Wanted: Adventure containing travel through vast subterranean "lands." Maps, travel rules specifically for underground, random encounter tables, hazards to traverse, locales, wildlife & fauna are all of key interest.
The author is creating an underground campaign that is not the Underdark (it's a new homebrew world instead) but is happy to borrow things that fit. Challenges like vast underground lakes & rivers, volcanic eruptions, dealing with extreme heat & even icy cold areas too. Think Journey to the Center of the Earth, but in a brand new planet with primitive races that the players discover as they start from the interior of the world.
well, first off, if its a whole new world (lol), he should first decide on the races that will be encountered. I think that, for sure, you should have gnomes, because they are dwellers of the deep. Then, you should have extremely rare pockets of mind flayers, that may or may not be friendly. Kobolds would be a good option, whether you go for the dragon-kin type that dnd has or if you use the ratmen that World of Warcraft has. Then Drow would make a good choice, followed by roving bands of orc and half-orc hunting parties that have come down from the next layer up. And finally, it wouldn't be the underground without dwarves. for the next race, the various goblinoid races would be cool, except have the goblins be at odds with the hobgoblins and bugbears, and seek shelter with a stronger race in return for manual labor. and finally, humans, who wandered down here from the surface world millenia ago, and have now completely forgotten about it, except in myth and legend.
For monsters, you should go for giant spiders, giant moles, drakes (wingless dragons the size of a horse that can barely breathe fire), and stuff that would be found underground. Also, these ones in particular, along with giant lizards, can be used as the prefered mounts of the local races.
For challenges, one i can think of would be the exploration of an abandoned ruin that fills a giant cavern... except... Said ruin is the nest of a giant spider colony, with the spider queen being of huge size or bigger and making her home right in the only place with any treasure at all (which changes based on the type of ruin. if its a castle type, then she'd be in the treasury). Another thing could be a journey over a vast plane, which just so happens to be made of malachite and be over a bottomless abyss. Any impact greater than 1/4 speed movement will cause it to start cracking. Another challenge could be an area with a lot of seed pods from plants, and any amount of light, even the smallest spark, will cause them to grow rapidly into bushes and vines that have 1-foot long spikes that could potentially kill the unwary adventurer, if the fail a dex and perception check. lol
For exploration gimmicks, instead of torches, you can use crystals that glow in darkness, letting off a bright light for 10 feet, normal brightness for another 5, then dim for about 1 foot, until its total darkness. you could also have plants that rapidly grow in the presence of this light, and follows said light, which you could use to make a crossing point for a chasm.
locales ou could have would be, of course the various enclaves of different races. You would have dwarven strongholds, goblin villages, the occasional Hobgoblin fort, Drow cities that span several caverns, gnome burrows, with their entrances hidden through careful use of machinery and magic while being guarded by people with ranger and fighter levels (if you have players start there and have to leave for various reasons). Kobolds would have their lairs, filled with baubles and the occasional piece of treasure (meaning something worth more than 10 gold or being magical in nature). The orcs would have their hunting camps which may or may not be permanent. And humans would basically be the outcasts that don't really belong anywhere. They are weaker that the rest, with only a minor darkvision ability. For other locales that might double as a challenge, you could add in drake nests, where up to 10 can roost together with an alpha in charge. other locales could be various mines, filled with ores or gems (or both) manned by any of the various races.
And then there would be massive caverns with the roof being covered by sunstones (a more powerful version of the ones i mentioned earlier that explode when fractured or when someone tries to mine them, causing 9d20 damage in a 30 foot radius). (they could be called the sunstone caverns)
These caverns would most often have a tropical atmosphere, with the local flora being mostly things that you would find in the jungle, and the fauna being a mixture of jungle animals and dinosaurs. (i mean really, who wouldn't want to see a tiger fighting with a Deinonychus over territory or food? So long as those hungry gazes don't turn on me...) These areas would have random ambushes that happen, caused by either a lone tiger, a pair, or by a pack of Deinonychus. there would of course be rivers running through these caverns, filled with a variety of different fish and creatures of various sizes(from a swarm of piranhas to a 40 foot long supercroc(which would also reside in any of the ;lakes that might be found here). you would also find a variety of mushrooms and other plant life here, most of which is either highly toxic or could heal you from the brink of death with a single drop of liquid from its leafy veins. the trick is figuring out which is which. There would also be a Tiny-sized creature that i similar to the Poison Dart Tree Frog, including the fact that it secretes a highly toxic paralytic which can be diluted to where it only acts as a paralytic. You could have a tribe of wood elves that live in these areas in harmony with the jungle, and have dryads that act as guardians.
