# Aquatic Campaigns



## Aeolius (Nov 26, 2006)

I am now compiling my notes for "Heirs of Turucambi", an undersea campaign that will begin in the near future. 

   As the majority of the campaign will be set underwater, the game will draw heavily from supplements such as Stormwrack. Player characters must be able to swim (have a swim speed) and breathe underwater (aquatic or amphibious) without the use of magic. The campaign will begin at level 1-3, to account for characters with templates, monster races, and similar instances.

   "Heirs of Turucambi" is set in the Oljatt Sea of Oerth, the World of Greyhawk. Originally detailed in "Greyhawk Adventures" and later featured at wizards.com, Turucambi is one of the "Mysterious Places" of the region. Knowledge of the World of Greyhawk is not required, for participation in the campaign. 

   Given my preferences, the campaign will draw from my interests in marine biology and my hobby of keeping saltwater aquariums, coupled with my fascination with various mythological creatures such as hags, dragons, and demons.

   Be aware that life underwater has its limitations; typical potions are all but impossible to imbibe, paper scrolls will quickly disintegrate, and typical metal items are subject to corrosion. Many typical spells may not suitable for underwater casting. Treasure may be similarly altered, as many undersea races value rare corals, pearls, and shells far more than coins and gemstones.

   Keep in mind that some of the best inspiration for an underwater campaign can come from the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, visiting your local aquarium or fish store, and perusing ocean-related materials in a bookstore.

   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?

( edited to include links to Greyhawk Adventures ($4 PDF download at paizo.com) and Greyhawk Mysterious Places (02/2003 archive at wizards.com) )


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## Crothian (Nov 26, 2006)

I see it as a high adventure under the sea:  Lots of great 3-D places to explore.  Savage currents, schools of fish, and plenty of coral reefs.  I would want adventures around old wrecks, and ship graveyards.  I think any game with interesting adventures and fun characters will be memorable, enjoyable, and enduring.


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## DMH (Nov 26, 2006)

Places- aboleth cities on the abyssal plains, massive sea serpents that have villages on them, floating islands that are colonized on both sides, broken ruins near surface cities (the aquatics were driven away by the surface dwellers over shallow water mines).

Things- a dump of the gods, sahuagin invasion platforms (mobile bases), floating reefs used to farm alchemically important slugs and shellfish, merrows with magitech.


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## RichGreen (Nov 26, 2006)

Hi,

Sounds like a great idea for a campaign! There are lots of undersea races that don't get used much: locathah, mermen, tritons et al. Also, aboleth, ixitxachitl, morkoths.... plus wrecked ships, coral cities, deep trenches full of weird ruins.

There was a big d20 book called The Deep that might help although it had mixed reviews I think.

Cheers


Richard


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## Slife (Nov 26, 2006)

Giant shrimp are a must.

Maybe there'd be some alternate item types to compensate for the lack of scrolls (glass tablets?).  I imagine you'd also need to look at the available spells to see if they can be rebalanced.  Fly is going to be less useful, and water-breathing should prolly be replaced with air-breathing


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## Whimsical (Nov 26, 2006)

Change the Swim skill so it works more like the 3.5 Jump skill. What you roll for your Swim skill check is how far you swim in feet as a move action (if you don't already have a swim speed.) -5 if your speed is 20' or lower.

Also check the complete arcane for alternatives to potions and scrolls. For example, psionics has tatoos that works like potions, and stones that work like scrolls.

I normally have _fly_ propel you through water as it does through air, but at half speed.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Nov 26, 2006)

Slife beat me here!  Dire or otherwise oversized natural creatures- or as you must well know, even some of the normal ones- could definitely prove challenging.  Sharks, octopi, mantis shrimp...even certain medusans and cone snails can threaten human life.

Don't be afraid to use some of the sea's ambush predators...

You might also want to check out these 2 threads: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=179402 and http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=179508 .

Scrolls & tomes would be replaced by carved stone or rune-covered seashells or coral chunks.  Tattoos, as suggested above, would also be effective.

Potions are harder to replace, but aquatic mages could prepare "dry rooms*" for mixing ingredients, but opt for more solid forms rather than potions that would disperse- cakes, gels, etc.  OTOH, crafty alchemists and spellcasters could use the effects of brownian motion to their advantage.  Instead of smoke bombs, squid-ink bombs would be the item for concealment.  A potion, oil, or similar liquid could be reduced to a tarry state (using volcanic heat) that becomes an area effect attack when released into the water...and really smart races would figure out ways to deliver those at range- perhaps high-pressure water jets or chemical "rockets."

