| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Crimson_King_of_the_Tower |
Posted - 14 Jul 2013 : 06:09:33
Hey all its been a while since ive posted here but i have been working on my campaign and im doing a quest where my Pc's are going to investigate why the cisterns in a city have run dry. Turns out an aboleth was having its slaves dig some more tunnels and caves and they accidentally tunneled into the sewer and blocked the water flow. Ive got the monsters for the cavern portion figured out but my question is other than rats and otyughs what creatures would work well in and call a sewer its home? Thanks all in advance. |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| ksu_bond |
Posted - 13 Aug 2013 : 06:06:52
Brilliant idea Markus...I'll have to add this one to my encounter notes :) |
| Veritas |
Posted - 13 Aug 2013 : 04:58:49
Back in the days of the original Neverwinter Nights (DOS based AOL game), there was a sewer map guarded by iron and stone golems. I don't think it would be out of place for a "lost" golem or two to be reactivated by some PCs sticking their noses where they shouldn't be and give them a surprise. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 27 Jul 2013 : 01:17:24
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
I am seriously considering a furry little, man-like sewer beast - Munsters. The thing would be covered with filthy, shaggy fur, be about 2' tall, and have a mouth full of fangs (similar to Pathfinder's Goblins), and its preferred living space (in urban areas) would be sewers. My assumption here is that these things were native to Kara-Tur, and have been brought into Faer�n by settling Shou (not on purpose - they tend to stow-away in dirty places). I am thinking they were some type of Unseelie Fey swamp-dwellers that have since evolved as humans spread into their lands (which would probably have been Malatra/Southern K-T).
And, of course, some would be found lurking in garbage cans in the city above.. and be quite grouchy when 'discovered'. 
I'd rename them so you don't get jokes referring to the TV show. I like the idea, though.  |
| Markustay |
Posted - 27 Jul 2013 : 00:58:42
I am seriously considering a furry little, man-like sewer beast - Munsters. The thing would be covered with filthy, shaggy fur, be about 2' tall, and have a mouth full of fangs (similar to Pathfinder's Goblins), and its preferred living space (in urban areas) would be sewers. My assumption here is that these things were native to Kara-Tur, and have been brought into Faer�n by settling Shou (not on purpose - they tend to stow-away in dirty places). I am thinking they were some type of Unseelie Fey swamp-dwellers that have since evolved as humans spread into their lands (which would probably have been Malatra/Southern K-T).
And, of course, some would be found lurking in garbage cans in the city above.. and be quite grouchy when 'discovered'. |
| Kris the Grey |
Posted - 26 Jul 2013 : 02:59:02
Ayrik,
Kobolds are indeed fun by the ton. My favorite adventure featuring particularly deadly kobolds (with all sorts of tricks to enhance their lethality) was Dragon Mountain (a 2E romp set in a generic fantasy world). |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 25 Jul 2013 : 23:58:18
Kobolds! Ye can never have too many kobolds. These pesky little vermin can be surprisingly dangerous in large numbers, especially within prepared defensive positions. They like traps and ambushes and are cunning enough to use terrain and sewer slime and bigger monsters to some advantage. Sometimes they might have access to shaman/priest sorts or a decent magical item. They can be found anywhere and wherever they go some half-important human organization will consider them a nuisance which disposable adventurers need to remove. Most importantly, kobolds can be a suitable challenge for characters of all levels and powerful PCs are utterly humiliated by any defeat they may suffer at kobold hands.
And oh, large concentrations of kobolds can always indicate the presence of a nice red dragon or army of goblin overseers or something. |
| Copper Elven Vampire |
Posted - 24 Jul 2013 : 12:23:43
Tren... deff Tren assassins!! |
| BadCatMan |
Posted - 19 Jul 2013 : 02:52:43
Another thing you can find under a city are buried, built-over rivers, like those of London:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subterranean_rivers_of_London
Some are incorporated into the sewage system, such as the Effra and Counter's Creek.
It could be possible to cross easily from a sewer ecology to a subterranean ecology and a different sort of beast.
The aboleth and its minions might not have even tunnelled into the sewers, only diverted an apparently disused river and inadvertently drained or blocked up part of the sewers. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 19 Jul 2013 : 02:23:52
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Ghaunadans were from the City of Splendors boxed set. I don't recall if they were printed in other sources.
The only other source I can recall at the moment, was Steven Schend's write-up for the "Mysterious Level Four of Undermountain," that should still be available via the Web Archive.
