Rappan Athuk: Under Realms

Rappan Athuk: Underrealms

Once upon a time, there was an idea — an idea formulated by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974 and published in a little paperback book called The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures. The idea was simple: it is a lot of fun to go into a dungeon and kill evil monsters. 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 (although “adventurer” probably tops the list). And we don’t have to know these things. This isn’t an ecology experiment; it’s a dungeon — the quintessential setting for pure swords and sorcery adventuring. 

For almost 30 years, Frog God Games and Necromancer Games have revealed glimpses into the world of The Lost Lands. The Lost Lands contain locations now legendary in the annals of roleplaying, from the depths of the massive dungeons of Rappan Athuk, to the city of Bard’s Gate, the Desolation of Tsar, the Blight, the demon-tainted Sundered Lands, the chaotic tumult of the Borderland Provinces, and the fabled Northlands. Rappan Athuk is the central core of The Lost Lands series.

Rappan Athuk is a massive megadungeon and, as currently published, contains over 80 dungeon levels, 30 wilderness locations, and a vast underrealm called the Cyclopean Deeps. This book adds depth (sic) to the area beneath the dungeon and provides further information on "why" the dungeon, and its master, Orcus, chose this location to build it. Some places just radiate evil. This is one of them.

Rappan Athuk: Underrealms is an estimated 250- to 300-page, library-bound, hardcover book created for both OSR rules (via The Necromancer's Game) and 5th Edition. Brand-new maps, encounter areas, monsters, magic items, and underworld intrigue await. Written by Anthony Pryor and Bill Webb, this addition to the original retains all of the deadly horror that the rest of the series is known for. 

The Granddaddy of All Megadungeons

This adventure is a giant sandbox that pays homage to the original idea. True, there are opportunities for roleplaying, but most of this module is dedicated to “roll playing.” Hopefully, as you explore this new area, you will recall the thrill of discovery, the terror in your heart when you fought your first skeleton, the joy of rolling your first natural 20, and the despair you felt when that 1 came up for your poison save.

Very difficult, it should strike fear into the hearts of the most stalwart adventurers. It offers an abundance of traps, tricks, and monsters. We hope that you find this module as fun and exciting as those thousands of players who have ventured into (and not as often out of) the endless caverns and mazes of Rappan Athuk: The Dungeon of Graves. Rappan Athuk is probably the largest megadungeon ever created for the game.

The Underrealms Are Here!

You thought Rappan Athuk ended somewhere? That was your first mistake.

Passages beneath the Dungeon of Graves lead to places no sane adventurer has ever mapped. Follow the wrong underground river, crawl through enough forgotten tunnels, or simply keep going when every sensible person would turn around, and you may eventually find yourself somewhere that is not quite Rappan Athuk and not quite the Cyclopean Deeps.

Welcome to The Serpent Empire

Long before Orcus established his foothold at Rappan Athuk, before most of the kingdoms on the surface had names, and before humans amounted to much of anything, the Ss’aa ruled much of the world. The serpentfolk possessed powerful psychic abilities and combined sorcery with a strange science called arcanotechnology. They built cities of impossible geometry, created machines powered by psi-crystals, communicated across enormous distances, explored other planes, and developed weapons capable of destroying entire civilizations.

Naturally, they used all of this to enslave everybody else. The Ss’aa considered humans, ogres, giants, goblins, and just about anything without scales to be animals. Useful animals, perhaps, but animals, nonetheless. They bred slave races, altered living creatures, built psychic devices that could influence entire populations, and maintained their empire by making sure their enemies spent most of their time killing one another instead of looking for the snake pulling the strings.

It worked remarkably well. Until it didn't. The empire grew decadent. Its rulers turned against one another. The psi-crystals that powered its wonders became scarce. Ancient machines broke down, and nobody remembered how to repair them. Meanwhile, the ogres of Boros were becoming civilized, powerful, and dangerous.

But Something Survived...

More than 25,000 years ago, survivors of the final Ss’aa stronghold escaped Boros and carried their near-immortal Empress to the subterranean colony of Ssakh’ush beneath Akados. She is still there.

The Ss’aa have spent thousands of years quietly ruling the surrounding caverns, with most of their subjects never even realizing they exist. Goblins blame ogres. Ogres blame goblins. Everybody fears the inphidians. Meanwhile, the serpentfolk remain safely hidden, manipulating events, taking slaves, hoarding psi-crystals, and keeping the last machines of their dead civilization running.

Rappan Athuk Just Got Bigger!

The Serpent Empire expands the underworld beneath Rappan Athuk, providing another vast region for adventurers foolish enough to keep exploring after reaching places where the maps stop being useful.

A river from the goblin city of Greznek on Level 12A eventually reaches the Empire caverns. Other routes wind between the region, Rappan Athuk, and the Cyclopean Deeps. Some are known. Some are forgotten. Some probably ought to remain forgotten.

The characters might be looking for a route through the Under Realms. They might find an ancient Ss’aa map among the loot in Rappan Athuk. A scholar might pay them to prove that the serpentfolk still exist. Refugees might reach Greznek babbling about snake-men, slavery, and voices inside their heads. Or the party can simply take the wrong tunnel.

Characters may discover ways to protect the goblins and ogres from Ss’aa psychic domination. They may recover the Eye of Malori, uncover the truth about the ancient ogre kingdoms, or learn how Dark Moon mushrooms and honey can interfere with serpentfolk control.

The party can negotiate peace between enemies who have hated one another for generations, expose inphidian agents, liberate slaves, hunt for ancient weapons, sabotage Ss’aa installations, and eventually lead an assault against the Citadel itself.

This isn't a story the characters are required to follow. It is another dangerous piece of the enormous sandbox surrounding Rappan Athuk, packed with factions, ancient history, hidden enemies, strange technology, forgotten treasures, and opportunities for the players to make decisions the referee never anticipated. The GM can:

• Use it as an expedition.
• Use it as a route between Rappan Athuk and the Cyclopean Deeps.
• Or let the players turn it into a years-long war to overthrow the last remnant of an empire that once ruled the world.

Stretch Goals and Add-Ons

Please note that this book is nearly complete. It is fully written, edited, and ready for layout and printing. Maps and art are done. Yes, we will include a poster map. As such, we are not adding stretch goals or add-ons at this time. We believe in "keep it simple, stupid" to avoid shipping delays and make sure we create the highest possible quality product.

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