Underdark General Discussion Thread

[Rasael]

Does that mean that non-drow mages will be granted citizenship?

As lore-reading player, I say that it is unacceptable.

Ah, that's right - they can only become permanent residents. I'll have to put in that distinction))

[DM Sentinel]

Does that mean that non-drow mages will be granted citizenship?

As lore-reading player, I say that it is unacceptable.

Ah, that's right - they can only become permanent residents. I'll have to put in that distinction))

As DM, I approve of this.

[Squatfurd]

I'm trying to be an active sniv. I don't know whose idea it was to put the little mushroom men in the lvl 1 area... but it's like pulling teeth. oh yeah, and my rogue can't even sneak past them. I can put up with annoying stuff but I'm not a freakin masochist.

[Servin]

That's not really a level 1 area More like 2-3. If you want to go past level 1, I'd recommend going to Sshamath tombs (with a slashing weapon though) or bats in the tunnels before the mushroom area.

Also buying a backpack +5 hp helps.

As an alternative, there are sewers, but (somebody correct me if I'm wrong) if would be beneficial to have some elemental damage to deal with the oozes.

[Selande]

I didn't even know there were tombs and mushroom areas til I was in epics.

I killed escaped slaves then straight to displacer beasts and then goblins.

[Squatfurd]

escaped slaves? where? how?! I wanna kill me somma them!

[Servin]

The entrance to their area is on the opposite end to where the mushroom grove is, past the two duergars by the campfire.

A warning though Bugbears can pack a wallop on critical

[Squatfurd]

I went sneaking into there, saw a bugbear and was like... "NOPE, SEE YA!"

[Empoweredfan]

It is hard playing a rogue from the getgo in the UD, believe me, I know. We don't hit well, we don't take much damage to die, and for sneaking to be effective at all, you need at least level 4 or five. . . and those bats have good ears still. But don't give up. I managed it, so that means anyone can. =)

[Storm Munin]

Play to your rogue's strengths, select the proper opponents and pick them off.

It will be rough alone in the midlevels unless you get HIPS early.

There should be little trouble in the early lowlevels, ecl might be a nuisance but no gamebreaker.

A ranged volley before the slaves get close helps immensely.

Barkskin potions is your friend.

[Diamore]

A Recent First Impression
Inside of five minutes in the UD with an old friend of mine this weekend, we were over it.

Teleport to new area courtesy of a chat with a wizard quest giver outside the spawn point. No map labels, no idea where to go. Two hours later in displacer beasts we were awaiting reset so we could just get back to town as we were now hopelessly lost.

It simply doesn't appear to be a fun area to go and is not really new player friendly. Even without the teleport, finding anything is just too difficult for new arrivals. Players who have been there into epics still often don't know their way around.

I understand it is not meant to be a healthy place to travel or even easy to get around. But with the maze the areas are by default, combined with ECLs and the personalities of drow in general, I can see why the numbers there are so low. It simply isn't as fun and easy to get used to as the surface.

[stevebarracuda]

What I've seen written by both players and DMs is that the UD is supposed to be more difficult. As in, a bigger challenge but I guess that also applies to practical things as well. I don't know if that is intentional. For example, barely any maps of the UD have blue dots to show transition points, like almost every map on the surface. If intentional, it does make it a big pain in the butt to know your way around until you memorize it.

[Azmodeth]

It takes time to navigate, but you will eventually learn where you are going, there are however, some maps on the forums from some players.

If you find the maps, print them out, take some notes, write down names of the area's and you can easily find your way around in some due time, in fact if you do this, you will know your way around very well.

Could be interesting RP how you justify having knowledge or learning where your going, having a map or doing the rp to aquire one even..

course your bound to bump into people running around in the dark too, who could help..

[thids]

I found this somewhere a while ago, can't remember where exactly so I apologize for the lack of credits.

Hidden: show

[Empoweredfan]

It isn't easy to get used to at all, but when there are players present, it is worth it. =)

The angry (hungry) wizard is a reminder of how dangerous the UD is supposed to be, and a trap I think all of us have gone through. I am impressed that you managed to survive with new characters amongst the goblins though. They can be dangerous, especially if you don't know which ones explode after death.