I'm drawing a blank on that one, and a Google search just turned up a lot of references to the first boxed set...
I'll dig out the file and check it over. I do recall there wasn't much in the way of specific references, but I do remember it being a worthwhile source for another perspective on Ghaunadans. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 17 Jul 2013 : 18:08:23
There is also the fact that city planning is often a haphazard affair. Sewers are frequently dug as needed, and will be expanded whenever there is a need to expand them. But then, as the city continues to grow, older buildings will frequently be destroyed or expanded, the courses of streets may change, areas of the city may be abandoned after plagues or war... So no matter the current layout of the city, it's easily possible to have sections of the sewers that have no obvious relationship to the layout of the city above.
Add in people making their own connections and modifications, for a variety of reasons (not always illegal), and you could have quite the maze under a city. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 17 Jul 2013 : 13:50:52
'Sewers larger then they ought to be' is a trope, but FR is one of the few settings where this makes sense: nearly every single settlement is built on top of (the ruins of) an earlier settlement, and in most cases, multiple settlements.
That means the sewers aren't just sewers - there are huge swaths of them that are actual ruins (in our lingo, Dungeons). In fact, its entirely possible for a sewer system in FR to more extensive then the settlement above it (for instance, Secomber would be ripe for this). |
| TBeholder |
Posted - 17 Jul 2013 : 12:36:53
Stirges.
quote:
Originally posted by Kno
Baby alligators in the sewers grow up fast
Somethings will never wash away
Aww... Poor little screechy clothespins.  |
| Crimson_King_of_the_Tower |
Posted - 16 Jul 2013 : 23:50:50
@xaeyruudh theyre great ideas and it gives me a great way to justify a system big enough for the 3 factions and i found the Ghaunadan it was in the MC annual 2 and the entry sounds awesome once i get the module more fleshed out i will post some of it here so you can see what all your ideas went towards :D |
| xaeyruudh |
Posted - 16 Jul 2013 : 15:48:58
Don't forget the MC Annuals. I'm housesitting and don't have them with me, so I don't know for sure what was in them.
There are (at least) a couple of ways to justify having a big system of sewers and caves underneath a small town. One is that the town could have been built (either knowingly or unwittingly) on the ruins of an older and much larger city. Another reason for caves is someone deciding to dig a secret hideyhole, a lab for making magic items or spell research or poisons or drugs, a mine, or (for the truly ambitious and insane) an entrance to the Underdark. Perhaps there is an old dwarven hold deep beneath that particular spot, or maybe the legends were misinterpreted but someone went digging for it anyway.
Whatever the reason, a determined but disorganized spelunking mission conducted over several decades, utilizing umber hulks or elementals or dwarves or dao or xorn, could have resulted in a huge series of caves, natural caverns and chasms, winding tunnels, pits, air shafts, etc... with a wide variety of compositions and conditions. Maybe part of it is the sewer system created long ago by an old city, or maybe it's just a tiny sewer but the muck is draining into the surrounding tunnels and caves and creating sewer-like conditions. The latter situation is much more dangerous for explorers due to uneven floors, cracks that have been claimed as lairs by various creatures, and rock-turning-to-sand, which they wouldn't have to deal with in a professionally planned and built sewer.
The vastness of this system helps explain a variety of creatures inhabiting it. Perhaps the population below-ground is larger than the one in the town above. Woe betide men, if one side of the hidden war should gain dominance and boil forth from the earth for food, slaves, and supplies...
Just ideas. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 16 Jul 2013 : 05:22:58
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Ghaunadans were from the City of Splendors boxed set. I don't recall if they were printed in other sources.
The only other source I can recall at the moment, was Steven Schend's write-up for the "Mysterious Level Four of Undermountain," that should still be available via the Web Archive.
I'm drawing a blank on that one, and a Google search just turned up a lot of references to the first boxed set... |
| The Sage |
Posted - 16 Jul 2013 : 03:23:47
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Ghaunadans were from the City of Splendors boxed set. I don't recall if they were printed in other sources.