Alchemists of the sea, if they discover the principles of electroplating (known in the RW for @ 4 thousand of years), could have a great time getting metals out of solution from the seawater.

* in fact, dry rooms could be made to for the creation and use of all kinds of surface items, like ceramics, artificial glasses or smelted metals & alloys.


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## GreatLemur (Nov 26, 2006)

It's easy to rework magic items so that they function underwater.  Remember that there's no reason a single-use spell-delivery item needs to be a fluid in a bottle that's drank by the user.  It could just as easily by a box full of magical energy that's opened, or a tiny carved symbol that's snapped in half, or, hell, a bottle of fluid that's released into the water.

"Scrolls" might actually make more sense if they were something that didn't even have writing on them (because I've never thought the whole business of them turning blank when used made a lot sense).  They can just be small trinkets made of shell or bone or stone with a single spell suspended inside, ready to be released--or analyzed, decoded, and learned--by a spellcaster.  

...Which brings up the topic of spell books.  Maybe big kelp scrolls with text scratched into them?  A book made out of shell would get pretty heavy at a one-page-per-spell-level rate, but maybe that's not so bad: Underwater, encumbrance rates might very logically be relaxed a bit. 

Weapons and armor and such are pretty simple.  Where metal isn't available, there's still stone, fish and whale bone, crustacean carapace, mollusk shell, coral, and "scale mail" of the most literal kind.  Whether or not these metal-substitutes are as good as steel mechanically is up to you.  Personally, I wouldn't worry about it.

Also: Believe it or not, you might want to go read Aquaman for inspiration.  I am serious.  Lately, the comic has had an odd, swords-and-sorcery-flavored reboot, and it actually looks a lot like an aquatic D&D campaign, these days.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Nov 26, 2006)

Actually, you could even store potions in bladders...if they're made from edible creatures, you'd just eat the bladder whole to deliver the potion.

The trick isn't so much potion delivery as potion creation.

Another way around that (besides the dry rooms I mentioned above) is the good old wizard-created abomination!  Imagine...mutant seaslugs or sea cucumbers bred to create potions...delivered by squeezing the critters so they jet the solution into your mouth...


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## GreatLemur (Nov 26, 2006)

Dannyalcatraz said:
			
		

> Another way around that (besides the dry rooms I mentioned above) is the good old wizard-created abomination!  Imagine...mutant seaslugs or sea cucumbers bred to create potions...delivered by squeezing the critters so they jet the solution into your mouth...



That is a completely beautiful idea.  And, hell, the "potion" doesn't even have to be a fluid.  It could just be the creature itself, to be eaten whole.  But really any inclusion of sea slugs or sea cucumbers would be a great idea, because they are awesome.  There's more stuff--and more interesting stuff--in the ocean than fish.


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## Whimsical (Nov 26, 2006)

Ooh! I third the motion for magically altered aquatic plants/animals that are actually potions and are small enough to swallow in one gulp. That is very thematically apporpriate.

I would also allow regular potions to work if they are "breathed" in by water-breathing beings.

Also, I have a house clarafication in my games that scrolls and spellbooks are normally waterproof. After all, if they cost so much gp for the best inks and papers, why not have those inks and papers be the best that they can possibly be?


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## Brimshack (Nov 27, 2006)

I've been looking a lot at Reefs as a kind of Sylvan setting. Made up a few things for that kind of location, but I do think it would be a nice equivalent to the really special wood with Feys and Druids protecting it. It might also be an interesting sort of middle ground where the aquatic races can meet and deal with land-lubbers (lots of potential for interesting tension there). Protection of the coral reefs could also be an interesting theme in the campaign.

Don't know if you use them, but if you're looking for undersea type miniatures, you might check out Eastern Front Studios. They have the largest selection of such minis that I can think of, at least for a smaller company. Might also give you some ideas for creatures, and I believe Mick was working on game rules for the undersea stuff too. Don't know how far he got. We've got a few of sea creatures on our own agenda, but nothing quite in metal form yet.


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## GreatLemur (Nov 27, 2006)

Speaking of miniatures, I'd love to know how people handle three-dimensional movement on a battle mat.  Stacking Legos undeneath flying/swimming miniatures?


