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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Originally posted by Stormshadow, who really should post more often as I love their commentary:
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.
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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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Originallly posted by toot033, who had this to ask me:
Hey Moz,
Would your idea about the sewers still hold true on lvl 3? Might be interesting there.
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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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Unglaublich Verwustung's support has always been valued, but not more so than in this post here:
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.
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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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Garnet FalconDance came up with this rather interesting take on events:
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.)
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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...