Crothian said:
...Lots of great 3-D places to explore. Savage currents, schools of fish, and plenty of coral reefs. I would want adventures around old wrecks, and ship graveyards.
Shipwrecks are about the only source of metal coinage and weapons undersea races can rely upon, without resorting to barter. As for reefs, they are a constant source of inspiration. Take a gander at
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/11/25/midway.tourism.ap/index.html
DMH said:
...floating reefs used to farm alchemically important slugs and shellfish....
I did something similar with locathah in a floatweed (sargasso) "jungle".
RichGreen said:
There are lots of undersea races that don't get used much: locathah, mermen, tritons et al. Also, aboleth, ixitxachitl, morkoths.... plus wrecked ships, coral cities, deep trenches full of weird ruins. There was a big d20 book called The Deep that might help although it had mixed reviews I think...
Sounds like you have a yearning for undersea adventuring.
I have 3 copies of "The Deep"... okay, two... just gave one away, awhile back, as a player incentive. The content was great, but the editing left a lot to be desired.
Slife said:
Giant shrimp are a must...Maybe there'd be some alternate item types to compensate for the lack of scrolls (glass tablets)...
I have small humanoid shrimp, known as shrimpies, inspired by Pepe the prawn.
As for scrolls, some undersea races use a "Sand to Stone" spell to make tablets and unusual architecture (drip castles...)
Whimsical said:
I normally have fly propel you through water as it does through air, but at half speed.
I have a psionic ability involving a biocurrent, that has a similar effect.
Dannyalcatraz said:
...Instead of smoke bombs, squid-ink bombs would be the item for concealment. ... really smart races would figure out ways to deliver those at range- perhaps high-pressure water jets or chemical "rockets."
GreatLemur said:
..."Scrolls" might actually make more sense if they were something that didn't even have writing on them... small trinkets made of shell or bone or stone... Maybe big kelp scrolls with text scratched into them?
Unearthed Arcana detailed a few alternate spellbook ideas which would work, underwater. the "small trinkets" idea works, for me.
Dannyalcatraz said:
Imagine...mutant seaslugs or sea cucumbers bred to create potions...delivered by squeezing the critters so they jet the solution into your mouth...
Hrmm... sea squirts!!
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=1150&N=0
GreatLemur said:
...any inclusion of sea slugs or sea cucumbers would be a great idea, because they are awesome.
To qualify for the envenomed PrC I devised, one must eat various sorts of poisonous/venomour sea creatures. The sea cucumber came to mind, as that was references in "The Sea Devils", but a sea apple would be much nastier.
Whimsical said:
Ooh! I third the motion for magically altered aquatic plants/animals that are actually potions and are small enough to swallow in one gulp.
Gilliweed, eh?
"Masters of the Wild" detailed infusions, which work quite well in an undersea setting. A bit of kelp, algae, or perhaps a soft coral/polyp and there you go.
Brimshack said:
I've been looking a lot at Reefs as a kind of Sylvan setting... a nice equivalent to the really special wood with Feys and Druids protecting it.
Agreed. I even developed a few lesser fey to help with such protection.