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Designed by: Scott McClintock, Buck Wev, Marc Altfuldisch, Daniel Kahn, Billy Middleton, Isaac Minarik, Kathleen Harrington
Reign of Rot is the fifth release in the most excellent Doomed Forgotten Realms series, and the first of two volumes planned for the Doomed Underdark.
It’s partly a sourcebook for bringing the apocalyptic setting into the Underdark (where the unchecked demon lords from Out of the Abyss now reign), and partly a well-constructed adventure for levels 1-7. It’s also my favorite in the series yet!
In case you’re new to the series, Doomed Forgotten Realms depicts a Faerun where evil has triumphed in all the official Fifth Edition story lines — and all were constructed as part of a grand plan by Vecna.
Rise of Vecna depicts the apocalyptic Sword Coast, while Fall of Vecna mostly takes place in Ravenloft and Waterdeep. Reign of Rot explores the Underdark, which is only mostly used in the 5e campaign adventure, Out of the Abyss.
But that adventure provides plenty of fertile ground, thanks to the arrival of the demon lords.
Like, all of them.
Yeenoghu slays Baphomet with a huge gnoll army. Demogorgon takes the Wand of Orcus and lays waste to Menzoberranzan. Graz’zt supplants Fraz-Urb’luu to secretly rule over the last free city in the Underdark.
And Zuggtmoy successfully weds the enormous fungal growth Araumycos, becoming an unstoppable growth of death and decay.
All of this wonderfully bleak material is presented in the first three chapters, which helpfully explains the demon lords’ machinations, as well as a breakdown of important Underdark locations.
The sourcebook portion also features unique environmental effects, scripted travel encounters (yay!), and over a dozen different fungi with magical effects.
The adventure takes up the other two thirds of the book, and has a fresh party of level 1 heroes delving into the Underdark to deal a serious blow to the fungal demon now called Zuggtmycos.
The adventure is divided into five chapters, each of which could be separated into their own smaller module. It kicks off Tyranny of Dragons-style, with a major attack on the party’s starting village or outpost. Instead of a dragon, however, it’s an enslaved purple worm bursting out of the ground with an army of gnolls!
Fans of the Doomed Forgotten Realms series will love this big, cinematic opening. But I was most impressed by how well-paced this adventure plays out. Instead of going from one big blockbuster set piece to another, we’re given a bit more breathing room to develop important NPCs, engage in mini-games and puzzles, and explore an Underdark with the dials cranked up to 11.
The adventure soon takes the party to Mantol-Derith, a trading post-turned-refuge from the horrors of the Underdark.
I adore this exotic town with its ogre chef, love-sick Azer, and friendly gelatinous cube (and yes, there are tons of references to Out of the Abyss‘ NPCs).
There’s lots of fun NPCs to meet and side quests to tackle, before the main quest tasks you with escorting a man drained from an Oblex to discover his past. The emotional climax of discovering his losses (and a tearful reunion) is heavy and impressive, followed by some excellent fungal-horror dungeon crawls.
This is easily one of the most impressive adventures I’ve read this year. The dungeons are awesome, the Underdark is well-utilized, and there’s a ton of memorable RP moments.
As with previous Doomed Forgotten Realms releases, you also get full color battle maps for all the major dungeon crawls and encounters, about ten total, in DM, player, and VTT-friendly versions. It also includes some new fungal monster statblocks, and new statblocks for all the demon lords (none of who make an actual appearance in this adventure, though).
The final boss battle features a new avatar body for Zuggtmycos via a fungal beholder, then a race out of the Fungal Depths dungeon while shit is really hitting the fan, Super Metroid-style.
Reign of Rot is the first volume in the Doomed Underdark spin-off series, but in no way feels incomplete. The adventure alone would be a big thumbs up from me, and top of that we get 30 pages of excellent world-building in a demon lord-infested Underdark.
If you’ve been all but forgetting about one of the biggest regions of Faerun as I have, this could easily be the adventure to pull you down under.
Pros:
- Doomed Underdark features updated demon lords, nasty new environmental effects, detailed location breakdowns, and interesting scripted encounters.
- Expertly-paced adventure showcases the Underdark through fungal-themed horror.
- Mini-campaign can be played with or without the Doomed Forgotten Realms backdrop.
- Over a dozen statblocks, including new and improved demon lords.
- Ten detailed, full color maps in DM, player, and non-gridded versions.
Cons:
- None!
The Verdict: Reign of Rot brings the excellently apocalyptic Doomed Forgotten Realms series to the Underdark with one part-helpful sourcebook and two parts compelling adventure.
A review copy of “Reign of Rot” was provided by the publisher. Find more DMs Guild Reviews on my website and YouTube channel.
Support my work by using my affiliate links and pledging via Patreon.
RogueWatson 