Collaborative Cave!

[Conaill]

Dang it. I asked about the water flow to ensure that I had it right. I'll fix it.

False alarm - the stream does indeed flow 6->10->8. There's just a second inflow into #8 as well.

Look at the map. You'll note a bit of an alcove at the top of the map where the slope starts that leads to Area 6. That is the area initially described, a seperate node before starting down the slope.

Ah! That makes more sense. This wasn't entirely clear from the description. I thought the "alcove to your left" referred to the left branch of the corridor from #2a - i.e. first it looks only like an alcove, but you can worm your way in there, and then it becomes a passage that slopes away steeply into darkness...

May want to rephrase to clear that up. I do love the image, now that I've gotten it all straightened out in my head.

 

[Tonguez]

I think this cave has too many combat elements and we need to include a puzzle somewhere.

I'm willing to put one in at Cavern 5 but currently can't think of one to fit - any ideas?

The verminevines can go if need be (though I'd still want to see the insect swarms used - perhaps they attack if the puzzle isn't solved.)

 

[Tonguez]

For the truly dedicated explorer... dragon poop also contains all the magic items, gold and gems of earlier adventureers that were swallowed whole.

And dragon poop diving really helps you to appreciate the bauty of Acid resistance

 

[Conaill]

I think this cave has too many combat elements and we need to include a puzzle somewhere.

I'm willing to put one in at Cavern 5 but currently can't think of one to fit - any ideas?

Hmm... I guess we could put a gate somewhere, but that would change the nature of this cave complex significantly. And you'd have to make sure it doesn't interfere with the ideas planned for the rooms behind that gate.

Alternatively, I guess we could be cheesy and put in a sphinx or some other riddlemaster...

Instead of a puzzle, maybe more traps and/or natural hazards? A cave-in or rapidly changing water levels perhaps?

Maybe area 5 is filled with crystalline, narrowly spaced columns - eerily beautiful, but dangerous to navigate if you are Medium size or larger. Break too many of them, and the roof collapses...

Or maybe the pool in #12 is really a hot spring. Every now and then, it erupts and fills all of #12 up to the higher platform with boiling water, which then drains off into #11.

 

[Raven Crowking]

That's sort of why I did my area without any additional creatures.

 

[Raven Crowking]

False alarm - the stream does indeed flow 6->10->8. There's just a second inflow into #8 as well.

&*^^%^$!! I already went back and "fixed" this, including a new feature that I quite like.

Ah! That makes more sense. This wasn't entirely clear from the description. I thought the "alcove to your left" referred to the left branch of the corridor from #2a - i.e. first it looks only like an alcove, but you can worm your way in there, and then it becomes a passage that slopes away steeply into darkness...

May want to rephrase to clear that up. I do love the image, now that I've gotten it all straightened out in my head.

Mark the alcove "A" and it can be referenced as such in the DM text.

As far as the combat encounters go, please remember that this is a natural cave complex. As a result, there can only be so many unnatural features it holds. The painting bridge over the chasm is a good one, indicating a one-time use of the cave. Any future "trick" (as opposed to a natural hazard) ought to echo that encounter.

In other words, perhaps the final cave of the non-dragon fork is whatever the people who made the bridge used this cave for? A temple....even some form of mystic art school? It could grant bonus ranks somehow to Profession (Artist) skill checks.......

 

[der_kluge]

I think this cave has too many combat elements and we need to include a puzzle somewhere.

I'm willing to put one in at Cavern 5 but currently can't think of one to fit - any ideas?

The verminevines can go if need be (though I'd still want to see the insect swarms used - perhaps they attack if the puzzle isn't solved.)

We could put something in room 9.

 

[Conaill]

More details...

Room 2:

An Occurrence at Dragon Creek bridge...
Characters can attempt to make a Craft, Paint (DC 10) check in order to finish the bridge. [...] The scene can be painted again, causing the bridge to appear again, but there is only enough paint for three tries.

You may want to add a second DC for "finger painting" - not sure the PCs will actually find the body with the paint brushes.

What does the painting look like after the bridge disappears again? Does it go back to the original unfinished painting? Is the body down the chasm that of the person who originally made the painting, or just someone who didn't cross the bridge in time?

The bottom of the chasm contains a gate to room 10. It is built directly into the floor, and not visible from above. (It appears as natural rock.) Leaping from a certain point on the cliff (DM discretion) will send a character through the gate and onto the island in room 10. The character, unless possessing some means of slowing his/her descent will still take full falling damage as if falling the whole 400 feet.

Is this a two-way gate, do the dragons know about it, is it big enough for them to pass through from #10, and is the chasm large enough for the dragons to fly up?

Also, a bit more background on this gate might be useful. It seems rather random...

 

[der_kluge]

Is this a two-way gate, do the dragons know about it, is it big enough for them to pass through from #10, and is the chasm large enough for the dragons to fly up?

Also, a bit more background on this gate might be useful. It seems rather random...

I'm not completely sold on the gate myself. I think a more mundane sort of addition might be warranted here. Not everyone has such willy-nilly use of gates in their world. It could be just a very deep chasm. Maybe it leads to another cave system, or maybe it goes nowhere, but instead is home to a bunch of spiders with webs. Maybe if someone falls they don't immediately die, but instead get trapped in webs. I'd rather see something like that, personally.

 

[Conaill]

I'm not completely sold on the gate myself. I think a more mundane sort of addition might be warranted here. Not everyone has such willy-nilly use of gates in their world. It could be just a very deep chasm. Maybe it leads to another cave system, or maybe it goes nowhere, but instead is home to a bunch of spiders with webs. Maybe if someone falls they don't immediately die, but instead get trapped in webs. I'd rather see something like that, personally.

Another suggestion I made earlier was that perhaps the same underground river which flows from #6 to #10 to #8 eventually winds up at the bottom of the chasm. You could even have a navigable passage from #8 down to the bottom of the chasm. Given the drop in height, it's probably a one-way passage though...