another locale you might come across would be the Tundra Caverns, which would be a group of inter-connected caverns that are completely frozen over, except for the water and the occasional plant and tree. The water would stay liquid thanks to the outlets running through a mineral vein that lowers the freezing point of the water by a good chunk, while also not being toxic to humanoids or organic life. The flora here would look like pine trees and conifers mostly, since anything else would likely die of dehydration from the cold. The fauna would be beasts that have a massive coat of fur, such as bears and wolves, and have the orc hunters come from a tribe or two that call this place home. The reason these caverns are so cold is because of a certain ore/stone/crystal (your pick) that lets off an extreme amount of cold. any one touching them directly would take 6d20 damage per turn.
in my opinion, the dwarves would be the most technically advanced, followed by the drow. The dwarves would be because they are natural stoneworkers. The drow are highly intelligent, and would most likely copy the dwarven techniques while making them their own.
My favourite idea is the malachite cavern. That's a huge amount of stuff to mine MasterOfWolves!
Do you or anyone have any ideas for travel rules underground? I'm referring to map-like travel. Is there an adventure module that covers things like this?
Btw, When I said brand new world I was being literal. Dwarves exist but they don't know what a battle axe is--they were born yesterday, the same day the players arrived via planar travel.
oh, so the world was literally just made in preparation for the PC's arrival? that would help explain the setup of the tundra caverns and sunstone caverns. though with the malachite field, you wouldn't be able to safely mine it. The way i was thinking about it was the gem mine shaft from the beginning of the brendan fraiser Journey to the Center of the earth, where they first fell into the new world beneath their feet. That kind of malachite. Any mining would cause a chain reaction of collapsing, which would also cut off any travel through that particular cavern by foot. unless the gods that made the world set up some kind of terrain regeneration system.(which is highly possibly since it was made with pretty much everything already setup for civilizations to form. Though do note, most of the races that were made for this world would also need to start off with the most basic of homes. (a small village for the dwarves and the drow, basic tree houses for the wood elfs, nomadic huts for the orcs, dens for the kobolds, and burrows for the gnomes, and possibly basic stone tools of a high degree of hardness and sharpness[ though still inferior to metal])
Now, as for travel rules, along with the random encounter table, you should take a look at the adventure module, "Out of The Abyss" and look at pages 18, 21, 25, 30, 221, and 224-231. those should be most relevant for what you are looking for. Page 221 has substitute bonds and features for backgrounds that you could use if a player wants to be a native to the new world.
You are very helpful good sir. I haven't bought the Out of the Abyss book yet, but it definitely looks like those pages you listed are relevant & useful--just what I was looking for!
Yes, I second on Out of the Abyss. It's filled with inspiring ideas on traveling, difficulties of traveling in the Underdark, and encounters. Also, Pathfinder has a fairly large book on their version of the Underdark called "Into the Darklands", complete with things mentioned above. While the rules are different, the inspiration and lore are the same.
Does anyone have any ideas for a small subterranean town? I’m looking for npc ideas, a map, story elements, etc.
I’ve dubbed it Thorpe. It’s a mix of Gnomes & Dwarves. The homes are all of stone, created by a golden dragon specifically for them. It’s kind of like their garden of eden, & if they worship something, it’d be the golden dragon.
The Pandora’s box of this world has only just been opened, & the tide of evil hasn’t reached them yet. This will also be the closest thing to civilization the players will ever find in my campaign. They’ll also have to defend it against a war with orcs once the orcs reach them. There is no commerce yet, & the weapons the party carries will be the first ones they’ll ever see, & won’t likely guess what the strange tools would even be for.
NPCs so far:
Ragnar the Dwarven king.
Mongo the Gnomish craftsman who can build nearly anything he can imagine, & has a face that only a mother could love.
Pitri, Mongo’s son who is easily excited, & easily startled by anything.
Thank u for the help at the time of writing this I'm DMing a giga homebrew subtraioan campaign. Called the forever caverns with 3 level that are habitual with it becoming to live the fether you go down. There is also 4 factions the feind force, the monstrosity masters, the fey Lords, the hoard. This is because the gods sealed away the evil followers of the dark gods and send anyone their as the punishment worse than any other place. All current players are of some evil class. We have a sutrainan gnome called fricklefanrg the death cleric to the ashened serpent, seeta the tiefling fighter eldritch Knight, Drunkus the orc barbarian of rage (homebrew subclass to barbarian). They are injoying it immensely
Oreact (ore-act) a deep gnome spelulunker that is obsested to find out about the past and to stop the apocalypse he is sure is coming (every one thinks he is crazy)
Wanted: Adventure containing travel through vast subterranean "lands." Maps, travel rules specifically for underground, random encounter tables, hazards to traverse, locales, wildlife & fauna are all of key interest.
