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View Full Version : [3.5] Last session my players landed in a place I figured would take months to reach



Pika...
2009-10-20, 08:47 AM
As usual, never plan ahead more than you need to.

Actually, I while back on here I got help on this settlement with a
vampire living in a mansion overlooking a small hidden village she has been secretly keeping safe for millenia as the not actually evil B(Not bad?)(Neutral)(Girl), and I had decided to leave it as a basic framework and only work on it if players ever actually went in this direction on my sandbox world.

I highly doubted it to say the least, although I always hoped one day a group would.

Anyway, they managed to get instantly teleported there at the end of last session. >_>

There was supposed to be a whole big deal finding it again (one PC offered to be from it so I would allow playing a human), as it was being hidden by (see above spoiler), and the place was in a smallish valley in the middle of a gigantic mountain range. It was very, very isolated basically. (At least the PCs need to travel a year in-game to get out from there, so they are at least stuck in one location for a while. :smallbiggrin:).

Anyway, if anyone remembers the thread, or even if you have not seen it I am hoping you can give me your opinions on my work so far on the map of the place. Any advice for how to improve it would also be great. Things as what I should add to a place that has been isolated for millenia and is totally self-sufficient would/should have.

Been working on this all night, but still need lots to go.

Also, the ancestral passage is a mining/cave complex leading down to the Lowever Valley for which I need to map out a few stories worth of "dungeon crawling" (Sardior I dislike that term...). If any of you know a module I can adapt for this to save a lot of time PLEASE let me know.


Many thanks as always. :smallsmile:
http://celestialkin.angelfire.com/Valley1.htm

Another_Poet
2009-10-20, 03:10 PM
The link wasn't working before, but seems to work fine now. Cool.

I like the overall shape. My only suggestion would be to add a river. Either one coming down from farther up (and feeding the lake), or one that comes from the spring-fed lake and flows down through the mountains. It's pretty unusual for a mountain lake to exist without spilling out into a stream to somewhere, or (especially in a valley like here) being fed from mountain springs farther up. Adding one might just make things more organic.

Other than that, what kind of advice are you looking for? You've got forests, a town, a lake, a small pool, and what I presume is the evil castle. Not sure what the white blotch is around that - magically corrupted area? It's always snowy there? Something?

But yeah, if you've got enough areas on the map for your adventure, just give them all cool sounding names (preferably without apostrophes) and you're good to go.

If you need more things to add, consider a well-guarded bridge over the river (if you add a river) or a bridge with some kind of hidden entrance under it. Marshes would make sense between the forest and lake. Some kind of shale field would be interesting, basically a big rockslide area of broken shale layers where footing is terrible and some burrowing or climbing creatures can make for a memorable encounter.

A half-sunken lake shrine or some kind of holy well at the small pool could be interesting.

If you're looking to add more NPCs consider a camp of gypsies who have been trapped here ever since the Big Bad magically isolated the area, or a frost giant who wants to get back to the snowy mountaintops and is physically ill from being out of the snow so long. You could always have a faction from the mining town who split off - maybe a group wanted to make contact with the outside world, so they set off on an expedition and failed to escape the valley. The people back home might not let them into town for fear that they've angered the Big Bad by trying to leave. These exile miners could live a hardscrabble life on the other end of the valley, desparate for supplies but unable to trade with their own families back home. Alternately, they could have all perished in their attempt and wander the valley as wicked undead seeking revenge for their unfair deaths.

Who was lord before the Big Bad took this place over? Some now-impoverished aristocrat could nominally lead the mining town, but have no real power. Or maybe (s)he is actually a great leader, and his/her skill at organizing the people is the only thing that has kept them alive and sane for so long in isolation.

Who else has been wronged by the Big Bad? Are they still alive (or hanging around as ghosts) and if so where do they live (or haunt)?

Just ideas. If that's what you'e looking for, have at. Also you could make the townspeople extremely memorable by getting a hold of People of Pembrooktonshire (http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/14/14511.phtml).

Pika...
2009-10-20, 04:12 PM
The link wasn't working before, but seems to work fine now. Cool.

My apologies. I was probably updating it.



I like the overall shape. My only suggestion would be to add a river. Either one coming down from farther up (and feeding the lake), or one that comes from the spring-fed lake and flows down through the mountains. It's pretty unusual for a mountain lake to exist without spilling out into a stream to somewhere, or (especially in a valley like here) being fed from mountain springs farther up. Adding one might just make things more organic.

Rats. It seems my mapping skills need much work.

I am guessing it is not obvious, or even visible, but the valley is suppsoed to be broken up into levels. In the center is the "lower valley", then there is the "middle valley", and then up another level is the White Chateau.

The lake I was tring to make look like it was being fed by a cave (or as you call it, underground spring?). I was hoping players might want to send their PCs boating/rowing into waist deep water underdark. (Or did you mean something else with adding the river(s)?)




Other than that, what kind of advice are you looking for? You've got forests, a town, a lake, a small pool, and what I presume is the evil castle. Not sure what the white blotch is around that - magically corrupted area? It's always snowy there? Something?

