Routes throught the Underdark..as skill challenges

[UniversalMonster]

I'm still setting up the Drow campaign (which takes place for the most part, in the Underdark) and the first adventure is an exodus from T'lindhet to some new caves to the south.

The 4E Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide (which is awesome by the way, best version of FR ever) shows the underdark region of Great Bhaerynden as having a pair of bodies of water- the Darkgulf and the Undersea. It also shows several of the other cities in the area (Fluvenistra, Earth's End) and you can kinda see how they match up to the geography in the world above.

I had this idea from playing Ticket-to-Ride:

I figured out that I could lay out the region map of Bhaerynden and create "routes" between various points of interest just like on Ticket to Ride, and have each route given details and difficulty levels as a skill challenge. After all, you can't exactly just travel overland when you are in the Underdark-- you have to have a start point and a destination and sort of find your way through the caves. Due to the age and traffic of the region, several routes have been long established, and they differ in both difficulty, speed, and the sort of skills you might need to traverse them. (A route that makes it's way through the collapsed ruin of Telantiwar might require athletics and history, while a route that takes you close to a mining post might require diplomacy. A traversing through the Myconid Caves is going to involve more nature checks..)

This all works out so that characters can 1) choose their own routes based on their own abilities, needs, and interests and 2) establish some sandbox-like continuity from adventure to adventure. I was even planning on having a story award that gives characters that master a given route to be able to gain a +1 on skill checks when traversing that same route in the future ("oh the myconid caves? I know that way.. follow me..")

So here is the setup so far: The eventual goal is to travel from T'lindhet to Alura R'Teyn. Since this is a persistent campaign, I am going to keep the "routes" as standardized skill challenges whenever players start to explore that side of the map.

Currently there are 4 (known) Underdark routes out of T'lindhet:

1. Dhaerys' Teardrop (DC 11-14) which leads to Lluirwon, a realm held by deep gnomes. (it eventually leads to Alura R'teyn along the Savage Path- a minor trogoldyte hunting ground). There is a patch of disorienting Faezress along this path and the barrier between the Underdark and the Feydark can grow thin at times. There's a spectacular cavern gorge here that must be rappelled. Main skills: endurance, nature, athletics.

2. The Shadoryn Crossing (DC 15-17) a challenging route that leads across the Deepgulf (a journey across the water). Leads directly to Alura R'teyn, but the Deepgulf is haunted by moaning spirits and possibly an aboleth in the area. Main skills: endurance, religion, insight, perception.

3. The Lonely Path (DC 15) leads to a mixed mining camp/trading post known as 'The Last Ditch'. The motley crew of dwarves, genasi, and humans is guarded by some traps and dwarven patrols.. and is hostile to drow. Main skills: perception, stealth, thievery

4. Myconid Caves (DC 13-15) the Myconid Caves lead through a fungi-filled series of caverns that connect to a myconid colony.. and eventually to a genasi village on the shores of Undersea known as Darkwater. Watch out for hallucinogenic sporeclouds! Main skills: nature, diplomacy, endurance, arcane.

 

[UniversalMonster]

So at this point I've created my "Ticket to Ride" style regional map of Great Bhaerynden (the Underdark region detailed in the 4E Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide) and I've mapped out a series of interlinking routes to and from T'lindhet and named them.. and it's pretty good. I'll eventually archive them all for a go-to reference in the campaign.

In case anyone is curious, here is what the Ticket to Ride board from the real boardgame looks like:

 

[wedgeski]

I used a Skill Challenge to chart the journey of my group from an above-ground trading town to a below-ground location (the Seven-Pillared Hall, as it happens). It was one of my earliest experiences with the framework, and while I've learned a lot since then, it played pretty well, mostly because I improvised a couple of extra hazards, and allowed free-form use of Secondary Skills. (Posted below for posterity.)

