Underdark General Discussion Thread

[Rainbow Prism]

Ah, yes, mechanics. The main problem of PW.

[Lux Kelteel]

Shar is the goddess of the Underdark.

She seems likely.

[Rainbow Prism]

Not yet. Timeline '46th. She have not gotten portfolio of caves yet. Darkness can vary in deepness and corruptiveness.

[Psyike]

According to forgotten realms lore, do Druids even need a deity? We've been trying to look into it, but there seems to be some ambiguity on whether Druids in faerun get divine casting capabilities from the gods, nature itself, or either.

EDIT:
Unrelated, but I had another question. Is there a good drow word for non-drow? Kivvil apparently = surfacer and Rivvil = human...but is there a (hopefully somewhat derogatory) word for any non-drow (i.e., duergar, gnome, whatever)?

[HollowLaughter]

Unrelated, but I had another question. Is there a good drow word for non-drow? Kivvil apparently = surfacer and Rivvil = human...but is there a (hopefully somewhat derogatory) word for any non-drow (i.e., duergar, gnome, whatever)?

"co'nbluth", it's the drow version of the surface "n'tel'quess", pretty much.

"-bluth" itself is used for "outsider" if you want a shortened version of that, or generally the feel of the term itself in translation.

[Psyike]

Unrelated, but I had another question. Is there a good drow word for non-drow? Kivvil apparently = surfacer and Rivvil = human...but is there a (hopefully somewhat derogatory) word for any non-drow (i.e., duergar, gnome, whatever)?

"co'nbluth", it's the drow version of the surface "n'tel'quess", pretty much.

"-bluth" itself is used for "outsider" if you want a shortened version of that, or generally the feel of the term itself in translation.

That's perfect. Thanks!

[Gwynn]

But I have a feeling this is more of a mechanical issue for Gwynn, where due to the class they lack the option to choose any drow gods due to the "forced selection" of druids. Which is pretty unfortunate. :<

Exactly

Not yet. Timeline '46th. She have not gotten portfolio of caves yet. Darkness can vary in deepness and corruptiveness.

I was considering Shar and wondering about that... unfortunate again

[HollowLaughter]

Posting this since Maecius didn't have a ready answer for it.

Since the Underdark doesn't have celestial bodies to aid in time keeping, drow cities often default to using methods like the Narbondel of Menzoberranzan, which is lit by heat to varying degrees to signify the passage of hours.

I am wondering how time would be kept in Sshamath.

I would venture something similar to Narbondel, but due to the high usage of lighting/faerie fire spells within Sshamath (to keep other subterranean races at a disadvantage during trade), that is likely going to interfere with a system that uses darkvision. I've also not been able to find anything on this subject.

I'm interested to hear what people's ideas might be.

[Mammothtruk]

could be using a minor cantrip if your a mage of some kind... could also have some weight/sand/water based method setup at various locations I guess. enchanted watches? real time pieces would be extremely rare since clockwork items of all sorts are extremely rare and the usefulness of the item might not be deemed worth the cost.

[Lampir]

All spells have a length of time before they wink out. I imagine time is kept by some variation of this. Of couse it could be kept by slaves walking a giant clock mechanism around...

Kal, being a druid who grew up underground, I've always assumed there were subtle ways of knowing - when a wall has the most condensation, the speed of the growth of different mushroom breeds, the migration of spore beetles, etc. One way I know people have done it is to make a candle that burns in exactly 12 hours, then mark it in twelve even places. Each 'hour' is a mark. Kal does something similar with her spells, still calling them 'marks'. "It's been 4 marks, where -is- that orc?"

[Rainbow Prism]

Sshamath may use most likely the same system as Narbondel, but more compact and mass used. Perhaps they do have clockwork mechanisms. If the city is ruled by wizards, you should expect progress.

[pho_]

under dark druids and rangers have always been a little weird. Im not going to say its stupid, but I will say its outside of the normal precedence of things that occur in the under dark. Like monks of Lolth, it just doesn't happen naturally. Which is not to say it couldn't happen, its just unlikely to happen.

[Rainbow Prism]

Though there is PrC for evil drow rangers. Pretty cool one at that. Though not on server.

[joleda]

There is no Underark equivalent Ranger with Underdark-only HIPS. Don't laugh, a true Underdarkian Cavernous Hunter is not that far fetched.

There are no Underdark appropriate wildshapes for Druids. Yes, there is the spider, but you need 25 Wisdom, which means you probably are a full Druid and have the ghey Dragon in your sights. I suppose the elementals are somewhat "appropriate" for the Underdark, but it would be nice if the Worg and a (Bebilith looking?) spider available that doesn't require 25 Wisdom. A Myconid form would be a good substitute for the Treant for an Underdarkian Druid. Then again, I wanted Kaedrin's Nature's Warrior added (minus the spell progression) to make the early wildshapes relevant at a higher levels so that not all shifters focus on the Dragon, but that ain't happening.

[Gwynn]

under dark druids and rangers have always been a little weird. Im not going to say its stupid, but I will say its outside of the normal precedence of things that occur in the under dark. Like monks of Lolth, it just doesn't happen naturally. Which is not to say it couldn't happen, its just unlikely to happen.

See I thought the same thing, but then I was reading the v3.5 Forgotten Realms: Underdark manual and they go way into detail about the ecology of the Underdark. So I decided to make one and have her get really into local fauna, flora, rock formations, etc. The only problem now is her deity Haven't quite figured that out yet...