Okay, I did ask Ziroc about whether or not it would be a good idea to post up a topic like this. He seemed quite enthused about the concept, so here I go. I have talked with more than a few people about where good places would be for new levels or at least sub-level sections to appear. I actually tried to show Ziroc a few of them, only to discover they've disappeared whie he was reworking and expanding the area they were in. (The sections were inside the original Tradeways map.) Now, I thought what would be interesting instead of weapons and armor to talk about, different areas which have places that a link to a new section would be viable and opportune. I have a not-so-small list of places in my brain so far I wanted to post for example, but as for an in-depth concept that I'll post up later.

I should put up a definition of what I mean by sublevel. In short, any minimap that would take you away from the main region. It could be a 2x2 tile area, or something as large as 7x14 tile section. To be honest, it could even be technically a level unto itself. (An example would be a section that could literally "gate" you between areas which had it's own monsters and NPCs to be dealt with.)

Places that would be suitable for new sublevels to be linked from:

- three of the dead ends within Level Nine. (heck, new sections of that map could just be installed with teleportation gates to bridge them.)
- the ruins of the temple like area within the Lake Of Shadows inside of Level Thirteen
- the portal which is just kind of standing there also within the Lake Of Shadows area inside of Level Thirteen
- the temple ruins within the Tradeways (main area)
- that tower inside of the Trollmoor Swamps
- two of those waterway openings inside of Skullport Southquarter
- a couple of those barns inside of the main Tradeways look ripe for expanding on as well

I suspect that the tower in the swamp, as well as the house with a tower in the Tradeway will eventually have stuff tied to them. The fact that the doors are locked, and require keys seems significant to me.

There are several areas with water that have boats parked at them, and it would be kinda fun to have them linked to other sub areas, or even secret paths to other areas. Time will tell.

Okay, to revise my listing, I'll go with two subsections - one with areas that I believe Ziroc is already plotting out for Big Things, and another which has areas that he may have "overlooked" as he's already branching out quite a lot.

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Places I (or others) believe Ziroc is already working on subsections for:

- Level Two where that new StarGate is. (C'mon now, there's no WAY he just put that there for fun!)
- Trollmoor Swamp, with the tower on the hill. (It has a freakin' "Z" flag in front of it.)
- Skullport Southquarter, at the southern most point on the map. (Another "Z" flag and the doors are locked with a key unavailable in the game.)
- that huge tower within Skullport which belongs to some not-so-anonymous mage.
- at least three locations within the main Tradeways area, at least one of which has a stickypin affixed to it
- that teaser portal within the Lake Of Shadows inside of The Drow City (It's been sitting there forever, so he has to have something large set up for it.)
- the sewers underneath Waterdeep (partially confirmed by RTB and Ziroc on January 10th, 2007)

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Places I figure should have branching off points but don't (yet):

- three of the dead ends within Level Nine. (heck, new sections of that map could just be installed with teleportation gates to bridge them. there is enough room to roam around on Level Nine that it could have subquests all its own with the right tinkering...)
- the ruins of the temple like area within the Lake Of Shadows inside of Level Thirteen (where that greater aboleth is currently and the still invisible Elder Eye Tyrant.)
- one major waterway openings inside of Skullport Southquarter, where anyone can just walk in and be assailed by a host of Drow Assassins...
- a couple of those barns inside of the main Tradeways look ripe for expanding on as well

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[ 01-10-2007, 10:07 AM: Message edited by: Mozenwrathe ]

So, what do you all think of this proposition for a subsection?

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Title:

And It's Name Was Pestilence... (revisited)


Author(s):

Unglaublich Verwustung, Dace De'Briago, and Mozenwrathe


Region:

Tradeways, random barn within the main Tradeways area


Levels Required:

starting for server, though up to fifteen levels might not be a bad idea.


Concept:

You are told by a farmer/survivor that something has infested his barn and it has dragged a few of his family members into it. He would have gone after them himself, but he's far too scared and weak to try it. Perhaps a powerful adventurer (such as yourself) could rescue his family for him? Something about this story seems off, especially as there are no signs of a struggle outside of the barn itself. Then again, with everything else hunting for dinner within the Tradeways, you can understand the farmer's terror. You go inside and you find...


Creatures Used:

- rats, dire rats, plague rats (yes, stolen right from Magic: The Gathering)
- weak zombies, zombies, undead rats, skeletons
- swarms of insects, perhaps some other new infected creatures, blighted wights


New Boss Creature(s)/NPC(s):

- priestess of Talona
- two necromancers at her behest
- at least one demonic plague beast, maybe two of them


Size Of Area:

two or three levels down at most. only two should be needed as the second level would literally be underneath the barn and inside the warm earth itself.


Prize Issued:

dunno. I'd leave that up to Ziroc.


Notes Required:

I did make a few minor adjustments on this one. Two levels would be required for this particular event, as the characters shouldn't see exactly what is coming for them. Sure, if Ziroc does include this one there's no guarantee the event would even look the same. I did add a few extra monsters because we don't want to make it too easy for the players to survive and thrive. Still, there should be more than enough XP here to make it worth their while to venture down into the basement.


Secondary Notes (provided by Unglaublich Verwustung):

thoughts around this one, brought on by your mention of there being no signs of struggle and also referring to the demonic plague beast(s) -

Although you manage to clear the area and beat the Priestess of Talona you only find the bodies of the family, you were too late. You return back up to the farm buildings and tell the farmer this, at which stage he transforms (in the style of the waitress in the Alternative Dimension (on Level Twelve, the twisted of Durnan's inn) into the Demonic plague beast as a final boss. This creation should be even harder than the priestess, and in order to acquire the XP you will need to slay it. Would also expect there to be a weapon dropped here and, to fit with the idea of a rural farm, this would have to be a scythe or sickle.

[ 01-17-2007, 01:15 PM: Message edited by: Mozenwrathe ]

Seems to me that if there can be an underground (underwater?) tunnel from level 4 to the Haunted Isle, there may just be at least one other. Maybe under the deserted barn on the Isle lies a subterranean tunnel somewhere........

Title: First Of The Last...

Author: Garnet FalconDance and Mozenwrathe

Region Found: The Undead Isles

Concept:

Exactly as mentioned above, what if there is at least one more underground tunnel leading from the Haunted Isle? Where would it lead? Should anyone even try to find out? After all, given what is currently ON the Haunted Isle (such as a freakin' DRACOLICH) itself, what would be found further away from civilization? Well, there IS in fact at one new pathway leading out and away from the Haunted Isle, but I don't think you really want to find out where it ends up. However, there are things just DYING to meet you on the other side of that tunnel. And that light that you see there? It's not the Pearly Gates opening up. You may want to bring your own torches, not to mention a cleric (or five)...

Levels Required:
- Well, if you made it THIS far into the Haunted Isle, then you should be fine. That, or you are just nuts. I'd suggest something like fifteen (15) character levels or more. I'd recommend twenty (20) character levels.

Design: Waterlogged labyrinth underneath one of the deserted barns. First you have to break into the barn itself, face whatever is within waiting for you, then find the hidden entrance to the lower level where the tunnel(s) actually begin. And given that this is running underneath the sea itself, I make no guarantee that the entirety of the way will be suitable for airbreathing individuals. There will be traps of numerous sorts, but rest assured that it won't be special for thieves. (Sneaking around is encouraged, especially by things that love to eat faces in shadows.)

Creatures Found (so far):
- skeletons, skeleton warriors, skeleton priests, skeleton warriors, skeleton mages
- drowned warriors, greater zombie pirates, zombie knaves, greater zombies
- sharks of all kinds, UNDEAD sharks of all kinds, GREATER sharks of all kinds
- oozes (which represent the wrath of Umberlee and Velsharoon...

New Boss Creatures:
- I refuse to talk about them. They just threatened my life with demon trout...
- okay, there was one dame there, but she really scared me. REALLY scared me...

New Prizes:
- at least one new trident, if not two of them
- the trident found on the Haunted Isle will come in handy for completing this region
- two new rings, perhaps even three
- new [forge] items for people to discover

[ 01-08-2007, 10:16 PM: Message edited by: Mozenwrathe ]

To be honest, I would love that too. There is a major problem with that currently, however: most of the boats are effectively boxed in. The way the boats are situated, new openings to the "outside world" would have to be created. Maybe one two per level where there were boats already sitting that could then be developed later at Ziroc's leisure? As there is great potential for Levels One, Eight, and Nine for boats to be used to transport characters to new realms. Not to mention the docks inside of Waterdeep itself and Skullport. So if Ziroc ever got bored with making regular "levels" within the Undermountain itself, he has a lot of space to grow and expand without to go further into the earth itself.

And on that note, here is another possible sublevel to be explored by our intrepid players...

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Title: Where Humans Ought Fear To Tread

Author: RobertTheBard and Mozenwrathe (as I am using a lot of conversations with RTB to come up with this little snippet)

Region Located: Level One - Beginnings Of The Undermountain

Levels Required: starting levels for the server

Concept:

Well, the drow within the Undermountain are obviously well-supplied. Not all of it comes from Skullport, nor could that much stuff be shipped up safely from The Drow City. So, where is it that they get it all from? Maybe it's cached away somewhere? Perhaps they have some kind of portal they gate it all from? And what is with all those boats lurking around that level? With all the rival factions within the Undermountain all jockeying for position, there's got to be a reason why the drow always seem to win out...

