Nautical Nights Undersea Worlds

Better Down Where its Wetter

Fundamentally, there is no difference in setting up a normal maze and building an Underwater City. I mean, it’s all about the ribbons or trails and tons of imagination, right?

When constructing your underwater realm, decide whether the inhabitants are all aquatic (like Merfolk) or amphibious (like Crabmen) or a combination. Entirely Aquatic creatures may or may not have bubbles of air for breathing, while amphibious (or very cordial) ones most certainly will have made such accommodations for terrestrial visitors. Lay out your city according to desire, either as a series of independent or interconnected areas.

Unless you are being very cruel (or are playing a time-limited obstacle course), be sure to have plenty of places where air-breathing is possible and players may function normally, or else you’re going to end up with a lot of drowned players walking back to base.

Another take on underwater realms is the fabled city of Atlantis. Your players could be explorers, dignitaries or even a war party on a mission to the doomed city. Maybe the heroes can find a way to thwart the imminent catastrophe, or maybe they better down where it's wetter want to defeat the city’s defenders and start Atlantis down the road to ruin. Whatever premise is chosen, the sunken city makes a perfect stage upon which to cast your players as saviors or defilers of a world both familiar and alien.

Helpful Hints and Theme Ideas

The following are a few ideas and/or suggestions on running an aquatic adventure:

Be sure to include all manner of appropriately placed encounters to maximize the underwater experience: seaweed beds, man-eating sharks and friendly mermaids abound. Go crazy with it, your players won’t regret the experience. Don’t overwhelm, use moderation, but make full use of the genre.

Throw in sunken treasure, hidden somewhere in the playing area. Make a map, tear it into pieces and distribute the scraps between several encounters.

Set up encounter areas and interesting combat zones, then make the whole park an Undersea World. Use Jetstream Currents to guide players between encounters or have several friendly aquatic creatures available to ferry the adventurers between locations.