As much as I am into Dungeons and Dragons, I have never been the kind of people who idolized everyone in the industry. I did not know who Dave Arneson was until I worked for Blackmoor and still do not remember the third guy outside of Monte and Skip who wrote the 3.5 PHB. I read a dozen D&D adventures a week and could not tell you the writer of many of them.

However, there are three writers whose works have always inspired me and whose names I have etched in my head. I know if their name is on a work, it is going to introduce some interesting new mechanic or awesome story idea I had yet to think of. Nick Logueis one of those names. After all without the Iron Dungeon Master tournament he started, I would not be Iron DM. Wolfgang Baur is the other.

So it bares little surprise that when I heard that Logue was starting his own publishing company, Sinister Adventures, and that Baur was writing some of the first few products, I could barely hold my enthusiasm in getting my hands on the release “Death Beneath the Waves”.

Death Beneath the Waves is an adventurous supplement that tackles one of D&Ds dirty little surprises that most writers and DMs like to ignore, underwater combat. To expand, 3d combat in general is just something that has been so difficult with current and former rules that it many either attempt to fuddle through the current rules using rudimentary ways to track every feet the player is in the air or some just bypass it all together and pretend it’s the same as 2 dimensions. One way is too tedious and the other way is not satisfying enough.

Death Beneath is a severe overachiever considering it only has 4 pages of substance. The first part covers techniques for how to both prepare PCs for underwater combat and how to lure them into it. There is strong advice on thinking outside of the box with both techniques.

The latter part of the PDF introduces the most important part, how to run underwater combats. The PDF simplifies the bookkeeping by introducing a more functional way to keep track of individuals. The rules are so simple that I redesigned an area of my campaign just so I can try it out and it worked. You can even use these same techniques for air combat. It both satisfies the number crunchers and pleases the “I’m just here to role play” guy. The PDF tops off with a draconic dragon very much Asian influenced and gives you a detailed integration of how to create it into a reoccurring creature in your campaign.

For the DM I Love the 3-D combat rules. Its one of those rules that you kind of slap yourself for not thinking of earlier. As a DM always trying to improve my craft, Baur gives really good advice for preparing the party for underwater combat.

The Iron Word: Even if you are not interested in Underwater Combat, Death Beneath the Waves does a terrific job of letting you inside the thinking process of one of the best D&D writers in the game. The simplification concept for handling the bookkeeping of 3-d combat works and the sea dragon provides a nice manageable danger. I could have stood for another 2 or 3 pages as I would liked to have seen more examples. I am anxious to see more following these rules.