Creatures:
- drow, more drow, even more drow, some slaves of the drow, did we mention drow?
- duergar faction working alongside the drow (non-combatants)
- scary lizard things trying to eat your heels and your ankles
- more scary and creepy lizard things that want more than your ankles

New Boss Creatures:
- none really needed, but Ziroc can always make a higher level drow captain who is running the operation

New Prizes: none needed

Special Features:

More than one of these can be set up. With the amount of room that the first level of the Undermountain possesses (as well as the second level), these areas could be simply intersperced and connect Level Two to Level One via one-way intersections. For more fun, these could be connected from Level Nine to Level Two using a one-way connection. (That would have to be from harder level to easier level - no quick jumps down to Level Nine that way...) Of course, if that trick was used, the recommended levels for those encounter areas would go up by quite a bit. Drops wouldn't be necessary for these foes, but they should be better armed than the regular drow encountered within Levels One and Two.

[ 01-08-2007, 10:33 PM: Message edited by: Mozenwrathe ]

How do the boats get in and out of the docks at Skullport? Even if it's a sword secret, perhaps an intrepid adventurer with a high enough persuade skill could find himself or herself on a boat to nowhere........

Actually, I have a *.PDF file with the information of Waterdeep, Skullport, and some SpellJammer-related things which explain all of that. Also, I believe if you ask the right people in the docks area of Skullport, one will tell you. I do believe Ziroc's already working on links out from Skullport to parts not-so-well-known, but you'd have to ask him to verify that one. As well, Skullport has plenty of areas still under development which will tie-in to the "port" aspect of Skullport. The "Skull" part, well, I have a feeling Ziroc's got even bigger plans for that. Of course, that's just me and my dreams talking.

Title:

Slayers Only Store (We mean it! You ain't a slayer, don't try to come on in!)


Author:

RobertTheBard, Garnet FalconDance, Dace De'Briago, and Mozenwrathe
(RTB for the scripts, Garnet for the characterization, Dace because I know this would be the place he was dreaming about)


Region Located:

perhaps Level Nine in one those little pockets nobody goes to, or even on Level Six far off in a corner that nobody currently explores


Concept:

Everyone has always wanted to go to a store that has nothing but killer gear. That's right, a place where only the premiere and elite know about and can get into. Well, this is one of those places. It's a little hole in the wall, but you'll be damned thrice over if you can find some of these items anywhere else that ISN'T a dragon's personal hoard. In fact, some of those weapons look as if something large has bitten into them, then had it's face shorn clean off... EXCELLENT! Now that you've looked through the door, how the heck do you get IN there?


Storyline:

Inside of Waterdeep, you run into a orc. Yes, an orc. Well-armed, well mannered, and well-spoken. In fact, you've never encountered an orc like him before. And there's a very good reason for that, but he's not going to tell you. What he WILL tell you, however, is that he's looking for a small collection of weapons: a bulette-toothed greatsword, a kama made from a dragon's talon, and another kama made from pure obsidian. Not exactly standard fare, this. And to get them, he's willing to offer you a few tomes he's acquired over his own adventures, not to mention three amulets he claims he has no use for. Still, the only place he can get these items he wants is at the Slayers Only Store. Problem is, he's not willing to venture to where the store is in order to get the weapons - that's where you come in. However, in order to get into the store, you have to have proof that you are indeed a "slayer." You'll need to have at least five of each of the following to get in there - beholder eyes, rakshasha eyes, ichor from the undead, skeletal knuckles, and large bones. What they do with all that material is beyond him, but he doesn't care. Just bring him back the items, and he'll give you your items.

The catch? Getting down there and coming back alive, of course!


The Store Itself:

It's just a regular store setup. The merchant behind the counter is a gnoll. Yes, a gnoll. Her employees are also gnolls. Or they could be flinds. You aren't really sure and you're not brave enough to ask. Upon entry, all of the items listed above are removed from your inventory. In order to get the weapons the orc inside of Waterdeep it looking for, you'll have to trade for them: the Bloody Dragonsword for the Bulette-tooth Greatsword, a Desert Dustmaker for the Dragon's Talon Kama, and a pair of those Dragonbane Reach bastard swords for the Obisidian Kama. (Okay, you could just BUY them all, but they'll cost you twenty (20) million gold each.) You'll probably want to do some shopping for yourself while you are there. After all, with all the work you went through to GET there, might as well, right? Can't say the prices will be fair, but the stuff there's positively top notch! Much better than that bugbear Lat-Lat's up inside of Skullport. You could always ask the merchant why she's not up in Waterdeep, but that might get you ushered out of the store at the end of her favourite pikestaff...

Oh, I just bet you are wondering how she is able to speak Common tongue? It's simple, but she's not going to tell you that. She'll give you a cold stare, point down, and then shrug once. Then she'll go back to pointing out all this incredible merchandise you SHOULD be buying instead of taking up space where PAYING CUSTOMERS could be standing...


The Forge Within The Store:

Yeah, why not have one there? It would NOT be making the same items as the forge on Level Thirteen, however. It would be a completely different collection of items, so it's just a dream of mine. *grins* More than likely it'd be producing brand new cloaks and perhaps bracers and gauntlets for the masses. Weapon making is for those with time and patience. Gnolls (or are they flinds?) don't have the patience when there are other things which they ought be working on! Hey, maintaining all this priceless stock takes work, stupid human! (Yes, her attitude would be very similar to the Drow Merchants within The Drow City on Level Thirteen.)


Creatures Involved:

- just everything you'd normally face anyway within the Undermountain.
- the merchant and her staff are all NPCs and not hireable.
- the orc isn't hireable either, but he may let you know who IS up for a job inside of Waterdeep...


Notes On This Concept:

Yes, before it DID say only ten million dollars for each of those weapons. The problem is that doesn't inspire the characters to go out and actually hunt down the items the store is looking for. The weapons themselves (well, those three) will be completely useless to players as they WILL be listed as "Only Useable By: Orc." The store will, of course, have other weapons within that shall be suitable for them. However (if I have my way), there shall be a couple of items in there listed "Only Useable By: Outsider" and "Only Useable By: Abberation." Don't ask what I've sent in to Ziroc. Only know that half of it is good for you.

[ 01-09-2007, 11:47 PM: Message edited by: Mozenwrathe ]

OOOOOh, I want to shop in that store!!!

Mozenwrathe suggested I look at this thread last night while he stood and watched me killing Drow on level 13 and then told me it was pointless to try and wipe out the entire city (but I wanna....!! *stamps foot*).

I like the 'Pestilence' idea and have a couple of twists in mind around that one, off to have a think through on that - I'll be back, hopefully with some warped ideas that will work.

I have some good news, and some bad news. The good news is, there are plans for the sewers in place already. The bad news is; there are plans in place for the sewers already. I have seen the enemy, and he is not me.

Well, that ALMOST sucks. It was only a proposal, after all. The best thing about a proposal is that it doesn't have to remain in the same place as it was before. For example, envision that proposition of mine, but placed within Level Six and Seven. Now, Xanather's minions rule those two levels with an iron fist. That doesn't mean that in some areas of those two levels that other "things" can't exist. Xanather, being a fairly smart cookie, could easily encourage such things to grow and spread. After all, if he sets things up correctly, his people could weave through the mess and the traps AND the living creatures while those foolish do-gooders (or rival ne'er-do-wells) who intrude upon his domain could become a virtual feast for whatever exists down that far. As I recall, Xanather's two levels are something akin to a sewer system. False directions, incorrect information, and at least one kidnap victim could easily send people rushing in to save the day, only to find themselves on the menu...

And there's something else that could also be done: a quest for that damned androsphinx you run into while down in the Xanather levels. What is UP with that creature anyway? Can you get it as a henchmen? Are you supposed to set it free? Does it turn into a celestial and vanish into the etheral heavens?!? C'mon, I want some ANSWERS over here! *grins at you*

I would like to see a little more happening as far as quests go on levels 5-9 to bo honest. As it is now, they are simply trudging levels that I only pass through with new characters as I try to get down to ten for a stone key. Occasionally I will trudge up to 8 with a high level character just to test out the build I am working on, but if there were some interesting quests (even low xp ones) along that path, especially ones that would take characters off of the quick paths through those levels, I think it would make it a much more enjoyable process, and people might spend some more time on those levels.

Hey Moz,
Would your idea about the sewers still hold true on lvl 3? Might be interesting there.

Hey Moz,
Would your idea about the sewers still hold true on lvl 3? Might be interesting there.

Mozenwrathe

taking Toot's idea here, if we have the availability of a boat from the jetty in South Skullport that then takes you into (your) sewers (in the style of the boat from the docks to the Island of the Dead) then that will also provide the continuity factor for this idea, after all, sewers need to drain to somewhere so why not to Skullport, it's a down and dirty area.

Also check your PM, Moz.

What about a stereotypical Damsel in Distress type of quest on level 6 (the one with the two dragons and hordes of rakshasa and slaad)? Granted, it's not a 'jump-off' but it could be incorporated into another farther reaching quest chain.......

The sewer proposals sound great. I miss the connection to Skullport. Without it, the sewers are just plain boring and unfulfilling as an adventurer ;) .

(Toddling off now. For some reason, the brain is not firing on all cylinders and the ideas are not flowing as they ought.)

