I am in the very early stages of conceptualizing a mid-paragon adventure where the party must travel to the city of Dis (specifically, the prison of Mentiri) in order to free the trapped soul of the mother of one of the PCs. I have both Manual of the Planes and The Plane Above, so I have a bit of starter material on the Nine Hells, but as far as I can see, there is no detailed published material on Dis (maps, adventures, NPCs, etc.).
So I have two questions:
1. Can anyone direct me to older (pre-4E) D&D material that might be helpful in plotting this adventure?
2. How would you approach building an adventure like this? What kind of encounters would you run? Be as detailed as you like.
Happy Gaming
Mentiri was covered in the 3.5 supplement Fiendish Codex 2, including a map. It could be helpful towards your preparations.
Happy Gaming
Thanks for the tip. I grabbed a copy of FC2 and it looks like it will be very helpful going forward. However, I'm surprised to see that Mentiri is a small prison, not nearly the gargantuan repository of souls I was expecting. I may have to work up a map myself.
Forgive me, I am new to the whole DnD thing, but I wonder, when you metion nine hells, I remember seeing this in many Forgotten Realms novels. Is nine hells a multi-universe realm in Wizard affiliations or is it in fact you were reffering to Forgotten realms?
The Nine Hells is a general encompassing location in many D&D settings where Devils hail from. It is an astral dominion ruled over by a powerful Devil, typically the god Asmodues, and strives for power across the cosmos by damning the souls of mortals to use as energy, currency, or troops on the rare occasion. It's based on Dante Alighieri's concept of Hell in the Divine Comedy, which was comprised of nine different layers to punish all types of different sinners.
Read Dante's Inferno....that's a good start for you.
How helpful. Perhaps instead of recommending that I spend time I don't have reading works of literature for the sole purpose of indulging a hobby that already takes up too much of my time, you could actually fulfill the purpose of this forum and provide some, you know, advice.
Read Dante's Inferno....that's a good start for you.
Lol, this is cute. Someone trying to give advice that doesn't even know the correct label of the epic poem...The Divine Comedy I presume you meant? Dante's Inferno? Rofl, what a clown.
Read Dante's Inferno....that's a good start for you.
How helpful. Perhaps instead of recommending that I spend time I don't have reading works of literature for the sole purpose of indulging a hobby that already takes up too much of my time, you could actually fulfill the purpose of this forum and provide some, you know, advice.
And I think he was talking to me, which you can see on my post above I already responded. But uh, not only did he give a bad reccomendation as you've already said, but he didn't even use the proper label for the poem he suggested.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferno_%28Dante%2...
The other two parts deal with Purgatory and Paradise, which are not necessarily of interest if you want some literature on hell.
Edit: In fact I recommend the precis in the Wikipedia article I linked as a quick substitute for reading the whole thing. You may find some interesting ideas for your game.
Exactly what the above poster said. Inferno is the first part of the Divine Comedy so ToTheHarvestStorm, go suck on that. In all honesty, I also don't see any of the parts on Purgatory and Paradise/Heaven being any use if you're making your characters travel into Hell, which is why I recommended reading INFERNO (Which by the way, I hate to say it, wasn't a bad recommendation, it was possibly a good one, but I digress, I don't give a **** if you read it or not, the matter is is that it's helpful and that's exactly what I was aiming for). Honestly, all it could've taken was a simple Wikipedia search if you didn't want to read the whole damn book. Anyways, for ToTheHarvestStorm, you're just trolling and I literally have nothing to say to you, and to the OP I'm sorry I don't know your schedule or your "Time" crisis you have going on, but, like you and many other people I am also on a time crunch and I type when I can type. Sorry I didn't have all day to sit at my computer and type a novel for you. Anyways, if you want helpful advice, I'll spell it out for you, since making a simple suggestion clearly doesn't cut it for you. G-O. T-O. T-H-E. L-I-N-K. A-B-O-V-E. T-H-A-T. S-L-O-B-O-7-7-7-A. P-O-S-T-E-D. F-O-R. Y-O-U. Sorry for doing that, but you asked for it.
Rofl! Listen kiddo, while I love to read all your contradictions in your half ass retort to me, you're no where near my league. So before you end up drowning in a whirlpool of my intellect, you better correct yourself.
Oh, and congrats of having nothing to say to me *looks at the novel written to me*.....
And just because you made a fool out of yourself, doesn't mean I'm a troll as you suggest.
Considering I already made mention of Inferno in my post, which was made several hours before yours, your post wasn't doing much to begin with, so either cool yourself down or I'll get someone in here to do it for you.
Indeed.
ToHarvestTheStorm, since the first third of the Divine Comedy is more often than not referred to as Dante's Inferno in casual conversation, there's nothing really to be gained by your posturing. You're either a troll or some child hoping to boost his self esteem; either way you aren't contributing to the discussion.
Considering I already made mention of Inferno in my post, which was made several hours before yours, your post wasn't doing much to begin with, so either cool yourself down or I'll get someone in here to do it for you.
To ToeSama, at the time I posted my comment of reading the first part of the divine comedy (inferno), I had only read the original poster's request for help. When seeing that he was wanting to make his adventuring party journey to hell, I began to recollect lecture from my Humanities class I had taken 2 or so years ago and recalled discussing inferno in great depth. So, simply put it, that's why I suggested it. Also I apologize for "getting my feathers rouffled", but if you still insist on getting someone to cool me down (even though I was initially provoked into being a jerk), you should also think about reporting ToHarvestTheStorm as well for being the initial jerk in this scenario. Anyways, with that said, I hope that there is no more tension with us and we may discuss in the forums as friends/co-DMs for the sake of bettering our games, since that is why we are here afterall
*I still haven't figured out how to quote more people so this will just have to make do*
To ToHarvestTheStorm, in regards to the post of "I think he was talking to me", I wasn't. That advice was intended for the OP. I was simply attempting to give him a lead to follow and had the best of intentions. So, with that said, there was no reason to be a jerk to me, and lastly, this squabble between us is officially ended. I would also like for us to exchange ideas if you'd like, and despite what you may think of me due to my retaliation (due to possessing a frazzled mind at the moment), I do possess a wealth of knowledge and I imagine I am also on par with you intelligence wise.
To the OP, I offered you a simple suggestion, it is up to you as the DM to research it if you want to use the details. Now, if you need a quick summary of Inferno, Slobo77a was nice enough to make your job a little easier. Anyway, I hope that we can also drop this and continue to exchange ideas as DMs in a civilized manor.
and finally, to NasalJack, thank you for having my back. I appreciate it very much.
*I still haven't figured out how to quote more people so this will just have to make do*
Just cutting and pasting works just fine.