My players will be exploring the Underdark in a week's time, and I want to come up with a list of non-combat environmental encounters for them to overcome. What sort of challenges could I throw at them that one or two characters might be able to handle at a time? I'm planning on running this like a game of Dread as mentioned in my Halloween Themed Adventures thread, so each time an encounter is dealt with the active player will have to pull a block from the tower.
Underdark Environmental Encounters
Quickleaf
Legend
The Grand Cascade: Huge cavern with one 90-foot wall that looks like a waterfall sculpted in stone, and a passage above. Water drips slowly down its length, and numerous small fissures in the rocks create a network of slick tunnels. Bits of phosphorescent fungi at the base cause the wet rocks to glitter. Among the stalactites on the ceiling are piercers waiting for prey. Climbing the slick stone waterfall to the passage above requires a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check (proficiency with climber's kit grants advantage, while climbing speed grants auto-succcess); failing the check causes a climbing creature to fall 30 feet and dropping any climbing gear, while failing by 5+ causes the creature to fall into one of the small fissures (any security rope being broken) and sliding down the tunnel into another semi-aquatic area of the Underdark.
Rhenny
Adventurer
A long time ago, I ran a Blingdenstone playtest and created a quick random encounter chart. Some are creatures, some are flavor, some are hazards, some are a combination. Nothing much...but here it is if it helps:
Underdark Exploration Table
1. Tunnel crawl
2. Rumbles…rock slide down a chute - DC 15 Dex 4d6 or 2d6
3. The ruins with bone pile (Stirges attack)
4. 20’ gap with path continuing 20’ above on the other side
5. Cavern with a large pool of water (20’ by 20’) before the exit tunnel
6. Same as 5, but Albino Alligator lives inside. Tries to grab and drag pray to underwater cave.
7. 20’ x 20’ cavern with phosphorescent mold all over the floor and walls
8. Are we lost? Dead end cavern…collapse cuts party in half..giant snakes investigate.
9. 50’ wall to climb to get to the exit passageway.
10. Sulfur smell….mist and steam 10’ x 10’ passageway. DC 13 Con 2d6
11. Tunnel collapse (DC 12 Dex 4d6 or 2d6) - 1d6 hours to dig through
12. Lizardmen tribe ambush.
13. Phosphorescent mushroom patch
14. Dead end…pit descends (20’ drop)
15. Displacer Beast on the prowl.
16. Dead body…a Deep Dwarf drained of blood. Banded mail, greataxe…Duerger Dark Forge Necklace. 2 Carrion Crawlers are feasting on the body.
17. Hissing and sliding sound down the way. It is retreating from the party.
18. Green slime tunnel ---- Spot DC 12…..Dex DC 12 who pass under. 1d6 + 1d6 per round.
19. Large mushroom caps suspended 10’ off the bottom of a small depression. One of the PCs kicks a rock and it fall into the depression. The PCs hear a sizzling from below (if they look down, they see the rock smoking and in 20 rounds it decomposes) PCs can hop from one mushroom cap to another DC 10 dex check. Make 2 checks to get across. Below the mushrooms is a spongy substance that secrets acidic juices (Acid mold) 1d6 damage per round of contact.
20. 3 spears stuck into the ground to form a tripod. There is a large skull (panther-like) placed upon the top of the spears.
Navigate the underdark
The Iron Warrior – A statue of a Dwarven Warrior with a plaque inscribed:
Ripped from my mother’s womb,
Burned and beaten,
I dress soldiers, and kill them too.
What am I?
(Speak “Iron” in Dwarvish and the statue will allow you to pass…otherwise +7 attack doing 1d12+4 damage – Great Axe)
Underdark Exploration Table
1. Tunnel crawl
2. Rumbles…rock slide down a chute - DC 15 Dex 4d6 or 2d6
3. The ruins with bone pile (Stirges attack)
4. 20’ gap with path continuing 20’ above on the other side
5. Cavern with a large pool of water (20’ by 20’) before the exit tunnel
6. Same as 5, but Albino Alligator lives inside. Tries to grab and drag pray to underwater cave.
7. 20’ x 20’ cavern with phosphorescent mold all over the floor and walls
8. Are we lost? Dead end cavern…collapse cuts party in half..giant snakes investigate.
9. 50’ wall to climb to get to the exit passageway.