To answer everyone at the same time, I figured one larger post should go a ways towards explaining my logic to others. Some of the explanations might be longer than others. Heck, at least one may have a Jump-Off reference all to itself!

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Well, right now between Level Five (The Fire Pits) and Level Nine (The Underground Caverns), there isn't a lot of interest by the mainstay of players. Why is that? Aside from killing the usual (and unusual) suspects, there's not a lot of intrigue and intensity in those levels. Don't get me wrong, as they are well designed and fascinating to run through. The problem is, as you've said, they are "in the way" of where a lot of the players are aching to get to. That being the case, Levels Six and Seven (The Xanather regions) are just bursting with quest possibilities that would require you to "take the long road" in order to finish them. Why hasn't that been done yet? Simple: Ziroc's just one man on a quest to MAKE the world. So we give him time, some ideas, and a lot of faith and support, and we'll eventually get what we are asking for.

If you don't believe me, ask him about how many times I've nagged his beleagured soul for new stores and new henchmen! *guffaws* More seriously, I'll try to come up with a few more ideas for Levels Four through to Level Nine. I already had a few ideas I've bandied at Ziroc already for Level Nine, so expect a lot of those to come up sooner or later.


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Sadly, not quite.

Skullport is a Jump-Off location all its own. (To be honest, it's several locations at once. It may even be expanded farther in order to truly emcompass the massive city underneath the city.) There was a connection between that level and the much lower levels originally which was terminated in favour of the new teleporter system. Please note, the room still exists and therefore can be used for new and future teleportation setups. I honestly have no clue what's ahead for Skullport, but the near future hosts some very nice concepts indeed.

I decided to move the concept of the Pestilence series of events MUCH farther down to Levels Six and Seven. Within the Xanather levels there are a lot of relatively unvisited places which could easily house those sewer ideas I dropped down on a whim. Better still, those levels can be expanded far beyond their current borders and therefore not require brand new sublevels just for new quests. So the sewers quests would simply be a little harder to get to, but not improbable or impossible for the average adventurer to try out.


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Checked the PM box. Sent you back a notice. Do the notice. DO THE NOTICE!!! *grins maniacally* Not sure how the sewers and Skullport are truly connected to be all that honest with you. I know that the Skullport shipping entities would not be sending boats up into Waterdeep's sewers though. However, they WILL be (eventually, we hope) sending people a little farther out than the edge of town...

The sewer ideas I moved to Levels Six and Seven thus far. If there are other regions that require a sewer (such as Level Thirteen's Drow City) those ideas would pan well there. My sewer ideas were based on Ziroc not already having something new and amazing planned for the sewers already in place. With enough conversion, an adventure in the sewers could be moved anywhere massively underground and currently underappreciated. I do have a feeling that wherever the sewers are flushing into, we'll be fighting our way to it and through it very soon.


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Okay, if I were to take a look at that, the things I would do would be the following:

1) Correct the Level being used. (You are talking about Level Five, not Level Six, milady fair. *smiles*)

2) If it's going to be a Damsel In Distress, you are going to be able to hire her, damnit! (And I have four great ideas for the henchman I would wish to introduce there. All of them are from previous AD&D computer games - Linu Li`Neral (from NeverWinter Nights original campaign), Fall-From-Grace (from Planescape: Torment), Jaheira (From Baldur's Gate I & II), or Mischa Waymeet (from NeverWinter Nights Shadows Of Undrentide). All of them are easily recreated and placeable.)

3) If it wasn't a henchmen, then it'd be a damsel hiring you inside of Waterdeep to find her lost man. (Hey, not all women get lost within a terrifying dungeon and need help getting out.) Of course, the person missing may not exactly be a standard human at all. For all we know, they could be an orc, an alu-fiend princess (which would be REALLY scary), or perhaps even a dragoness in humanoid form?

4) Incorporating it into a farther reaching chain of events would be mainly Ziroc's baby. All I can do is push out different concepts I like and see what everyone else thinks of them. As for what it could be connected to, Xanather's minions are always working on something, but it could be a setup by the Kraken Society to make Xanather's people look bad. As well, the person kidnapped could be a higher ranking member of some OTHER society or organization (like the Red Sashes, the City Watch, or the Mage's Guild). Ransom could be involved, here...

Millcreek Village (in the Tradeway) has been deserted - or decimated - except for the chickens. It fairly begs to be investigated and perhaps vengeance wrought.

The beach-contact home at the edge of the Village, if properly searched by a worthy adventurer, might yield a surprise, as well.

Since the Trollbark Trolls population seems to be increasing nearer and nearer to Waterdeep itself, something obviously has occured the good citizens should be warned about...... and heros sent out questing to bring an end to the abomination!

(Notice I'm not offering any concrete suggestions since Z may very well have the area completely worked out already.)

Title:

And That's Where I Left It... (part of the Undead Isles series of events)


Author(s):

Garnet FalconDance and Mozenwrathe


Region Located:

The Undead Isles, The Yawning Portal Inn, one of the new taverns opening up


Concept:

Typical "call and response" quest, where you get the quest, you find the object, you bring it back for points on your "Undermountain Express Card." Of course, part of the problem is where the item is located. Another problem is what the object is supposed to be. And third problem is... where the blasted trinket is located. I mean, how does a CLERIC lose an artifact of that nature in the middle of a bunch of undead?! Secondly, what the heck was Miltiades doing outside of the inn anyway? Didn't he just pop into existence when Durnan built the inn? As well, what in the name of Mystra is stopping the old guy from getting it himself? Or sending some other follower of Tyr in to pick it up. It's not as if there's something waiting just for him, right? Oh, snap, there IS something there waiting for him, specificially. Okay, forget what I said - just go in and get the dang thing for him. Try not to mention his name when you do it...

As for the OTHER person involved, somehow you suspect something is up with them. I mean, what are the chances that two people could have lost something powerful to the same creature outside of the Undermountain? Okay, aside from dragons, powerful wizards, and the local constibulary. But why that creature? And what is it really that this second person wants with the item if and when you get it back for them?


Storyline:

When talking to Miltiades, you notice he has a certain wistful look in his eye. Being an adventurer, you inquire about what is wrong. He goes into a tale of when he was much younger (probably before the birth of Waterdeep at HIS age) how he was attempting to clear the Undead Isles of the Damned and the Doomed. A valiant attempt, he and his allies were mostly successful until they went out to one of the southern penninsulas of the Isle itself. Finding what they thought was merely an abandoned caravan wagon, they went inside to investigate. What they found, however, almost drove the majority of them completely insane. His best friend was just shy of slain, and the remainder of them beat a hasty retreat. The creature that they faced was not only powerful, but could drag the memories from their heads and use it against them. Still, Miltiades did the one thing he could to save them all - hurled his Blessed Holy Symbol Of Tyr coated in holy water at the abominable creation in order to buy them time. And buy them time it did, but at a terrible cost: the creature now waits for Miltiades' return in order to finish the job it started. Now Miltiades wishes for you to get the item back for him. For any cleric that does it, he has something extra for them as a reward.

If you roam around Waterdeep a little more, there are a few other inns and taverns you can go into. One of them will feature a rather comely young woman drinking herself into oblivion. Upon approach, you'll see despite her youth she has a rather battle hardened look to her. If you enquire as to "her story" from the bartender, he'll tell you about how her friends went questing in the Undead Isles (Mistake #1) without a cleric amongst them (Mistake #2) and tried to break into an abandoned gypsy caravan (Mistakes #3, #4, AND #5). They returned somehow, but were not the same since. In order to leave (which is where you get very suspicious) they were told to leave behind something important to each of them. The first of the five companions left behind a powerful sword which he had saved for years to purchase. The second and third of the companions left behind their spellbooks, based on over a decade of research. The fourth of the five abandoned his circlet, custom-made for him by his patrons. And the fifth... left behind the young woman's violin. How he had it in his possession is another tale, but they were allowed to go free. That was less than two weeks ago. All of them have vanished from the streets of Waterdeep since then, and it's strongly suspected they were all lured back to the Undead Isle. What is more disturbing is that no seafaring merchant recalls giving them passage back to the Isle to begin with. Perhaps if the adventurers could go to the Isle (a risky venture indeed) and find out for the woman the fate of her friends and her violin?


Level Requirements:

something epic would be highly advised. a party going there successfully would have at least one of each of the following: a bard, a rogue, and a cleric.


Alignment Kicks:

Success would send the party members towards Lawful Good (for Miltiades' quest) and Good (for the second quest). Evil characters can always do certain other quests to snap them back to the land of wickedness. If scripted in a certain way, you could give one response upon completion to get the good or lawful good kicks, and demand a cash reward instead in order to remain neutral. Evil quests will be coming from my brain sooner or later, don't worry.


Creatures Involved:

- all the variant skeletal creatures on the Undead Isles
- more vampires, awakened vampires, vampire mages, vampire priests
- all the variant zombie creatures on the Undead Isles
- awakened vampire mages, awakened vampire priests, awakened vampire assassins (yes, brand NEW!)
- braineater troll zombies, fleshrender ogre zombies, howling orc horde undead
- new revenant types more powerful than before


Boss Creatures Involved:

Can't actually mention here, but I can tell you I would be visiting a few websites in order to get the right information for them. By the way, if you haven't guessed yet, the gypsy caravan wagon is "larger within" than on the outside. I can't mention why that is, either, but most with a lot of AD&D experience will realize what's happened within minutes of facing against their new foes.


