Dungeon Survival Guide

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The Dungeon(eer's) Survival Guide is a quasi-splatbook released by TSR-then-Wizards of the Coast for Dungeons & Dragons. It's a purely fluff-centric book, and is thusly technically edition-neutral, similarly to such splatbooks as Elminster's Forgotten Realms, Grand History of the Realms or Menzoberranzan: City of Intrigue.

Douglas Niles' original 1986 "Dungeoneer's Survival Guide" assumed first edition. The 2007 "Dungeon Survival Guide" remake assumes Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition, most notably by having "in universe" flavored sidebars narrated by various 3e iconic characters.

This splatbook is an informative guideline to the concept of Dungeons; it covers, in brief, the basic concept, essential gear for the would-be dungeon-delving adventurer, a basic analysis of different dungeon environments, a summary of dungeon hazards (from monsters and traps to other environmental nastiness), and the kinds of treasure that dungeon-delving can produce.

Niles' original brought Proficiencies into this game. The critics considered this a much more useful splatbook than - say - Unearthed Arcana.

Niles' book had a DM section, detailing how the Underdark came to be and the mutual interactions of those civilisations down-under. Much of it was a sketch of a sample Underdark, the "Deepearth". Lacking a clear theme, by contrast with those dungeons noted in 2007, it never caught on as an adventure-setting in its own right. Unless Mines of Bloodstone counts.

The bulk of the 2007 book is taken up with a list of various famous dungeons from throughout D&D's history up until that point, covering each of the following dungeons in brief with a couple of simple survival tips.

The basic idea for this book was taken and reworked in Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition as the Dungeon Survival Handbook, a return to Niles' vision aimed at actual players and Dungeon Masters rather than the "tie-in fiction/infotainment" splatbook we got in 2007.

List of Canonical Dungeons (as of 2007)

• The Underdark
• Castle Greyhawk - specifically referring to 3e's Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk module.
• Castle Ravenloft - specifically referring to 3e's Expedition to Castle Ravenloft module.
• The Caves of Chaos
• The Demonweb Pits - specifically referring to 3e's Expedition to the Demonweb Pits module.
• The Dungeon of the Slave Lords - from A4: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords.
• Firestorm Peak - from The Gates of Firestorm Peak
• The Forge of Fury
• The Ghost Tower of Inverness
• The Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl
• The Hall of the Fire Giant King
• The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan
• The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth
• The Pyramid of Amun-Re - from Pharaoh subsequently re-adapted (twice) in I3-4-5: Desert of Desolation
• Slaughtergarde - from The Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde.
• The Sunless Citadel
• The Temple of Elemental Evil - specifically referring to 3e's Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil module.
• The Tomb of Horrors
• Undermountain - specifically referring to 3e's Expedition to Undermountain module
• White Plume Mountain

We understand Rappan Athuk or, for that matter, Castle Blackmoor not being here, as third-party product. (But where's Night Below?)