10. Sulfur smell….mist and steam 10’ x 10’ passageway. DC 13 Con 2d6
11. Tunnel collapse (DC 12 Dex 4d6 or 2d6) - 1d6 hours to dig through
12. Lizardmen tribe ambush.
13. Phosphorescent mushroom patch
14. Dead end…pit descends (20’ drop)
15. Displacer Beast on the prowl.
16. Dead body…a Deep Dwarf drained of blood. Banded mail, greataxe…Duerger Dark Forge Necklace. 2 Carrion Crawlers are feasting on the body.
17. Hissing and sliding sound down the way. It is retreating from the party.
18. Green slime tunnel ---- Spot DC 12…..Dex DC 12 who pass under. 1d6 + 1d6 per round.
19. Large mushroom caps suspended 10’ off the bottom of a small depression. One of the PCs kicks a rock and it fall into the depression. The PCs hear a sizzling from below (if they look down, they see the rock smoking and in 20 rounds it decomposes) PCs can hop from one mushroom cap to another DC 10 dex check. Make 2 checks to get across. Below the mushrooms is a spongy substance that secrets acidic juices (Acid mold) 1d6 damage per round of contact.
20. 3 spears stuck into the ground to form a tripod. There is a large skull (panther-like) placed upon the top of the spears.
Navigate the underdark
The Iron Warrior – A statue of a Dwarven Warrior with a plaque inscribed:
Ripped from my mother’s womb,
Burned and beaten,
I dress soldiers, and kill them too.
What am I?
(Speak “Iron” in Dwarvish and the statue will allow you to pass…otherwise +7 attack doing 1d12+4 damage – Great Axe)
Tales and Chronicles
Jewel of the North, formerly know as vincegetorix
Cathedral of the Broodmother: The Broodmother was once a beautiful yet cruel, powerful yet vain Drow priestess of Loth. She gathered many faithful to her sides until her gathering became more a cult of her own person than to the Queen of the Demonweb Pit. Loth cursed her body and mind, transforming her into a grotesque titan-sized feral monstrosity with a hundred arms and bloated body known by the under-citizens as the Broodmother. She's now asleep in a huge cavern where the party has to climb her loathsome 120 feet wide body to reach the other side. Each creatures trying to ascend the body must succeed a DC X Athletic Check to move across the fleshy mass. On a failed check, the PC must make a DC 13 Stealth check to avoid awakening the monstrous creature. Should the PC fail, the Broodmother moves her body and all creatures on her body must make DC 10 Str Save or fall prone. The PC who fail the test must roll on the next table:
Roll 1d6
1-2 a Giant Spider emerge from under one of the fleshy flab of the Mother.
3-4 The PC is under one of the effect of Bigby's Hand (roll 1d4 to choose the effect)
5-6 Nothing happens...for now.
After 3 failed Stealth check, the Broodmother awakens...
Roll 1d6
1-2 a Giant Spider emerge from under one of the fleshy flab of the Mother.
3-4 The PC is under one of the effect of Bigby's Hand (roll 1d4 to choose the effect)
5-6 Nothing happens...for now.
After 3 failed Stealth check, the Broodmother awakens...
Satyrn
First Post
I've got an underground lake and its connected streams or rivers that rise and fall like a tide, this tide caused by the breathing of a Great Old One sleeping at the bottom of the lake.
You could do the same sort of thing, with the tide flooding a passage, and pushing back with great force against anyone trying to go "upstream." Of course, the smart thing to do is wait for low tide, when the water is only a foot deep, and try to get through the passage before high tide comes rushing in sweep them back to the start.
You could make the time between "low tide" and "high tide" as short as one minute, with an adventurer with 30 foot speed taking about as long to get through. Well, just a little bit more, so they have to run through the rough and watery terrain.
(In my setup, the interval is actually 12 hours because its meant to be more like real tides, and widely affecting a large portion of my megadungeon rather than as a single encounter like you're looking for)
You could do the same sort of thing, with the tide flooding a passage, and pushing back with great force against anyone trying to go "upstream." Of course, the smart thing to do is wait for low tide, when the water is only a foot deep, and try to get through the passage before high tide comes rushing in sweep them back to the start.