The only other source I can recall at the moment, was Steven Schend's write-up for the "Mysterious Level Four of Undermountain," that should still be available via the Web Archive. |
| Crimson_King_of_the_Tower |
Posted - 15 Jul 2013 : 23:08:04
ok awesome i found them i think i want to do the 3 factions doppelgangers, oozes/Ghaunadan, and wererats although the city isnt as big as Waterdeep its only about 700'x650' i might be able to get an extensively sized sewer system in that though. Im really looking forward to designing this dungeon |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 15 Jul 2013 : 23:01:07
Ghaunadans were from the City of Splendors boxed set. I don't recall if they were printed in other sources. |
| Crimson_King_of_the_Tower |
Posted - 15 Jul 2013 : 22:02:53
That sounds pretty interesting is there a 2nd ed monster manual i can find them in i have ALL of them i just need to know where to look lol |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 15 Jul 2013 : 21:41:28
quote:
Originally posted by xaeyruudh
quote:
Originally posted by BadCatMan
I once ran into a gelatinous cube placed in some sewers to keep them clean. It was lemon-scented too. :)
Ghaunadans! They could be fighting the doppelgangers and wererats for control, in a silent struggle of attrition by assassination.
Connection to the aboleths: maybe none, or maybe not. But at the very least they provide hooks that can distract PCs and deplete their resources.
Oooh, I like the idea of the ghaunadans being mixed into there! I'd forgotten them, and they are a favorite bunch. |
| xaeyruudh |
Posted - 15 Jul 2013 : 20:38:33
quote:
Originally posted by BadCatMan
I once ran into a gelatinous cube placed in some sewers to keep them clean. It was lemon-scented too. :)
Ghaunadans! They could be fighting the doppelgangers and wererats for control, in a silent struggle of attrition by assassination.
Connection to the aboleths: maybe none, or maybe not. But at the very least they provide hooks that can distract PCs and deplete their resources. |
| Crimson_King_of_the_Tower |
Posted - 15 Jul 2013 : 19:28:01
These are all great ideas and i didnt even realize i had more than one book of lairs i think what im going to do is make the sewers a wererat lair along with some carrion crawlers and ghouls and a few other things and then if they explore into the aboleth section he will have a tribe of troglodytes under his command for the Pc's to deal with thank you for ALL the awesome ideas |
| Kris the Grey |
Posted - 15 Jul 2013 : 04:19:13
CKotT,
2E is the way to go (in my humble opinion). You might check the Book of Lairs or the Book of Lairs II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Lairs) which I recall had some good sewer encounters as well. I know there are good wererat 'tribe' details in at least one 2E era Dungeon magazine, I just forget which one! |
| The Sage |
Posted - 15 Jul 2013 : 03:57:25
A decent guide on this matter, for me at least, has been what the party of adventures find in the sewers and beneath the streets of Waterdeep, in the Eye of the Beholder CRPG.
I know it's an old computer game, but, really, many of the smaller critters and creatures found plaguing sections of the sewers in that game, can form a worthwhile compendium on what DM's can use to populate the sewers of their own tabletop games. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 14 Jul 2013 : 20:29:28
I've heard in some settings, sewers are infested with giant Turtle-folk (Tortles). 
On the serious side, IIRC, Waterdeep's sewers had a bunch of dopplegangers. I suppose the same could be true for any major settlement in The Realms.
Dopplegangers all posing as the city's sewer-workers could be fun (and could have been doing so for years). |
| MisterX |
Posted - 14 Jul 2013 : 19:51:29
Meazels (Monsters of Faerûn, 3.5e) are humanoids living in sewers. Maybe it's possible to adjust the numbers to AD&D 2nd. ;)
Edit: I just encountered "Salizarr the Maezel" in another Thread regarding the Ravenloft-Setting. As far as I remember (!) Ravenloft was never officially upgraded to 3e, so there might be rules for Meazel under AD&D without manual conversion. Just check (and maybe report back here… ;) ). |
| Crimson_King_of_the_Tower |
Posted - 14 Jul 2013 : 17:41:31
Those are all AWESOME suggestions and will probably use them all lol, and im using 2nd ed AD&D im running The North boxed set and the sewers they will be in are the ones below Daggerford thanks to all the suggestions it will make for a GREAT section in the campaign |
| Kris the Grey |
Posted - 14 Jul 2013 : 17:23:55
I'll echo Wooly's suggestion about wererats. Being human(oid) they allow for all sorts of level and class customization (or none if you prefer) and, played properly, they will fool your PCs into thinking they are the 'big bad' instead of your Aboleth. What system are you running? |
| Kno |
Posted - 14 Jul 2013 : 16:31:13
Baby alligators in the sewers grow up fast
Somethings will never wash away
Gulguthydra
|
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 14 Jul 2013 : 14:49:39
Wererats. Sewyrms. Really, really gross undead. Dire rats. Giant insects.
And the ever-popular alligators. |
