Fix this Dish - Post Review Thoughts on UK6 (Part 1)

 This is the first of a group of posts triggered by writing the DriveThruRPG Review of UK6.

So having written a "tenfootpole.org-style" review of UK6 All that Glitters... and pointed out some of it's shortcomings based on my own observations according to Bryce's reviewing principles, I think it's reasonable to make an attempt at what would improve the module as written to a "5-star" rating for me, that is if I believed a star rating or score out of 5 system was of value...

Let's look at where the module seemed to fall down in my review then:

• Lack of terse writing style beloved by the OSR community
• Large amounts of "read aloud" boxed texts
• Linear dungeons and areas without loops or multiple levels / "railroad" sections
• Various monster and opponent issues (see below)
• Lack of unique and weird items with history to interact with

As noted in the review, I believe the first two "meta" issues are related to the early writing of the author and the design sensibility of the early 1980 / UK TSR's style and on reflection they don't seem such a big deal and may present more of an opportunity than a challenge. The boxed text can largely be ignored or used as the basis of the DM's free description readily enough but the writing style negative relates particularly to the story in "Tikul's Saga" which the player's have no way of finding out in game and requires a more overall approach, scattering the clues throughout the module for the player's to deduce as they proceed as I've suggested in an earlier post. 

So let's look at the other 3 issues (Maps, Monsters and Items) section by section...

Weather in the Indicara (the Amedio Jungle)

Rumble in the Rain?

When I think of jungles, the weather is always omnipresent - oppressive humidity, almost constant rainfall, clear days that rapidly become overcast with tropical thunderclouds and massive downpours.

There was no existing weather system for the Indicara in UK6, so rather than design one from scratch, I decided to look at the "Amedio Jungle" section of Sean K. Reynold's The Scarlet Brotherhood supplement for inspiration. This 2E work is itself based off Roger E. Moore's classic article "The Green Nightmare: the Amedio Jungle" from Oerth Journal #6.

I remember the complex weather generation tables from the Glossography booklet from the World of Greyhawk Boxed Set with mixed feelings - evocative but also hideously complex!

So I built a Google Spreadsheet generator, incorporating the relevant descriptor text and mechanical effects that requires only a choice of Season to be entered (0 = Dry/Summer, 1 = Wet/Winter) and is set to update every minute, for ready use at the gaming table.

No dice rolls needed!

Example "Amedio Weather Generator" result

I could probably go back and hide the "Precipitation" row as Cell D13 is just a dependent variable for the "Rainfall" result generated by setting the "Season" variable in Cell B6, but it seems to work well as it is, so I'm inclined to leave it for now.

Although the descriptions are taken from the 2E sources, I've stuck with the 1E source for the mechanical effects summary as it was easier to insert (the 2E source references multiple 2E PHB and 2E DMG tables). Interestingly, the wind effects are calculated to be negligible for all cases except for the strongest thunderstorm as the jungle canopy and foliage provides significant shelter (-10mph wind speed per the 1E source material).

On checking further, the original weather article from DRAGON #68 that the WoH Boxed Set Glossography material is based on included "special weather effects" including volcanoes, earthquakes, quicksand, rainforest downpours, as well as the possibility of generating more intense storms (tropical storm, monsoon, gale, hurricane/typhoon). I could probably use a "triples", "doubles", "sequentials" and "max" approach with the calculations to generate these like the KNeE Table generators, but it gets more complicated than I'd like to go for weather and I believe such extreme weather works better as a scripted story event than just a random event.

Downloadable Amedio Weather Generator & Resources

This embedded spreadsheet below should calculate everything you need for a day in the Indicara:
(This will be replaced once I work out how to embed the spreadsheet properly, it's a placeholder line)

Alternatively, this link will take you to the complete Google Drive version.

I'll export an Excel for Mac version for offline use eventually.

Crossranting: Fire in the Jungle

 

Fire in the Jungle (by Dustin Brandt)

While slashing my way through the jungle that is the internet, I've stumbled across not a lost city but rather an interesting blog full of RPG jungle resources: 

      Fire in the Jungle

Written and maintained by Dustin Brandt from 2011 to 2015 (but now seemingly abandoned), the site covers a wide range of jungle themed RPG ideas and real life topics,providing a rich resource to mine for background and supplementary material.

Not only is it full of interesting and relevant posts for the Indicara section of UK6 such as "Making Jungle Travel It's Own adventure" and the in-character "Jungle Travel Tips from Sir Kaukonen" that Tikul would have been well advised to heed, it also has links to collections of refined posts in the form of three PDFs,  each filled with 16 pages of densely packed inspiration and tools:

1. (Original) Fire in the Jungle Fantasy RPG Supplement (basic jungle material and ideas)
2. Across the Wide Dark Jungle (the "Hungry Jungle" material and expansions) 
3. Jungle Castle Rock Apocalypse (weird, gonzo style jungle)

All are available via Magcloud (and the PDFs are *free*).