You could make the time between "low tide" and "high tide" as short as one minute, with an adventurer with 30 foot speed taking about as long to get through. Well, just a little bit more, so they have to run through the rough and watery terrain.
(In my setup, the interval is actually 12 hours because its meant to be more like real tides, and widely affecting a large portion of my megadungeon rather than as a single encounter like you're looking for)
Last edited:
pming
Legend
Hiya!
If you have access to, or can pick up, these are the books I use regularly when my Players PC's find themselves deep deep deep down...
*"1e AD&D Dungeoneers Survival Guide": Great info, IMHO, for getting a DM to think in terms of obstacles and other considerations, like air quality for example. (And for 'inspiration', the last part of the book where it goes into an example of designing an area of the "Lands of Deepearth" in particular).
*"Veins of the Earth": Absolutely amazing book! It's written (mechanics wise) for Lamentations of the Flame Princess, so expect it to be of mature content (if you are easily offended by speech or have 'delicate sensibilities', you may want to pass on this).
Those are the two "commercial" books I use the most. I also use...
*"Trifecta of Twelve": Ok, this is kind of a cheat...it's not an actual product.
It's my own "3d12's" table with sub-tables where I use three different coloured d12's; a "hot", "medium" and "cold" to relate to the colour on the table. I have an example of a slightly old version here: https://dominions-of-alstigar.obsidianportal.com/ Just go to the "Media Files" link on the left to see the tables. I originally made these to help with running a "Dominion Rules RPG" game, as the page I just linked to shows. But the tables are all generic, so I can use them with pretty much any game.
In all my decades of running dungeon-delves, I've learned one key thing about the "underdark"; Monsters are only half the problem...if that. Running out of food, getting lost, running out of light, running out of...well, all the things that make staying alive possible, actually. Once you start running a deep-delve style game/campaign, you'll start to get a feel for describing the alien world and strange effects that happen to surface dwellers (like COMPLETELY miss-judging the size and distance of large caves...something that looks to be only 100' away could be 600' away; it's a really odd feeling if you've ever been to a major cave system in real life).
^_^
Paul L. Ming
If you have access to, or can pick up, these are the books I use regularly when my Players PC's find themselves deep deep deep down...
*"1e AD&D Dungeoneers Survival Guide": Great info, IMHO, for getting a DM to think in terms of obstacles and other considerations, like air quality for example. (And for 'inspiration', the last part of the book where it goes into an example of designing an area of the "Lands of Deepearth" in particular).
*"Veins of the Earth": Absolutely amazing book! It's written (mechanics wise) for Lamentations of the Flame Princess, so expect it to be of mature content (if you are easily offended by speech or have 'delicate sensibilities', you may want to pass on this).
Those are the two "commercial" books I use the most. I also use...
*"Trifecta of Twelve": Ok, this is kind of a cheat...it's not an actual product.
It's my own "3d12's" table with sub-tables where I use three different coloured d12's; a "hot", "medium" and "cold" to relate to the colour on the table. I have an example of a slightly old version here: https://dominions-of-alstigar.obsidianportal.com/ Just go to the "Media Files" link on the left to see the tables. I originally made these to help with running a "Dominion Rules RPG" game, as the page I just linked to shows. But the tables are all generic, so I can use them with pretty much any game.In all my decades of running dungeon-delves, I've learned one key thing about the "underdark"; Monsters are only half the problem...if that. Running out of food, getting lost, running out of light, running out of...well, all the things that make staying alive possible, actually. Once you start running a deep-delve style game/campaign, you'll start to get a feel for describing the alien world and strange effects that happen to surface dwellers (like COMPLETELY miss-judging the size and distance of large caves...something that looks to be only 100' away could be 600' away; it's a really odd feeling if you've ever been to a major cave system in real life).
^_^
Paul L. Ming
CrimsonCarcharodon
Explorer
Hiya!
If you have access to, or can pick up, these are the books I use regularly when my Players PC's find themselves deep deep deep down...
*"1e AD&D Dungeoneers Survival Guide": Great info, IMHO, for getting a DM to think in terms of obstacles and other considerations, like air quality for example. (And for 'inspiration', the last part of the book where it goes into an example of designing an area of the "Lands of Deepearth" in particular).
