It's The Jump-Off...!

[Mozenwrathe]

Originally posted by Ziroc, who just love giving positive feedback: Wow, so many excellent ideas man! Keep them coming!! And the Lake of Shadows add on we talked about is underway! SO cool.... I'll use some of these ideas for sure! Keep them coming, as I read them when new posts are made!!

Well, here is another idea from toot033. I have been holding on to these pair mainly as I wanted to give myself significant time to clean them up properly and polish them for him. If naught else, this is the shorter one of the two pieces he sent me. This will also lead into another "alternate level" series of events I was considering for your module.


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Title:

Shallow Underdark Thought Processes


Author:

toot033 (Edited by Mozenwrathe)


Levels Required:

Epic levels should be acquired by the time you enter Level Twelve of the Undermountain, so epic levels would be adviseable for this section.


Concept:

Whenever you see dead bodies, the first thing you should think of is "why are these here?" The second thing is, of course is "whatever killed them may come back for me." This particular Jump-Off selection is supposed to remind you of why. Of course, you can simply discount anything dead as having deserved its fate and walking blindly past, but that's merely begging fate to take you by the collar and smack you around brutally.


Region First Introduced:

Caverns Down To The Drow City (sublevel between Levels Twelve and Thirteen, "Caverns Down To Level Thirteen")


Storyline Involved:

After defeating the second half-dragon, you normally wander down through the caverns into a place half-covered in water. Noticing the large number of very deceased Cult Of The Dragon members, most people would want to check the bodies to see if they have anything useful on them. As well, the bodies do not look as if they were drowned, though they are face down in the water. When you exit onto Level Thirteen itself, there are more bodies on the ground, but those were slain by the drow themselves - or so you are led to believe. Either way, things don't look good for humans (and other non-drow) around this region.

Now when you enter The Drow City upon Level Thirteen, not only are there the dead cultists littering the grounds, there are a few corpses of dark elves amongst them. When scanning through the wretched, you find one dark elf who has just enough breath in him to utter the cryptic phrase "... the bubbles..." As he expires quite swiftly after that, a high level Drow Militia Brigadeer approaches and not-so-politely inquires "What In The Name Of Lloth Of The Eight Furies are you doing around these bodies?!?" If you are honest (meaning no Bluff, Persuade, or Intimidation usage) and insist that you do not know, the Brigadeer shall hint that a few of the Matrons of the city are expressing concern over the mysterious deaths as it and it appears that no one is safe. (When you scan through the bodies, you will note a few noblewoman and at least one priestess are among the slain.) Using Bluff will get you a quest which will take you into the heart of The Void Plane (which will more than likely get you killed). Using Persuade will get you scorned and told to "move along or have your head relieved from your shoulders." Using Intimidation will have you guided straight to Lady Zhara (who will have a quest specifically for those who think they are bad to the bone). The Matron Mothers of the city shall "reward anyone competant enough handsomely" for any assistance in ending this matter. Of course, the Brigadeer will not tell you what the Matron Mothers mean by a "reward," either.

Starting a fight with the Brigadeer is hopeless as they are set to NPC (Immortal) and have weapons similar to what the City Guard have in Waterdeep. (Welcome to Harm-ville. Population: you.)

When you go back into the caverns, (requiring a very good search skill), you you will spot some bubbles. Close inspection will reveal a barred hatch in the ground. When you report this to the Brigadeer, he will contact the Matrons on how to proceed. The Drow Militia Brigadeer will provide you with Rings Of Aquatic Existence (water breathing ability, immunity to drown, freedom of movement) because you will need to go underwater. The moment you remove this ring in the underwater areas, you will go through fortitude checks every ten seconds. Fail one of these checks and you die. (More than likely high level Drown spell for effect.) All fire spells will be useless (rendered to zero damage), and your electrical spells will do double damage. Cold spells will work normally, however.