Items To Be Acquired:

- two new [ set ] items lurking somewhere within the caravan wagon...
- three magical keys, two of which shall be on the creatures you have to face
- Miltiades' Blessed Holy Symbol Of Tyr and Wondrous Violin Of The Mistress Of Song
- two spellbooks, one circlet, one magical greatsword
- (at least) four very unlucky and foolish adventurers if they are still alive
- one very interesting ring...


Notes On This Jump-Off:

Not the best idea I have had, but I really like this one. It would be incorporating a few different concepts I have had in my head. One of them will be revisited in another Jump-Off idea. This was borne while on the Undead Isle with Garnet FalconDance. The four items of the friends I am not sure if they'd be useable or not. I'd prefer if they weren't if there was no way to gain evil points on this quest. If it was possible to earn evil points (not giving items back, slaying the companions, doing profane things to the Holy Symbol, swearing allegiance to whatever is within the caravan wagon, et cetera) then it'd be fine for all those items to be useable by the player characters. It would be important for the players to note how all those who went into this caravan wagon were MALE, so it would give them some idea of what they would have to do or face.

I cannot take credit for (and do not wish to detract from) the brilliance of Moz's ideas ;) . All I do is say, "this would be a good spot for ....." and he goes off into Creative Mode to dream up all sorts of diabolically delicious quest ideas :D .

I must say, I like this last one even more than the others!

Poor Z, at this rate, he'll either have to gather a stable of coders or stop sleeping that single hour he manages to get now when he's not working on EfU and real life!

*blushes quite a bit*
thank you for the compliment, but if it wasn't for you, for RTB, for everyone who points out these locales, I wouldn't even consider them half of the time. I tend to look for the glaringly obvious, and manage to overlook perfectly good spot. Now, I have to thank toot033 for sending me some absolutely AWESOME concepts. I'll start posting them out starting with this message. Please remember the main idea for this one is all theirs. I never come up with fantastic and yet subtle ideas like this one. Unlike the other setups, however, I will need to post some haardcore details with some of the creatures. (In short, you'd know what was coming... sort of.) What few embellishments I put on here are all thanks to toot033.


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Concept For A Jump-Off #2, by toot033 (embellishments by yours truly.)

Title: I'm Lost


Region Located: Level Nine (The Underground Caverns)


Storyline Involved:

At the exit to Level Nine going to Level Ten, you must save the lone baby bronze dragon from death from the other dragons. After healing the wyrmling bronze, he will say he is lost and if you take him back to his family his Mommy will give you a nice reward. The truth is this is all a deception. The baby dragon is an undead mind flayer (alhoon) who is trying to take over the level. You will eventually have to take him back to the upper left section of the map. There will be a few new encounters which will happen on the way back, so be prepared. He will say you are so good and powerful, et cetera. (Yes, that wyrmling knows how to stroke an ego, don't he?)

Eventually, you will get to his lair. In a transition area, he will drop his illusion and say look my brethren more additions to our army. Between four and ten more alhoons will show up, along with suitable "shock troops." During this debacle, you will notice a singular bronze dragon trapped within a crystal. (It is the source of light within the area.) If the players are smart and break the crystal first, a real baby bronze dragon will pop up, wailing piteously for its parents. A pair of a greater bronze dragons (who would be a match for the singular force of the red dragon on the level already) come to even the odds leaving the main mind flayer to you. Once defeating him and any stragglers (he should be tough enough to engage multiple characters) there will be some nice rewards from him (sorcerer stuff would be nice) and some nice things from the parents for saving their little Woobie and some chatter of getting him a drow balloon etc. This quest will shift you towards Good.


Creatures Involved:

- undead duergar cleric, rogues, and fighters
- undead derro sorcerers, mages, and assassins
- undead drow assassins, mages, clerics, and fighters
- "regular" alhoons (undead illithids with high wizard/sorcerer levels)
- "blasphemer" alhoons (undead illithids with high cleric levels)


Boss Creature:

- greater alhoon archmage

Thanks Moz.. Blushes

This is another idea sent to me by toot033 and afterwards embellished upon. This one I am going to try to fill in a few more details on, as it seems a highly plausible Jump-Off point, and unlike most of my concepts, it is a mutliregional quest.

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Title:

Lost In Translation


Author:

toot033 (embellished upon by Mozenwrathe)


Regions Located:

Skullport, Level Four (The Crypts), and Level Six (The Undersewers)


Concepts Involved:

Well, we all know how Ben Sisko wanted you to take out Lester for him. Now that you have, what do you do next?


Storyline To Get You Going:

After slaying Lester for Ben Sisko's quest inside of Skullport, you normally have the option of giving Lester's book of recruitment to Ben as well. As Ben tries to open the book, he realizes that the entire tome is in code. In order to read it, he is going to need that "mouth" rumoured about a few times over. The problem for Ben is that he figures Lester or one of his henchmen stashed it somewhere on Level Six. As all of Ben's faction are dead (thanks to your efforts), you'll have to go and hunt this "mouth" down the hard way. Now Ben's not a stupid man - he's already figured that this "mouth" is actually a person. Maybe a mage, maybe a sorcerer, perhaps just some number running mule Lester suckered into working for him? Who knows, and who really cares. You just have to drag their sorry carcass back to Ben - alive.

Yes, you heard that right folks. Alive.

No killing them and lugging their body around, either. That just won't cut it this time. You'll have to go down to Level Six, find this stoolie, and "escort" them back to Skullport without getting them killed - or killing them yourselves. Ben, being one to prepare for all sorts of things, has a way around this. He'll give you an item (One shot usage, only for this quest) which will turn this "mouth" into doll-size so you can stash them in your backpack (which I hope isn't too crowded) to get them back up to his office. How he's prepared for such an event you don't really want to get into. (If possible, this event should be timed so that the character's can't lolligag through the level in order to gain extra XP for facing other creatures. If the server resets, the "doll" will be removed from your backpack and you'll have to start again.) If you run out of time, the "mouth" will return to normal size and will be fairly upset. You'll have to find some way to convince them to come with you, and scaring them might be a little difficult...

Now, it gets better. You see, the "mouth" is well guarded. They'll have plenty of Guild Thieves, Assassins, and Bullies around them to keep them safe from harm or kidnapping. What's worse is that if enough of the Guild Members are slain, the remaining ones WILL try to kill the "mouth" in order to protect the Guild's secrets. (Not good, REALLY not good.) Meaning you'll need to get to as close to the "mouth" as possible and slay the guards going away from them. You should also have quite a few healing packages handy, in case you screw up. If you play your cards right, they may walk with you willingly. And to be honest, they aren't that bad in combat. Still, you want them alive and well, not dead and stinking. Dead and stinking equals no rewards from Ben. Heck, he may even throw you out of Skullport if you do THAT bad of a job...


Creatures Trying To Eat Your Face:

- everything normally found on Levels Four and Six


Levels Of Capability Recommended:

- I'd strongly suggest just under pre-epic to epic levels for your characters. They won't be needed, but if you are going to attempt it solo, then you'd want the extra fire power. Best suited to those in a party, as one person may want to do all the talking while the rest do all the fighting. Skills will not be required, but they will reap you better rewards.


Really Angry And Powerful Creatures Looking To Roast Your Rear For Dinner:

-just the small army of Guild Members on Level Six looking to skin you alive. Oh, ignore the three half-orc Guild Bullies with the Clubs Of Terrible Beaning. They won't hurt you. Oh wait a second, yes they will. And they'll enjoy it immensely.

Title:

The Collection Agency Awaits Thee


Authors:

Garnet FalconDance, Dace De'Briago, roddybug, RobertTheBard, T-D-C, and Mozenwrathe


Level Requirements:

Any and all, just try not to perish while doing the jobs. Epic levels may be recommended to retrieve certain items, but not always necessary. Some enemies may be a lot freakin' harder than they appear, so be warned ahead of time. Dragons don't count. Relatives of dragon's don't count either.


Concept:

Well, with all those various sets located around the module, there has to be SOMEONE looking for them, right? Not all of them are especially powerful, but there must be a person (or organization) somewhere that has invested interest in them. This has been a concept in my mind for a long while, but seeing a few players actively theme characters around various items and sets kicked this concept back into high gear. Now these are more quests than Jump-Off points, but new areas may be arriving very soon (such as stores and taverns) which would give PCs more places to sell, trade, or give these away.

Now, some of these ideas within the main concept might be a little harder to implement than others. I realize that. I just have this insane need to be creative and if I don't more often I'll hate myself more than I do. So bear with me for a while and see if some of these possible plotlines appeal to you.

Please note, for you to complete ANY of these quests you would have to have the complete set. Does it matter when you have these items? Not really - just have them all at the same place at the same time. Each of these would be once per server reset. It makes it more believable if naught else. The scripts would be set to remove all the copies of the item from your inventory. That is for both believability and to make players think seriously about what they are losing out on. Yes, there would be brand new items coming out of SOME of these. The prizes would depend purely on the quest you were finishing.


Areas Located:

As you might have guessed, this particular series takes you all over the (current) map of the module. I won't go any farther than this at the moment, however. Quite a few of these would take you into the (currently unstocked) taverns and saloons within Waterdeep and Skullport. As well, one of these quest ideas would take you all the way down to The Drow City first before it even began.