*"Veins of the Earth": Absolutely amazing book! It's written (mechanics wise) for Lamentations of the Flame Princess, so expect it to be of mature content (if you are easily offended by speech or have 'delicate sensibilities', you may want to pass on this).
Those are the two "commercial" books I use the most. I also use...
*"Trifecta of Twelve": Ok, this is kind of a cheat...it's not an actual product.
In all my decades of running dungeon-delves, I've learned one key thing about the "underdark"; Monsters are only half the problem...if that. Running out of food, getting lost, running out of light, running out of...well, all the things that make staying alive possible, actually. Once you start running a deep-delve style game/campaign, you'll start to get a feel for describing the alien world and strange effects that happen to surface dwellers (like COMPLETELY miss-judging the size and distance of large caves...something that looks to be only 100' away could be 600' away; it's a really odd feeling if you've ever been to a major cave system in real life).
^_^
Paul L. Ming
I will definitely be using those tables in my adventure planning. Seriously, that's brilliant. And it uses my favorite die, the sadly underutilized d12.
pming
Legend
Hiya!
Glad I could help! I used to, as in about 25 or 30 years ago, have specific tables for specific things (typically d100). I'd have one table for "Danger Level", then a sub-table for the type of danger, then another sub-table for the specifics of that danger, and maybe another sub-table of possible effects from that specific danger. Lots of info...TOO much info, I learned. It was just too cumbersome to use during the game. I ended up pretty much just picking stuff for a while. That, however, lead to me realizing (after years) that I was "in a rut" so to speak. I was over-using stuff I liked and was comfortable with. Fast forward another decade or so and in my old age found myself far more comfortable just "winging it" from a couple of bullet-points on an area.
The Trifecta of Twelves tables is a culmination of all that experience and realization on how I like to DM. I much prefer an adventure to say "Antechamber; dusty, stacked furniture, cloak hooks/rack, small insects; hidden treasure of 6pp and a 25gpv jewelry"...leaving it up to me for the specifics like how many of each, if the insects are dangerous, where the treasure is hidden and what the jewelry is. It lets me be creative "on the fly", but keeps me guided on the overall theme/path of the adventure.
For underground delving, I've found this "point form, minimalist, on-the-fly-specifics" style of adventure prep works best. Not ALWAYS, of course, but overall. A DM should design with much more specificity areas that are important to the underground setting...cities, important mines, food/water resource areas, powerful/unique monsters, etc. But for the typical "day in the life of" that a lot of a session is made up of, being able to wing-it in step with your players choices is a godsend!
Anyway, I've used my tables to great effect, as well as the info/tables from the books I mentioned above. Hopefully others will too!
^_^
Paul L. Ming
Glad I could help!
I used to, as in about 25 or 30 years ago, have specific tables for specific things (typically d100). I'd have one table for "Danger Level", then a sub-table for the type of danger, then another sub-table for the specifics of that danger, and maybe another sub-table of possible effects from that specific danger. Lots of info...TOO much info, I learned. It was just too cumbersome to use during the game. I ended up pretty much just picking stuff for a while. That, however, lead to me realizing (after years) that I was "in a rut" so to speak. I was over-using stuff I liked and was comfortable with. Fast forward another decade or so and in my old age found myself far more comfortable just "winging it" from a couple of bullet-points on an area. The Trifecta of Twelves tables is a culmination of all that experience and realization on how I like to DM. I much prefer an adventure to say "Antechamber; dusty, stacked furniture, cloak hooks/rack, small insects; hidden treasure of 6pp and a 25gpv jewelry"...leaving it up to me for the specifics like how many of each, if the insects are dangerous, where the treasure is hidden and what the jewelry is. It lets me be creative "on the fly", but keeps me guided on the overall theme/path of the adventure.
For underground delving, I've found this "point form, minimalist, on-the-fly-specifics" style of adventure prep works best. Not ALWAYS, of course, but overall. A DM should design with much more specificity areas that are important to the underground setting...cities, important mines, food/water resource areas, powerful/unique monsters, etc. But for the typical "day in the life of" that a lot of a session is made up of, being able to wing-it in step with your players choices is a godsend!
Anyway, I've used my tables to great effect, as well as the info/tables from the books I mentioned above. Hopefully others will too!
^_^
Paul L. Ming
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