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carolyn
Acolyte
1 Posts |
 Posted - 30 Apr 2020 : 02:51:53
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I am at a loss when considering the Yawning Portal and numerous maps and dungeons. I know this is said to be a mega-dungeon but nowhere I can find a clear way to approach it in a logical, exhaustive and clear manner. I understood there is a "before" the spell plague and "after". The map "before" seems mainly blank and big. The "after" map seems smaller but filled. How can I get both? My idea is to get the "before" running nice, then suddenly, while the heroes explore, violently the crack appears on the West of the Yawning Portal entry, in level 1 of the dungeon, thus activating the "after" map. Can point me to the right direction to solve my problem?
Mod edit: Found this one floating in the ethers.
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Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 30 Apr 2020 05:12:19
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36877 Posts |
Posted - 30 Apr 2020 : 05:24:18
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The after map is actually just a small subset of the before map -- I saw a website somewhere that lined them up. The newer map was the same scale, it was just like 1/6th of the original.
As for how to get both... Buy both. The original Ruins of Undermountain boxed set can be found on eBay and likely on Nobleknight.com, or you could buy the pdf from DriveThruRpg.com.
The more recent adventure does have a mechanism for keeping the PCs in one area until they're ready to proceed to the next.... But in my opinion, it's clumsy, barely avoids railroading, and just craps all over prior lore.
That said, there are other ways to do it. The angle I would likely take would be to decide what areas I want accessible, and then put a variety of obstacles in the way in other directions. I wouldn't do it the way the recent adventure does it, though... Maybe there's a magic door in this direction, or just some tricky challenge, and figuring out how to get past it will be a major challenge. Maybe in this other direction, there's been a recent cave-in. Sure, they could take the time to dig through it... But they're going to be sitting there for a couple of days, doing it, and their efforts will not go unnoticed. Maybe in this third direction there is some enemy they cannot defeat at their current level -- but that enemy is willing to grant safe passage, in exchange for something the PCs will have to do or get elsewhere... Another potential way to keep them from going too far astray is to give them some other reason to stay in one area -- maybe one PC is trying to retrieve some heirloom, and it's in the clutches of one faction -- but another faction is willing to work with the PCs, with a plan to defeat the first faction -- a plan that will take several sessions.
I cannot strongly enough recommend getting the original Ruins of Undermountain boxed set. It's got the most info on Undermountain and a lot of tips on running it.
Oh, and don't sweat the maps too much. Undermountain changes a lot, and despite the amount of info we do have, we've barely touched it. I'd further recommend this site: http://www.paratime.ca/friday.html
It's a bunch of free maps from the guy that did the maps for the recent Undermountain book. |
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Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 30 Apr 2020 05:28:18 |
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Copper Elven Vampire
Master of Realmslore
1078 Posts |
Posted - 02 May 2020 : 05:32:48
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I would start the game with a Cleric, a fighter type, rogue type, Sorcerer type and some form of woodland badass. Like a ranger, Scout or Druid.
I would play any subrace of elf...
But mostly I'd love to play a Quickling, a Redcap, or a Alpha Pixie.
Alignment never meant much to me as I've always leaned towards the roguish side of things in real life. So in game terms, evil and good are but two coins in a monopoly of chaos.
Trick the Lawful, good and bad. Prank the aweful. Glad and sad. |
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Undermountain: where to start?