Storyline(s) Available:

1) Moander's True Champion -

This quest would start off in a brand new section of Level Ten. Unlike the Lizardman Army Deserter within the Trollbark Dungeons, this lizardman you would be meeting would be of a far different mindset. Sure, he doesn't want you dead, but he isn't pleading to you either. This one (in the same vein as a drow highborn lady) demands you to return to him the items of Moander. Saying he is "no common lizardman, but a true descendent of the saurials of ancient times," he'll state his case using gold and the promise of a powerful item. Items you would need to retrieve (I know of so far) would be these: Armour of Moander, Rod Of Moander, Holy Symbol of Moander, Bastard Sword of Moander, Boots of Moander, and the Helm of Moander. Upon completion of the quest, the lizardman would transform into a more powerful looking lizardman. Bowing to you solemnly, he would give you your rewards without question and disappear.

Completing this quest pushes you towards Neutral Evil. He would also give you a token which if shown to the right person (found on another level) would gain you a brand new henchman. Taking on the henchman would ALSO push you towards Neutral Evil, so be warned.

2) It Takes A Thief (Or A Few Of Them) -

Technically this is an easier quest than the first. The problems would be first finding the person (or in this case, "representative of a free-market society") who wants this collection, then bringing them all back to said person (who would be in a completely different location inside of Waterdeep) without the City Watch finding out about this. Oh, did I mention there'll be two different organizations looking for these? No? Oh dear, I should also tell you that if you sell it to the "wrong" group of people, the other association will send assassins to kill you. (Complete with Disarming Attacks, Knockdowns, and Hiding In Plain Sight.) The items you'll be needing this time around are the Ring of the Hidden, the Shadow Dagger, the Bracers of Darkness, the Boots of Shadow, and the Armor of Shadows, not to mention the Shadow Lockpick Tools.

Completing this quest pushes you towards Chaotic Evil if you sell it to the wrong people, and doesn't move you at all if you sell it to the right people. There'll be clues as to whom you should actually cough up the goods to throughout the conversations you can have with both parties. I would advise people with high skills in Bluff, Persuade, and Intimidation do all the talking. Really and truly I would... And for goodness sakes, DON'T SEND THE PALADIN!

3) A CATastrophy In The Making -

One of the new vendors inside of Waterdeep is looking for the items created by Choc and Charly. You have no idea where he's coming up with the cash for this treasure hunt, but who cares? With the amounts he's offering, does it really matter that this guy reminds you of... well... a mountain lion? This one will need to be filled in by Ziroc, as I've only seen one item from each set for Choc and Charly, and there's supposed to be more for each.

4) Keeping The Faith -

Okay, one of the new temples within Waterdeep wants to have certain items in their protective care. Some of it is due to the awesome power of those items. Other items bear wickedness within the steel and leather used to create them. Either way, the temple's head clergy wish for any courageous adventurers to bring back to the light what was lost in the darkness. The alignment of the bold souls matters not to the clerics as they believe everyone will be won around to their line of thinking in due time.

Some of the items they would like to see back in their careful hands are Umberlee's Trident of Pain and her Armor of Ice, Tymora's Armour of Luck and Longsword of Luck +7, not to mention anything by Bhodi and Muriel. Each of those sets will have it's own separate "bounty" in place, especially the one for Muriel. They know it may take you a while to find everything, but they have the patience of saints. (They make watching grass grow look like a contact sport.)

Completion of each of these quests will send you a little farther towards Lawful Neutral. Depending on what you are handing in, the step may be a little farther than you think. As far as I know, nobody has found all the items in each of those sets, so once more Ziroc will need to fill us in on what each of those collections DOES in fact entail.

5) All's Well That Ends In The Well -

A young sage (with a lot of gold behind her apparently) would like to bring back a few choice items stolen from a private collection over fifty years ago. She is certain that you will be able to recover these items for her. A few of these items are Shawsaw Rimstym's Shortsword, the Waterdhavian Flail and the Waterdeep Helm of the Ages. A suitable reward will follow for anyone able to find all of what she needs.

6) A Rage Of Mages (Prime Time Edition) -

Remeber Veltsmotisi? Or Mordok? Perhaps the little lady Muriel? Well, there are THREE rival groups of wizards searching for their powerful "left-behinds," one of them being spearheaded by a former student of Khelben Arunsen himself. Only one of these alliances will succeed in acquiring all of these items, and each of them is willing to "loan" some assistance in getting these items back. The moment you get in contact with one of the groups, you will learn immediately of the other two. It is up to the PC to choose which way their conscience will guide them. There are a few unique and rare items each of these groups wants as well, and they'll spare no time telling you this. They also won't spare any expense in getting them back.

Be warned once more: wizards are not a truly sociable subdivision of sentient life. Crossing their paths is dangerous business, but crossing them in a business sense is even more hazardous to one's health. You are guaranteed to have at least one group trying to slay you the moment you finish one of the three subquests, and keeping your new employers alive will be part of the requirements to finish the other two subquests. (id est: kill the fireball-throwin' bastiches before they kill your bread and butter.)

7) The Lady Is Not A Tramp -

This one is a quest that would get you a brand new high level female monk into your party. All you would have to do is get her all the items by Suni and you'd be good to go. Oh, she would need to keep the items with her in order to be part of your entourage. (id est: once she has the items, she keeps them on her person. they cannot be removed from her if you wish her to remain a henchman.) First you would have to meet up with her... inside of The Drow City. Not exactly a place you'd expect to find help, but whatever works. (Yes, she too needs for the player to have a Ring Of Translation on them, but she WON'T be a dark elf.) You'd have to have a very good Persuade or Lore skill in order to convince her to join you. If you don't, she'll simply take the items, give you something to make up for it, and take her leave of you. (At that point and time, she would be hireable as long as she had all the Suni items on her person.)


Monsters And Other Foes To Consider Before Taking These Commisions:

Anything and everything within the Undermountain. As usual. What, you thought that would change because you were on a mission for the church or something? Give it up, already. Hope is dead, here, if what you were dreaming about was a utopia within the Undermountain.


Brand New Things Out For Your Gizzard And Gallstones:

- angry mages of all sorts and specialties
- brand new assassins and shadowdancers
- estate guards
- certain religious zealots who think you need a permanent cleansing...
- brand new trolls (who want Moander's items for themselves... not a good sign)


And What Do You Get Out Of All This Pain And Torment:

Experience points? Yes. Gold? You know it. Brand new items? Only in the case of very generous individuals who want to make sure you don't try to stab them in the back. A knife to the gut? Well, I never said you could trust all the people you are working for here, now did I? A lightning bolt straight through the nostrils? There's a reason they say that dragons and wizards should be left alone to sleep as long as they want.


Notes For The Unwise And Unwary:

- none yet.

[ 01-25-2007, 10:04 PM: Message edited by: Mozenwrathe ]

Level 6 sewers fairly screams out to be a jump-off for something. Roman was exploring a couple of days ago and found a couple places that would be excellent questing or entrance/egress spots.

I had a few more fun ideas for lvl 11 and Murial's area. When you go to the ice cave, and you search the sacrifice any and all priestess you kill will be resurrected BUT will be 2 levels higher ( and there will be a VERY nice item on the body maybe using a lesser script from the proving grounds.. How much will power do you have). In Murial's area how about having to smash the statues and the chair to weaken the lich. ( granted they won't break easily and will not go down with out a fight ( IGM, Weird etc) but when all are broken he will be a mere shell of himself).

Okay, this is where I get out of the car and start walking. You see, I originally had a post on January 10th where I had come up with this great set of ideas for the Waterdeep Sewers. Since that is impossible due to Ziroc already sharpening his pencils and drawing in Brand New Goodness(tm) for those areas, I posted that I would move the idea down to Levels Six and Seven. The way those two levels are designed, Jump-Off points and quest areas are more than bountiful. One of my issues was that one of my concepts was so large it would require yet another sublevel of sewers just to hold it. So, I have moved the entire post from where it was before to here because of massive renaming, revisions, and additions. I hope you like what new ideas have come to mind because of this.


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Title:

More To See Than You Actually See


Creative Director and Main Writer:

Mozenwrathe


Authors and Contributors:

Garnet FalconDance, toot033, T-D-C, Roddybug, Unglaublich Verwustung, StigTC, StormShadow, RobertTheBard, Garnet FalconDance, Dace De'Briago, and Wellard.


Region Located:

Levels Six and Seven within the Undermountain itself.


Concept:

This is a compilation of quite a few ideas, postulations, and previously listed dreams and desires. If naught else, some of the ideas originally focusing on the Waterdeep sewers have found there way here. As well, there are a few things within Levels Six and Seven which I have no concrete answer for. If there is already something on the way, I welcome it. If there isn't, Ziroc might find some inspiration here and make something cool and creative. Either way, it never hurts to get some creativity out in a good way.

There were a few ideas I listed in here before, but as more filled out versions have been posted up since then, I will just list references to them in here rather than write them out in completion a second time. Quite a few things have been pointed out to me by Garnet FalconDance, or suggested to me by toot033 and Unglaublich Verwustung. Quite a bit of which I never would have looked into myself. With those ideas in mind, I sought to redo what I had already come up with and fill them out somewhat better. Some of these storylines WILL have song names as I enjoy listening to music while writing. If something in this listing doesn't strike you as appropriate, let me know either here or while I am online within the game. If you (the general public) have other ideas that would fit in well into the grand sewer systems, don't be afraid to post them! Ziroc welcomes participation from all the people who enjoy his module.


