Under the Sea: Part III
Hello everyone. This is the third and final part in my three part series on underwater adventures. You may want to read my last two before moving on to today's article, which deals with fully aquatic adventures.
Wholly Aquatic Games
In a wholly aquatic game the PCs should never see dry land; they spend all of their time underwater and are most likely members of an aquatic race themselves. Games like this are best run from the get-go with a campaign focusing on underwater life and adventure, as they typically require that the PCs belong to an aquatic race (you’ll probably want to set the starting level slightly higher than normal so that players who want to do so can choose to be a slightly more interesting or powerful race such as a sahuagin or a locathah. Alternatively, you could just have them choose races normally and then swap out their lungs for gills, no mechanical adjustment necessary).
It is possible to move an existing game to become wholly aquatic, but this can be a tricky endeavor. If your PCs are of a high enough level that something like surviving a few thousand leagues under the sea isn’t a major problem for them (perhaps they no longer need to breathe? Last time I checked there weren’t any comprehensive rules for surviving the pressure of deep sea diving) then the only obstacle between you and oceanic adventures is making sure that the action is going on underwater. This can be difficult, as most PCs tend to think that whatever happens below the waves stays below the waves, but there are a few ways to do it. If your party answers to any kind of authority figure (especially a religious or political one) they might be told that trouble is brewing at the bottom of the ocean and they are needed to sort out the conflict, whether that means working out a treaty between the Sahuagin and the Tritons or finding Cthulhu and banishing him before he awakens. If your PCs are too low-level (or just plain not clever enough) to surmount the problems the water provides, you may need to give them a hand, either by providing them with magical amulets of “Oh, we can breathe underwater now” or by other means. Air-bubble cities at the bottom of the ocean theoretically go a long way to solve the problem, but any time spent in those cities isn’t really “underwater” and so they won’t feel especially different.
Which brings me to the most important part of an aquatic game (whole, mostly, or partially): use what you have! Scenery is great, and finally getting a chance to use cool monsters like dire sharks and krakens is fun too, but if you really want your aquatic adventure to feel different from other adventures make good use of the terrain. What does that mean? 3-D fights, for one. Currents might also make fun terrain features, as might magical patches of boiling or freezing (even frozen?) water.
Below is a campaign idea for a wholly aquatic game.
The Great Hunt
This campaign is designed to be about community and a gritty struggle for survival. The PCs all play aquatic characters (being of the same race works well but is not required) from the same tribe (or community, or kingdom, or what have you). Their world is defined by two major aspects: war with other factions (rival tribes, upstart warlords, angry storm giants, etc.), and the constant hunt for resources. During the campaign the PCs’ primary goal should be to secure resources (particularly food) to support their tribe. As a result, most of their adventures should involve the hunting of giant aquatic beasts, for no other reason than to feed their people. Raiding other tribal territories is another good way to stock up on food and raw materials. Other campaign goals should include things like establishing a strong protected territory where the PCs’ tribe can thrive and dealing with potentially dangerous threats like sea-going dragons, and swarms of sahuagin. A good way to develop the campaign is to have the PCs’ triumphs lead to greater influence for them and their tribe, perhaps managing to end centuries of war by uniting all the opposing factions, or building up a force large enough to rule unchallenged for generations.
All right, folks, that’s it for this week’s Grave Plots. Until next time, I wish you all the best in your gaming endeavors.