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## Brimshack (Nov 27, 2006)

We usually just put a dice beside it with the number on the dice representing the number of 5' increments up in the air, off the sea floor, etc.


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## Aeolius (Nov 27, 2006)

Crothian said:
			
		

> ...Lots of great 3-D places to explore.  Savage currents, schools of fish, and plenty of coral reefs.  I would want adventures around old wrecks, and ship graveyards.




   Shipwrecks are about the only source of metal coinage and weapons undersea races can rely upon, without resorting to barter.  As for reefs, they are a constant source of inspiration. Take a gander at http://www.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/11/25/midway.tourism.ap/index.html



			
				DMH said:
			
		

> ...floating reefs used to farm alchemically important slugs and shellfish....




   I did something similar with locathah in a floatweed (sargasso) "jungle". 



			
				RichGreen said:
			
		

> There are lots of undersea races that don't get used much: locathah, mermen, tritons et al. Also, aboleth, ixitxachitl, morkoths.... plus wrecked ships, coral cities, deep trenches full of weird ruins. There was a big d20 book called The Deep that might help although it had mixed reviews I think...




   Sounds like you have a yearning for undersea adventuring.   I have 3 copies of "The Deep"... okay, two... just gave one away, awhile back, as a player incentive. The content was great, but the editing left a lot to be desired. 



			
				Slife said:
			
		

> Giant shrimp are a must...Maybe there'd be some alternate item types to compensate for the lack of scrolls (glass tablets)...




I have small humanoid shrimp, known as shrimpies, inspired by Pepe the prawn.   As for scrolls, some undersea races use a "Sand to Stone" spell to make tablets and unusual architecture (drip castles...) 



			
				Whimsical said:
			
		

> I normally have _fly_ propel you through water as it does through air, but at half speed.




I have a psionic ability involving a biocurrent, that has a similar effect. 



			
				Dannyalcatraz said:
			
		

> ...Instead of smoke bombs, squid-ink bombs would be the item for concealment. ... really smart races would figure out ways to deliver those at range- perhaps high-pressure water jets or chemical "rockets."







			
				GreatLemur said:
			
		

> ..."Scrolls" might actually make more sense if they were something that didn't even have writing on them... small trinkets made of shell or bone or stone... Maybe big kelp scrolls with text scratched into them?




   Unearthed Arcana detailed a few alternate spellbook ideas which would work, underwater. the "small trinkets" idea works, for me. 



			
				Dannyalcatraz said:
			
		

> Imagine...mutant seaslugs or sea cucumbers bred to create potions...delivered by squeezing the critters so they jet the solution into your mouth...




Hrmm... sea squirts!! http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=1150&N=0



			
				GreatLemur said:
			
		

> ...any inclusion of sea slugs or sea cucumbers would be a great idea, because they are awesome.




To qualify for the envenomed PrC I devised, one must eat various sorts of poisonous/venomour sea creatures. The sea cucumber came to mind, as that was references in "The Sea Devils", but a sea apple would be much nastier.  



			
				Whimsical said:
			
		

> Ooh! I third the motion for magically altered aquatic plants/animals that are actually potions and are small enough to swallow in one gulp.




Gilliweed, eh?  "Masters of the Wild" detailed infusions, which work quite well in an undersea setting. A bit of kelp, algae, or perhaps a soft coral/polyp and there you go. 



			
				Brimshack said:
			
		

> I've been looking a lot at Reefs as a kind of Sylvan setting... a nice equivalent to the really special wood with Feys and Druids protecting it.




Agreed. I even developed a few lesser fey to help with such protection.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Nov 27, 2006)

How about a race built along the lines of one of the poisonous fish species, like lionfish?  It could be a variant of one of the extant races, like Sahaugin or Locathah.

Again with the aquamining, alchemy, and wizards...

Imagine another wizard who creates corals that leech metals (as opposed to calcium carbonates) from the sea to create their reefs- gold that he then harvests for currency, or iron that he "plants" around his stronghold as a barrier to intruders...especially of the supernatural variety!  These could even be intermixed with other mutated (templated) corals that may have elemental heritage.  IOW, a coral that uses electrical charges to kill its prey instead of nematocysts.

And, of course...Babelfish!


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## Dannyalcatraz (Nov 27, 2006)

Some other things I had considered for an as-yet-unrealized future campaign was a PrCl for aquatic races that was a variant unarmed combatant.