Where I differ from you is that I woudn't have the party make the same checks on the return journey (which, as it happens they made only last session). An implicit reward of success, for me, is familiarity with that terrain, and I simply hand-waved the journey back. Of course, it wouldn't have hurt that they had gained 4 levels or so in the meantime.

Following the Shadow Tacks, Level 4 Skill Challenge (175 XP per player)

You navigate the hidden tunnels of the underdark, following creatures that are probably far more at home down there than you are.

Complexity

3 (8 successes before 3 failures), including at least three in total of Perception, Insight, and Dungeoneering.

Primary Skills

Athletics, Acrobatics, Insight, Perception, Stealth, Dungeoneering, Endurance

Victory

Victory allows the characters to follow the Shadow Tacks to their destination (a secret entrance to the Seven-Pillared Hall) without being detected.

Defeat

3 failures means that the Shadow Tacks realise they are being followed and lead the PC's into an ambush. Choose one of the random Thunderspire encounters to run.

Possible Hazards During the Challenge

* The remnants of the old mine. The ground is strewn with dust and debris, and the path of the critters is easy to follow. However, the PC's may come to a collapsed or precarious section of tunnel requiring some expertise to navigate.
* The path arrives at a sheer wall down which plunges a frigid waterfall. Endurance is the name of the game.
* The trail arrives at a nexus cave with dozens of different exits. How do the PC's know which one to take? A small, makeshift camp sits nearby and a cave troll dressed in delver's kit observes the PC's wryly. Perhaps he can be persuaded to help?
* The trail comes to a cavern with a frigid lake for a floor. A web of thick, red silken strands has been constructed a few feet over the surface, in which large white fish are trapped, some still feebly struggling, others dead, yet more dead and coccooned. The characters can elect to make a difficult swim, or traverse the web without alerting its owner. A failed check here means that the group is attacked by a Blood Web Spider Swarm.

Skill Uses

Acrobatics

This check allows the group to navigate a precarious ledge or squeeze through an entrance which the Shadow Tacks find easy to move through. Failure costs everyone a Healing Surge unless they make a Saving Throw.

Athletics

The Tacks are strong and lithe, and the group will have to work hard to keep up with them. Helping each-other up steep surfaces, crossing precarious rock formations, clinging to giant stalagmites are all potential hazards. Failures here costs a Healing Surge unless a Saving Throw is made.

Insight & Dungeoneering

Underdark caves are vast and seemingly random, but every natural catacomb has an order to it. Characters can make Insight checks to follow a logical path or guess at a shortcut.

Perception

The characters are following the Shadow Tacks and must stay observant. A failed Perception check can be negated with a successful Stealth roll.

Endurance

The hazards of the Underdark can sap the strength of the hardiest adventurers. Sometimes the best solution is to grit your teeth and struggle through.

Succeeding at the Skill Challenge: If the party successfully follows the shadow tacks, they find themselves emerging in a refuse pit on the western side of the Seven-Pillared Hall. The pit is a square hole cut out of the stone floor, full of rotting rubbish being scavenged on by various denizens, including several spiky-maned dogs, a seething mound of brown-furred rats, and half-a-dozen humanoids, including 2 goblins, a human, 2 half-elves, and a duergar, all of whom are filthy and reeking of disease.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

I do like this thought, and recently read the 4e Underdark supplement {which is very nice}, and was considering the same sort of option for travelling. I would very much like to see more ideas for routes and hazards!

From a mechanical perspective there is a ruling I would like to work out... and thats how to handle careful travel versus hasty travel. My assumption is that the skill challenges laid out above are based on careful travel.

So, how would you reflect a parties choice to be hasty.. traveling faster but at a higher risk? Also, how about a party that chooses to be extremely careful, travelling much much slower and at a lower risk?

My thoughts on the hasty travel is to slightly raise the DCs and reduce the number of failures that trigger combat encounters.

My thoughs on very careful travel is to split the route into two seperate skill challenges that are lower level.