The author is creating an underground campaign that is not the Underdark (it's a new homebrew world instead) but is happy to borrow things that fit. Challenges like vast underground lakes & rivers, volcanic eruptions, dealing with extreme heat & even icy cold areas too. Think Journey to the Center of the Earth, but in a brand new planet with primitive races that the players discover as they start from the interior of the world.
well, first off, if its a whole new world (lol), he should first decide on the races that will be encountered. I think that, for sure, you should have gnomes, because they are dwellers of the deep. Then, you should have extremely rare pockets of mind flayers, that may or may not be friendly. Kobolds would be a good option, whether you go for the dragon-kin type that dnd has or if you use the ratmen that World of Warcraft has. Then Drow would make a good choice, followed by roving bands of orc and half-orc hunting parties that have come down from the next layer up. And finally, it wouldn't be the underground without dwarves. for the next race, the various goblinoid races would be cool, except have the goblins be at odds with the hobgoblins and bugbears, and seek shelter with a stronger race in return for manual labor. and finally, humans, who wandered down here from the surface world millenia ago, and have now completely forgotten about it, except in myth and legend.
For monsters, you should go for giant spiders, giant moles, drakes (wingless dragons the size of a horse that can barely breathe fire), and stuff that would be found underground. Also, these ones in particular, along with giant lizards, can be used as the prefered mounts of the local races.
For challenges, one i can think of would be the exploration of an abandoned ruin that fills a giant cavern... except... Said ruin is the nest of a giant spider colony, with the spider queen being of huge size or bigger and making her home right in the only place with any treasure at all (which changes based on the type of ruin. if its a castle type, then she'd be in the treasury). Another thing could be a journey over a vast plane, which just so happens to be made of malachite and be over a bottomless abyss. Any impact greater than 1/4 speed movement will cause it to start cracking. Another challenge could be an area with a lot of seed pods from plants, and any amount of light, even the smallest spark, will cause them to grow rapidly into bushes and vines that have 1-foot long spikes that could potentially kill the unwary adventurer, if the fail a dex and perception check. lol
For exploration gimmicks, instead of torches, you can use crystals that glow in darkness, letting off a bright light for 10 feet, normal brightness for another 5, then dim for about 1 foot, until its total darkness. you could also have plants that rapidly grow in the presence of this light, and follows said light, which you could use to make a crossing point for a chasm.
locales ou could have would be, of course the various enclaves of different races. You would have dwarven strongholds, goblin villages, the occasional Hobgoblin fort, Drow cities that span several caverns, gnome burrows, with their entrances hidden through careful use of machinery and magic while being guarded by people with ranger and fighter levels (if you have players start there and have to leave for various reasons). Kobolds would have their lairs, filled with baubles and the occasional piece of treasure (meaning something worth more than 10 gold or being magical in nature). The orcs would have their hunting camps which may or may not be permanent. And humans would basically be the outcasts that don't really belong anywhere. They are weaker that the rest, with only a minor darkvision ability. For other locales that might double as a challenge, you could add in drake nests, where up to 10 can roost together with an alpha in charge. other locales could be various mines, filled with ores or gems (or both) manned by any of the various races.
And then there would be massive caverns with the roof being covered by sunstones (a more powerful version of the ones i mentioned earlier that explode when fractured or when someone tries to mine them, causing 9d20 damage in a 30 foot radius). (they could be called the sunstone caverns)
These caverns would most often have a tropical atmosphere, with the local flora being mostly things that you would find in the jungle, and the fauna being a mixture of jungle animals and dinosaurs. (i mean really, who wouldn't want to see a tiger fighting with a Deinonychus over territory or food? So long as those hungry gazes don't turn on me...) These areas would have random ambushes that happen, caused by either a lone tiger, a pair, or by a pack of Deinonychus. there would of course be rivers running through these caverns, filled with a variety of different fish and creatures of various sizes(from a swarm of piranhas to a 40 foot long supercroc(which would also reside in any of the ;lakes that might be found here). you would also find a variety of mushrooms and other plant life here, most of which is either highly toxic or could heal you from the brink of death with a single drop of liquid from its leafy veins. the trick is figuring out which is which. There would also be a Tiny-sized creature that i similar to the Poison Dart Tree Frog, including the fact that it secretes a highly toxic paralytic which can be diluted to where it only acts as a paralytic. You could have a tribe of wood elves that live in these areas in harmony with the jungle, and have dryads that act as guardians.
another locale you might come across would be the Tundra Caverns, which would be a group of inter-connected caverns that are completely frozen over, except for the water and the occasional plant and tree. The water would stay liquid thanks to the outlets running through a mineral vein that lowers the freezing point of the water by a good chunk, while also not being toxic to humanoids or organic life. The flora here would look like pine trees and conifers mostly, since anything else would likely die of dehydration from the cold. The fauna would be beasts that have a massive coat of fur, such as bears and wolves, and have the orc hunters come from a tribe or two that call this place home. The reason these caverns are so cold is because of a certain ore/stone/crystal (your pick) that lets off an extreme amount of cold. any one touching them directly would take 6d20 damage per turn.
in my opinion, the dwarves would be the most technically advanced, followed by the drow. The dwarves would be because they are natural stoneworkers. The drow are highly intelligent, and would most likely copy the dwarven techniques while making them their own.