Storylines:

0) Level Six II -

Exactly as it sounds like. A new subdivision level that would have even more waterways and perhaps even some flooded sewers to walk through. (Something similar to the Trollmoor Swamps.) There are a few regions within Levels Six and Seven which would lend itself to an actual Jump-Off point for such a region to exist. The name of it would be The Sunken Abandoned Sewers, and there would be more than few Very Good Reasons(R) for that area to have been abandoned by anything human or relatively humanoid. There would be no signs of the Xanather Thieves Guild within that area. No dragons that you know of would be down there, but that could easily change. After all, it's not as if you really know what WOULD be the "top dog" within a sewer system...

1) And Its Names Were Pestilence And Torment -

Within the sewers, you have notices there are elements for the sewers itself. Obviously corrupted spirits of air, water, and earth are some of them. However, the farther along you go, the more powerful you find these elementals. And quite a few of them seem to be summoned right from the mire and morass. Not a good sign, especially when some of them are just about immune to various types of weapons. Not to mention the foulness they excrete. You need to find who or what is summoning or creating these things, and end them. (If you are evil, you might want to just torture them and get the information for yourself. Who knows?) And you are hoping that whatever it is can be found rather quickly, as the less time you spend in the sewers ("What WAS that you just heard squeak underneath your boots?") the better. The stench is becoming unbearable...

2) By The Will Of The People/ Rescue Me (part one) -

You are approached by a member of the City Watch. Taken aside, you are requested by them to go into the sewers and find someone very important to them. They won't tell you whom it is, just that they are easily recognizable and will do as you ask them as long as you have a certain token with you. Giving you a coin with two symbols on it (one of Selûne, the other of Shar), she tells you to find the person as fast as possible. The longer they are down there, she explains, the more unlikely it is for them to be found alive. The two-faced coin should tip people off that this isn't going to be a nice and easy trip into the muck and mire, but you ARE adventurers...

This quest would allow you to go one or more steps towards Good. As it stands, assisting the City Watch is a Lawful action, but when you find out exactly whom it is you have to bring back to the surface, you'll begin to question the motives of your current employer. Yes, in this case you will gain the person as an NPC henchman who you can control and heal. However, they will leave you the moment the quest is over. And to remind you, they aren't as powerful as the adventurers are. (Perhaps ten to fifteen levels, but with additional HP as it IS a difficult journey back to the surface.)

3) The Alliance/ Disputed Rulers Of The Sewers (part one) -

Within one room inside of Level Six, there is a gathering of gypsies and members of the Xanather Thieves Guild. What is going on here, exactly? Recruitment? Training? Something even more dangerous to yourself (and perhaps to Waterdeep if you REALLY want to consider them) perhaps? They seem rather chummy chummy with each other, and you know you've seen some of this band of gypsies (if they are even real members of "The Wandering Nation") on upper levels of the Undermountain alongside the Xanather Thieves Guild. Something is going on here, and you are going to put a stop to it. Of course, that's only if their numbers don't put a stop to you first.

You'll see the collaboration of criminal creativity later on within the sewers, but you'll get past your admiration for their hard work the moment the arrows start flying in your direction. Whatever they are working so hard to hide from the Kraken Society and the Shadow Thieves Guild must be important, and probably worth money to someone. Whether it be an agent from another Guild (earning you Evil points if you sell it) or members of Waterdeep's Finest (earning you points in Lawful if you give it to them), someone must be interested in whatever is within those tomes.

4) Lost In Translation -

this idea was put forth by toot033 and can be found earlier on within this thread.

5) Echoes Of The Soul Never Heard -

There is a tale told by bards about a powerful set of instruments stolen one night by agents of the Kraken Society. It is unknown what they had in store for the instruments, as the agents were slain by members of the Xanather's Thieves Guild. The instruments were never found again, but one of the members of the local Musical Academie has expressed interest in finding them. Of course, she is not adventuring material by any means. At around the age of fifty-eight, she's only seen action in plays and if a cart got away from its owners. By no means could she survive the journey down into the sewers, let alone the creatures that would look at her as a quick snack. If someone could hunt down the instruments for her, however, she would pay them most generously.

There IS a catch however: the Kraken Society has made it a point to send its own adventurers down into the sewers to find these items, and they won't take no for an answer if you find them first in terms of taking the items from you. In fact, you are pretty sure they won't take an answer from you at all, unless it is the sounds of your blood gurgling from your throat.

This quest will send you a few points towards Neutral Good. If you negotiate a deal between yourselves and the members of the Kraken Society, you will go a few MORE points towards Neutral Evil. It would be up to Ziroc to allow for double-cross potential, though if you succeed in such a wicked thing you'll gain more points towards Evil and the bard may question why the instruments are a little tainted in colour and aura. (A VERY good Bluff or Persuade would help you at this point.) This quest/ Jump-Off is recommended for parties given the wide range of skills required for it.

6) The Menagerie/ Rescue Me (part two) -

This happens specifically on Level Seven. There is a huge prison containing a myriad of creatures within its cells. Why is this there? What are the Xanather Thieves Guild hoping to accomplish by keeping them in there? If nothing else, why would ANYONE want to keep a hook horror alive and well close to anything sentient? Beyond that, there is an androsphinx there, and it seems friendly enough to the adventurers that there might be a chance of luring it with some food to join your party. Of course, keeping it alive might be a bit of a task at first.

7) Burn The Ground And Salt The Earth -

Simple. You heard rumours that something is in the sewers and it's eating people. Anyone who has been in the sewers before can tell you about the spiders roaming around down there, and things even nastier than those. Still, something about these rumours is getting under your skin, and you intend to squash it. After all, if it's only giant spiders and goblins, what the heck do you have to worry about, right? Then again, if it ISN'T only giant spiders and goblins, all you really want to ask is this: what in the name of Cyric IS down there?

This is a completely separate quest and Jump-Off from the sewer elementals. The creatures involved here will more than likely be a lot more solid. Not that you'll appreciate that fact when you see fangs and talons lunging at you from the darkness.

8) Call Of The Wild/ Disputed Rulers Of The Sewers (part two) -

Ever seen a dogfight? Ever participate in one? Ever wonder what would happen if you threw cats into the ring with the dogs? Ever wonder what would happen if the cats were sentient and had opposable thumbs and had some serious padfoot backup? Well, you poor unfortunate fools, you've just stumbled into what looks like some kind of pitched battle between members of the Kraken Society and an organization you've never heard of before (and you were happier then, too). Good luck, as it looks like they've all noticed YOU now.

Words of advice: take out the new guys first. Always side with the devils you know than the demons you don't. Familiarity may breed contempt, but at least you know that the Kraken Society needs to breathe. (Well, some of their members do at least.)

9) Shake The Disease/ Rescue Me (part three) -

There are nymphs in the sewers. No joke. There are seriously nymphs in the sewers. Find them, find out what they are doing down there, and help them get back to nature. More than likely this will be a FedEx-style quest, only finishable once per server (like all the other quests in this line-up). The difference being the items you may need to assist them might not all be found on the one level. In fact, you may even have to travel all the way through Level Eight and Level Five in order to hunt down the various pieces of the puzzle. There is no time limit to this quest, but you'll want to lock the doors behind you to insure nothing comes after you into that room. After all, if you get back and the nymphs are dead then you've obviously failed the quest. (Right now I think the nymphs are set to "cannot be killed." That would be perfectly fine to ensure the quest can be completed after it has been taken.) The nymphs will give you an item which will help you "tame" the androsphinx and bring it to your side later on in the module.


Levels Recommended:

1) between fifteen and twenty levels at least.
2) anyone can run in, find the items, and leave. you might want to have something to back up your sword though before venturing through the sewers though.
3) epic levels would be highly advisable. not necessary, but advisable. you'll get enough XP to push you into epic levels by the time you are done, however.


Creatures Involved (old and new):

- everything ALREADY found on Levels Six and Seven
- revised and more powerful slimes, oozes, jellies, and gelatinous cubes
- revised and more powerful elementals (sewer, sludge, corruption, decay)
- skeletons, skeleton warriors, skeleton priests, skeleton warriors, skeleton mages
- drowned warriors, greater zombie pirates, zombie knaves, greater zombies
- all sorts of Plague creatures (vermin, arachnids, stirges, undead, oozes, serpents, trolls)
- Kraken Society Skullcleavers, Bodystealers, Heartrippers, and Thoughtreavers
- greater versions of fenhounds, Hounds Of Xvim, hellhounds, shadow mastiffs, worgs)
- rakshasha slavers, slayers, dark mystics, and Throatbleeders
- revised displacer beasts, dire tigers, lions, crag cats, and greater tigers


New NPCs/henchmen To Deal With:

- captain of the local guard
- City Watch members
- Red Sash member
- the androsphinx on Level Seven
- the nymphs on Level Seven (or is it Level Six?)
- members of the Kraken Society


New Boss Creatures/NPCs:

- Kraken Society Giver Of Endless Peace
- Kraken Society Hymnsinger
- Kraken Society Thirster For Ochre Fountains
- higher level members of the Xanather Thieves Guild
- insane Druid Of The Poison Stone Rivers
- acolytes of the insane druid
- various high level creatures (unwilling to name them yet)
- rakshasha leader of her faction
- immediate subordinates of the rakshasha


Notes Required For This Jump-Off:

Cthulhu will not be featured today. He/It is busy campaigning for President Of The United States in 2008. (Why vote for the lesser evil? Vote CTHULHU!)

