starting darkness beneath

[spacemonkeydm]

I am planning on starting a darkness beneath campaign, I was wondering if I could get an over view of the dungeon or well how to start it off?

[calithena]

I am on vacation but I can help you more with this when I get back. You could run level 1 or 2 as a straight dungeon to start out.

What level characters are you working with and do you want to just explore or do you want a sort of initial 'quest goal'? There are good things to head for on every level. Tell us more!

[spacemonkeydm]

Well I am going to be playing with people new to the hobby so I am hoping for sort of a initial quest to go in for it. I only got the first three fight on at this point, buying more soon. I got questions like what is on the surface. Who are some of the mover and shaker I should know about?
So I get confused about some things, such as what should that hobgoblin in the upper caves know.

[kelvingreen]

At the moment, there is no surface, although I believe there will be some information published on that in the future. For the moment, I'd say you can do whatever you like with it, even bring in the surface details from another module.

[spacemonkeydm]

Cool Cool. This is a very cool so far can not wait to see where it will go from here.

[makofan]

One of the threads had a table of rumors, but I can no longer find it

[spacemonkeydm]

sadness
I am thinking about having one of the characters here from her wizard master stories about magical weapons that were undetectable by magic or have a long dead king create a nation with such weapons and following rumors and folktales trace them back to these caves.

[calithena]

For level 2, I sometimes use the treasure that the wraith has as the lure. A caravan was taken in the night in the trog swamp, etc. That's pretty standard stuff but it works.

In town there is a temple of a virginal goddess of healing which has a secret teleportation entrance to Lee's level 6, the Fane of Salicia. This is probably a rated R adventure all things considered but if your players like that sort of thing you could get a town-dungeon crossover going here.

The really deep levels have a city of the ancients and the tomb of a horrible anti-God but that might be too much of a lead to start with. Though if you wanted to tie it into the Wizard thing, maybe reclaiming the glories of the ancient past through deep exploration would work.

Also on level 5 there is Longspear's Halfway Inn - could be something as simple as delivering a message from an old friend of Jalen's, or meeting some multiversal informant there for a beer, after you fight your way down.

Those are just some ideas...

[spacemonkeydm]

those are some good suggestions, thanks

[labsenpai]

Aug 2, 2010 11:55:40 GMT -6 calithena said:

In town there is a temple of a virginal goddess of healing which has a secret teleportation entrance to Lee's level 6, the Fane of Salicia. This is probably a rated R adventure all things considered but if your players like that sort of thing you could get a town-dungeon crossover going here.

I described the secret teleportation gate as "password protected", and appearing in the surface forest (near the caravan raiding route). The Beetilasp would eat anyone just dropping in to the dungeon

[makofan]

This is what I was looking for

Adventure Hooks

There was a time when the promise of a good fight or three and enough loot to buy ale, mutton, and the favors of a comely lass constituted sufficient motivation for any red-blooded delver to gird up his loins and sally forth in search of adventure. If your players are hewn from this superior timber, little more need be said. But if you are stuck with a less virile crew, here are some ideas for getting them to brave The Darkness Beneath:

• Ravagers in the Countryside: Both the troglodytes on Level 2 and the dark trolls on level 9 frequently sally forth to raid for food. Furthermore, the Jagged Plinths are a frequent rest stop for ogres and giants wandering through the region. Since none of these groups are especially averse to anthropophagy, and since dark trolls in particular eat a great deal, there may well come a time when human farms and villages in the region start disappearing to provide foodstuffs for dungeon inhabitants. Your players may decide on an exploration after hearing rumors of such horrors, or, if further goading is requred, Lord Cennor of Kuranes (see below) may offer a suitable reward for a successful assault on these creatures’ lairs.

• A Map to Lost Treasure: Characters may discover a map to the dungeon or any of the special sites within it in a treasure hoard or library, or a shady character in a dark cloak may offer to sell it to them. This map may be correct or not, and the treasure it details real or imagined, but the map should be plausible and attractive enough to make them want to investigate further.

• Antiquarian Curiosity: The Mysterious Crystal Dome (Level 4) and the City of the Ancients (Level 14) are each impressive relics of bygone civilizations. While neither has been viewed by mortals in recent times, perhaps an aged elven adventurer or a musty old tome contains references to them. Players curious about ancient history, or eager to acquire potent relics, might well choose to seek such places out.

• A Strange Mystery: The characters of diehard ‘urban roleplayer’ gamers may be enticed into the dungeon by way of their interactions with NPCs in the town of Kuranes. Such characters might hear rumors of lewd, wild orgies led by the supposedly virginal priestesses of Shallia underneath their temple by night. Investigations from there eventually lead them to discover the Gate leading to Salicia’s hidden fane (Level 6).