Going in to the area leads to an assortment of water-loving creatures. While running (or should we say swimming?) through the area, you will find a cell with some Drow and cultist survivors. You'll notice they are all near death which would more than likely be the reason they are not hostile towards each other. The leader of the group will inform you they were part of a group to form a an alliance with the rebels and the Cult Of The Dragon to overthrow the Matron Mothers inside of The Drow City. They had discovered this aquatic region, but did not anticipate this water devil refused to be bargained with. The devil of water went on a rampage, slaying wherever he went. (This is the reason for the unsolved murders.) According to the abomination, they are to be the guests at his dinner. When this is mentioned, an ominous voice says these dinner morsels are now tainted and he will have to find some other main course (more than likely you), the information about the rebels is useful (meaning more midnight snacking for him), and that the last meal he had was far too light (rendering all hopes for negotiation moot).

Proceed to fight for your life.

He will summon his "retainers" who will be loyal minons with various powers. All of his minons (all seven of them) will each have a separate group of items (at least two of them required to complete various sets elsewhere in the module). If you manage to destroy the devil before he slays you and the prisoners (as banishment is no longer possible), you may free the prisoners (pushing you towards Lawful) or slay them (pushing you towards Evil). After defeating him, you will need to talk with the Drow Mitilia Brigadeer. The Matron Mothers will realize now there is a direct pathway to get to the rebel leaders (that being the portal in the Lake Of Shadows) and will demand you remove them. The portal is a one way link which will open up when you acquire the Rebel Plans. To get back to the city, you must defeat the Drow Rebel Leaders and acquire a mystic stone which will allow you to get back through to the city itself. (Another stone item for Level Thirteen.)


Creatures To Face And Remove The Faces Of:

- kuotoa (regular, shamen, priests, greater warriors, Defenders Of The Pool, assassins)
- sahaugin (regular, greater warriors, barbarians, shamen, slavers, Drinkers Of RedWater)
- sharks (all of the greater variety)
- crabs (all of the greater variety, twice to five times as powerful as normal)
- aquatic demons (unknown types) and corrupted water elementals and quasi-elementals
- various old and new types of Drow Rebels


The Lords Of The Depths

- water devil (unknown type)
- Drow Rebel High Council (which would be in another listing altogether)


Notes To Ponder For Yourselves:

This would be a one-time quest but the portals would remain open. As well, within the Caverns Down To Level Thirteen there would be two more "hidden pathways" to find yourself down to other levels. Neither of these would be standard Undermountain levels. One of them would be a long and treacherous winding pathway which would lead you (eventually) to a lost city. The city itself would be contested with duergar, derro, illithid, and perhaps even githyanki and githzerai. This has nothing to do with "...the bubbles..." and is only for those brave enough to step into the middle of what looks to be a war for control of this lost city. It is unknown who built this city, but you do know that there must be something of true value within.

The second one of these alternate portals would lead you through a semi-drowned maze through the caverns, allowing you to face some mutated versions of your favourite Underdark foes. This would lead you towards a small pocket realm in the Middledark (or the Middle-Underdark for those not familiar with the awful truth of the Underdark) where creatures born of Shadow and evil lurk. Light sources would be required at this point, as there would be no natural light sources within this realm. Darkvision and ultravision would be nice touches, but make sure your favourite blades all have light gemstones affixed to them.

[Mozenwrathe]

Okay, I know I have not posted anything major in a while. There's been a few good reasons for it - one of which I should be studying for as we speak. (I'll study when I get to work this afternoon.) In any case, I still have one of toot033's concepts left to put up here. That will probably happen on the weekend. Aside from that, I did post the beginnings of what could be a new sublevel (or two) within toot033's last post.


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Sublevel Series One - Caverns To The Middle Underdark


The first sublevel idea I had was for caverns down to the lost city within the Middle Underdark. This would take you away from the main levels of the Undermountain completely and would require you to find your way back up to Level Thirteen in due time. More than likely, the easiest way to accomplish this would be to have a Drow-controlled area filled with non-hostile NPCs (unless you attacked them). There would be a portal (one-way) back to Level Thirteen available, though you would have to pay a "toll" of 10000 gold or more (instantly deducted) in order to return. For more interesting fun, there could be another "fee" of half that amount to be sent to a "not as financially sound" level - that being Level Twelve. In both instances, the money would be instantly withdrawn from your character. A "rudimentary" store could be in place, selling off various items found throughout the Underdark and the Undermountain realm. Of course, these prices would be inflated (I would think two to three times actual value) because they would be the only place around to get anything.