A new aboleth MIGHT make its appearance during the course of these possibilities, but I refuse to say. I happen to like the idea, but it's up to Ziroc with that. As well, some of these would require whole new sections, such as an ampitheatre style staging area for some of the larger battles. (Jump-Off point: top-left corner of Level Six) The Slayers Only Store idea would (naturally) have to be moved, more than likely to an obscure area within Level Nine. For revisions to the slimes and other "muck monsters," I was thinking increases in strength, speed, and resistences - not to mention hit points. More than a few creatures would find themselves suddenly with spells they previously didn't carry. And yes, this would require a massive change to the levels as now there would be two to four factions for the PCs to deal with: NPCs needing rescue, Kraken Society members, "the unknown faction," and everything else (which would include the currently places Xanather Thieves Guild).

Now, with all the work we have put into Levels Six and Seven, not to mention Ziroc's revamping of the original Waterdeep sewer system, I was wondering where next to go with my mental meanderings. And then I read through an instant message sent to me by one of the good people here. I had completely forgotten our "friends" within The Underground Desert. So I wish to present a few more quest concepts provided by a few others, not to mention a couple expanded and revised Jump-Off locations. (Some already exist, others only exist within my head.)


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Title:

And Your Bones Will Bleach In The Sun...


Head Writer and Organizer:

Mozenwrathe


Authors and Contributors:

toot033, Garnet FalconDance, nwnrogue, Roddybug


Concept:

I wanted to bring together a few different tales from the desert. Not all of them were created by me. In fact, very few of these were. However, there is so much potential that I normally flee past inside of The Underground Desert I wanted to give it more life and liveliness. Sure, a store down there would be wonderful, but there would have to be reason for it. Secondly, there would have to be a solid reason why the traders down within the Underground Desert already wouldn't have heard of it, or if they have why they never discuss it. So, before I went into a rant about "Stores Everywhere!" I started reading through a few sourcebooks. And what I found amazed me. Some of it I had read previously, but years ago. Some of the ideas put forth were completely new to me.


Storylines:

1) Shaken Not Stirred (this is all toot033's work) -

(Please note, this is connected with The Lizardrealm on Level Ten.)

In the area where the nature giant is there is a chest. Within this chest, there would now be directions to free the "True Lizardrealm Regent." This Regent had been captured by the Trollbark Troll known as "Link." In order to read the scroll, a Lore check will be required (DC 30 or more). There will also be directions of which to find where the Trollbark Troll and his minions have hidden themselves as well as this Regent. In the scroll, it will detail about how he was a benevolent ruler and was looking to end the endless bloodshed between his people and "the pale and frail scaleless ones." Perhaps if you rescued this Regent, the lizardrealm might actually become a less hostile place? One never knows, and a challenge is always welcome to a true adventurer...

Now, to free him you would have to gather certain ingrediants in order to weaken and shatter the crystal prison he is contained in. The elementls you would need are the following: four jugs of fire wine, the skulls of two gargoyles, one forgeable flawless topaz, three flasks of water, and three skeleton knuckles. As well, you will need to discover both the obsidian mortar and the onyx pestle to place this all in. (Don't worry, the skulls will fit into it.) In order to get these to work together, there are runes on the side of the mortar and pestle which explain what must be done to activate it. The items must be placed into it in a certain order: fire wine, topaz, skulls, knuckles, and finally the water. If this is done wrong, a demon will be summoned and assail those in the vicinity of the mortar and pestle. Every Time. (No XP to be gained for defeating the summoned demon.) As well, the mortar and pestle will only work when you are close to the crystal prison of the True Lizardman Regent.

After doing it correctly a mist comes from the mortar and pestle (both immediately removed from your inventory), and the voice of the "Regent" is heard. "Fools and wretches all! I was I was entombed by my own kith and kin for lack of vision. A new day arises with my awakening! You whom have allied yourselves with my worthless kindred shall be the first to fall under my might and that of my new legions..." After his little speech (of which there would be more text to read through) there would be an explosion causing 4d10 worth of damage (1d10 Magical, 1d10 Sonic, 1d10 Fire, and 1d10 Bludgeoning) and Stunning (terrifyingly high save required). As he rises from his prison, his new "allies" would appear with him - Trollbark Trolls. It appears that he was going to ally himself with the trolls and the rest of the clan did not like it. The scroll you found was created by his allies so that some brave souls would set him free for them. The Regent would be a blackguard/weapon master (using bastard swords of course) and his legions would be trolls (seven to twelve) with barbarian/weapon master levels.

Slaying him would put you on the path to Lawful Good and net you some nice experience for your trouble. Items to taste.

2) A Return To The Ice Age -

I just want to see the ice region within the Underground Desert expanded to around thrice to seven times its current size. Perhaps with a few new one-way gates to new and rather hostile realms. One to an expanded Limbo (where the prismatic dragon is), One to Perdition (where a few new foes would be waiting for the unwary traveler), and the final one elsewhere in the tombs on Level Eleven. Perdition's own exit would either send the PCs back to Level Nine or somewhere else Ziroc found amusing and suitable. Within Perdition, a few creatures from the Ravenloft setting would be looking for something more than midnight snack, and the PCs would be a perfect nip and tucker for their teeth to grind and tear at...

As well, the current ice region would come with a few quests of its own. One of them would be to RETURN the set belonging to Umberlee to the temple of Auril (buried deep within the expanded realms). This quest would set you firmly on the path towards Neutral Evil. The High Priestess Of Biting Frosts would be on equal strength as the Cult Of The Dragon High Wizard. Except she'd look better in a corset. And is probably less likely to leave your bones to roast in the sun. If you do as she asks, she won't attack you. If you defy her, or betray her, then you are dead. (Her words, not mine!) Her immediate followers would be more powerful than the priestesses you faced before.

3) Damnation In Degrees (a.k.a. Anauroch Was Never As Harsh As This) -

The desert sands hide quite a few tombs and mausoleums underneath. There are at least two which have already been shown. Two more would make their appearances, and the two largest of the current regions would undergo massive overhauls. More twists and turns, even more undead than before, and at least three brand new foes to face. Especially as the farther you travel within one of them, the weaker you begin to feel...

The reason for that would be the dread elder mummy Khal'Nashood Vintep. What makes him even more frightening was that he was born within the Mists Of Ravenloft, and purposely *released* by the Dark Powers into Faerûn. Within his personal realm, his powers are tragically grotesque. Cursed to forever tempt fate, he has created bounties and organizations through his magical powers specifically to hunt down and slay mummies and other elder undead. As one can tell, none of his efforts have succeeded yet. His personal treasure trove rivals that of lesser dragons, and it is rumoured he has mastered the art of golem creation in his centuries of being under the earth. If this is so, at least he could not create anything made of steel or other metals - he does not have access to that much material. What he does have, however, is an abundance of flesh and sorcery to make up for such a loss. It is rumoured even now that another mummy seeks to overthrow him underworld necropolis. That would be frightening enough, but the legends say that the other mummy walks in the guise of regular humans...

4) Farther Down The Rabbit Hole... -

After completing the beholder quest, one of the member of the "Good Camp" asks you to double check the area to ensure no more beholders are within their storage tunnels. When you go down, you are unnerved to discover a hidden wall. Opening it, you find there are even more tunnels to look through. Within them, there are no beholders, but what you DO find there is somewhat more disturbing. The tunnels wind out and around underneath the Underground Desert, leading you off to find yourselves facing creatures which have no justifiable reason being there. (Of course, you know that Halaster had something to do with this.)

At the end of it, there will be a small waterfall with fresh water. Perfect for the camp of peaceful travelers, but the creature by the waterfall guards it jealously, and is completely uninterested in sharing it with anything - least of all two-legged meatsticks which refuse to stay still. If the adventurers are successful in subduing the creature, there will be a new reward from the camp. (This quest will touch you towards Good.)

5) Touched By Sorrow -

Of the Seven Sisters, the tale of Syluné is a heroic and tragic one. Even more so when it has been discovered a collection of her verses (poetry, prose) was stolen from her gravesite. The agents of the Harpers, Khelben Arunsen's acolytes, and more than a few "private collecters" are interested in its return. Somehow, word made it back through the Undermountain that its last location was inside of the Underground Desert. Where exactly is a mystery, but it wouldn't be surprising if it was within one of the tombs. More than one voice has spoken up about wanting the safe return of the tome, but to whom you may return it to is your own choice. Just remember, the tome itself may have powers all its own and you may not wish to give it up so readily. As well, knowing the history of its owner and her ultimate fate, getting rid of the book might not be as easy as finding it. And finding it won't be a breeze and tickle to begin with.

6) Something Is Very Wrong (a.k.a. The Zhentarim Are Coming!) -

Turns out that "Z" flag we have grown to know isn't for Ziroc (as many of us thought), it is for the Zhentarim. They have themselves a small fortress hidden underneath the sands, and have started training and recruiting any mercenaries or sorcerers they can find. Clerics have a different option whenever they are discovered: Serve Bane Or Die. As you may have guessed, there has been a decided upswing in converts as prisoners are slowly indoctrinated and become fully fledged members of The Black Network. The spread of the Zhentarim is a slow and deliberate one, but far more insidious than Xanathar's Thieves are or even the Kraken Society. (And yes, it is spelled Xanathar. Using an official book to hunt down this information. Don't worry though, no matter how they spell it, they are still out to kill you. Cheers, mate!) To make matters MUCH worse, one of the three Manshoon clones himself rules this roost.