The PrCl concept was based upon the nudibranchs that feed upon hydroids and harvest their nematocysts for their own bodies.  This martial artist would thus be able to deliver painful, even paralytic touch attacks.

Another concept was marine Thri-Kreen based upon the mantis shrimps- two species, one each for stabbers and smashers- constantly at war.

Something I had tossed around until I saw it on Farscape was massive bioengeneered (or arcanoengineered) creatures that serve as cities or warships for some race.  (I may still use it, but I hate being accused of unoriginality.)  Imagine colossal "whales" or "kraken" that live in symbiosis for an aggressive, nomadic race...they could even be big enough to have adventures within their bodies.

You could have a race of Cnidarians (jellyfish) that are intelligent.  Unlike regular Cnidarians, the intelligent ones could be an emergent consciousness...that is, having a hive mind distributed among its various individuals, but only actively conscious when the group reaches a certain critical mass.  Perhaps they would have 1/2 an Int point per individual in the swarm (apart from their own animal intelligence) over a certain radius...

Of course, Coral could fill this role as well- a brain coral that was actually brainy, hmmmm? 

Actually, coral and their relatives could fill any number of roles of D&D surface critters- a coral in its mobile stage could create a form of zombie, like the yellow musk mold does on land, for instance.

One thing that occurs to me is that in a predominantly aquatic campaign, psionics and incarnum would be the easiest "magic systems" to use, followed by core divine and arcane.  Psionics definitely fits in with certain archetypes, like Aquaman.  The above-mentioned Cnidarians or Brain Coral would especially benefit from an emphasis on psionics.


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## Whizbang Dustyboots (Nov 27, 2006)

GreatLemur said:
			
		

> It's easy to rework magic items so that they function underwater.  Remember that there's no reason a single-use spell-delivery item needs to be a fluid in a bottle that's drank by the user.  It could just as easily by a box full of magical energy that's opened, or a tiny carved symbol that's snapped in half, or, hell, a bottle of fluid that's released into the water.



One of the DCCs has wax balls full of potions that users bite to release the magical fluid.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Nov 27, 2006)

Another way to get around problems with potions or scrolls is to slightly alter the magic item creation feats.

Brew Potion or Scribe Scroll could become Craft Minor Single Use Item and Craft Minor Multiple Use Item.  The potion becomes a bit of enruned seashell, perhaps, snapped in two to release the spell's energies.  The scroll is a variant on the same idea, but instead of breaking the shell in two, it is scored in such a way as to be broken in increments, each part releasing its power when broken.


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## Kahuna Burger (Nov 27, 2006)

when I was considering an aquatic campaign, I went with the idea that undersea "writing" would be more three dimensional to begin with - different shapes and substances beaded in strings for instance. So a spellbook would be a bunch of strings you ran your fingers over to study, while a scroll would be activated by snapping the "thread" and running all the beads out through your fingers.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Nov 27, 2006)

Like Native American Wampum?  That's gooooood!


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## Dannyalcatraz (Nov 28, 2006)

It occurs to me that certain undead- those that are resistant to piercing damage- would be more challenging to PCs in an underwater setting, given that the physics of the region would favor piercing weapons above all others.


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## Brimshack (Nov 28, 2006)

Oh come on, what kind of undead would be lurking around on the bottom of the sea? I mean it's not like there are any great tragedies in which whole loads of people die horribly all at once and disappear from the known world forever taking the mystery of their deaths with them. Nah! No good premises for undead at the bottom of the sea.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Nov 29, 2006)

Cetaceo-Liches!

Shadow-Kraken!

...

Wight Whales?


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## GreatLemur (Nov 29, 2006)

Kahuna Burger said:
			
		

> when I was considering an aquatic campaign, I went with the idea that undersea "writing" would be more three dimensional to begin with - different shapes and substances beaded in strings for instance. So a spellbook would be a bunch of strings you ran your fingers over to study, while a scroll would be activated by snapping the "thread" and running all the beads out through your fingers.



Okay, now that is seriously interesting.  Didn't some Native American (South American, I think) people have a form of "writing" composed of knots tied in string?  I could completely believe a bead-based code.  And it would have the added bonus of being readable by touch, which could come in handy in the lightless depths.


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## DMH (Nov 29, 2006)

Dannyalcatraz said:
			
		

> Wight Whales?




