More mods for the Underdark

Kaliesto

So I've played with this idea before, but you all noticed how under utilized the underdark is for mod adventures? Only a few mods expanded upon that (that I know of), but nothing too crazy.

Personally a option to go even deeper underground would make for some interesting dangerous encounters though I suppose you have to give Gorion's Ward a good reason to do so. Also you would need custom creatures just to make it a bit interesting I suppose.

Whereas the surface world of BG2 is packed to the brim with mods, but Underdark is just looking kind of sad and lonely. Another nice thing about the Underdark chapter is how isolated it feels compared to the rest of the game, and makes a good amount of room for mod authors to play into something still pretty fresh and up for grabs.

The downside is that the number of potential entrances into new areas is pretty limited (due to how the maps are drawn), so I imagine as a workaround you could travel by ship to different sections of the underdark via from Ust Natha.

Also if one really wanted to go a bit crazy with the code that you could make entirely separate worldmap just for the Underdark for mod authors to have... though I imagine that would require some intense wizardry to pull off.

Now I'm not sure what Underdark sites are close by to Ust Natha (there is maps online however), but I imagine it would need to make sense not to draw Gorion's Ward way too off course (for Main plot reasons) unless there is teleportation involved.

Just my fun thoughts I wanted to share today.

Caszidy

Hi, absolutely agree with you.
I always considered one particular part of the Ust Natha as a missed opportunity by moders and that would be "Upper levels" and more specifically "Spelljammer Drow/Ship captain" near his spelljammer ship.
This place and person basically screams for mod content Like he can easily take Gorion's Ward to some other places in Underdark.

shevy123456

> Now I'm not sure what Underdark sites are close by to Ust Natha

I don't know either but it would make sense to expand the area with what is
defined nearby. So I checked on the map ....

A good wiki is this one here:

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Ust_Natha

> Other neighbours of Ust Natha included outposts of kuo-toa, illithid, and beholders, all of
> whom were regarded as rivals by the drow; and a svirfneblin village that was independent
> but played a subservient role to the drow.

So I guess these were already mostly covered by BG2.

> Ust Natha was a spelljammer port, with many ships ranging from drow
> design to that of githyanki

So I think a small add-on area may be a githyanki village or city. To tap into the lore,
some distance away or so.

And perhaps a playable githyanki NPC too.

Also a new NPC in the main tavern, Ilmryn Despana. Or perhaps some offspring
of Ilmryn Despana.

https://www.rpnation.com/threads/ust-natha-city-of-curtains-lore.426986/

"The cavern that encompasses Ust Natha also surrounds Boiling Lake, an expansive body of water that's fed by scalding gysers along its bottom. As a result, the temperature of Boiling Lake (or The Boil, as it's colloquially known) is usually as warm as bath water. The Olambra River, which is fed by The Boil, gets cooler the further it flows from its source."

I think that may be a possibility, to add e. g. Boiling Lake or the Olambra River. And lateron connect it to some additional map or something like that. I mean, that is now Ust Natha but I assume not all of it is covered by the map in BG2.

The map in BG2 is fairly condensed, probably for memory reasons and what not. Would make more sense to space it out a bit, and that swirf village should also be bigger, naturally.

The Web Watch could also be added.

I think it may make more sense to add some content and minor maps rather than really make Ust Natha realistic as that is quite a lot of work. Or perhaps add some extension to the map, perhaps from the swirf-village northwards or so.

shevy123456

> specifically "Spelljammer Drow/Ship captain" near his spelljammer ship.

Agreed.