Pools of Darkness (1991)
Pools of Darkness is a 1991 role-playing (rpg) video game made by SSI (Strategic Simulations, Inc.).
Phlan has risen from ruins into a thriving harbor town, and your veteran company returns expecting rest. Ten years of victories against Lord Bane have bought a fragile peace, and that peace breaks fast. This 1991 SSI Gold Box adventure closes the Pool of Radiance saga, carrying high-level AD&D characters far beyond the old streets and into planes where Bane's power runs deepest. Turn-based tactical combat, hand-mapped dungeons, and a party you import from the earlier games define the journey. The stakes climb from a single city to the fate of the Realms themselves.
Quick answers
What is Pools of Darkness about?
Phlan has risen from ruins into a thriving harbor town, and your veteran company returns expecting rest. Ten years of victories against Lord Bane have bought a fragile peace, and that peace breaks fast. This 1991 SSI Gold Box adventure closes the Pool of Radiance saga, carrying high-level AD&D characters far beyond the old streets and into planes where Bane's power runs deepest. Turn-based tactical combat, hand-mapped dungeons, and a party you import from the earlier games define the journey. The stakes climb from a single city to the fate of the Realms themselves.
When was Pools of Darkness released?
Pools of Darkness was released on 31 December 1991.
Who made Pools of Darkness?
Pools of Darkness was made by SSI (Strategic Simulations, Inc.).
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Pools of Darkness in our writing
- Companion guide: Dungeons & Dragons on the PC: From the Gold Box to Baldur's Gate 3
A few thoughts on Pools of Darkness
A fan of this tactical grind should watch Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves for the same reckless-heroes-versus-tyrant energy, then queue The Legend of Vox Machina, whose ragtag party bickers and brawls through dungeons exactly like an imported Gold Box roster. Both keep the AD&D flavor without a single dice roll.
Rules-faithful Dungeons & Dragons CRPGs, from Gold Box to now
Pools of Darkness closes a decade-long AD&D saga by importing high-level characters straight from Pool of Radiance and putting real tabletop rules behind every roll, from turn-based tactics to the exact math of a saving throw. These CRPGs share that same commitment to the rulebook, letting a party's sheet, not a script, decide what happens in a fight.
Tactical d20-style RPGs for players who want the rulebook, not just the theme
Pools of Darkness never lets you forget it is running on a strict ruleset, tracking spell slots, saving throws, and hit dice the same way a Dungeon Master would at a table. These tactical RPGs carry that same rigor into their own systems, rewarding players who read the rulebook as closely as the quest log.
Fantasy stories where heroes get pulled into a stranger world than they bargained for
Phlan's veteran company in Pools of Darkness gets pulled far past the streets they know, into planes where Bane's power runs deeper than any city ever could. These fantasy stories share that same jolt, an ordinary hero or a familiar town giving way to a world with its own rules, its own dangers, and no easy way back.
Modern fantasy adventures built from tabletop roots, on screen and page
Pools of Darkness caps a saga that began with tabletop Dungeons & Dragons rules translated faithfully to a screen of pixels, turn-based combat and all. These modern adventures keep that same lineage alive, whether it is an actual-play campaign turned series, a film built from the game's own lore, or fiction that grew out of tabletop-adjacent fantasy worldbuilding.