Collaborative Cave #2 - Updated map (see 1st post) - Now doing room assignment

[Dannyalcatraz]

Hey d-k! Thanks for running that adventure at GenX! I hope I can help return the favor, sort of.

1) Remember that very few mines are actually linear...the miners follow the veins of whatever they're seeking wherever they lead. As a result, many old mines have internal structures that look like anthills or termite mounds. However, some materials are strip mined, resulting in big pits.

Some materials are simply hazardous to mine- toxic to breathe, radioactive, etc.

Some materials, like salt, are mined in a combo of the above, resulting in huge excavated chambers.

Other materials may be mined by persons actually living on site. Coober Peady is a semi-famous opal mine in Australia- many of the miners have living quarters below ground...they excavated a space searching for opals and then moved in. Want an additional room? That add-on might just pay for itself with further finds!

Determine the kind of material the miners were after and your mines will start to take on a shape.

2) Important RW hazards of mines: flooding, cave-ins, and gas (flammable and/or poisonous).

3) Fantasy caves have a much richer ecosystem than do RW caves, especially with the huge number of oversized burrowing insects, Umber Hulks, Bulettes and so forth.

Y'know...there's no reason to think that Bulettes feed exclusively at the surface.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Y'know...there's no reason to think that Bulettes feed exclusively at the surface.

Especially if it was a halfling mine.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Consider yoinking a little from one of the Star Wars movies- one of the good ones before Lucas lost his freakin' mind.

The mine in question is fantastically rich. All kinds of rare minerals and metals abound within it. However, after only a decade of lucrative production, it was abandoned, and the owner sold it off. The new owner moved in with his crew, and the story repeated- abandoned and sold off after a decade or two, despite its incredible productivity.

The pattern repeated itself for hundreds of years until nobody was willing to enter the mine to work. The land was sold off to be used as a dump.

The mine was abandoned because it was unsafe...all kinds of bad- supernaturally bad- things were happening to those who worked on it. Eventually, despite its richness, nobody would work on it.

Now, after centuries of dormancy have caused its legend to fade, the new owner of the land wanted to reopen the mine. However, he wanted to make sure its safe to work and sent investigators in. The mine was cleared and resumed production, and has been profitable for the past 14 years.

And then the miners started dissapearing... The new owner has now sent the party in to get to the bottom of the mysterious mine.

In actuality, what the miners were doing was mining the arcanely-altered bones of a titanic undead dracolich- one who was similar in size to the dragons of deep legend...like the Midgard Serpent.

At first, the miners' actions were merely a nuisance, but over time, they caused just enough damage for the slumbering dracolitch to stir just enough to defend its body by sending things- both creatures and spells- after the clueless mineworkers. Every time the mine ceased production, the dracolitch returned to deep slumber. But after a decade or so of production, it would reawaken and resume defending itself.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Does ToH have an OGL dracolich template?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

If not, use a Titan or some similarly legendary & huge creature.

Dead godling, anyone?

 

[Vorput]

At first, the miners' actions were merely a nuisance, but over time, they caused just enough damage for the slumbering dracolitch to stir just enough to defend its body by sending things- both creatures and spells- after the clueless mineworkers. Every time the mine ceased production, the dracolitch returned to deep slumber. But after a decade or so of production, it would reawaken and resume defending itself.

Good ideas... but maybe picture something even more powerful, more evil, more manevolant... Something far realms-ish (but doesn't need to strictly be related to them [could just be demonic])... Something so evil that when just a pinprick of a hole was opened to its chamber, it started corrupting the mine- summoning horrific creatures, turning the miners themselves into insane psychotic killers- and slowly warping them into... hideous creatures (chokers? or some sort of templated humanoids?)

And all the while this corruption is starting to spread beyond the mines...

The party need not defeat whatever creature lurks in the depths (indeed, such a feat may not be possible- but they need to subdue it somehow, saite it, re-seal its cage, something that will stop this corruption from spreading even further...

Would allow for quite a variety of encounters- and possibly even some planar instability (if we wanted to go that route) within the cave itself...

