Post/Author/DateTime	Post
celloshane 01-20-04, 02:54 AM	My group is about to take a trip into the Underdark. I was wondering what people might suggest for useful items. Our average party level is 11th, and we have access to almost anything at standard or slightly higher prices. We expect some specific obstacles along the way; a long hike (50 or more miles), crossing an underground lake, and infiltrating a drow city. If you have any general advice about this sort of mission, I'd love to hear that too.
Nytmare 01-20-04, 06:21 AM	An old trick I used to pull on my players would be to organize real life 'field trips' and then tie their experiences from the trip into our games. One of the bigger ones, that became a yearly tradition for the club I was a part of, was a day trip out to Bear Cave (http://www.karst.org/bear_cave1.htm) (the fourth longest mapped cave in Pennsylvania). All too often gamers get stuck in the image of the 'low budget dinosaur movie cave', where you basically have a well lit, bumpy walled hallway with a dirt floor. Nothing breaks that conception apart like crawling on your hands and knees through the real thing. Something like that would be sure to open up your players' minds to some of the natural problems their characters might face.
celloshane 01-20-04, 11:05 AM	Ok, thanks Nytmare but I am one of the players in this group....
Arkenian 01-20-04, 12:02 PM	Your top priority should probably be, if you can afford it, Darkvision items -- deeper darkvision if you can manage it, so that drow darkness doesn't hurt you. Light has its uses, but it is also the single most dangerous thing to carry around. You can be seen from much further away than you can see, and it typically immediately marks you as someone from the surface. A corollary to using darkvision, is that if you can find anything that boosts listen checks, you're probably in good shape. Sound can travel a good long ways in the underdark, and it is the most accurate way of 'seeing' at long ranges. If you don't have someone who speaks undercommon, than comprehend languages is a must. I often also prefer to travel the underdark in disguise . . . a party of duergar or drow is far less likely to be bothered in the underdark than a party of humans and elves. Beyond that . . . at level 11 you may have begun to get used to the idea that you can teleport home whenever you want to. Remember this doesn't apply in the underdark. Think about things like Leomund's secure shelter and Mord's Magnificent Mansion. To quote Sam Gamgee: "Rope, you'll want it if you haven't got it." Your mage will want Fly, and perhaps levitate, and definitely featherfall if he hasn't got them. For the rest of the party, potions of Jump and Spiderclimb will probably suffice (the mage can fly around setting ropes) A climber's kit with pitons. Burrow, and . . . swim and waterbreathing. Basically, you want to stock up on magics for hostile terrains -- In the underdark, you almost always have to go 'through'. Almost every creature in the underdark has SR, so your casters should focus on no-SR spells, and understand that shifting their spell-selection a little bit more towards "utility" spells probably has a higher percentage of spells that aren't wasted. Finally, see if you can buy, beg, borrow or steal a map! The map probably won't be very good, but it's better than nothing. -Arkenian the Golden
Nytmare 01-20-04, 12:13 PM	Oop. Forgot which board I was on. Well then, you and your fellow players should pack up your DM and drag him to a cave. It's still a worthwhile trip, regardless. You get to have somewhat first hand knowledge of what your characters would expect. A feeling of the confines, what it's like to move around, what it must be like to try to have a sword fight by torch light in such an enviornment. What things you'd want with you or you might need. As 11th level characters a lot of the mundane stuff isn't going to be a sweat for you. Light, warmth, food are all going to be readily available in one form or another. What are the characters? What abilities do you have at your disposal?
Nytmare 01-20-04, 12:27 PM	Originally posted by Arkenian Sound can travel a good long ways in the underdark I always hear this when someone's talking about an underground campaign, but in my experience sound travels very poorly underground. Even in open caverns, and straight shot mine shafts noises seem to get swallowed up very quickly. Any audio-engineers out there want to tackle this? Also are there any stock magical items that give tremorsense?
