"Undermountain? Ah, yes.

A great place tohave fun, the most famous battlefield inwhich to earn
a reputation as a veterana dventureróand the largest known massgrave in Faerun today." -
Elminster of Shadowdale

And with those cheery words of the Old Mage, well met. Welcome to one of the oldest dungeons of
them all of the vast, dark, waiting halls of Undermountain. It is a dungeon complex of nine known
levels and over fourteen sub-levels of dungeons, an entire realm beneath Waterdeep, the greatest
city of the Realms.

Tales tell of a wizard who came to the mountain in ages past to make his home in isolation from the
societies of men. Some say Halaster Blackcloak came from Netheril, others from the east. Still others
hold that he hailed from the Cradlelands, vanished human kingdoms now buried beneath Raurin and
The Plains of Purple Dust. All these lands and their peoples are said to have populated both Faerun
and Kara-Tur in the dim, dust-shrouded past.

Whatever the truth about Halaster's origins, the stories all tell the same story of his later years. He
suddenly left off all dealings with men over a thousand years ago, and came to Mount Waterdeep
to make his home, accompanied by seven apprentices. Halaster summoned and bound fell creatures
from other planes to build a traditional wizard's tower, ringed with a stout stone rampart enclosing
an extensive garden, paddock, and ware-houses. The Seven, as the apprentices are named in
historical texts, worked the fields, dwelling in lesser turrets along the inside of the ring-wall. They
continued their magical studies but saw their Dread Master little.

Halaster's dealings with his summoned servitors changed him. The more Halaster avoided human
contact and dealt with other planar creatures, the stranger he became. He grew grim, given to long
silences, sudden rages, and erratic behavior. He had his creatures dig storage caves, additional
laboratories, and long exit-tunnels beneath his tower. This work went on for decades. At length, the
tunnels broke into the old dwarven delvings called the Underhalls, once home to the long-vanished
Melairkyn clan (only a fading memory, even then).

After decades of work, Halaster banished his summoned slaves to their home planes and moved
entirely into the subterranean ways, abandoning his tower to the elements. His curious apprentices,
upon exploring the tower, found only traps awaiting them, baited with powerful magics and
enigmatic messages hinting that true power awaited them below. One by one, as their courage and
capabilities took them, the Seven went below in search of their Master. They found a strange,
labyrinthine, and dangerous world awaiting them. Halaster stored his treasures, experiments, victuals
and necessities, magical items, and servants (twisted and mutated from other deep denizens) in
these underways. Here, he thought himself safe from prying intrusions, theft and attacks by thieves,
hostile brigands of all sorts, as well as his sorcerous foes. The Seven were never seen again.

Since the abandonment of his surface tower, the settlement that became Waterdeep grew a stone's
throw below Halaster's Hold, along the edge of the harbor. It wasn't long before intrepid adventurers
discovered Halaster's tower and the initial entrances to the dungeons beneath.
Halaster's preoccupation with his dark stronghold allegedly affected his mind, and he used the halls
and numerous magical gates to give free rein to his rather curious hobbies of roaming various plane
sand collecting monsters. He enlisted these monsters to further defend the upper levels of his
halls. The upper levels were then abandoned from use except as a glorified killing gallery for intruders.
Halaster moved his own dwelling and laboratories ever deeper into the vast and endless darkness.

No one in Waterdeep or Undermountain today is positive if Halaster still lives or is dead. Many who
venture deep into Undermountain believe he lives on. They say he watches from the walls, walks the
lowest levels, and is vastly amused by the pain, suffering, deeds, and deaths of intruders. Sometimes,
he aids those who are lost by providing a single lit torch, or a dagger clattering down from
overhead often accompanied by a hu-man skull as a grim warning. He indulges the whims of his
cruel humor by playing tricks, manipulating explorers like puppets on a stage.

One of the first to walk Undermountain and emerge to tell the tale was a warrior named Durnan. He
survived to return to the surface and tear down the remnants of Halaster's tower, long since shattered
by wizards' battles and other fell magic. Atop its rubble, he built his inn. It was a good spot for trade
close to the docks, and Durnan made a good living outfitting and provisioning those who journeyed
down to explore the depths. He encouraged local priests of Tymora to heal those who dared the
dangers of Undermountain for nominal fees. Durnan and others who returned from the Great Below
spoke of riches and dangers, both in large measure, and of the vast size of the underways. Many
others, for whatever reasons of their own - perhaps they became bored or desperatefor riches,
adventured on bets or were hiding from foes or authorities - went down the shafts in Durnan's
inn, The Yawning Portal.