That reminds me- Aeolius, did you ever buy Expeditious Retreat Press' pdf on the undead whales and their symbiotes?


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## Ogrork the Mighty (Nov 29, 2006)

Just make sure your players are as enthusiastic as you are. What can seem like a great and interesting idea might not be some players' cup of tea. Especially if it's an entire campaign based on one specific environment (i.e., aquatic).


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## Kaodi (Nov 29, 2006)

Good to see that you are still at it, Aeo. 

I was thinking that any undersea campaign really needs a rift so deep that the pressure is too high to survive without magical assistance of some kind (which would of course be a 3rd level spell, like water breathing and fly).

Also, perhaps you should have a powerful sorceress or archmage that specializes in acid-based transmutations, hehehe... Who needs " fireball " when you have " deadly concentration " ?


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## Dannyalcatraz (Dec 1, 2006)

_(Is secretly saddened that nobody has chastized him for his horrible pun.)_


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## BOZ (Dec 2, 2006)

Dannyalcatraz said:
			
		

> Wight Whales?




Moby?


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## Seeten (Dec 2, 2006)

I still havent gotten to play my pirate. *cries*


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## Brimshack (Dec 3, 2006)

Wight Wales!?!


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## Dannyalcatraz (Dec 3, 2006)

_Call me Ishmael, baby!_

Yep...Moby would be the Wight Whale himself!  Unkillable, unstoppable, ungodly!


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## hamishspence (Dec 11, 2006)

*Wight whales not technically possible*

Seems like a shame to waste such a pun, but the wight template in Savage Species is humanoids only. Of course, the DM might still have ideas, customising it.

I kinda like Grassy Gnolls from Munchkin.


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## Aeolius (Jan 6, 2007)

hamishspence said:
			
		

> I kinda like Grassy Gnolls from Munchkin.




And what do you call a gathering of lacedon?  Why, a flock of sea ghouls, of course!   

Now that the holidays are over, I thought I'd jumpstart this thread.


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## Wolv0rine (Jan 6, 2007)

I know I'm late to the party and all, but as far as potions underwater goes, I'd be inclined to switch liquid potions for pills/gelcaps.  
Then again, come to think of it, it's kind of odd that there are no arcane pills floating around D&D...


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jan 6, 2007)

Or at least Alchemical powders...not that those would be effective underwater...I'm just saying.

Given what is known about cone snails and the various medusans, I could see intelligent creatures creating barbed harpoons that have poison bladders attached to them, so that when there is a successful strike, the poison automatically injects itself.

I'd expect "biotech" to be more common.

I'd expect underwater denizens to use more 3 dimensional fighting tactics.


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## Brimshack (Jan 6, 2007)

Cone Snails?


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## Aeolius (Jan 6, 2007)

Brimshack said:
			
		

> Cone Snails?




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cone_snail


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## Brimshack (Jan 6, 2007)

Oh yeah...


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## Kaodi (Jan 6, 2007)

One more to the spellbook ideas... could it be conceivable that aquatic wizards might possess a method for conditioning some kind of bioluminescent organism to produce morse code?

Anyway, any underwater campaign should have at least one attack on a surface vessel, hehehe... Making shipwrecks should be just as cool as exploring them,   .

Underwater volcanoes creating new islands might be cool too...


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jan 6, 2007)

Ever read early Marvel Comics?

Namor, the Sub-Mariner, was always leading the Atlanteans against the surface dwellers (usually in NYC) over some toxic spill or weapons test or some such.  Could make for good RPG fun from either side.

Also, check out anything by Jacques Cousteau or, barring that, check out the Cousteau spoof "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" starring Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Willem Davoe, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston, Jeff Goldblum and many others...including the Brazillian musician Seu Jorge who is constantly doing accoustic covers of David Bowie songs- in Portugese!


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## KrazyHades (Jan 6, 2007)

I've always been interested in how I would do weapons under water...after all, with the water resistance and the fact that you move backwards with the same momentum as your strike forwards (not the same speed, because your arm and weapon is less mass than your body)...

In light of this, I would seriously consider designing weapons that would work well under water. Spears and tridents (and other thin, stabbing objects) are good, since they wouldn't meet much resistance from the water due to their (relatively) aero(or aqua)dynamic forms. Also, one might have arrows which, instead of fletching, have small, stupid squid that can only moves straight forwards, propelling the projectile. It would take some work, but I would lean towards making up new descriptions for weapons that just wouldn't work well underwater (but leaving the actual rules the same...same dmg, crit. range, etc) in order to create convincing flavor.

