The Underdark in Eberron - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

The Underdark in Eberron

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Chigaru
Jan 16, 2011 0:46:27 So, I sorta chased my characters into the underdark of Xen'drik (they intentionally tried to find an entrance). So now they're working with some Sulatar drow to clear out an area for the drow to stay in safely for a while (long story, short version is I made the surface of Xen'drik very, very dangerous for a limited amount of time).

My party knows about the Underdark already, even if they don't know about Eberron very much. They understand that it's crazy monsters and crazy environments and yadda yadda yadda. But I want them to experience the Underdark of Eberron.

But even I don't know anything about that. What are some of the specifics of running an adventure in the Underdark in Eberron?
#2
ReasonForTreason
Jan 16, 2011 6:50:48 Depending on your campaign level, it could either be "your party against the daelkyr lords", "defending an ancient magic sigil about to break" or a bunch of abberant creatures leaking in from the depth of Khyber.

What does your party look like?
#3
Chigaru
Jan 16, 2011 11:36:50 The party is level 10. Reliably, I have a Knight, Fighter, Swordmage and Warlock. Less reliably, I have a Hybrid Wizard/Bard and a Warlord/Bard.
#4
ReasonForTreason
Jan 16, 2011 16:42:05 So, why not go with a Gatekeeper seal, then.
Way back when, the Gatekeeper druids banished the Daelkyr, evil, abberant plane mutants with a lot of tentalces in certain parts, into the depths of Khyber.
After a millenium or two, these seals are slowly corrupted by time, cultists and the Daelkyr themselfs, so the party has to fight a lot of Dolgrim, Dolgaunts and the like, in freakish landscapes.

Add in a mad dragon trying to release Tiamat from her slumber, and you're ready to go.
#5
Madfox11
Jan 17, 2011 2:31:22
So, why not go with a Gatekeeper seal, then.
Way back when, the Gatekeeper druids banished the Daelkyr, evil, abberant plane mutants with a lot of tentalces in certain parts, into the depths of Khyber.
After a millenium or two, these seals are slowly corrupted by time, cultists and the Daelkyr themselfs, so the party has to fight a lot of Dolgrim, Dolgaunts and the like, in freakish landscapes.

Add in a mad dragon trying to release Tiamat from her slumber, and you're ready to go.

Location might make it a bit hard to deal with. Tiamat is at Argonessen, and also has nothing to do with daelkyr (and I suspect that the Lords of Dust would actually ally with the dragons when facing the daelkyr since the Lords of Dust mostly want to rule the world, not destroy it). The daelkyr are at Khorvaire mostly.

Personally I would go for a Lord of Dust. They are also imprissoned in Khyber. The Umbrogen drow are somewhere in Xen'drik. You might want to check their history and use it for a few adventures. I seem to remember that they would also be a great nemesis for a few adventures. Another option would be to use some kind of degenerate giant tribe that fled below ground during the catclysm. You could use fomorians as a basic template since they are already underdark giants, and you can easily downplay their fey nature.

What exactly are you looking for? A main villain/threat for a couple of sessions? Just something to make the PCs' stay in the underdark memorable? Or something with a bigger more long lasting impact?
#6
skeptical_clown
Jan 18, 2011 9:20:20 I think it's ok to use whatever fits your campaign, without worrying too much about geography. The upper reaches of the Eberron underworld probably aren't all that different in concept from the Underdark in any D&D game, but as you go deeper into Khyber you're not really in the material plane anymore. Khyber's dimensions are not contained in a way that's geographically consistent with Eberron's earth. You could pass into Khyber, climb back up and find yourself in a totally different part of the world.

Given the levels of the party I think that the servants of the Daelkyr are the right level of challenge, but one of the Lords of Dust could work too. It just depends on whether you'd rather the flavor of their enemies be aberrant and lovecraftian, or demonic and unholy. I suppose if you wanted to stick more specifically with Xen'drik that they could be dealing with some ancient remnant of the giant empire too.
#7
Chigaru
Jan 19, 2011 1:18:02

What exactly are you looking for? A main villain/threat for a couple of sessions? Just something to make the PCs' stay in the underdark memorable? Or something with a bigger more long lasting impact?

Mostly I'm just looking for something to make their stay in the Underdark memorable. Most of them haven't experienced the Underdark at all in any of their DM games (I have, and it was all from a DM who loved Salvatore's drow, so...that's what we dealt with).

I like the idea of a Gatekeeper Seal. Would they be all the way in Xen'drik? Doesn't matter, I could put one there now.

The reason they're in the underdark in the first place is that they were looking for shelter from Xen'drik's chaotic surface. To give them an incentive to finish their mission quickly, I handwaved in that Xen'drik is particularly chaotic and dangerous when Kythri is coterminous with Eberron, and that it's actually safer if they retreat into the depths of the Underdark.

Some Sulatar drow let them share the caves that they use, but only if they prove their worth and help clear out some of the monsters down there. But one of the drow warriors really doesn't like them there. I could make him into a major villain for a little while: he finds some sort of thing that gives him awesome power, and he's first gonna take out the PCs with the new power.