• Couriers: PCs in a distant city might be contacted by someone wishing them to deliver certain goods to the Multiversal Bazaar (Level 8), or a letter to someone hiding out at Longspear’s Halfway Inn (Level 5). The pay will be good, though the agent may or may not tell them (or even know) about the dangers to be faced along the way.

• An Epic Quest: Very high level PCs might hear a prophecy or discover an ancient parchment predicting the second coming of the Black Lord of Nothingness (Level 15), a dread, ancient undead god about to rise from his long slumber. Wishing to prevent the return of this unspeakable evil, such characters might seek out his tomb to stop him from rising anew.

The DM should also feel free to employ such hooks during an extended series of sessions. This will keep the characters motivated to delve ever deeper into The Darkness Beneath.

-> Note that there are areas on certain levels which are very difficult to access without the proper ‘keys’. The interior of the dome on Level 4, for instance, requires an item on Level 14 to access, while Level 15 cannot be accessed at all without items found on Levels 7, 9, and 12. Other areas may require tough fights or ingenuity to enter or pass through. Of course very powerful PCs with access to Wish and the like may be able to circumvent such strictures; guidance on how to adjudicate such potent magic will be found in the appropriate sections of the dungeon.

Rumors Table (1d20)
1. Shun the troglodytes of the Jagged Plinths! They eat manflesh, take human daughters to wife, and worship the blasphemous Demon Lord of Toads. (?; the trogs are anthropophages, and do worship Tsathogga, but the other parts of the rumor are false.)

2. Somewhere deep under the earth a dark faerie queen holds court. (T, except that it’s not that deep: see Level 1 for details.)

3. In the nethermost reaches of the dungeon is the dwelling place of the demon prince Orcus. (F; that’s Rappan Athuk!)

4. Strange devices, not magical but of vast power, are sometimes brought back from the depths. (T)

5. A hideous monster of mold and slime threatens to consume us all! (?; Level 10 contains a slime dragon, and Level 13 is a whole forest of fungus and mold, but it’s not clear to which, if either, this rumor refers.)

6. Far under the Plinths is an ancient city, with buildings of pure crystal and gold. (?; Level 14 is a very, very ancient city, but its buildings are made of neither crystal nor gold.)

7. Invest in plenty of garlic! An army of vampires lurks just beneath the surface. (F)

8. Some crazy old adventurer started a tavern there, I heard, halfway down to the dungeon’s bottom. (T; unbelievably, Jalen Longspear on Level 5 has kept his Halfway Inn open for several years now.)

9. The masters of that dungeon are a tribe of dragon-riding troll warriors in plate mail. (?; the dark trolls are the masters of much of Levels 1, 5, 8, and 9, but they are a distinct race from ordinary trolls, and they ride dinosaurs, not dragons. They do wear plate mail, however.)

10. The Jagged Plinths are really the triune dice of Lady Luck, left there over these strange aeons to bless the fortune of adventurers willing to brave the caverns’ depths. (Probably F, and the second part is certainly F, but who really knows?)

11. Anything can be obtained down there, for a price. (T; see the Multiversal Bazaar on Level 8.)

12. Really what that place is is a city of the outcast races, inimical to humankind. Ogres and giants are in and out of there all the time, and everyone knows about the trogs and trolls. (?; this is only true of parts of The Darkness Beneath, and the ogres and giants only use the place as a way station and don’t venture within.)

13. A glorious temple to the lord of light has long lay buried there. Those who pass its trial by fire will be rewarded with an eternal blessing. (F, and see Level 4 to appreciate just how dangerously so.)

14. Those trolls can reproduce with anything, and will. Watch your womenfolk. (?; the dark trolls are prodigiously fertile, but human women are too small for them, and normal trolls may or may not be capable of breeding with other species in your campaign.)

15. Sometimes you see the great mountain-birds out near that place. I heard tell that one of them kidnapped the great adventurer Jalen Longspear and dropped him in a valley full of giant diamonds! (T that it’s roc territory; you’ll have to ask Jalen about the second part.)

16. The Jagged Plinths originally marked the spot of a great dwarven mine, full of unimaginable wealth in gold and rubies. Somewhere down there the monster they let loose still lives, but if you can defeat it, you’ll be richer than the King himself. (F, as any local dwarf can tell you.)

17. Somewhere in the dungeon, tempting succubi in a dark temple will use all their wiles to lure you to carnal sin. (?; they aren’t succubi, and Salicia is a chaotic neutral goddess, but if this refers to Level 6 it might be construed as at least partly true.)

18. Be wary of statuary! (? - not a special threat, but there are always a few odd statues lying about here and there)

19. The skin of reality is weak around those caves, and there are dozens of gates to other worlds. (F)

20. A bubbling fountain of eternal youth lies at the heart of an enchanted glade within the caverns’ depths. (F)