Making the underdark a living environment

[rln]

I'm about to take a campaign into the Underdark for an extended period of time playing Queen of Lies and City of The Spider Queen. I must say I feel a bit unsafe how I can make the underdark a living environment. The cities/dungeons themselves I can explain, but the way there is harder. I'm just fishing for quick, short ideas that can make a surface dweller appreciate being underground for several months.

Any takers?

 

[Dragongirl]

Well . . .
1) Silence. No birds chirping, etc. In a place that is so dark, many critters would depend on sound to find prey, so most things learn to move silently.
2) No or very little wind.
3) 3 dimensions. Tunnels going over or under other tunnels, etc.
4) A feeling of all that earth above you. Will make most surface dwellers very nervous.

Don't know if this will help in the least. Good luck.

 

[Hand of Evil]

No weather!

In real life a person can not live underground for a very long time, temp and humidity are constant.

 

[Endur]

its dark all the time

Its dark all the time.

Make some of the surface dwellers without darkvision suffer.

Delusions, mental instability, just minor Role playing stuff. Desperate to go home, etc.

Tom

 

[Nifft]

Fatigue & depression: many people IRL suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) which can manifest as mild or severe. Places with long, dark winters also have high suicide rates.

Model this by having them need more sleep, and make all DCs 1 higher for every <time-unit> the party spends down there. <Time-unit> could be a week if you plan on a month-long stay, or it could be three days if you plan half that. The point is: make sure they know They Do Not Belong Here.

-- Nifft

 

[NarlethDrider]

You could have predators that 'make noise' to lure their prey in. The 'drip-drip' of water off of stalactites(?) could be annoying--adding to the other elements (stated from the guys above) making a party generally surly ---maybe have them to roll a DC or end up as generally cranky---which could affect interactions within the party or interaction w/npcs----of course, it would depend on how good at roleplaying your players are.

also, you might be able to find some music to play in the background---ages ago (it seems that the late eighties are), an aquaintance played a tape that brought to mind a 'cave like' situation---it had the 'drip-drip' a-going as well as a 'dark', low tone---ahh the good ole daze

 

[Dragongirl]

You could have predators that 'make noise' to lure their prey in. The 'drip-drip' of water off of stalactites(?) could be annoying--

I know you didn't put these together, but combine these and that could be an interesting tactic. Some beast that imitates the sound of running or dripping water (which could be rare in parts of the underdark, the water that is) and that could be an interesting hook to start an encounter.

 

[Micar Sin]

Take a look at pictures and descriptions of various cave formations. SOme of them are truly bizarre. Things like Flowstone, Gypsum flowers, mammalaries (cave clouds), and soda straws. Also, the deeper they go, the more likely it is that they will come across huge crystals (some have been found on earth larger than a man) made of minerals forced upward by lava, and lava tubes with things like braided mazes and plunge pools.
Ths site: http://www.goodearthgraphics.com/virtcave/index.html
has excellent pictures and details on various cave formations for both lava and solution caves.

 

[rln]

I'm thinking more how intelligent life survives and interact in the underdark in ways that are different than on the surface. Some examples that I've thought about so far:

• 
  Water is probably not sparse, but food is. We've all heard about mushrooms and Rothé, and I plan on the players finding pale vegetables of different sorts (albino turnips near the Svirfneblin comunities ). Mineral salt is plentiful but other spices aren't.
  
  Living is more concentrated. According to novels etc, there seem to be no small communities underground. Either you're big or you're dead. Still, there should be outposts, although maybe not permanently populated.
  
  As resources are more concentrated, there ought to be more trade. What does a marketplace look like? What about tradeways? Merchant caravans are probably large in numbers, as they have to carry their goods and may have to protect it harder against plunder.
  
  Raids to the surface may target stuff that isn't obvious treasures - paper and wood is harder to make underground. Gnomes probably know how to make paper out of non-edible vegetable parts.

 

[Bihor]

If you want a big city you need a lot of food. You'll need many farmer to grow food or prest to create the food.

Smaller community use hunting and gathering, the are more in touch with there ecosystem. Same a the surface, eccept in the underdark it's more dangerous, every thing want to eat you.