'Mirrors of the Abyss' Brings Doom and Death to High Level 'Dungeons & Dragons' Parties

A new Dungeons & Dragons adventure challenges players to survive the ultimate deathtrap created by an insane goddess.

In 1992, Dungeons & Dragons published Monster Mythology, a guide that detailed the gods and myths of various non-human races. One of the gods mentioned in the book was Eshebala, a beautiful and wily foxwoman goddess known for her cunning and use of subtlety and charm to defeat foes rather than brute force. Eshebala was barely more than a footnote in the book, but now she's the center of a fantastic and deadly adventure set in the Abyss.

Ryan Durney and Christopher Rush recently published Mirrors of the Abyss, a new adventure that reinvents Eshebala as a demon lord residing in one of the infinite levels of the Abyss. Eshebala's lair is a classic "meat grinder" of a dungeon, an unforgiving room of traps, monsters, and magic that will leave most parties to pieces. Durney originally designed Mirrors of the Abyss as a "snuff dungeon" that he ran on his birthday as a way to torture players, but it can easily work as a standalone adventure or as the end of a lengthy D&D campaign.

Mirrors of the Abyss is a strange and fantastic adventure, filled with innovative encounters. Within the walls of Eshebala's castle are trees that drop cursed leaves and mirrors containing wrathful ghouls and demons. The worst encounters aren't with the monsters contained inside, but rather the wicked traps that can easily kill a PC with one false step. This is very much an adventure created in the vein of Tomb of Horrors.

In addition to over 100 new monsters and 200 new treasures, Mirrors of the Abyss also contains two new "class shifts." The demonologist and exorcist are basically specializations that wizards or clerics can take, giving them the ability to draw and utilize pentacles found in a Necronomicon that appears in the dungeon. It's a fun specialization made just for this adventure, and it might just help players survive Eshebala's castle a little longer.

Mirrors of the Abyss isn't set up like most 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons adventures, which works both for and against the publication. Durney, an illustrator by trade, filled Mirrors of the Abyss with gorgeous artwork, giving the book a hauntingly beautiful feel. Mirrors of the Abyss uses illustrations of some of the rooms instead of traditional gridded maps, which can be presented to the players to give them an idea of what they're facing. The illustrations and etchings are superior to what you'll find in many third party publications, and it's easy to get lost just flipping through Mirrors of the Abyss and admiring the pictures.

However, the statblocks, traps, and even how the rooms are presented aren't written in the standard format used in official Wizards of the Coast publications. If you're used to reading Dungeons & Dragons adventures a certain way (and even most third party publications stick to Wizards of the Coast's standard format for Fifth Edition books), Mirrors of the Abyss can be a very jarring change. The monsters and traps seem balanced, but the formatting might turn off some who expect adventures a certain way.

Mirrors of the Abyss is a fantastic and cruel adventure perfect for parties looking for a challenge. If you're not afraid of death, convince your DM to give Mirrors of the Abyss a long look.

Mirrors of the Abyss is available for $16.99 on the DMs Guild.