The caverns themselves would be loosely populated with more powerful versions of many of the creatures you had already faced. I would figure there should be at least two screens worth of these caverns, more of a labyrinth style than anything. Arrows could be left on the ground to guide you to your chosen destination to make it easier. Random artifacts would be left behind by the creatures you would be facing. (exampli gratias: umber hulks, shadowprowlers (magic using crag cats), shadow mastiffs in packs, duergar and derro assault teams, illithid slavers, et cetera)

Inside of this lost city (name to be released later), there could even be multiple sections of it. (More work for Ziroc to be sure, but the module itself is pretty huge.) Each one of the sections would have one or two different factions vying for control. Of course, epic levels would be required in order to survive down here, as the foes would be at least as powerful as those on Levels Twelve and Thirteen. (Hint: bring lots of bags...) The only faction who would not try to kill you on sight would be ONE of the drow factions, as there would be two rival drow factions down there. Other factions would be the duergar, the derro, the illithid, and the githyanki. The githzerai (also found down there for some strange reason) would be the ones running and guarding the merchant house.

Down inside of this area, you could find yourself facing a brand new NPC henchman - but you would need that Ring Of Translation in order to talk to them. In fact, if you decide to throw away that ring down here, you will be unable to talk to the drow or the githzerai. And unlike on Level Thirteen, there is no Rings Of Translation just laying around for you to pick up.


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Sublevel Series Two - Semi-Drowned Labyrinth Of Lloth


As stated in the post with toot033's concept, the portals you would be using to get to these sublevels would both be found inside the Caverns Down To Level Thirteen. The first of the sublevels would be discovered after you had slain the half-dragon fiend and his subordinates. (Yes, that would be a lot of killing.) Using a key found on the body of one of them, you would be able to unlock the door to get to the caverns to the lost city. For this SECOND portal, however, a key would not be necessary. You would need to have a very good search skill (almost as high as the one required to find our friend Toren) and sharp blades at the ready. Located in the water-filled section of the caverns, this portal would allow you to find your way into a maze created by Lloth to "test" some of her less faithful followers.

Within the semi-drowned labyrinth, you would in fact be able to find one of two new henchman (already submitted to Ziroc) - very familiar faces to those who have completed Baldur's Gate I & II as well as NeverWinter Nights: Hordes Of The Underdark. Neither of them would have very good equipment on them, as they would essentially be prisoners of this maze. (Yes, the realm would be frightfully huge.) Lloth's little "deal" with a few other Underdark goddesses would make this section rather hazardous to anyone's health. Given that kuotoa and sahaugin wouldn't be the most powerful things you would have to worry about facing down here. (The strengths of which would be the same as in toot033's Jump-Off posting.) Any drider found here would be around half of the strength of the osyluths inside of The Pit, and there's no rule stating minotaurs cannot have been drowned and reanimated for the amusement of others. (Just as a heads-up, you know.) There would be at least one unique item found within this realm for the players to go gaga over, but you'd have to be the right alignment and class in order to use it. (Pity that the whole "Only Useable By: Gender" tag doesn't work within this module. Oh the joys, the joys...)

There would be more than your fair share of undead down here, as well as "shadow-" imprinted creatures. And if there just happened to be two new draconic regents down here, I don't know what you would do...

Maybe run like hell and fight for your lives, puny humanoid weaklings?
(and yes, I did send Ziroc a post about a really interesting looking dragon which would be perfect for one of those creatures aching to take a bite out of your flesh...)

[Mozenwrathe]

... so anyone have any more ideas for what else they would like to see in the Undermountain? don't be shy now, post!

[robertthebard]

I need a weapon that lets all of my chars kill all the monsters with no effort on my part. I think I've earned it by now, with all the graves my working for it chars have created... uh, please? ???