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Gelcur
Senior Scribe
533 Posts |
 Posted - 28 Apr 2024 : 13:07:46
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So I'm doing some game prep and I see that the Cassalanter's had a crypt on the Dungeon Level of Undermountain, reference "Descent to Undermountain" an older game I have not played. Then I'm looking at Dragon Heist p.128 has the family crypt listed as part of a "mini" dungeon.
I'm trying to reconcile these two facts. I understand not every nook and cranny of Undermountain is explored so it can be placed nearly anywhere even off the map. But I'd like there to be a possibility for the party to get to the main Dungeon Level.
Any suggestions where to place this? Or link it to? Anyone with first hand knowledge of "Descent to Undermountain"?
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The party come to a town befallen by hysteria
Rogue: So what's in the general store?
DM: What are you looking for?
Rogue: Whatevers in the store.
DM: Like what?
Rogue: Everything.
DM: There is a lot of stuff.
Rogue: Is there a cart outside?
DM: (rolls) Yes.
Rogue: We'll take it all, we may need it for the greater good. |
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
789 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jan 2025 : 05:45:20
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(I assume your game has already moved well on at this point, but)
The wiki seems to have decent coverage of the game, from a "lore" standpoint. I did find a second-hand walkthrough, here (click the Spoiler button):
https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/pool-of-radiance-ruins-of-myth-drannor-in-2018.125061/page-3#post-5918484
which gives a better description of actual physical layouts (such as);
quote:
Upon entering the cage in the Yawning Portal, you appear in the entry chamber
to Undermountain. The door ahead of you leads to Hub1. Behind you is the cage
that will return you to the tavern above (if you have a gold piece). Exit the
entry chamber by going through the door ahead of you. You will find yourself
upon a stone bridge above a pool of boiling magma. Examining the room you see
that is a large chamber with several passageways leading to doors. Upon the
wall of each passage there is a sign giving helpful information.
Left passage leads to the kobolds with the sign: "Flood Control Unit 3, Mine
Shafts E - H." Right passage leads to the Ghoulmaster with the sign:
"Cassalanter Family Tomb, Entry is Forbidden." Forward passage leads to Tier 2
Hub with the sign: "To the depths below. Do not enter, you have been warned!"
And such. Curious how/if you ever decided to reconcile things.
Also, I think this is my favorite part of the walkthrough. I appreciate a bit of Authortorial snark.
quote:
The family, for unknown reasons, constructed
a tomb within Undermountain and believes that the undead originate from there.
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AJA
YAFRP
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36866 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2025 : 02:42:13
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| A family tomb connected to Undermountain... Yeah, nothing at all could possibly go wrong there! |
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11979 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2025 : 12:46:53
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
A family tomb connected to Undermountain... Yeah, nothing at all could possibly go wrong there!
I'm a little confused on the above references though. So, the link above mentions ruins of myth drannor. So, is there a portal in Undermountain to a crypt in Myth Drannor (like maybe the Cassalanter family started or was in Myth Drannor). I mean, I wouldn't be surprised by this, and it definitely opens up some cross pollination potential. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36866 Posts |
Posted - 17 Jan 2025 : 04:32:11
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| There's a connection betwixt Undermountain and the Hall of the Beast-Tamers in Myth Drannor. The connection is described in the first Ruins of Undermountain boxed set; the Hall of the Beast-Tamers is described in the OGB. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11979 Posts |
Posted - 17 Jan 2025 : 12:59:13
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
There's a connection betwixt Undermountain and the Hall of the Beast-Tamers in Myth Drannor. The connection is described in the first Ruins of Undermountain boxed set; the Hall of the Beast-Tamers is described in the OGB.
Ok, so then the sign mentioned above leads to a portal in Undermountain OR is the crypt of the Cassalanters in Myth Drannor? I'm assuming I misunderstood earlier and its that the sign in Myth Drannor points to the portal. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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AJA
Senior Scribe
USA
789 Posts |
Posted - 17 Jan 2025 : 23:37:38
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The link is to a side discussion of the video game Descent to Undermountain in a thread about the video game Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor. Descent to Undermountain has nothing to do with PoR: RoMD (and vice versa)
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AJA
YAFRP
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Gelcur
Senior Scribe
533 Posts |
Posted - 11 Feb 2025 : 21:04:22
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quote:
Originally posted by AJA
(I assume your game has already moved well on at this point, but)
You would be incorrect.
I re-introduced the Cassalanters to the party 4 sessions back. The party first encountered them while looking for funding during the intermission of an opera they had gotten an invite to. (Mirt gave them a better deal.) This time the Cassalanters had an offer for them, sent a carriage to get them and everything. I wanted to be prepared in case the party went snooping around the estate.
My current plan is to use the Cassalanters, cult & crypt, as an epilogue quest to show the party the ramifications of the campaign.
quote:
Originally posted by AJA
quote:
Left passage leads to the kobolds with the sign: "Flood Control Unit 3, Mine
Shafts E - H." Right passage leads to the Ghoulmaster with the sign:
"Cassalanter Family Tomb, Entry is Forbidden." Forward passage leads to Tier 2
Hub with the sign: "To the depths below. Do not enter, you have been warned!"
And such. Curious how/if you ever decided to reconcile things.
That description would have saved me a bunch of time, I ended up watching a full walkthrough of the game. Primitive graphics made depicting Undermountain difficult. But in my head that 3-way intersection near the entry well mapped to room 1, The Ruins of Undermountain Level 1 map. Which meant the Cassalanter crypts were to the north which conveniently is the direction of the villa.
I did some rough above ground/below ground estimates and figured the crypt would be roughly as far west as that fishbone set of corridors near the title of the map below where it says Level 1. I placed it behind a secret door in the fifth northern passage from the west, across from the door on the south. I imagine that every odd numbered passage on the north hides a secret door that leads somewhere.
Then there was the matter of the distance north from that passage, I roughly estimate another map the full length of Undermountain Level 1 north to south. Whether it's one long far stretched passage or another whole level, is yet to be determined probably something in between. I personally subscribe to the notion that most of Undermountain physically exists under Waterdeep, honeycombing it so much that magic was required to keep it from collapsing. Magic was primarily used to teleport people knowingly or not throughout it.
The far end links to the stream in rooms A7 and A9 in the Temple of Asomdeus map in Dragon Heist page 129.
quote:
Originally posted by AJA
Also, I think this is my favorite part of the walkthrough. I appreciate a bit of Authortorial snark.
quote:
The family, for unknown reasons, constructed
a tomb within Undermountain and believes that the undead originate from there.
Though seemingly ridiculous to us, I'm running with the idea that more than a few nobles with more money than sense have something like this. Property being a hot commodity they dug down to expand (without permission of the city). Maybe a nice quiet place for a shrine, dark or otherwise, expanded to a crypt (who wants to worship with the common folk, or worse at the Plinth). Then oops there's a part of Undermountain no one has yet explored. |
The party come to a town befallen by hysteria
Rogue: So what's in the general store?
DM: What are you looking for?
Rogue: Whatevers in the store.
DM: Like what?
Rogue: Everything.
DM: There is a lot of stuff.
Rogue: Is there a cart outside?
DM: (rolls) Yes.
Rogue: We'll take it all, we may need it for the greater good. |
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Cassalanter Crpyt Dungeon Level
