Undersea Adventures: Comments, Concerns, & Concepts

[DMH]

Aeolius, have you seen National Geographic's Drain the Ocean? Very interesting in terms of topography and possible habitats.

 

[LurkMonkey]

I have always been fascinated by the thought of an undersea adventure. I went so far as to flesh out a few habitations in my homebrew world. Being a big fan of the whole pirate/carribean thing, I made an area dotted with hundreds of differently-scaled islands in a relatively shallow sea. Aquatic races interact with their above-water cousins on a fairly frequent basis. There is even a breed of aquatic 'pirates' that attack vessels from underneath. To combat this, there are mercenary companies that are paid by merchants to escort their ships (the area has no strong government, so security must be arranged by the merchants).

One fun thing I thought up was a half sea-elven captain of on of these mercenary teams named Nyla Greenwater. She and her mercenary team ride dolphins into battle, and her dolphin Bluerazor has a ring of Levitation attached to his fluke, so he is able to swim above water as well as below. I had always envisioned my players going into a tavern and come face to face with a dolphin splashing in the horse trough in front. It would be a classic WTF? moment

 

[Aeolius]

Aeolius, have you seen National Geographic's Drain the Ocean? Very interesting in terms of topography and possible habitats.

Yep, I saw that one. NatGeo is running a new one, now; Dawn of the Ocean

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Don't recall whether I mentioned this one in the aquatic database, but today I remembered another way to handle spellbooks in aquatic campaigns: wampum (duh)!

What would be more natural for Aqua-Mage than weaving together polished bits of bone, tusks, stone, shell and coral with byssal & baleen to permanently capture magical writings?

Scrimshaw also springs to mind.

 

[Benthicus]

Aeolius, I'm not sure if you're still looking at any of these threads, but I wanted to reassure you that I think there's plenty of interest out there for undersea gaming!

I'm pretty new to D&D (and I'm also very new to posting on forums, you might notice) but I've always had an interest in taking my games underwater, right from day one. And as far as the typical player is concerned, I think people are always looking for something new in roleplaying games. As long as they're presented with something believable that gives them the freedom to make interesting characters, I think they would go for it.

There are a few obstacles, I suppose. Like other people have said, there isn't much support for the rules, and the environment tends to limit player's options. If there was an actual setting to work with, I think these problems could be taken care of.

I'm currently designing a homebrew setting. I have a couple of different ideas, all for underwater games, and I'd love to bounce some of them around. This is addressed to the whole community of course, not just Aeolius, but it was his incredible devotion to undersea gaming that inspired me to start posting. I guess I should have started a new thread, and I probably will do that, but I think this one is appropriate too.

 

[Sorrowdusk]

Did anyone like 3.x Stormwrack?

 

[El Mahdi]

...With that in mind, what are your preferences, for such an adventure? What would you expect to see, in an undersea game? What would make the campaign memorable, enjoyable, and enduring? What would make you want to spend years exploring the realm of liquid space?

I know this thread died out back in August, but I hadn't read it before and it happened to intrigue me. So, here goes:

What interests me isn't the standard D&D underwater campaigns. They tend to basically just be D&D type races and monsters in an underwater environment, rather than something unique.

I've always wanted to use the underwater race(s) from The Abyss for a D&D game. Not a D20 Modern/Future game, but an honest to god D&D game.

In the movie they are obviously a very technologically advanced race. One far beyond surface dwellers. But what would their race and civilization look like during their medieval period? That's a campaign setting I'd like to introduce. I could see them having some rudimentary control of water, similar to what's seen in the movie, but definitely not on as large a scale as the movie (no ability to destroy the surface world). Even their rudimentary "medieval" technology would probably appear as magic, magic on a par with regular D&D magic, yet very different in appearance and effect.

 

[DumbPaladin]

Equipment & clothing

It hasn't been discussed a whole lot, but if you're playing a mostly above-water campaign and you suddenly go into the ocean ... what exactly do your PCs wear and utilize? Obviously water breathing or some similar magic is likely in effect ... and freedom of movement lets you use whatever weapon you like ... but none of that covers exactly what the proper "dress code" is for a benthic adventure.

 

[gamerprinter]

While my intro mini arc for my Kaidan setting is coming soon. I've always wanted to develop a 1-20 full campaign set in my Japan inspired horror setting, and at higher levels, I wanted to include an undersea adventure.

I even created a map for a proposed city under the sea called Ryukyo (Sea Dragon City). The torus like gate on the bottom left corner of the map is the entrance to the Sea Dragon Palace. The Sea Dragon (Ryu) is a deity. Assorted Ningyo (Japanese mermaids), Samebito (sharkmen) and other sea denizens dwell there. Note the lower depths include structures as well.

I will get to the larger campaign, and I will get to this city, somehow...

GP

Link to larger version of this map - Sea Dragon City.

 

[Aeolius]

What would be more natural for Aqua-Mage than weaving together polished bits of bone, tusks, stone, shell and coral with byssal & baleen to permanently capture magical writings? Scrimshaw also springs to mind.

I devised a spellbook in a similar vein, a dreamcatcher filled with spell tokens (Complete Arcane). As for scrimshaw, I had a pirate bone creature of the same name.

Like other people have said, there isn't much support for the rules, and the environment tends to limit player's options. If there was an actual setting to work with, I think these problems could be taken care of.

I agree that, for those looking for official rules, options can be somewhat limited; Stormwrack, Into the Blue, and The Deep seem to be the most thorough treatments, thus far, and of course all are out of print.
As for the environment being limiting, I tend to think quite the opposite. There are undersea analogs of most Drylander environments; forests of kelp or mangrove roots, a jungle of floating sargassum seaweed, “deserts” of bleached corals or urchin barrens, fields of seagrass, and brambles of living sea stars come to mind, as well as the more extreme settings of black smokers (hydrothermal vents), cold seeps (undersea lakes), and the blackness of the abyssal depths themselves. Add to this the dangers of a three dimensional world; Drylanders sailing upon the surface of the sea, shallow-dwelling and amphibious creatures lurking just below them, beasts which roam the open seas, and the mysterious bioluminescent world of the deep.

Did anyone like 3.x Stormwrack?

Absolutely! Stormwrack was very inspirational, to my current game. Blackwater, riverine, and pearlsteel found instant uses, as did many of the monsters mentioned within.

I've always wanted to use the underwater race(s) from The Abyss for a D&D game... what would their race and civilization look like during their medieval period?

In my last game, I had “abyssal elves”, inspired by the same movie. They were taken from drow stock and became a race gifted with “hydrokinesis”. I also have my ephyra, a psionic “mer-jellyfish” race.

...if you're playing a mostly above-water campaign and you suddenly go into the ocean ... what exactly do your PCs wear and utilize?

That’s one reason that I set the following stipulations for PCs in my game; they must have a natural swim speed and the ability to breathe underwater without the use of magic. Savage Species also has a “Ritual of Gills” that grants the aquatic subtype, if you are looking for something unconventional.

I've always wanted to develop a 1-20 full campaign set in my Japan inspired horror setting, and at higher levels, I wanted to include an undersea adventure.

Very nice. In my current game one PC is a sea elf ninja, while another is a merfolk shugenja.