One thing to keep in mind: I would rule that all sonic-damage is more common underwater, since liquids conduct sound better than gasses (as in, the atmosphere). This could replace the universally popular on-land uses of fire damage. You could just make Sonic damage more common by making all instances of fire damage into sonic damage (so, Noisewrack, or whatever, instead of Fireball).


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## Set (Jan 7, 2007)

One source of metals for undersea dwellers;

 Manganese nodules 

and a possible way that metal could be heated up / softened to be shaped / worked underwater;

 Hydrothermal vents 

Note that, at 400C (~750F), a hydrothermal vent isn't going to be the best forge ever, but the harder metals in use in the world above aren't terribly useful underwater anyway.  Due to the extreme pressure near a hydrothermal vent, the temperature only a few inches from the 400C jet can be as low as 2C (35F), meaning that a koalinth 'blacksmith' will be a lot a more comfortable in his 'smithy' than a human blacksmith, barely able to feel the heat of his 'fire'!


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## Aus_Snow (Jan 7, 2007)

This thread absolutely rocks.

Just sayin'.


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## Aeolius (Jan 7, 2007)

Dannyalcatraz said:
			
		

> Also, check out anything by Jacques Cousteau or, barring that, check out the Cousteau spoof "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou"



   The TV series "Surface" and TV pilot for "Aquaman" are both available via iTunes, btw. And it goes without saying that one would do well to get Discovery's "Blue Planet" series on DVD.



			
				Dannyalcatraz said:
			
		

> ...including the Brazillian musician Seu Jorge who is constantly doing accoustic covers of David Bowie songs- in Portugese!



   You might also look for Sting's music for "The Living Sea" and "Aquaria" by Diane Arkenstone.


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## Aeolius (Jan 7, 2007)

Set said:
			
		

> ...a hydrothermal vent isn't going to be the best forge ever, but the harder metals in use in the world above aren't terribly useful underwater anyway.





I devised a red-skinned race of water dwarves that utilize the black smokers for their forges and live near hydrothermal vents via chemosynthesis.


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## Aeolius (Jan 7, 2007)

KrazyHades said:
			
		

> ...Also, one might have arrows which, instead of fletching, have small, stupid squid that can only moves straight forwards, propelling the projectile.




   Every so often, you'll hear about needlefish impailing swimmers, sometimes with fatal results.


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## Slife (Jan 7, 2007)

Aeolius said:
			
		

> Every so often, you'll hear about needlefish impailing swimmers, sometimes with fatal results.



Or Marlins.


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## KrazyHades (Jan 7, 2007)

Also, instead of torches, use bioluminescent (sp?) creatures. Also, remember, if you are very deep underwater, there's no light, so this is important, but remember that light attracts both predators and prey!

I've been thinking on more neat ideas for having things work underwater:
bioluminescent creatures (from above)

buildings, vehicles (say, a chariot pulled by dolphins), and equipment grown from coral...the coral is "encouraged" to grow quickly by specially-trained magic-using experts (non-combat magic only), so that it doesn't take 100s of year to get yourself a coral cottage

In a saltwater campaign, one could do the same thing with salt water, forcing it to coalesce into crystals of the desired shape, and then treated so it won't dissolve

possible communication through having a race that uses lights on its body, flashed in certain patters, to talk without noise (instead of or in addition to regular speech, its the DMs choice). This would alllow for silent conversation, but would also be easily visible in the deep (and therefore dark) parts of the ocean

how about having an assassin who murders by forcing someone to drink saltwater or freshwater (whichever is inhospitable to that species...if you are in a freshwater ocean vs saltwater)

Massive amounst of fun with "lightning bolt", unless you chose to alter it!...or if you are in deionized water, which wouldn't have the necessary nutrients to support life

Having very large or strong creatures push other creatures away by blowing/shoving water at them...really big guys could have a simiilar effect to a tornado, creating massive and dangerous underwater vortexes

You could have all sorts of interesting pets/animal companions...not just the ones suggested in the player's handbook

Have some of those MASSIVE (6 feet long, or longer) underwater scorpions (which actually existed on earth, albiet a LONG time ago)

...farting (need I say more?)