But the important thing is that I don't expect the PCs to stay there for long, I just want a fun Underdark adventure that they'll remember for a while.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Chigaru Jan 16, 2011 0:46:27	So, I sorta chased my characters into the underdark of Xen'drik (they intentionally tried to find an entrance). So now they're working with some Sulatar drow to clear out an area for the drow to stay in safely for a while (long story, short version is I made the surface of Xen'drik very, very dangerous for a limited amount of time). My party knows about the Underdark already, even if they don't know about Eberron very much. They understand that it's crazy monsters and crazy environments and yadda yadda yadda. But I want them to experience the Underdark of Eberron. But even I don't know anything about that. What are some of the specifics of running an adventure in the Underdark in Eberron?
#2 ReasonForTreason Jan 16, 2011 6:50:48	Depending on your campaign level, it could either be "your party against the daelkyr lords", "defending an ancient magic sigil about to break" or a bunch of abberant creatures leaking in from the depth of Khyber. What does your party look like?
#3 Chigaru Jan 16, 2011 11:36:50	The party is level 10. Reliably, I have a Knight, Fighter, Swordmage and Warlock. Less reliably, I have a Hybrid Wizard/Bard and a Warlord/Bard.
#4 ReasonForTreason Jan 16, 2011 16:42:05	So, why not go with a Gatekeeper seal, then. Way back when, the Gatekeeper druids banished the Daelkyr, evil, abberant plane mutants with a lot of tentalces in certain parts, into the depths of Khyber. After a millenium or two, these seals are slowly corrupted by time, cultists and the Daelkyr themselfs, so the party has to fight a lot of Dolgrim, Dolgaunts and the like, in freakish landscapes. Add in a mad dragon trying to release Tiamat from her slumber, and you're ready to go.
#5 Madfox11 Jan 17, 2011 2:31:22	So, why not go with a Gatekeeper seal, then. Way back when, the Gatekeeper druids banished the Daelkyr, evil, abberant plane mutants with a lot of tentalces in certain parts, into the depths of Khyber. After a millenium or two, these seals are slowly corrupted by time, cultists and the Daelkyr themselfs, so the party has to fight a lot of Dolgrim, Dolgaunts and the like, in freakish landscapes. Add in a mad dragon trying to release Tiamat from her slumber, and you're ready to go. Location might make it a bit hard to deal with. Tiamat is at Argonessen, and also has nothing to do with daelkyr (and I suspect that the Lords of Dust would actually ally with the dragons when facing the daelkyr since the Lords of Dust mostly want to rule the world, not destroy it). The daelkyr are at Khorvaire mostly. Personally I would go for a Lord of Dust. They are also imprissoned in Khyber. The Umbrogen drow are somewhere in Xen'drik. You might want to check their history and use it for a few adventures. I seem to remember that they would also be a great nemesis for a few adventures. Another option would be to use some kind of degenerate giant tribe that fled below ground during the catclysm. You could use fomorians as a basic template since they are already underdark giants, and you can easily downplay their fey nature. What exactly are you looking for? A main villain/threat for a couple of sessions? Just something to make the PCs' stay in the underdark memorable? Or something with a bigger more long lasting impact?
#6 skeptical_clown Jan 18, 2011 9:20:20	I think it's ok to use whatever fits your campaign, without worrying too much about geography. The upper reaches of the Eberron underworld probably aren't all that different in concept from the Underdark in any D&D game, but as you go deeper into Khyber you're not really in the material plane anymore. Khyber's dimensions are not contained in a way that's geographically consistent with Eberron's earth. You could pass into Khyber, climb back up and find yourself in a totally different part of the world. Given the levels of the party I think that the servants of the Daelkyr are the right level of challenge, but one of the Lords of Dust could work too. It just depends on whether you'd rather the flavor of their enemies be aberrant and lovecraftian, or demonic and unholy. I suppose if you wanted to stick more specifically with Xen'drik that they could be dealing with some ancient remnant of the giant empire too.
#7 Chigaru Jan 19, 2011 1:18:02	What exactly are you looking for? A main villain/threat for a couple of sessions? Just something to make the PCs' stay in the underdark memorable? Or something with a bigger more long lasting impact? Mostly I'm just looking for something to make their stay in the Underdark memorable. Most of them haven't experienced the Underdark at all in any of their DM games (I have, and it was all from a DM who loved Salvatore's drow, so...that's what we dealt with). I like the idea of a Gatekeeper Seal. Would they be all the way in Xen'drik? Doesn't matter, I could put one there now. The reason they're in the underdark in the first place is that they were looking for shelter from Xen'drik's chaotic surface. To give them an incentive to finish their mission quickly, I handwaved in that Xen'drik is particularly chaotic and dangerous when Kythri is coterminous with Eberron, and that it's actually safer if they retreat into the depths of the Underdark. Some Sulatar drow let them share the caves that they use, but only if they prove their worth and help clear out some of the monsters down there. But one of the drow warriors really doesn't like them there. I could make him into a major villain for a little while: he finds some sort of thing that gives him awesome power, and he's first gonna take out the PCs with the new power. But the important thing is that I don't expect the PCs to stay there for long, I just want a fun Underdark adventure that they'll remember for a while.