My favourite idea is the malachite cavern. That's a huge amount of stuff to mine MasterOfWolves!
Do you or anyone have any ideas for travel rules underground? I'm referring to map-like travel. Is there an adventure module that covers things like this?
Btw, When I said brand new world I was being literal. Dwarves exist but they don't know what a battle axe is--they were born yesterday, the same day the players arrived via planar travel.
oh, so the world was literally just made in preparation for the PC's arrival? that would help explain the setup of the tundra caverns and sunstone caverns. though with the malachite field, you wouldn't be able to safely mine it. The way i was thinking about it was the gem mine shaft from the beginning of the brendan fraiser Journey to the Center of the earth, where they first fell into the new world beneath their feet. That kind of malachite. Any mining would cause a chain reaction of collapsing, which would also cut off any travel through that particular cavern by foot. unless the gods that made the world set up some kind of terrain regeneration system.(which is highly possibly since it was made with pretty much everything already setup for civilizations to form. Though do note, most of the races that were made for this world would also need to start off with the most basic of homes. (a small village for the dwarves and the drow, basic tree houses for the wood elfs, nomadic huts for the orcs, dens for the kobolds, and burrows for the gnomes, and possibly basic stone tools of a high degree of hardness and sharpness[ though still inferior to metal])
Now, as for travel rules, along with the random encounter table, you should take a look at the adventure module, "Out of The Abyss" and look at pages 18, 21, 25, 30, 221, and 224-231. those should be most relevant for what you are looking for. Page 221 has substitute bonds and features for backgrounds that you could use if a player wants to be a native to the new world.
you should also take a look at "Chapter 8: Adventuring" in the Players Handbook
You are very helpful good sir. I haven't bought the Out of the Abyss book yet, but it definitely looks like those pages you listed are relevant & useful--just what I was looking for!
when it comes to world building and stuff like that, i am the master of all masters. It is a pleasure to spread my expertise to the world
Have a look at The Waydown. It's a DDAL adventure that's loosely tied to OotA, and features an underground river journey.
http://www.dmsguild.com/product/170504/DDEX309-The-Waydown-5e
Yes, I second on Out of the Abyss. It's filled with inspiring ideas on traveling, difficulties of traveling in the Underdark, and encounters. Also, Pathfinder has a fairly large book on their version of the Underdark called "Into the Darklands", complete with things mentioned above. While the rules are different, the inspiration and lore are the same.
Does anyone have any ideas for a small subterranean town? I’m looking for npc ideas, a map, story elements, etc.
I’ve dubbed it Thorpe. It’s a mix of Gnomes & Dwarves. The homes are all of stone, created by a golden dragon specifically for them. It’s kind of like their garden of eden, & if they worship something, it’d be the golden dragon.
The Pandora’s box of this world has only just been opened, & the tide of evil hasn’t reached them yet. This will also be the closest thing to civilization the players will ever find in my campaign. They’ll also have to defend it against a war with orcs once the orcs reach them. There is no commerce yet, & the weapons the party carries will be the first ones they’ll ever see, & won’t likely guess what the strange tools would even be for.
NPCs so far:
Ragnar the Dwarven king.
Mongo the Gnomish craftsman who can build nearly anything he can imagine, & has a face that only a mother could love.
Pitri, Mongo’s son who is easily excited, & easily startled by anything.
Thank u for the help at the time of writing this I'm DMing a giga homebrew subtraioan campaign. Called the forever caverns with 3 level that are habitual with it becoming to live the fether you go down. There is also 4 factions the feind force, the monstrosity masters, the fey Lords, the hoard. This is because the gods sealed away the evil followers of the dark gods and send anyone their as the punishment worse than any other place. All current players are of some evil class. We have a sutrainan gnome called fricklefanrg the death cleric to the ashened serpent, seeta the tiefling fighter eldritch Knight, Drunkus the orc barbarian of rage (homebrew subclass to barbarian). They are injoying it immensely
Oreact (ore-act) a deep gnome spelulunker that is obsested to find out about the past and to stop the apocalypse he is sure is coming (every one thinks he is crazy)
Dungeon of the Mad Mage has several subteranean cavern-style levels that could be used anywhere.