Dungeons & Dragons: Into the Unknown
Into the Unknown is an epic fantasy supplement for Dungeons & Dragons written by Logan Bonner, Matt James, and Jeff Morgenroth and published by Wizards of the Coast.
By Aaron T. Huss
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Dungeons and Dragons, think about the name and what it means. The name brings about images of delving into dungeons, fighting dragons. Into the Unknown embraces that image. Oddly subtitled The Dungeon Survival Handbook, Into the Unknown is a miss-mash of content for players, characters, and Dungeon Masters. While only part of the book could be classified as a Dungeon Survival Handbook, it can all be classified as a guide to dungeons and the underdark (themes that are well-known in the Dungeons & Dragons gaming universe).
CONTENT
I have always been a firm believer that Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition embraces the idea of dungeon (or cave) delving, pushing the characters on with much disregard. There are mechanics that harbor that drive to keep going in the form of action points, at-will powers, encounter powers, and any piece of equipment that gets stronger as you hit more milestones. Into the Unknown is one of the first books I’ve seen that brings those concepts to the forefront more than anything else within the book.
Into the Unknown is broken into three chapters starting with Dungeon Delvers. Dungeon Delvers is the character-oriented chapter that includes new options for building characters that are “designed” for dungeon and cave delving. This includes new races (Goblin, Kobold, and Svirfneblin) and new character themes and powers that are oriented toward this type of game play. These are the mechanics you would want to better survive these types of adventures or to better flavor your character for these types of adventures.
Strive to Survive is a player-oriented chapter that describes what adventures in dungeons, caves, and the underdark are like. This is a way to familiarize yourself with what you may expect to have thrown at your character to avoid surprise. You can think of it as a research tome your characters should not be without before delving into the depths. It is primarily written as fluff-oriented source material and designed to give the players (and their characters) a better idea of what to expect when adventuring Into the Unknown (which really supports the title of the book). While this entire chapter seems empty on the surface, it has a lot of excellent ideas, tips, and tactics that can create an awesome and flavorful experience during these adventures.
Master of the Dungeon is the DM-oriented chapter similar in form to Strive to Survive, but for the DM’s eyes only. This chapter presents the DM with ideas, tips, tactics, and tables for creating a memorable dungeon/cave/underdark adventure or campaign. This isn’t a map construction tool, this chapter is designed to provide the flavor and direction of the adventure, not the actual map of the layout.
OVERALL
Into the Unknown truly embraces the Dungeon theme of Dungeons & Dragons and provides a high amount of excellent content for adventures and campaigns that reach into dungeons, caves, and the underdark. It’s really only good for these types of adventure and campaigns, but then that’s what its designed for. If you are planning to go underground, you may want to be properly prepared; Into the Unknown has that preparation material.
RATINGS
Publication Quality: 10 out of 10
As one would expect from a Wizards of the Coast book, Into the Unknown is a beautiful book. The layout and formatting flows very well, but more importantly the art is truly phenomenal. This book follows the same publication format as other Dungeons & Dragons books I’ve seen, so there’s very little else to note.
Mechanics: 7 out of 10
I like the new options for creating dungeon delving characters, especially the new races. However, although found elsewhere, I feel the Drow and Duergar character races should be a part of Into the Unknown as they are such a big part of the underdark. Yes the book is providing new character creation options and yes it is embracing the dungeon theme, but to not include those iconic races in THIS book (regardless if they appear elsewhere) is a big gap in my opinion. Especially since they are referenced heavily from the DMs perspective. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that the book is filled with content that does not have mechanics and much of it is fluff-oriented for flavoring your dungeon and creating a more memorable adventuring experience.
Value Add: 8 out of 10
Into the Unknown has a very specific purpose: provide new options and create a better adventure for the times when you venture underground. With that in mind, it does a very good job of embracing that aspect, especially in terms of making your adventures more flavorful. It’s a very valuable book for those who have never run this type of adventure or for those who have never played in this type of adventure. For the veteran, a lot of it will already be known, but you can still use it to make your player’s experience more memorable. It’s a definite book for the novice delver and a good reference book for the veteran delver.
Overall: 8 out of 10
Into the Unknown is a excellent book for the dungeon, cave, and underdark delve. There is lots of valuable information that can be applied in a number of ways and truly provides content to enhance your gaming experience. Part of the value of the book comes from how the mechanics are explained in regards to dungeon delving. Into the Unknown takes a lot of the core mechanics of 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons and attempts to expand upon them with a focus upon these dungeon delves. It’s a book that focuses on many aspects of the game’s mechanics, all focused upon the experience that is delving underground.