Vorp

 

[der_kluge]

Hmm, so some random ideas here.

Maybe a mine shaped like a dragon? Like, this thing is so huge, that, a few backbones were mined here and there (adamantium? Mithral? something else?) but the size and scope of the thing is so huge that the miners have gone in a few haphazard directions, but not enough to find the entire creature - or to realize what's even there?

That could be interesting. Speaks towards a very high level dungeon. What level are we thinking here?


Some other random ideas:

I was thinking a "fire and ice" dungeon could be interesting. Like, an ice cavern which leads to an active volcano. You've got ice caverns, and then a "temperate" area and then pools of lava. Lots of interesting features, and lots of monster choices.

On the tree thing. I'm already a step ahead. I've already completely done a 500' tall tree. In a swamp. I intend to publish it at some point.

I suppose we could still use a Delver somewhere. A run-of-the-mill Delver is CR 9. I'm thinking if we wrap this whole thing around an "ancient dracolich" of some sort - which admittedly doesn't make the module quite as "generic" as I might like, does seem to suggest lots of templating is going on. Like, all the inhabitants have the Fiendish template, or something like that.


One thing to keep in mind, if this dungeon is the remains of some collosalx2 ancient dracolich which is slumbering, that doesn't make it necessary portable to everyone's game. Though, I would imagine that other explanations could be given fairly easily in place of that. Just something to think about.

I'll sketch out some ideas and see what I can come up with.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

That could be interesting. Speaks towards a very high level dungeon. What level are we thinking here?

Minimum 5th if the dracolitch is just beginning to stir... The party isn't fighting the dracolitch itself, just things it summons to defend itself- essentially, magical antibodies.

One thing to keep in mind, if this dungeon is the remains of some collosalx2 ancient dracolich which is slumbering, that doesn't make it necessary portable to everyone's game. Though, I would imagine that other explanations could be given fairly easily in place of that. Just something to think about.

Lift other concepts, this time from Five Million Years to Earth & Forbidden Planet. Instead of dracolitch bones, the miners are finding remnants of an arcanely powerful nonhumanoid race who lost control of their abilities, becoming extinct in a burst of arcane energy that instantly transmuted their bodies into a variety of minerals including precious metals and gems...but a bit of their consciousness lives on, trapped.

Because they were nonhumanoid, the beings' remains are never recognize for what they are.

I was thinking a "fire and ice" dungeon could be interesting. Like, an ice cavern which leads to an active volcano. You've got ice caverns, and then a "temperate" area and then pools of lava. Lots of interesting features, and lots of monster choices.

Monster choices? I have 4 words for you: Feral Barbarian Mephling Tribe.

Add some ice slides a la Ice Age for some comedic relief...unless the slides are the way a polar predator hunts (think Ant Lions, Trapdoor Spiders, etc.)- it makes slides that lead to deep crevasses from which it can pick off prey at its leisure.

Check out some info on Iceland- simultaneously very volcanically active and subject to the normal icy cold of the other countries in its lattitude.

As I recall, the movie Robinson Crusoe of Mars also has some interesting interactions between cold and heat in caves.

 

[Whisper72]

Hmm... another idea considering the ice thingy... the mine is indeed in an icy environment... as the miners activity goes on, the presence of the miners and their fires / other stuff for heating, slowy melts away the ice. The ice however formed from some sort of avalanche / ice storm used to cover / capture an army of ancient evil beings. As the ice slowly melts, more and more of the beings are 'freed' and reawaken....

 

[der_kluge]

Hmm... another idea considering the ice thingy... the mine is indeed in an icy environment... as the miners activity goes on, the presence of the miners and their fires / other stuff for heating, slowy melts away the ice. The ice however formed from some sort of avalanche / ice storm used to cover / capture an army of ancient evil beings. As the ice slowly melts, more and more of the beings are 'freed' and reawaken....

Ooh, ooh - we could combine both ideas into one. An ice mine which opens up into an area containing an active volcanic flow. Nice.