Again, mapping needs work. The pool is supposed to be a whole/opening to give PCs a glimmering visual description when underground of a sparkling clearing underground with crystals with a hole atop that shines daylight in.

As for the "blotch", I was trying to define the valley's "levels" by the color of the floor/rock. Again, I need to work on that. I will see how I can fix it to make it look more natural/organic.



But yeah, if you've got enough areas on the map for your adventure, just give them all cool sounding names (preferably without apostrophes) and you're good to go.

If you need more things to add, consider a well-guarded bridge over the river (if you add a river) or a bridge with some kind of hidden entrance under it. Marshes would make sense between the forest and lake. Some kind of shale field would be interesting, basically a big rockslide area of broken shale layers where footing is terrible and some burrowing or climbing creatures can make for a memorable encounter.

A half-sunken lake shrine or some kind of holy well at the small pool could be interesting.

Ooooh!

So many great ideas. Thank you!



If you're looking to add more NPCs consider a camp of gypsies who have been trapped here ever since the Big Bad magically isolated the area, or a frost giant who wants to get back to the snowy mountaintops and is physically ill from being out of the snow so long. You could always have a faction from the mining town who split off - maybe a group wanted to make contact with the outside world, so they set off on an expedition and failed to escape the valley. The people back home might not let them into town for fear that they've angered the Big Bad by trying to leave. These exile miners could live a hardscrabble life on the other end of the valley, desparate for supplies but unable to trade with their own families back home. Alternately, they could have all perished in their attempt and wander the valley as wicked undead seeking revenge for their unfair deaths.

Again, thanks for the great ideas!

The gypsies kind of go against the fluff I am working with, but the frost giant taken in by the townsfolk (and I am guessing it assisting them in return and growing friendly) is pure gold. I am not sure if he'd have enough nurishment there, though.

For the giamt, what scale to the people would you make him? (I believe the PHB had something on those lines).

And you inspired me for a tribal/clan offshoot. I am drawing up the Ancestral Mine leading to the lower valley, and I needed some enemies to throw at the PCs as a dungeon crawl. You got me thinking, and I got the idea that in the very early days of the first barbarian ancestors of the villagers when they began mining their first shafts/mines down to the lower valley they accidentally broke ground into the natural cave systems and springs flowing through the valley area. They explored a bit, and encountered some dire rats which infected a few members with lycranthopthy (sp?). Although they were not turned evil, they were forced to flee from their own people. Since then they have survived and made their own settlement(s) (not sure if more than one) in the underdark surrounding the area. So this can be something the PCs can "unlock", since the villagers have long forgotten about their wererat kin. Thanks, you might have just given me a potential (smaller level) war plot. :smallbiggrin:




Who was lord before the Big Bad took this place over? Some now-impoverished aristocrat could nominally lead the mining town, but have no real power. Or maybe (s)he is actually a great leader, and his/her skill at organizing the people is the only thing that has kept them alive and sane for so long in isolation.

Well, the "Big Bad" has never ruled this place. Kinda complicated. Her story, and the story of the adventure/campaign cna be found here:
http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19558842/35_How_exactly_do_you_planput_together_an_adventur e_This_has_been_killing_me?post_id=332482702#33248 2702

Another_Poet
2009-10-21, 09:32 AM
Again, mapping needs work. The pool is supposed to be a whole/opening to give PCs a glimmering visual description when underground of a sparkling clearing underground with crystals with a hole atop that shines daylight in.

Nice.


the frost giant taken in by the townsfolk (and I am guessing it assisting them in return and growing friendly) is pure gold. I am not sure if he'd have enough nurishment there, though.

Why, what do they eat? All I can think of is the one from the 1980's Sierra game Hero's Quest who wanted apples :)

In any case lack of nourishment kind of works hand-in-hand with the "OMG I'm trapped here and I'm slowly dying" thing.


For the giamt, what scale to the people would you make him? (I believe the PHB had something on those lines).

The one in the MM is Large, which would be about twice the size of a human, the same size as an ogre. This seems a little small to me and since it is not a combat encounter there's no harm in tweaking the size to whatever you want.


And you inspired me for a tribal/clan offshoot. I am drawing up the Ancestral Mine leading to the lower valley, and I needed some enemies to throw at the PCs as a dungeon crawl. You got me thinking, and I got the idea that in the very early days of the first barbarian ancestors of the villagers when they began mining their first shafts/mines down to the lower valley they accidentally broke ground into the natural cave systems and springs flowing through the valley area. They explored a bit, and encountered some dire rats which infected a few members with lycranthopthy (sp?). Although they were not turned evil, they were forced to flee from their own people. Since then they have survived and made their own settlement(s) (not sure if more than one) in the underdark surrounding the area. So this can be something the PCs can "unlock", since the villagers have long forgotten about their wererat kin. Thanks, you might have just given me a potential (smaller level) war plot. :smallbiggrin:

That sounds awesome.