Underdark Campaign Setting – Lake of Spires: Breathing

Life in the underdark requires breathing

There aren’t many campaigns that haven’t at some point wandered to the world below that we call the underdark but the truth is that’s just a cave, the underdark is still miles below and has an ecosystem completely foreign to the normal world.  To better explain to myself as far as the dividing line between caves and the underdark is simple, when you reach a depth that requires you to suspend natural physics and geology then you have reached the underdark.  Keep in mind one fact that relates to earth, when we drilled about 50 feet under the surface the temperature was about 375 °F, so for obvious reasons we will need to suspend reality here otherwise all of those deep excursions into the underdark would have been really quick and resulted into a TPK (Total Party Kill).

Physics of the Underdark

How do we explain all this?  That is rather easily done, it has been a known topic of fantasy in dungeons and dragons that in the underdark there is a strange and natural radiation that exists in the underdark.  Since this is a fantasy game let’s take it one step further and use this radiation to explain that the normal natural forces that hold the harsh geological forces that would kill human beings are held at bay by this radiation.  This also allows dungeon masters the available challenges like the radiation being unusually weak or even void in certain areas or perhaps it is unusually strong, giving way for odd or unexplainable events.  You can do anything with this theory of how the environment works in the underdark and when you understand it and use it, it can add additional challenges to your hardy group of adventures.

Underdark Hazard: Toxic Fumes

For a long time now the gaming community has been against no save kind of effects however I have to admit, I use them quite regularly.  Now before you stop reading and don’t agree, hear me out.  Not everything needs to be save or die but at the same time, there are some effects there is no getting around it either and toxic fumes is a good example.  They can come in all manners of scents and appearances, from almond smelling invisible gas to harsh make your eyes water stench that is an putrid green but one thing they both have in common is any being that requires breathing is going to feel the effects.  The effects could be something so small as you become fatigued twice as fast, taking 1d10 points of damage per round or even 1d4 points of constitution loss per round of exposure.  The idea is that the more severe the fumes the harder it is to survive and shake off the effects afterwards.  You can also have some fumes that do provide a save that decreases some of the damage however as a dungeon master if you are trying to get the point across that no one dances in toxic fumes, even saving feels some of the effects.  One of my favorite things to add to toxic fumes effect is simple uncontrollable coughing, the decrease to any activity can be -1 all the way to -6.  Next effect is vision, the eyes are extremely sensitive and while not blind there is a decrease in distance of vision, at the very least half.  When using these kinds of challenges remember the idea is to challenge and not outright kill them instantly, I also use these kind of things to the advantage of those that live or hunt in the area.  In my world it is very common for the drow to ambush those unaware of such hazards as they attempt to make their way through them.

Underdark: Air Quality

To be perfectly blunt, as far as breathing goes it does not matter if the air is stale or fresh though it does add to the flavor of a room or area.  These elements should be used as clues as to how much traffic or how well ventilated the room is.  When you reach the depths of the underdark any air from above never reached this point, for this to be the case you would need quite a good stable shaft and a hefty fan.  So to explain why the underdark has air at all worth breathing we fall upon the physics as described above, it one of the strange effects from the radiation.  Much like how the radiation keeps temperatures from rising to scorching levels and has some areas that are not as well protected, the air quality follows these same rules.  There are of course exceptions like a cavern with a natural lava flow moving through it could easily fill the room with volcanic gases, the radiation keeps the gas from filling the entire underdark but cannot remove it completely.  If you want to express to your group that the area they are in hasn’t been visited in years, let them know how stale the air is.

So the next time your group is walking through a passage I hope you remember this article and how easily you can add something different to their travels.

Written by David Jones Tuesday, 17 January 2012 15:28