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Message: <blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 3490817" data-attributes="member: 3192">From a geological standpoint, this is pretty interesting.First, is the sea connected to a larger ocean-like water table?  Perhaps add vortices where the water washes into a lower area.Second, how does the water collect?  Underground rivers and streams pool because of elevation.  I'm thinking most enter by waterfall and not from the edges, but instead from high above into the sea.Next, landmasses and islands are unlikely to be weathered down.  I'd say they are spire-like and perhaps even columns.Weather itself is unusual as there aren't really underground winds (unless you add wind tunnels).  However, lots of temperature changes and water vapor do exist, so I'd add in areas where steam might be created.  Lava pouring in an area would create pressure and then winds.  Precipitation is probably thick fog at times and rain via stalactites above.  Depending on the barometric pressure this water vapor could be above the water line (rain), at the surface (fog), or just dry.  Cold and ice would be unlikely.Life in the sea starts with plants.  Perhaps luminescent algae could be how people see?  Where there is earth instead of just stone, large fields of fungi would grow as they don't need light.  You could play with the effects of eating them.  Moss grows on fungi too, so it's possible.  Plus any other ooze you'd like.Insects - are the real progenitor animals.  I imagine glowbugs and lightning bugs would be pretty fun as swarms and at unusual sizes.  Big enough boring beetles could pass through stones where wormlife could not.  Worms have a tendency to just keep growing as long as they can eat, so I'd throw a few of those in too.Animals - would start with fish and amphibians.  Depending on your luminosity, you could go blind and albino or perhaps make them luminescent as well.  The fun thing about deep underground is you can make things both prehistoric and completely new.  Aquatic dinosaurs could exist as well as Colossal-sized Man-o-wars or floating, spiny pufferfish (that levitate like balloons and can tear through sails).  Gems and heavy metals are most of what we dig into the ground. You may want to put many of these in as ore.  Costs by size and weight could be considerably lower here compared to lands above: Cortez's city of gold.Remains and fossils are another interesting thing found in the earth.  Massive bones of creatures no longer thought to exist.  Truly ancient cities and tombs buried by time eons ago.  These are the records of ancient history and secrets for explorers to chisel out of the rock.Light and luminosity.  This is your call on whether you want it and how much.  If you have it, for some than light will be life.  And death.  For at least one sentient race I'd treat it as a rare gift and weapon.  Light means things can see you, but you also can see.  For no light settings, darkvision in 3.5 has a screwed up 60' ranged "Bubble".  In the interest of making an enjoyable world and not one dictated by the rules I'd toss away building upon that type of thinking.  I'd steer ships using echolocation instead.  60' is likely how fast many ships will travel each round.  That's just too dangerous.  Sentient creatures are probably something you've already thought about.  The D1-3 series has dark elves and kuo-toa.  You might want to include new non-MM races too like ones based on insects, worms, oozes, and other smaller life forms.  A luminous race could be fun.  Xorns are really alien.  A typical D&D campaign would have above ground race PCs as outsiders.  I don't know your intentions here but you could have natives too.  One thing to note are above races as underground dwellers.  Men could be like cavemen or perhaps something "all too human".  This lends a sort of horror to the roots of other humanoid races like Kuo-toa and how they came to be.  Another idea is a race that is in ascendancy.  Maybe a strong community-based race like insects see themselves as the inheritors of the Overbright after the decline of The Age of Man?Culture and Belief of sentients (and really this means religion) would have roots in their environment.  Like the sun god above maybe races worship light and/or darkness?  With darkvision only B&W colors take on a new meaning of revelation.  With all that fungi foodstuffs psychedelics effects might not only affect religious ceremonies but entire psychologies of races.  Myths of an infinite "emptiness" far above might exist.  Gems that sparkle as jewelry on glowing sentients could be a source of beauty, status, and even magic items.  What I'd keep in mind is that wild and dangerous places typically have cultures to fit them.For Piracy I'm not sure what you may mean.  Pirates normally are lawbreakers, so you may want to think about what laws they are breaking.  Maybe all creatures battle over what resources exist and they aren't by definition pirates?  This has more to do with your answers than my questions.Also, regarding cosmology, is the land a planet?  Planets tend to be a rather modern belief and don't need to be true in fantasy worlds.  So what is below the Sunless Sea?  Perhaps goliath-sized tortoises live at the bottom who are sentient and a First Race?  This fits with the Thales' philosophy of "What does the Earth rest upon?"  Perhaps their pattern of surfacing is how other inhabitants keep time? (instead of our years)Technologically you may to think about how basic building practices differ.  It is not "building", it is excavating.  Old living quarters would not be torn down.  The people just moved.  In fact, many places were probably built by other races in other times and are now used for alternate purposes.  In terms of equipment, materials are going to differ without trees and leaves.  Most things are still the same though, just advanced through a different cultural history.  For tech levels I would stay very far away from using magic as a reliable technology.  High magic is equivalent to high tech, so I'd use it only for really big, important things and leave it out of the common masses' hands.  This is a judgment call.  My warning is to not rely on explaining common living practices with magic lest it also become common.  (force ropes, conjured clothes, grooming spell combs, and such stuff)Of course, you can always page through the monster books, spell compendium, magic item compendium, arms & equipment guide, and whatever else is out there.</blockquote>

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