I'm toying with creating a new fantasy world, and one question that came up is--how deep does deep go, in the Underdark? I don't have any standard of comparison--how deep do modern mines go? How far have modules delved? Any opinions? Bill Hein darkchil@rea-alp.com ICQ #12901136 ---------------------------------------------------------------- GMAST Home Page: http://www.phoenyx.net/gmast/
On Tue, 2 Jan 2001, Bill Hein wrote: > I'm toying with creating a new fantasy world, and one question that came up > is--how deep does deep go, in the Underdark? I don't have any standard of > comparison--how deep do modern mines go? How far have modules delved? Any > opinions? I toyed with the underdark for a while in my fantasy world, and probably will toy with it again. Even though I've more or less estabilshed that the planet on which my world sits is round, I figure that it is a fantasy world so all sorts of improbable things can happen. That being said, I don't think that the characters ever made it even 1000 feet underground. They talked to some residents of the underdark, who referred to interconnecting caves and passages that form a three-dimensional underground world that spans much of the known surface world-- "a whole new world" in other words. The characters in this world had been into "dungeons" before, but never into the interconnected underdark. I haven't yet decided how much I will do with this, although I have set up a "loosely allied" state (a very small one) underneath the wilderness kingdom that the PCs in this world are currently trying to found. -Rob ---------------------------------------------------------------- GMAST Home Page: http://www.phoenyx.net/gmast/
> > I'm toying with creating a new fantasy world, and one question that came up > > is--how deep does deep go, in the Underdark? I don't have any standard of > > comparison--how deep do modern mines go? How far have modules delved? Any > > opinions? IIRC, the deepest mine in the real world is delves down 2 miles (it is a diamond mine in South Africa). Ciao, Joseph R. Dietrich yikes@evansville.net ---------------------------------------------------------------- GMAST Home Page: http://www.phoenyx.net/gmast/
>I'm toying with creating a new fantasy world, and one question that came up >is--how deep does deep go, in the Underdark? As deep as you need it to. >I don't have any standard of comparison--how deep do modern mines go? I don't remember, but I think it is in miles. >How far have modules delved? The concept is meaningless. This will be your world and you don't have to go deeper than anyone else or even stray far from the surface. >Any opinions? Unless you are going to worry about your world being a sphere or a plane, the underlying geophysics can be whatever you want. Personally I like my fantasy worlds to be obviously different from reality in as many ways as possible. Therefore I would prefer the "Underdark" to be different. Either there is never a problem with breathing or there is some wierd eco-system which absorbs methane and carbon dioxide and releases oxygen. It won't be photosynthesis! As the GM you need to know the geological history of your world. How did it come to be the way it is? Are there fossils? Is there any coal? If so was it made from squashed trees? How do gems come into the world? You can have any answers you like, and you don't have to tell your players in advance. But if you don't know, then your dwarfs are going to be a problem becasue they are supposed to know these things even if the players haven't the slightest idea. When it suddenly matters how hard or soft the rock is, or what would live on, or what theare doing here - you need to talk fast and convincingly. I can spin details into a land on the fly, but I have to know my frame of reference first. Rgds, Michael. ---------------------------------------------------------------- GMAST Home Page: http://www.phoenyx.net/gmast/
