. While the ‘civilized’ species are fun, nothing compares to putting your players through the equivalent of a Dark Souls fight.
The Underdark tends to make creatures rely on stealth, and Piercers really emphasize this with their ability to appear like a stalactite before catching their prey when they drop. In contrast to the smallPiercer, theBuletteis a creature you’re able to use burrow mechanics with, springing the large beast upon a hapless adventurer from beneath their feet.
Aboleths can use similar tactics, lurking in the deep cold of the lakes, reaching out telepathically to lure its prey to it.
Darkvision mechanics are often misunderstood. With Darkvision,a creature with darkvision will see in dim light as if it were bright light and within darkness as if it were a dim light.Dim light means that your players will roll disadvantage on perception, so
How To Handle Travel
So, you’ve learned what you can about the Underdark, and it’s time to lure your players through it. The first thing to note is thatthere are no maps of the Underdarkthat are accurate enough to be trustworthy. The tunnels and caves are far too vast, and the twisting passages are oftentoo dangerousfor the intrepid mapmaker to sketch down before they’redevoured by something unsavory.
So, try running the Underdark with afast and loose style.You don’t need to come up with a meticulously designed map to pass out. You can make it up as you go, or use generators online to help you out.Early game encounters should likely be in the Upperdark caverns.
If you love maps, thenconsider giving them a guide.Using any of the species you think would be friendly or opportunistic enough to offer aid,a guide is a great way to create an adventure hookandgive the players an NPCto interact with rather than wait for them to stumble into encounters. Further, you canmurder the NPCat an opportune time, leaving the players with a new problem.
Read up on official sources before running the Underdark.Out of The Abysshas some great resources on premade dungeons and NPCs, as well as small quests you can incorporate if you aren’t playing the actual module.
