| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Kusghuul |
Posted - 01 Mar 2014 : 14:47:09
I'm DMing a campaign where the players have to go into the Night Below to search for a specific tomb. I'm wondering how much information is available about the Underdark without going there? How to get there, what lies below, dangers there etc. |
| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| thenightgaunt |
Posted - 15 Mar 2014 : 01:19:36
quote:
Originally posted by The Arcanamach
You know this just brought something to mind. Nowadays folks (players, not PCs) know too much about the Underdark and its denizens. It needs to be kept mysterious and dangerous...dangerous as in a total nightmare for any surfacer traveling there. Resources are scarce, lighting is always an issue, natural dangers are ever present. And then you have strange and powerful monsters, not to mention the drow, derro, etc.
I would say the information available should be sparse. Unless they go to a sage well versed in the subject...and even that shouldn't be enough to fully prepare them. There should be a great deal of rumor and 'dark tales' that look (to the players) like superstitious 'wives tales' but the reality should, in fact, be much MUCH worse. Just my two coppers.
I agree. It works best as a mysterious place of darkness and evil under the earth. Home to dark beasts and ancient evils that slither through great caverns and twisting tunnels. Each deep cave would hold a risk of danger and terror. A sinkhole would be proof that the evil below is intent on committing evil acts upon the innocent surface folk.
Heck, throw some H.P. Lovecraft atmosphere on it. Players should fear the dark, not march proudly into it's depths. |
| Kusghuul |
Posted - 14 Mar 2014 : 23:19:29
I've made the players aware a TPK is possible - they have to realise they're in danger, but that I won't throw anything at them they can't handle. This has made them prepare PROPERLY;p |
| Kentinal |
Posted - 12 Mar 2014 : 21:18:45
Dark cloaker, all sorts of things are possible. Just remember the party is not to be killed just on a steep learning curve on how to survive down there. Of course PCs errors, bad dice still might result in death. Error can be fatal. |
| Kusghuul |
Posted - 12 Mar 2014 : 20:19:20
The adventurers freed a goblin from the Mines of Tethkel to be their guide through the upper reaches. They were considering a duergar they had captured, but after he attempted to escape using invisibility and enlarge person, they decided the goblin was a safer choice. So far they've found slaughtered duergar and had a very brief fight with drow. The players know about the drow and the duergar OOC, so I thought I'd introduce them asap; however, they don't know about the other things hidden in the deep, so I've done it how the Archanamach suggested. They stocked up on waterskins, food etc, but are still going to eventually run out if they aren't careful, which is where things are gonna get interesting! |
| MisterX |
Posted - 09 Mar 2014 : 20:44:49
Take "The Arcanamach"'s coppers and treat them as if they were platinum coins. He just hits it. ;)
Actually, I run a Drow campaign (lower mid-levels at the moments) and my players are very reluctant to enter "the wilds" outside the (relatively) safe city. Even the races below tend not to know their environs too exact – provided, they are the "normal" kind of denizens and not some high-powered boss-monsters. ;) |
| The Arcanamach |
Posted - 01 Mar 2014 : 23:53:35
You know this just brought something to mind. Nowadays folks (players, not PCs) know too much about the Underdark and its denizens. It needs to be kept mysterious and dangerous...dangerous as in a total nightmare for any surfacer traveling there. Resources are scarce, lighting is always an issue, natural dangers are ever present. And then you have strange and powerful monsters, not to mention the drow, derro, etc.
I would say the information available should be sparse. Unless they go to a sage well versed in the subject...and even that shouldn't be enough to fully prepare them. There should be a great deal of rumor and 'dark tales' that look (to the players) like superstitious 'wives tales' but the reality should, in fact, be much MUCH worse. Just my two coppers. |
| Kusghuul |
Posted - 01 Mar 2014 : 17:24:32
Cheers for the reply!
Essentially, the characters have just been told that it's in the Underdark and not much about the exact place. The poor party just know the mage travelled into the Night Below with the Ghost Key, a key the need to unveil a hidden Raumathari tower which contains an item they need. |
| Kentinal |
Posted - 01 Mar 2014 : 17:14:51
There would be very little sure knowledge of any that have not been in the underdark.
The NPC sending them on the Quest should however provide information about where the tomb is reported to be, the information could be legend and not fully factual. Clearly there should be at least one tunnel that is known of believed to lead to the underdark.
Other then that known dangers would be tales, reports from any that survived a visit type of thing. Someone with Knowledge (underdark) skill would have a more acurate information about the dangers and nature of the underdark.
Known monsters to appear from the dark clearly would be known by the locals, of creatures (if any) that have made raids in the neighborhood.
In part it depends on how much the PCs have study and how much NPCs can tell.
General Knowledge might include some of the common hazards, the darkness, that the tunnels twist and keeping sense of direction is very hard, that many creatures do not need light to see and often will attack those carrying light sources as intruders.
There is no one answer that one can offer because it depends how much is common knowledge in your campaign. If many NPCs went into the underdark and returned the level of knowledge available is greater, if many or few went into the underdark and few to none returned, far less will be known except that going there is high risk of never returning. |
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