Undersea Adventures: Comments, Concerns, & Concepts

**DMMike** · 12-30-2010, 11:24 PM

Looks awesome. Are you fighting in three dimensions, or mostly two?

**nijineko** · 01-02-2011, 12:42 AM

intriguing reading. one finds oneself wishing for more details.... ^^

**tesral** · 01-04-2011, 09:10 AM

I have done very little underwater myself. Being that underwater creatures are virtually techology proof as we understand the concept. The basic tool of technology is fire. Without fire 99% of what we have we don't have. So undersea races are either trading with landsmen for tools, or heavily dependent on magic. And yes, a good deal of the treasure catalog is out the window due to environment.

Turn off? No not really, a challenge to be sure. Potions can be teplaced with another bite activated item, fish bits perhaps. Scrolls likewise become spell items. It's not that hard to replace one shot magic. Lest I get bogged down in the minutia, treasure and items will be different, leave it there.

Breaking with the usual is not a bad thing to do now and again. I might pull this on my own players. Something they need is at the bottom of the harbor.

**DMMike** · 01-04-2011, 02:41 PM

Two syllables tesral: ma - gic.

Underwater fire? Invented when a sea dragon designed a burning-water ritual.

Underwater movement? Like in air, once you're holding an enchanted Bubble-Onyx.

Still too dreary for me, though.

**Aeolius** · 01-05-2011, 08:53 AM

Originally Posted by tesral

...Without fire 99% of what we have we don't have. So undersea races are either trading with landsmen for tools, or heavily dependent on magic... And yes, a good deal of the treasure catalog is out the window due to environment. Turn off? No not really, a challenge to be sure. Potions can be teplaced with another bite activated item, fish bits perhaps. Scrolls likewise become spell items. It's not that hard to replace one shot magic... Breaking with the usual is not a bad thing to do now and again.

Agreed. Making things up is half the fun! Granted, there are those who wish to have an adventure completely detailed for them, a typical dungeon crawl - “kill them and take their stuff”. And then there are those who walk by an aquarium and see an overgrowth of aiptasia, a “nuisance” anemone that can quickly spread in a fish tank, and envision a forest of massive bioluminescent anemones the size of oak trees, imagine the sorts of beings that might live in harmony with such an environment, and conceive what sorts of creatures might wish to see such a forest eradicated.

**tesral** · 01-05-2011, 10:45 AM

I am considering. The current game is a city based steampunk setting. Now, there is an abandoned sea elf village at the bottom of that harbor. What if something nasty moved in, seeing the nice collection of land creatures as a supermarket? They are use to being able to fight at a distance with guns and lightning. Neither are a good idea underwater.

So two main battles here. The first one on land. the second underwater.

Indications start with a few people missing. Then a whole ransacked house. They catch raiders in the act and we have battle one. The raiders (critter not decided yet) will fall back to the water rather than make a stand. Magician with a "dessicate ball" spell. (This will do twice the d6 underwater from the water hammer effect)

They need to go after the raiders. Simply bombing the harbor will weaken the foundations of the city defenses, and damage the sewer system. No big bombs in the enclosed harbor area. They will have to rethink their offensive capacities. They are built around gunpowder and a mad science lighting gun.

Now to pick a critter and set up the scenario. They won't get to it this week, but they will get to it.

I also need a palace intrigue. Some kind of running battle in the bowels of a mad science archology Bursting steam pipes and the like.

Noodling on the electronic white board here. Carry on.

**rabkala** · 01-05-2011, 07:06 PM

Why can't they use the extreme heat from underwater volcanic activity. It is the basis of sea floor spreading and plate tectonics. Fire is not a necessity, heat and power are what fire generates on land. I could see huge underwater cities built relatively near these areas to use the heat, power, out-gassing, subduction pressure/friction, etc. caused by these underwater hot spots. Just think of all the technology that could be developed as a result!!!
Come on people, think outside the box...

Steampunk underwater baby!

**DMMike** · 01-05-2011, 08:13 PM

Best reason to go underwater:

Sunken ships.

Best fantasy reason to go underwater...

Sunken floating citadels.

**Aeolius** · 01-06-2011, 08:41 AM

Originally Posted by tesral

I am considering. The current game is a city based steampunk setting... Some kind of running battle in the bowels of a mad science archology Bursting steam pipes and the like.

Originally Posted by rabkala

Why can't they use the extreme heat from underwater volcanic activity... I could see huge underwater cities built relatively near these areas to use the heat, power, out-gassing, subduction pressure/friction, etc. caused by these underwater hot spots. Just think of all the technology that could be developed as a result... Steampunk underwater baby!

While hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, and methane hydrate come to mind, take a gander at this:
Electric Eel
Eelpunk technology!

**tesral** · 01-06-2011, 12:02 PM

My, my, my. What nerds will do.

**Aeolius** · 01-08-2011, 02:16 PM

I posted a recap of last week's session in this thread

**Aeolius** · 02-13-2011, 09:01 AM

I just noticed that Cerulean Seas now has s a softcover print-to-order option, over at RPGNow; $20 for the PDF, $40 for the hardcopy, $50 for both.

**rabkala** · 02-13-2011, 09:29 AM

The recap of your session was a very nice read. It shows your knowledge and love of this underwater realm!

**tesral** · 02-13-2011, 11:00 AM

We had the underwater adventure, they side approached it on me. They used made science, sodium and cyanide to get rid of the Sauhagyn. The low pressure bombs didn't harm the harbor, but they did disperse the poison. With the majority of the population killed the Sauhagyn moved on.

**nijineko** · 02-13-2011, 11:47 PM

hmmm, cold fusion = power with no heat required. i'm not so sure that fire = technology. certainly that is how we did it. but surely there are other ways. jellyfish are quite versatile. they could be easily used as the nucleus of a bio-tech revolution. psionics is always a viable possibility. who needs hands, just nudge it with your mind. just a few thoughts off the top of the head.