Late at night, when the lamps are flickering low and the wine is running out, taverns in Waterdeep
resound with wild tales of how this mage or that rogue or somesuch band of adventurers went
down into Undermountain, and what befell them there. Nearly everyone has a story about what
happened to the great Company of the Grey Griffon or how my great-uncle Jareth barely escaped the
embrace of 26 maedar and medusae within the halls of Undermountain. The best tales, of course, are
those that end with the safe return of adventurers laden with gems, gold coins, magical swords,
and grand suits of armor. Rarely the stories tell of more magnificent things like the giant, silvery snail
ridden around Castle Ward by The Company of the Cleaver. Many adventuring bands emerge
relatively unscathed from the depths, including Waterdeep's own Company of Crazed Venturers, and
the famed Knights of Myth Drannor. More common by far are the harrowing tales of those who go in and
never come out, those who are found dead, or the poor lost souls driven mad in the depths. A silent
toast is often raised in memory of the less fortunate: the elves of The Merry Banner, the dwarves of
The Red And Black Axes, and the men of The Company of the Silver Dragon, The Company of the Brown
Bear, and The Brotherhood of the Hydra. Pray to your gods, brave adventurers, that ye end up not
among them. . .

Character Creation:

This is an AD&D 2E game set in the Forgotten Realms. The campaign will take place exclusively in
Undermountain so characters will need to have a reason to be in Waterdeep and stay there.

For attributes, roll 4d6 six times and reroll all ones, discarding the lowest number then place them
wherever you want. Make sure I get all the rolls or they don't count.

Races: All from the Player's Handbook. I will allow one race from another source as long as it's cleared
with me, first. (The weird race slot has been filled)

Classes: All from the Player's Handbook. Any other source, must be cleared with me first, but I prefer the
ones from the PHB. I'll allow kits, but clear them with me first.

Since this is primarily an underground campaign, so keep that in mind while making your character.
Characters don't have to be all dwarves or dungeom dwellers, but forest-types will obviously have
trouble and could hinder the group. For example, from a role-play standpoint, it might be fun to play a
druid learning to live out of their element, the character (and the group) will suffer for it.

I'll be using the core books and Forgotten Realms accessories, of course. Also, the various handbooks,
Legends and Lore (for specialty priests) and Players Option: Combat & Tactics.

From Combat and Tactics, I'm using the combat rounds option, the movement option, Critical Hits
(system 2), the Combat Options from Chapter 2 (except the Dueling), and Weapon Specialization &
Mastery.

Languages: Forgotten Realms is rich in languages and has a plethora of human dialects. In the Waterdeep
area, Chondathan and Illuskan are the most common dialects. Of course, everyone starts with the
Common language for free.

Starting HP's are max for level 1 then send me rolls for the other levels.

Starting Money will be rolled as normal, but multiplied by 100, rather than by 10.

Magic Items: Each character starts with 1d4 potions (rolled randomly) and 2d4 other magic items
determined randomly based on the character class.

House Rules:

Like in 3rd edition, Clerics (including some clerical classes from other books) may spontaneously cast
Healing spells in place of their memorized spells. They will heal the equivalent of damage equal to
whatever healing spell is available for that level (if one is available, if not, no healing may be substituted).

Any race can play any class. I only require that, if it's normally not allowed, write the reason your
character has that class into your background. LIke, maybe your elf was was as devoted to their god as
the priests, but chose to be more aggessive in protecting the church and community so their god blessed
them with paladinhood. The only exception to this are dwarven wizards. I've never felt comfortable with
that combo.
I don't use level limits for demi-humans, but there are changes. Demi-humans can go higher than what's
listed based on their primary attributes. If you're playing an Elvin wizard with a +3 INT mod, add 3 levels
to the max. Once the maximum level is reached, it takes twice as many XPs to progress to further levels.
In tha case of a race in a class not normally allowed, use the closest allowable class. An elvin paladin
could use fighter or cleric (both of which are 12 without any bonuses from high primary attributes).

In regards to learning new proficiencies, weapon or non-weapon, a character must be trained. Any
character that has the non-weapon proficiency a PC desires to learn can teach it. They have to have a
score of at least 12 to teach it to another character. Depending on the proficiency, training time can be as
little as a day or as long as a year. For weapon proficiencies, a character must find a teacher that has at
least the skill level he wishes to attain to train him. Basic proficiency (1 slot) takes only a few days to
learn. Expertise and Specialization (2 slots) require at least 2 weeks of uninterrupted training or 2
months of training interrupted by adventuring or travel. Mastery (3 slots) requires at least three months
on uninterrupted training ONLY. It is too difficult and extensive for a student to be distracted by anything
else. High Mastery (4 slots) requires at least 6 months of uninterrupted training. Grand Mastery (5 slots)
requires at least a year of uninterrupted training to complete. In the cases of Masters, it gets gradually
harder to find a master of the appropriate level to train under. That, in itself, could be an adventure. And
costly.

Wizards (including all specialists and Illusionists) gain bonus spells for their Intelligence just like Clerics do
for their high Wisdom. On the chart for additional spells for high wisdom, use intelligence instead.

Druids gain bonus spells for a high Wisdom just as Clerics do. Use the same chart.