''The Sunless Citadel'' is an

adventure module An adventure is a playable scenario in a tabletop role-playing game. These can be constructed by gamemasters for their players, and are also released by game publishers as pre-made adventure modules. Different types of designs exist, including ...

for the 3rd edition of the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

Plot summary

This 32-page book begins with a two-page introduction. According to the adventure background provided, the plot involves a fortress that became buried under the earth many years ago, and thereafter was referred to as the Sunless Citadel. Inside the core of the citadel the horrible Gulthias Tree grows, cared for by the evil druid known as Belak the Outcast. This Tree bears magical fruit that both gives and steals life, as well as evil creatures known as twig blights. The adventure starts with

player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional Character (arts), character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters tha ...

s hearing rumors about the citadel while staying in the nearby small town of Oakhurst. The majority of the adventure then focuses on the characters exploring the citadel and encountering the malign creatures that have taken up residence within, such as kobolds and goblins. The characters eventually come upon the Twilight Grove and its blighted foliage, where they find the Gulthias Tree and encounter the druid Belak. He explains that the tree grew from a yet-green wooden stake that had been used to kill a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

on that very spot, and the tree accepts humanoids bound to its bole as "supplicants", making the victims completely subservient to its will. A three-page appendix at the back of the book features statistics for all of the creatures encountered in the adventure, as well as three new magic items and the twig blights.

Publication history

The book was published in 2000, and was written by

Bruce R. Cordell Bruce Robert Cordell is an American author of roleplaying games and fantasy novels. He has worked on ''Dungeons & Dragons'' games for Wizards of the Coast. He won the Origins Award for '' Return to the Tomb of Horrors'' and has also won severa ...

, with cover art by Todd Lockwood and interior art by Dennis Cramer. In 2017, Wizards re-released the adventure updated to 5th Edition rules as part of the '' Tales from the Yawning Portal'' collection.

Reception

The reviewer from ''

Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...

'' comments: "Unlike some adventures, this one encourages the GM to award the players experience to advance levels during game play so that they are powerful enough to handle latter encounters." ''Dungeon Master for Dummies'' lists ''The Sunless Citadel'' as one of the ten best 3rd edition adventures.

Reviews

*''Backstab'' #24

References

Cordell, Bruce R Bruce Robert Cordell is an American author of roleplaying games and fantasy novels. He has worked on ''Dungeons & Dragons'' games for Wizards of the Coast. He won the Origins Award for ''Return to the Tomb of Horrors'' and has also won several E ...

. ''The Sunless Citadel'' (

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (WotC or Wizards) is an American game Publishing, publisher, most of which are based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science-fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail game stores. In 1999, toy ...

, 2000) . Dungeons & Dragons modules Role-playing game supplements introduced in 2000 {{D&D-stub