Within this hidden fortress, there are many dangers, traps, and enemy agents. Prisoners abound - some tortured, some brainwashed, a few experimented on and worse. No matter which way you turn, however, the Church Of Bane presides and gathers more strength. The deadly forces of the Zhentarim are poised to make a resurgence within Waterdeep at this rate, unless someone does something to stop it. Surely "The Blackstaff" would have done something about this if he had heard about it. However, it is certain Halaster Blackcloak used his almost godly influence within his personal domain to keep anything from leaking out. After all, it would "spoil his fun..."


Creatures (Original, Revised, Revisited, and Hungry For Your Eyeballs):

- everything currently found on Level Eleven
- Trollbark Troll Legionnaires (barbarian/weaponmaster)
- newly revised golems (dust golems, flesh golems, bloodbound golems, clay golems)
- newly revised undead (see other Jump-Off posts for quantified ideas)
- the church of Ereshkigal
- the legions of the Zhentarim
- the newly reformed and strengthed church of Bane


New NPCs To Be Encountered:

- there is the possibility of one or two new henchmen within all of this. however, given where they would be, having extra items within your inventory to give to them would be highly adviseable. they would be prisoners in two completely separate locations, and rescuing them would be a chore and challenge within itself. (see Jaraos for details.)


And Those Who Rule Over All:

- the High Priestess Of Frost (Auril's emissary)
- the True Regent of the Lizardrealm
- Khal'Nashood Vintep (greater elder mummy)
- El'Niyati dol'Yogini (human looking, "ancient dead", high priestess of Ereshkigal)
- Manshoon, leader of The Black Network within the Undermountain

Notes To Be Followed:

I made some adjustments to toot033's original concept to make it easier to code in. This doesn't mean it would be any easier to complete or survive. In fact, there were a few creatures added into the mix in order to make up for the alterations I made.

My brain is too frazzled to make any sense of it all...Too many other sub-plots running through my head at the moment.

I LOVE the new ideas! (With my limited knowledge) I see some which would be easier to implement than others, perhaps.

Add these tantalizing concepts and all in all, Ziroc has created an ever-growing monster when all he thought he was doing was bringing paper to life ;) .

Well, the whole post of the larger posts (the ones covering entire levels) was to show a great deal of different possibilities at the same time, rather than having separate posts for each and every individual concept. The posts for the Undermountain Sewers (Levels Six and Seven) and the Underground Desert (Level Eleven) were set up so that people could literally pick and choose the ideas they liked the best and perhaps give more input on them. There is no possible way I would want or expect Ziroc to implement all of the different ideas put forth in both of those posts. Perhaps a couple from each of them, but even one for each level would increase the amount of replayability for those levels immensely.

With the posts for Levels Six and Seven, I was aiming for reasons to actually spent the time and lurk around the entire level aside from regular experience hunting. The stages are both huge, and yet the majority of times people will rush through there in order to find their way to the "big money" levels such as The Underground Forest and the Cult Of The Dragon Caverns (Levels Eight and Twelve, respectively). I know myself I rarely spend the time to search everything within the Undermountain Sewers, despite all the work I know for a fact has gone into it. With that line of thinking in mind, I set off to give new reasons for old players to go back to the "look under every rock" mentality.

With Level Eleven, I have always liked the desert concept and wanted to see what else could be done with it. Using a few sourcebooks, I discovered there was quite a bit which had not been tapped previously in the deserts. Sure, there is QUITE a lot of adventuring possibility already there. I just wanted to see what other flavours could be dashed into the mix without ruining what was previously installed. The easiest way to look at the list is simply try to find something you yourself would go "yeah, this is a quest/new area I would really love to sink my teeth into." By no means would I expect everything within that stack to be added in. That's just a lot of work which would keep Ziroc away from adding in more levels elsewhere, not to mention modeling of new creatures and plotlines of his own he is working on.

The Collection Agency post I think I had the most fun putting up though, as it finally gives us something to do with all those set pieces we habitually grab from wherever we find them. I've always wanted to see a real purpose for some of those sets, as you'll get them but never use them. As wel, if the rewards are right, it would give people brand new reason to go hunting for all those items which we still haven't found (like the rest of the collections for Mordok, Charly, Choc, and Waterdeep). I thought it would be interesting for - in the case of certain henchmen - you had to have a complete set for them to even agree to work with you. It's similar to other henchmen in different games, where you'd have to go on a quest to be able to pick them up. Of course, I have no idea how competant these henchmen would be. (Doubtful they'd be as powerful as Jaraos, though.)

As for the subplots you have going on in your head, if they aren't for the module I know you are working on, why not post up a few of them here? I've personally been trying to stay within the borders of Levels Five through Eleven (except for the Collection Agency posting) in order to make that long trek down more inviting and exciting for players. Anything you have would be greatly welcomed. Besides, I may end up nagging you on ideas soon enough anyway!

The only problem I see right off for putting anything more on lvl 11 is the already nearly unbearable lag experienced there. It would be like adding to Skullport proper.....nice story-wise but a real show-stopper, literally.

Lvl 6 sewers, however, are largely unpopulated except by tantalizingly odd groups (odd as in, why in the world are they there?). It fairly begs to be added to in some manner, and I think the ideas presented here are a very good start.

I'd still like to see something out in the Tradeway in the abandoned village near the shoreline. I mean, *why* is it abandoned by all except the chickens and wights? What happened to the people? Maybe Jaws really did come up to the beach and eat them all, but.........

As far as quests, sub quests, and area ideas, I'm so busy adding stuff to my module that I can't stop...It's like a drug, I can't get enough. I can, however, continue to contribute scripts and such, especially since I'm finding that I'm more and more getting away from the script generator I use, since it won't do all the things I have tried to do with it. I spent two hours last night going through the NWNLexicon, reading tutorials, and looking at how things are achieved. The downside of having no life, considering how dry some of that stuff really is to just read.

I wasn't trying to say that you were overwhelming me with ideas, just that that part of my brain is already overwhelmed.

I thought I'd throw another idea into this lovely melting pot:

Title:

You want what???


Author:

Unglaublich Verwustung


Regions Located:

9 & 10


Concepts Involved:

-All you have to do is a small collect and deliver job - yes, the good old DHL/UPS concept.


Storyline To Get You Going:

-You've probably been wondering just why there are so many Duergar wandering the various levels of Undermountain, and maybe even thought about who built these tunnels and caverns anyway - we know it wasn't the Drow - they don't go in for all that dig and delve nonsense...
To cut a long story short it seems that they are all looking for a particular item, without any luck in this, to date, very long task. You want to know how long? How long does it take so that you have undead Duergar still searching, having vowed to never rest until they have found this item. How long is a quest that takes a Duergar that far past their usual life-expectancy? Let's think of it as 'quite a while'.
Anyway, it seems that due to an unforeseen disagrement between two of the three Duergar tribes there is now a small matter of compensation required - but at this stage all they want is to have back the original hearthstone from the first clan-holding. Seems fair.
Unfortunately the nasty little urchin who started all of this didn't tell anyone where he hid - but he did write it down in his diary, his lovely gold-inscribed diary, just the sort of thing that you might expect a dragon to hoard it it ever saw it. Did I mention that a red dragon happened to see it? Oh, well imagine that a red-dragon saw it, wanted it, ate the dwarf and 'borrowed' the diary.
Obviously nothing is ever as easy as finding the diary - once you do you'll discover that the stone has been left in the lair of an ancient basilisk, the king of snakes, a beast so venomous that it leaves a trail of poison behind wherever it goes, can kill with a single glance and is just not friendly - you are not going to be able to ask nicely 'can I have the stone back, please mister'.
So, to the plot: get asked nicely by the tribal Shamen (who, luckily for him, you bump into) to recover the stone by way of finding the diary. Go kill a a dragon, get the diary, find the basilisk, kill that (don't get turned to stone), get the hearthstone and return it to the Shamen while avoiding the big bad Duergar of the third tribe (you wondered where they had gone, didn't you) who quite like the status quo and really would rather the stone remains missing - and he'll reward you nicely (if you make it back in one piece).


Creatures Trying To Eat Your Face:

- Bad-ass undead Duergar mages, rock-wardens, clerics, assassins and the biggest, baddest Duergar of all - the Hearth Wardens, line of last defence -so you thought all dwarves were short and stout, these guys are big and stouter....
Red dragons, wyverns, a basilisk (no, not the wussy ones you met in the main NWN add-ons, a proper one)

Levels Of Capability Recommended:

- I'd strongly suggest just under pre-epic to epic levels for your characters. This is dragon-slaying territory.

Perfect, I just learned how to spawn NPC's as statues...

Red dragon, huh. Wait, did you say DRAGON?

.....Teddi gets out the whetstone and merrily begins to hone her waraxe.....

Wow, so many excellent ideas man! Keep them coming!! And the Lake of Shadows add on we talked about is underway! :D :D SO cool....

I'll use some of these ideas for sure! Keep them coming, as I read them when new posts are made!!