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After 8 sessions, we finished the first book of the Night Below an underdark campaign. Book 1, Evils of Haranshire, is—as many others have described—a massive sandbox. However, I believe there is a need for a few adjustments.
The biggest adjustment is anchoring the characters to the plot. To do this properly, I had to read the adventure in its entirety to get a complete overview. This in itself is a challenge with such a massive module. I actually had to use several other resources to break down the sheer volume of information and gain that overview. There were several good options on YouTube; I'd like to mention RPGLoremaster and Bud's RPG review. Both of these summarize the module in a great way that helps you get the big picture. RPGLoremaster, in particular, was a huge help.
I am a big fan of giving characters story arcs rooted in the module. With a few simple tweaks, this becomes a great tool for building engagement and making the players feel like they are a part of the story, not just spectators. Having an overview of the module is crucial if you are going to make your own adaptations. You have to be careful not to make changes that will have major consequences later in the module or alter the story without you realizing it.
I made several major changes, which I will summarize here. The first thing I did was give the players a "one-pager" about Haranshire, the surrounding area, and the villages. I asked them to create characters who either lived in or came from the area. This was simply to anchor their sense of belonging, giving them something to roleplay as a way to build a connection to the fate of the region. This requires some work, as you have to tie the characters and their backgrounds to the village and its inhabitants. I could either create entirely new families or tie them to already established NPCs. I chose to do both:
Cedric (Paladin of Lathander): The only son of a family from Milborne who had moved to Waterdeep to establish a trade route and a trading hub in the city on behalf of Haranshire and Milborne. Cedric moved from Milborne as a 5-year-old and thus has no connection to Haranshire beyond his heritage. Cedric is the group's connection to the larger outside world—the part of the realm that could also suffer the consequences if the party fails to defeat the darkness in the depths.
Bergylus (the Rogue): A gnome from Thurmaster. Since two players chose to roll gnomes, I created a gnome warden in Thurmaster—just some rough concepts that were easy to adapt and improvise around as needed. Bergylus became one of the crucial anchor points in Book 1.
Jelenneth: I changed Jelenneth from a human to a gnome wizard and an apprentice of Thaster. Additionally, I made her Bergylus's girlfriend to create a strong motivation for action when she vanished without a trace. I will come back to this more later.
Elmrin (the Peasant Hero): The son of the blacksmith in Milborne. Here, I simply inserted him into an existing location in the town: Carman's Smithy. I changed it from being Carman's to being Elmrin's family's forge. Furthermore, I aged up Elmrin's father so that he needed two journeyman blacksmiths to help out in the forge. This alteration didn't cause any major disruptions to the overall story.
Bilfis (the Gnome Wizard): Also an apprentice of Thaster.
In short, all the characters had a connection to the area.
I felt the start of the module was a bit weak, so I added a short starter adventure with a backstory where the party had guarded a caravan to Waterdeep. This way, the characters got to settle in, and they had the opportunity to explore their relationships and the other characters on the journey back to Haranshire. I thought this worked out really well and gave us a natural, solid start to the module. At the same time, it gave me the chance to establish the relationship between Jelenneth and Bergylus properly. I even let Bergylus's player roll Jelenneth's character sheet so he would feel more ownership over the characters.
When running massive, pre-written campaigns like Night Below, how far do you go in altering the core text to fit your party? Do you prefer rewriting existing NPCs or inserting entirely new bloodlines into the lore? Tell me in the comments down below
So, how did this work out, and what were the results of my changes in Book 1 - Evils of Haranshire?
I had read in several places that Night Below is a highly lethal module and that there are many tough encounters throughout Book 1 and beyond. Therefore, I chose to let the players start at level 3. This gave them slightly more resources and abilities. It is a massive shame to spend a lot of time anchoring the players in the module, only for them to die in the first encounter without the resources to be resurrected. When that happens, the connection to the module vanishes, and players quickly become frustrated and demotivated. I am a proponent of long campaigns with ample opportunity for character building and development.
I found that level 3 was a good fit; the characters faced solid resistance in encounters, but were strong enough to survive by the skin of their teeth. I believe that level 1 characters can easily face insurmountable challenges early in the module.
I underestimated the effect of making Jelenneth the girlfriend of one of the characters. It worked exceptionally well, and I am pleased with the result, but finding her became the group's singular, overriding goal. For my part, this meant the group showed little to no interest in other story hooks or adventures that couldn't be directly linked to Jelenneth's disappearance.