Raist27m 01-20-04, 12:38 PM	I think sound does travel well underground. I think the problem is that it's hard to judge just what you're hearing. Is that a trickle of water, a rat knocking a stone over, or a drow sneaking up on us? The echo effect confuses the clarity of everything. Especially when you're not used to being underground. I agree with Arkenian about the non-SR spells. Also, look at dispell magic, and greater dispell, so that you can counter abilities and whatnot more readily. You might want to change your bows out for darts or shuriken, as you'll be able to pack more of them along, unless you've got a quiver of holding or some such.
celloshane 01-21-04, 03:07 AM	Ok, does anyone have suggestions for crossing that underground lake? It's about halfway into our hike so we can't really just carry a boat to it. I was thinking about a Folding Boat, but that's a little expensive for our party; we could get it if we stretch our resources. Any other ideas?
Naktor 01-21-04, 05:37 AM	You can make a raft thing with watertight bags or big bladders as flotation devices and stuff the disposable raft in a Bag of Holding. Bags of Holding and Haversacks are priceless for long journeys away from civilization.
celloshane 01-22-04, 02:59 AM	As 11th level characters a lot of the mundane stuff isn't going to be a sweat for you. Light, warmth, food are all going to be readily available in one form or another. What are the characters? What abilities do you have at your disposal? We have a elven ranger, a elven wizard, human monk, half orc barbarian, dwarven cleric, and me a elven rogue/cleric/shadowdancer (long story). Most of the party have spent the majority of their money on weapons and armor. We have made sure to get several Bags of Holding and a couple Heward's Handy Haversacks though. Two sessions ago, we attacked a duegar trading post, and killed everything except the pack lizards. Rather than mess with a list, our DM said we had access to all mundane items in the PHB for free. I stocked up on silk rope! The Wizards Council made a couple small donations: scrolls of Restoration, Potions of Cure CW, ect... That's about all we could get from them. Thanks for the advice on SR spells! Any more suggestions on the underground lake. I have the feeling it's going to be stocked with monsters and we'll need to be extra careful crossing it. Frankly the lake gives me the willys....
Nytmare 01-22-04, 03:25 AM	Originally posted by celloshane Thanks for the advice on SR spells! Any more suggestions on the underground lake. I have the feeling it's going to be stocked with monsters and we'll need to be extra careful crossing it. Frankly the lake gives me the willys.... Do you have the option of flying? Maybe climbing across the ceiling instead? Anything to keep yourself away from the water.
Kilroy2121 01-22-04, 12:25 PM	Okay, you have a cleric, so you are all set. Air Walk (Cl4) should do the trick for whoever you can cast it on. If the cleric is powerful enough, Wind Walk(Cl6) will get you across no sweat. You will probably need both though ( I think wind walk only gets you 1 additional creature per 3 levels). :cool:
Sereno 01-22-04, 12:42 PM	Originally posted by Arkenian Beyond that . . . at level 11 you may have begun to get used to the idea that you can teleport home whenever you want to. Remember this doesn't apply in the underdark. Think about things like Leomund's secure shelter and Mord's Magnificent Mansion. Why can't you teleport into/out-of the Underdark? Is this something new that came with the new campaign books? Our current campaign has been a long-running battle with Drow forces seeking to invade our little corner of the Dalelands, and *they* teleport in to attack us all the time! In fact, one of their most obnoxious items carried by their top-level individuals is a contingency-type ring that teleports them to safety when they get seriously hurt; requires me to always cast Dispel on their ring(s) first round of any serious battle....
celloshane 01-24-04, 01:21 PM	Originally posted by Sereno Why can't you teleport into/out-of the Underdark? Is this something new that came with the new campaign books? Our current campaign has been a long-running battle with Drow forces seeking to invade our little corner of the Dalelands, and *they* teleport in to attack us all the time! In fact, one of their most obnoxious items carried by their top-level individuals is a contingency-type ring that teleports them to safety when they get seriously hurt; requires me to always cast Dispel on their ring(s) first round of any serious battle.... I did some reading up on this. Apparently in the Underdark there is something called Faerzress. Essentially it makes teleportation unreliable, warps Portals, ect... Note that it only makes teleportation unreliable not impossible. What that basically boils down to, is that the DM can decide at will whether or not teleportation works and how. I think I get a break on this, b/c my DM is not running standard Faerun, but other adventurers should be aware.