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Bastian Weaver
2012-01-05, 07:38 AM
Hi there. I've thought of playing an adventure which involves mostly underwater - there's a scientific station of sorts, where strange stuff happens, so the PCs need to investigate.
I've collected some RPG texts that sounded like they could be useful. Those include Blue Planet (naturally), GURPS Atomic Horror (there's a chapter about sea monsters), Pyramid Underwater Adventures, Sinister Adventures - Death Beneath the Waves, and GURPS Creatures of the Night 5 (an interesting amphibious race there).
Could you recommend me something else to use for such a story?

TheCountAlucard
2012-01-05, 07:48 AM
Any systems in particular?

Compass of Terrestrial Directions, Volume II: The West has a chapter about a sunken magitech city called Luthe. The people therein worship a massive whale-god. Some of the people therein have been part of a breeding program, such that now most of them are octopus- or shark-people. :smallcool:

Bastian Weaver
2012-01-05, 08:14 AM
Thanks, I'll check it out!
System-wise, I planned it to be a superheroic adventure. Probably Mutants&Masterminds. One of things I like in this situation is that the PCs can find pretty much anything under the sea. A magical hidden city? Sure. Aliens from outer space that had the government under control since 1861? No problem. More trouble than they can handle? Definitely!
Converting cool stuff from another system provides additional fun. :)

Seharvepernfan
2012-01-05, 10:00 AM
...bioshock? Bioshock.

GodGoblin
2012-01-05, 10:06 AM
A bit of good ol Lovecraft mythos would fit in there very nicely!

Bastian Weaver
2012-01-05, 10:25 AM
Haven't run into Bioshock yet, will check it out.
Lovecraft mythos, yeah. Good idea. I think I have a Chthulhu-pank book somewhere, maybe there's something interesting.
Thanks for the advice :)

Doorhandle
2012-01-05, 05:57 PM
If doing D&D (which you are not, but anyway), make sure to ether have your players aquatic, warforged, or give them methods to breathe in water. If the latter, make sure to threaten it once in a while, which dispels magic, sundering, and the like.

The Glyphstone
2012-01-05, 06:26 PM
Whether you're doing D&D or not, on the other hand, the biggest bonus and problem of underwater combat is the need to think in 3 dimensions on both sides of the screen. Work that Z-axis, baby!

Bastian Weaver
2012-01-05, 07:40 PM
Doorhandle, naturally! The Death Beneath the Waves book says the same thing, mentioning that aquatic NPCs probably have noticed long ago how easy it is to take care of air-breathers with a single Dispel Magic spell. And even if the characters have the spells which allow them to breathe water as long as they need, it still takes valuable spell slots. I think there was some interesting stuff in there about how spells function underwater, as well.

Glyphstone, oh yeah! I can't believe I haven't thought of it myself, it's so evident. I'll need to think of some way to use it to make life harder for the characters... or maybe easier. :)

Doorhandle
2012-01-05, 07:43 PM
Excellent point. Try abusing the z-axis to the point of them forgetting about the other 2, and then hit them there.

Your could also try waterlevel and buoyanscy puzzles, but they are not popular in video games and they mioght not work any better on the tabletop...