Strange Seas (need help designing strange waters)

[Ry]

I'm working on a campaign loosely based in Dark Sun, with the environment much less hostile. In the setting, there is something called the Sea of Silt - a giant dust basin, basically - and no actual oceans.

I'd like to make a Sea of Silt, but have it actually be a sea - far more mineral-rich than our oceans, though. Does anyone know something about extremely mineral-rich waters? How can I make them hazardous?

 

[Steverooo]

You could read about The Dead Sea, here on Earth...

 

[Undead Pete]

I would have the floor of the Sea filled with volcanic vents that are actually dimensional tears that break through to the nexus between the Elemental Planes of Fire and Earth and the Negative Material Plane. Imagine the creatures that would spawn

 

[GMSkarka]

I would have the floor of the Sea filled with volcanic vents that are actually dimensional tears that break through to the nexus between the Elemental Planes of Fire and Earth and the Negative Material Plane. Imagine the creatures that would spawn

You should read The Scar, by China Miéville, if you haven't already.

 

[haiiro]

How can I make them hazardous?

Depending on the minerals involved, the waters might...

- Be immediately hazardous -- caustic (highly acidic or basic), damaging to living or nonliving material (or both), give off fumes, etc.

- Have low visibility beneath the waves (anyone swimming underwater who wasn't adapted to it wouldn't be able to see easily or at all)

- Make water breathing magic not function normally, because of the high concentration of silicates/whatever

- Throw off compasses, because of the presence of large amounts of widely-dispersed ferrous metals (may not by sound science, but could be cool!)

- Have different characteristics in different areas, as tides and other forces creating sections that spawn floating seaweed islands with enough anchorage to walk on, bubble with noxious substances, or have magical effects, etc.

- Cause the rainfall over the ocean to take on some of the characteristics of whatever hazardous substances are involved (again, no idea if this is sound science)

- Make things rust more quickly, perhaps making metal fittings, anchors and other mainstays of some ships impractical

- Have quasi-elemental qualities, warping creatures after long exposure, being treated differently for the purpose of water-based spells, being alive as one organism on some level, etc.

Just a few ideas off the top of my head.

 

[DMH]

To be really nasty, why not have the minerals come out of solution when the water is agitated? The more the PCs move, the more mineral mass sticks to them...

 

[Nightfall]

If you want to REALLY scare your players, make the sea out of blood. Then we'll see how they like to try swimming then.

Oh and space time dialation(sp) aren't bad either.

 

[Nifft]

If you want to REALLY scare your players, make the sea out of blood. Then we'll see how they like to try swimming then.

Of course, blood is chemically quite similar to sea water -- specifically, sea water as it was a few million years ago. We are mobile containers for the soup our DNA grew up in.

(Scaled up, consider an acid-based critter which designed an acid-bath Golem to transport it around outside of its Abyssal home plane...)

-- N

 

[Quickleaf]

Sinking in such water would be very difficult, as everything would be super buoyant.

As said before, swimming in the water could cause fumes to arise.

Though it's caused by bacteria and not silicates, you might consider adding conditions like in a real world "red tide." A red tide occurs when bioluminesent bacteria dies off near the shoreline. It causes waves to have a glowing quality to them at night, and if you go out and swim in it you are lit up by eerie blue water with every stroke you take. It's breathtakingly beautiful (though you'd better shower afterwards to stay healthy)

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I was going to mention the idea of algae as the hazard... or sea nettles - tiny jellyfish that sting like a son of a b. Minerals are not the only hazard....

Or you could just say 'that's funny, the sea smells like petroleum... Joe - put out that cigarette!'

The Auld Grump