I've been DMing, playing, and reading fifth edition adventures since the launch of the edition. I decided to write some guides that DMs can use to can use to choose their next adventure. I'll post one at a time, then tackle them as a whole at the end.
Summary
Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage is a Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition adventure published by Wizards of the Coast in November 2018. Designed for characters of levels 5-20, the adventure takes players on a dangerous journey into the depths of the megadungeon known as Undermountain. Undermountain is the domain of the powerful and eccentric wizard Halaster Blackcloak, also known as the Mad Mage. Players will explore a sprawling dungeon filled with deadly traps, monstrous inhabitants, and hidden treasures while uncovering the secrets of the Mad Mage himself. This adventure is set in and around the city of Waterdeep, the City of Splendors, and it can be run as a follow-up to the Waterdeep: Dragon Heist adventure, as a standalone campaign, or as one off adventures in your campaign.
My Experience
I ran a conversion/combination of 2e Ruins of Undermountain and 4e Halls of Undermountain as the beginning of my second fifth edition campaign covering levels 1-5. Shortly there after, Dungeon of the Mad Mage was announced. By that time I was running levels 5-10 in Storm King's Thunder, and then I alternated between the SKT and Undermountain from levels 10-20.
Why You Should Run It
- Its a fun dungeon crawl! Not every level is great, but many are. If you want a quality dungeon crawl, I think this is the best one published in 5e, clearly beating out Tales From the Yawning Portal and Princes of the Apocalypse.
- Even if you don't want to run the full dungeon crawl, you can easily dip in and out of levels that interest you or intersect with your campaign.
- Some highlights:
- Triobrand's Graveyard (level 13): A fun gnome artificer to deal with, plus some randomly nasty consructs.
- Obstacle Course (level 15): A great chance for silly play by play by Halaster while the characters try to advance.
- Crystal Labyrinth (level 16): Fight some gith to make it to an asteroid floating in space around Abeir-Toril called Stardock. Great way to tie into a Planescape or Spelljammer campaign.
- Caverns of Ooze (level 19): The characters can get a spelljammer! And deal with a Illithid captain! Plus the genies are fun if you are willing to turn their songs into a musical number.
- Mad Wizard's Lair: A satisfying level 20 capstone if you have foreshadowed Halaster, with really cool and interesting treasure.
Why You Should Skip It
- Each level is very disconnected. As a DM you will have to do a lot of work to make a coherent story beyond "Halaster is a mad ass hole". For a lot of DMs and parties this is a major negative.
- A good resource for connecting the adventure is the Dungeon of the Mad Mage Companion resources on DM's Guild. I used them to make the adventures more interconnected. But if you don't want to put in this effort, this adventure won't be for you.
- If you don't like dungeon crawls, don't bother. There are better adventures out there for you.
What You Should Repurpose From It
You can dip in and out of any level in Undermountain. In that way it is a lot like Candlekeep Mysteries and Tales from the Radiant Citadel, except I feel like it is even more portable. Just take a McGuffin, drop it in a level of Undermountain, and create a way in and out. I posted my favorite levels above, but there are quick summaries in the adventure to find what works for you.
If you would like a summary of the adventure level by level, I have made a notion.so database with adventure summaries. You can find the view for this adventure here.
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