Make a feat like an improved versoin of blindfight, where one senses the movement of the water around you to see an opponent's movement without use of your eyes?

Perhaps, where PCs in normal campagins face trouble coping with large bodies of water they must dive through to reach the next part of the dungeon, you could have a cave with a room that is a large air-pocket

I might add more ideas later...

KrazyHades out


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## KrazyHades (Jan 7, 2007)

Aeolius said:
			
		

> Every so often, you'll hear about needlefish impailing swimmers, sometimes with fatal results.




Yup


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## Brimshack (Jan 14, 2007)

Cone Snails?

Let's give it a shot:

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=3279447#post3279447


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## Seeten (Feb 13, 2007)

Dont forget Mermaids. Sahuagin. Hags. Dire Sharks.

Lots of Sharks. Mmmm Sharks.

Sea wrecks. Davy Jones. Undead Pirates.


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## elforcelf (Feb 13, 2007)

FLUMPHS! As high int jellyfish. A other good high int jellyfish race is the ceptu from the main Oathbound book.


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## Aeolius (Jun 13, 2007)

As I sit here with my notes, revising information for the region of Turucambi in the Oljatt Sea (see the Mysterious Places link in my first post) while adding my own spin (a few new hags and oddities) and incorporating psionics, incarnum, warlocks, Tome of Magic, and more, I thought I would revise and revisit this thread.

   The game will feature a bard as a main antagonist; an unliving blackwater hag, amalgamation of the remains of three slain sea hags. Her cohorts will include a half-vampire sea hag dread necromancer, if that helps set the tone.


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## Urklore (Jun 14, 2007)

Oooo, does your campaign world have custom aquatic-based soulmelds, psionics, or invocations?


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## Urklore (Jun 14, 2007)

Aeolius, were you ever a AOL GM and ran a campaign called 'black ice' that was all based in cold northen climates?


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## Aeolius (Jun 14, 2007)

Urklore said:
			
		

> Aeolius, were you ever a AOL GM and ran a campaign called 'black ice' that was all based in cold northen climates?




"Into the Land of Black Ice"? That would be me.


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## Kaodi (Jun 15, 2007)

Aeolius said:
			
		

> As I sit here with my notes, revising information for the region of Turucambi in the Oljatt Sea (see the Mysterious Places link in my first post) while adding my own spin (a few new hags and oddities) and incorporating psionics, incarnum, warlocks, Tome of Magic, and more, I thought I would revise and revisit this thread.
> 
> The game will feature a bard as a main antagonist; an unliving blackwater hag, amalgamation of the remains of three slain sea hags. Her cohorts will include a half-vampire sea hag dread necromancer, if that helps set the tone.




Well, Aeo, you certainly put the ugly into evil, hehehe...

I just had this wonderful image of a sahuagin mutant, all fours hands glowing with fell power, firing off eldritch blasts with a different one every round. 

Hmmm... merfolk tridentsage, master of the Inexoricble Current and Crashing Wave paths.

Or an awakened octopus incarnate, wielding a unique soulmeld, the Eight Dancing Ribbons.


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## Umbralwalker (Feb 6, 2015)

I was just on a podcast recently discussing this topic.

http://dungeonmasterblock.podbean.com/e/ep-19-under-the-sea/


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## Dannyalcatraz (Sep 12, 2019)

This just popped up:








						A shocking find: new high-voltage electric eels revealed
					

Call it a shock discovery: DNA research has revealed two entirely new species of electric eel in the Amazon basin, including one capable of delivering a record-breaking jolt.  The findings are evidence, researchers say, of the incredible diversity in the Amazon rainforest -- much of it still...




					news.yahoo.com


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## Kaodi (Sep 12, 2019)

There we go with the thread necromancy again,  . I was a bit surprised to find I had actually commented in this before. Makes me wonder what it would be like to see a whole archive of all my posts since the boards came back in 2002.

I wonder how the fires affect the critters in the water.


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## Celebrim (Sep 13, 2019)

Kaodi said:


> Makes me wonder what it would be like to see a whole archive of all my posts since the boards came back in 2002.