Consequently, the party bypassed a large portion of the content. They did not complete:
- The Eelhold
The Patchwork Hills
The New Mire
The Great Rock Dale
The Shrieken Mire
The Halfcut Hills
Goblins of the Ring
This is somewhat of a shame, as there are many great and entertaining adventures in these areas. The group also missed out on XP and loot that could have benefited them later. In retrospect, I wish we had been able to explore more of these adventures. However, I also believe that players' actions must have consequences, and I shouldn't overly dictate where they go or how they act. We will see if skipping these side adventures will yield consequences they must deal with later.
The paradox
Looking back at the dynamics surrounding Jelenneth's disappearance, I realize I created a classic DM paradox for myself. My stated approach was that I "shouldn't overly dictate where they go or how they act," allowing Evils of Haranshire to breathe as an open sandbox. However, the way I structured the plot inadvertently did the exact opposite. By making the primary hook the sudden disappearance of a character's girlfriend, I dropped a ticking clock right in the middle of the sandbox. Logically, no character will take the time to clear out goblins in the Halfcut Hills or explore the Eelhold when their partner's life is on the line and demands urgent action. It wasn't that the players lacked interest in the sandbox; it was my design choice that actively penalized casual exploration. Giving them an intense, high-urgency emotional hook effectively created a linear railroad straight through the open world. An important lesson for next time is that if you want a party to explore a sandbox organically, the initial hooks must have low urgency—such as rumors of lost treasure, local bounties, or general regional threats.
Have you ever accidentally created a 'ticking clock' that ruined a sandbox environment for your players? How do you balance high-stakes character motivations with open-world exploration? Tell me in the comments down below
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| AI generated image of my paradox |
When I realized the sheer driving force behind Bergylus and the search for Jelenneth, I understood that I also needed to allocate time and attention to the other characters. I therefore planned and executed several minor events so they could also get their time in the spotlight:
Cedric: Completed the Kidnapping Moors adventure. I made the pilgrims worshippers of Lathander, turning it into a direct story hook for him.
Elmrin: Had a good deal of roleplaying situations with his father and the forge. I also played on his local ties, creating rumors and stories about him that he overheard at the tavern between events.
Bilfis: The player retired this character before I managed to establish much roleplay for him. However, the player's new character, Drokki of Clangeddin Silverbeard, has already gotten a taste of his own story arc.
Despite the good descriptions and solid structure in Book 1, players will never do exactly what you expect. I experienced several instances where I had to change the location of events or the entry points to adventures to make them fit. Not all the adventures in Book 1 are logically connected or have obvious trigger hooks. I highly recommend either picking a few you want to run and creating clear trigger hooks for the party, so they get a natural start and information about the adventures.
Removing the ticking clock
One of the biggest changes I made in Book 1 was allowing the party to find Jelenneth at the end of the module when they meet the Svirfneblin (deep gnomes). I realized I had to resolve the search for Jelenneth so the group could get the peace of mind to actually enjoy the module and the next chapter of the story. They need to absorb a significant amount of lore and key events in the upcoming book for the narrative to make sense and for the consequences to carry weight. As it stood, the players had a ticking clock hanging over them, which meant they never took a break or explored more than strictly necessary.
My biggest task now will be to motivate the group and establish new story hooks that will push them down into the Underdark to find and defeat the darkness.
For those who have survived running 'Perils of the Underdark', what concrete hooks did you use to push your players underground? How did you prevent the campaign from turning into the infamous 'slog'? Tell me in the comments down below
Short summary
Overall, Book 1 - Evils of Haranshire is a solid module with a strong sandbox feel. In my experience, it is highly entertaining with plenty of room for deep roleplaying and great encounters, but it requires a substantial amount of preparation. In retrospect, I highly recommend several of the strategic steps I took: anchoring the characters geographically, anchoring them relationally, and accepting that you must tweak and alter the written text to create a natural, living story.
It will be very exciting to see how the next chapter unfolds. Book 2 - Perils of the Underdark is notorious for being a "slog" of a module, where many DMs report that campaigns simply run out of steam and die.
Running Night Below Session 8 (AD&D 2e): The End of bok 1- Evils of Haranshire
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