Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage Review
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Looking for a massive dungeon crawl that scopes the entire module of a campaign? Waterdeep Dungeon of the Mad Mage has you covered. This 23 level deep dungeon is guaranteed to give players their fill from cover to cover with Dungeoneering goodness.
Dungeon of the Mad Mage is the sequel to the Waterdeep Dragon Heist adventure module for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Though players do not need to complete Dragon Heist to go through this module, they may still need to level up to a state where they can start this campaign module as Dungeon of the Mad Mage starts players at level 5 and is designed to take players to level 20.
The Difference Between Dragon Heist and Dungeon of the Mad Mage
The first thing that I need to point out here is that if players really enjoyed the gameplay style of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, they may not be as interested in the mega dungeon crawl. The tone between the two adventures despite being a part of a series, is VERY different.
But if players do like having a varied playing experience, Waterdeep Dragon Heist is still a good option as Dungeon of the Mad Mage takes awhile to complete in comparison to Dragon Heist due to one behaving like a heist film with role playing aspects galore while the other is a mega dungeon romp.
One alternative suggestion to getting the players up to the level they need aside from just starting them at level 5 is to run Sunless Citadel from Tales from the Yawning Portal, a tweaked and updated 5th edition version of the classic Sunless Citadel module originally released in 3rd edition.
There are other adventures to run as well that could get the job done to further the leveling process like the sequel to Sunless Citadel and The Forge of Fury, which will take characters from level 3-5 and is the second adventure in the Tales from the Yawning Portal book.
Players will enter the dungeon in Undermountain by visiting the Yawning Portal Inn. From there they have the opportunity to meet past characters from the series so far.
What is in Dungeon of the Mad Mage?
Dungeon of the Mad Mage has the unique feature of each floor of the mega dungeon having a different theme. Since there are 23 floors, pulling this off was actually very impressive.
Players as they descend through the dungeons will experience different cultures and factions from floor to floor. With small story points spread throughout the dungeon.
Once players descend to the end of the dungeon though they will have the opportunity to fight or even join the Mad Mage himself Halaster Blackcloak.
The Maps In Dungeons of the Mad Mage
I have issues with the maps in Dungeons of the Mad Mage. When it comes to a dungeon specific module. I feel the need as a Dungeon Master running the game to have a little more visualization on the maps that the players will be finding themselves traversing.
Along with the missing read aloud text for this entire campaign setting, it can make describing every single new floor hard. Especially because I have to re learn what a floor is to be looking like 23 separate times!
If there was even just color added to the maps or just more detail of what each piece represents that would satisfy me as a dungeon master.
The maps are not all bad though, I found that they were easy to draw out with my whiteboard marker onto our table as the floor progresses without interrupting the game as each room because there is so little detail on each map that it takes only a couple seconds to draw out.
The Art in Dungeon of the Mad Mage
Because this module is so tightly packed with content, there is little to no room for art to be in this book. I would go as far as to say that on top of the black and white minimalist maps and the scarcity of the art makes this easily the most boring adventure module to look at.
With that being said however, what you get in exchange for the art and the maps is a ton of content that would otherwise not fit in the pages. There is no wasted space in this book from cover to cover. It might just be good to have other books on hand to show the art of creatures players will be fighting is all.
Is Dungeon of the Mad Mage Hard?
Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage came across as difficult at times to player groups, my own included in the fact that each of the floors has a recommended level for the player group to be at when they start exploring.
If I was running the game, I would have just created story based leveling with each floor passed resulting in a level gained. However, as a player I wasn't able to control that mechanic and found our group a couple times struggling heavily in battles. Or suffering badly from traps.
The puzzles and traps in the dungeon are pretty varied and elaborate at times which is really fun to go through. So for dungeon exploring enthusiasts, this is great! But if you have not played this style of Dungeons & Dragons, it can get frustrating to check much more for traps and think hard about some of the puzzles in the dungeon.
I found the final battle in the campaign to be a little lackluster was well. It could just be that because there were so many sessions leading up to this fight that the final battle couldn’t deliver regardless of what my expectations were.
I expect that Halaster Blackcloak might be difficult to run as a boss character based on the stat block that he has in the back of the book, but as I was a player and not a Dungeon Master I cannot say for sure.
Skullport in Dungeon of the Mad Mage
Skullport is a town inside the dungeon that acts almost like a hub town for the game. It can be accessed from several levels throughout the campaign itself and makes for a really fun town to be in. I got the feeling that this was almost a pirate cove deep in the Undermountain that is full of bandits and swindlers.
This area was used as a good way for our player group to take long rests and stock back up on items before going back out and adventuring deeper.
There are also some hazards that exist in the town however such as the flaming skulls. So even this town in Undermountain can not be totally relied on as a safe location.
Is Dungeon of the Mad Mage Good?
This question comes down to the type of players your group is. This campaign will be lengthy, it will still feel like a dungeon crawl basically from one end of the book to the other regardless of whatever else someone tells you.
Wizards of the Coast attempted to add role play aspects to each of these floors to varying degrees of success, but I found that our group really were just focused on getting from one floor to the next. A theme that becomes hard to break after even the first couple floors.
If your a player that does not like the dungeon crawl experience and prefer the more role play and travel aspect of the game you will NOT like this campaign setting and due to the length of it, will likely not make it to the other end and quit the campaign before getting there.
If your group is committed to running through a mega dungeon and are excited to do so, then this module is a blast. The floors vary just enough to keep things fresh from floor to floor and it does actually have a sense of accomplishment and progression with each passing floor.
It was also really cool to compare my character from the beginning of the dungeon towards the end when the entire group was substantially more powerful and the traps would have insta killed if we had attempted too early.
For dungeon crawling enthusiasts this is great, the end pays off well, but for other group types, this might just be a pass.
Should you buy Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage?
I hope that you found this review helpful. At the end of the day, If I was a dungeon master, this book might be worth it to just use for the puzzles and traps on dungeon floors in completely separate campaigns. Since there are so many floors, many of them can be pulled out and slightly modified for whatever homebrew game or prewritten campaign being run at your table.
If you are looking for a dungeon crawl that is not as lengthy, I still recommend picking up Tales from the Yawning Portal as it contains many smaller dungeons that are perfect to explore across a more varied level set.
But this book is a mega dungeon group's dream and if that describes your group, pick it up and start running it, it will be a great time.