You can do that now with the new faster search engine. Just click on 'Find Threads' and select 'Threads with my Posts In Them'


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jan 11, 2021)




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## Dannyalcatraz (Jan 16, 2021)

Electric Eels Hunt in Packs, Shocking Prey and Scientists
					

In August 2012, Douglas Bastos, then a graduate student at Brazil’s Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, was exploring a remote waterway in the Amazon rainforest when he came across a small lake teeming with electric eels. Electric eels, which despite their name are actually a type of...




					news.yahoo.com


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## Umbran (Jan 16, 2021)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> Spoiler: Hidden to save space




So, there's a bit of an error in there.  Look at the butterfly - "...in addition to seeing two colors we don't have names for, butterflies can see a massive spectrum of colors our brains aren't even capable of processing."

That is, as described, _extremely misleading_, bordering on false.

Humans have Red, Green, and Blue cones, and broadband receptors we call rods.  The eyes of the Japanese yellow swallowtail (Papilio xuthus) contain ultraviolet, violet, blue, green, red and broad-band receptors (which are not quite the same as our rods).

Now, we have to get into what it means to "see" a color.  As the graphic shows, we don't have a receptor for yellow, but we can see yellow.  We don't have specific receptors for violet, but we _CAN_ see violet, even though the butterfly has a receptor for it we do not.

For no animal are the color receptors really all that specific.  Our cones that we say "see green" have _peak_ sensitivity in Green, and then sensitivity trailing off up and down the spectrum from there.  So, when light hits our eyes, our rods go "There is light!".  From each cone we get a different signal strength - like blue fires 50%, Green fires 75%, Red fired 25% - and our brain interprets that combination signal as a color.

This, is by the way, how mixing paint works.  We do not have specific receptors for "purple".  Violet light hits our retina, and generates a mix of signal strengths, and we perceive "purple".  But, _any mixture of light that generates the same relative responses_ will also be seen as purple.  It isn't that, if we mix red and blue paint, the result suddenly reflects violet light.  It just reflects light that generates a signal very much like violet light does!

Now, with butterflies, we might note that with more different receptors, they should have greater perception of fine differences in hue.  And that may be so.  But, it may also be that since they have itty bitty brains, they don't have as much processing power as we do, and they may make up for that lack with having different receptors - yielding color differentiation either a bit better or worse than ours, in the end.  It is difficult to tell what the butterfly brain actually perceives.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jan 16, 2021)

Umbran said:


> So, there's a bit of an error in there.  Look at the butterfly - "...in addition to seeing two colors we don't have names for, butterflies can see a massive spectrum of colors our brains aren't even capable of processing."
> 
> That is, as described, _extremely misleading_, bordering on false.
> 
> ...



Yeah, someone in the original thread from whence that image was plucked made most of the same observations.  But Imgur isn’t the most copy/paste friendly site out there.  And my innate laziness trumped my willingness to offer the correction you did.

Thanks!


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## Mind of tempest (Jan 17, 2021)

I can get you six quirky mini-bosses ideas on sort notice if need, plus the idea of what happens when the Underdark and the bottom of the sea mixes.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jan 17, 2021)

Might one of them be...a _sponge_?


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## Khelon Testudo (Jan 18, 2021)

One thing about purple: it's likely that only primates see a form of purple that fades smoothly from blue to red. Because our blue sense also reacts to red to some level.


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## Mind of tempest (Jan 18, 2021)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> Might one of them be...a _sponge_?



no I have slightly better ideas than that, I will acknowledge that they are rip of but so are most things in D&D and they are oddly fiting as under sea is a rare setting for some reason.

plus giant sapient enemy crab.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jan 18, 2021)

Well...post away!


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## Mind of tempest (Jan 18, 2021)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> Well...post away!



do you want a whole state block or something else?


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jan 18, 2021)

Do that if you want, but rough outlines would be just as welcome!


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## Mind of tempest (Jan 18, 2021)

wait you honestly want something I have to offer, I honestly thought you would just ignore my post.
I would start with a glabrezu strip the magic of it increase the armour class to hard to hurt at all level and add a troll like healing factor.
make him resistant to everything by psionic damage which he take double damage from he also can't heal from it.
can;t swim but can walk or run under water much faster than most with a base speed of 45
possibly add a barbarian like rage for when he hits half health if the pc's are doing to well
back him up with every crab or crab like thing you can get or at least sufficent for a good encounter.

is most likely after the local MacGuffin for power or at least the ability to improve his life in some fashion as he was always the dimest of his associates so to a degree the one lest able to use it.

I can do five more but I am not use to monster crafting.


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