There's a review of the first book over at Tenkar's Tavern and another review here, but I can't find any reviews of the other supplements. 

I particularly like the concept behind the "Jungle Event System" of exploration, which has elements more in keeping with the "jungle exploration system" from Shadows of Forgotten Kings than the travel rules from the 5E mega-adventure Tomb of Annihilation.


Addit: there's also a fair bit of material written by Dustin to supplement the 1978 boardgame, The Source of the Nile (see also Aaron Marriner's SoTN PBEM site), including an extensive playlog, several proposed expansions, and links to some articles by Gary Gygax with one of the game's co-creators, David Wesley. Taken together, the game provides an alternative early hexcrawl system and randomised jungle exploration approach for expanded jungle campaigns.

Revisit UK6 - Tikul's Return through the Jungle

Maybe I'm being pedantic, but it's always struck me as a bit odd how easily Tikul, seemingly a lone low-mid level 1E magic user (or perhaps an "archaeologist" style variant bard) seems to have returned without mishap through the Wind Walker's Passages, only to die of contaminated water "within a day's journey" of reaching civilization as per the quote from Tikul's Saga (page 3). 

"Crushed with disappointment and despairing at the fate of his friends, he hardly noticed the return journey through the passages. Weak and wounded he struggled back through the jungle towards Kett's Rapids only to collapse within a day's journey of safety, poisoned by drinking water from a stagnant pool..." - Tikul's Saga, UK6

Maybe the shock of his friends' deaths affects him? 

Or perhaps a fever contracted while in the jungle (see ToA) impairs his memory? 

Or maybe the narrator of Tikul's Saga is just an unreliable narrator?

Although convenient for the backstory, the main issue with the Saga fiction presented is that it remains largely unknown to the players, with few clues within the module to link it to their present-day experiences making it a waste of a page of text in some respects. The author, Jim Bambra seems to have gone to lengths to develop the backstory without it being excessive but it's really for the DM's eyes only as a summary, albeit one presented in a different way. It's written as an oral story as if told by a bard or overhead in a tavern, but there's no way for anyone in the adventure to know this tale, other than the map fragment used to wrap the ivory carvings of the Mallata (likely Amedian Suel) tribesmen, nothing has returned to civilization and nobody else survived the expedition. 

The narrator isn't a discoverable character in the adventure, just a fictional device, unfortunately.

Particularly for this implied return journey after the passages, there's really no indication of the path Tikul traced on his way back or where his body might be found and I think that's an oversight - a few more clues and traces left by the original party could add to the foreshadowing of the later elements of the adventure ahead.  It's only really once the players encounter the Hek of the Ash Mire that they have a chance to learn anything about Tikul's expedition unless they capture and question either Abu or her assistant, Muban, during the Barrier Shrine encounter, which seems unlikely.

I conclude that as written, Tikul's Saga isn't really relevant in this context to the players - unless they somehow manage to contact his ghost to interrogate it. 

Now there's a good idea...

So let's take the limited information from the module however and see what we can glean from them, considering some potential additions to add to the atmosphere and experience - looking through the module "in reverse", I've come up with this modified map of the Indicara leg as a starting point: 

Tikul's Possible Return Journey?

(adapted from UK6 All that Glitters...)

Tikul's undetailed flight consists of several stages, although the first 4 stages are clear enough:

• Flight from the Temple of Aumata-Perion (perhaps on a giant strider, 6 hexes)
• Using a minimal amount of incense to activate the eastbound steel hoop
• Walking back west from Terabar through the tunnels to Maintenance Station VIII
• Emerging from the Emergency Exit near Vanck's cave 
• Rounding Mt Gegesti (likely to the north to avoid the awaiting Atem)
• Stumbling through the Indicara northeast towards Kett's Rapids
• His death following drinking stagnant water from a pool

As it's implied that Tikul is the only survivor once his cleric companion is slain, it seems likely he fled back alone to the exit from the Windgate Terminus on a loaned Hek'Ilj giant strider mount from the Temple assault within a day or two, surviving on the water in his carved bone Hek water-bottle. I'd be tempted to add a few Hek "hirelings" to his party, perhaps a lieutenant and 2-3 tribesmen intrigued by the tales of free-flowing water to the east. 

He does seem to be a charismatic fellow.

His mount might be able to be led into the passages and through the steel hoop gate to Terabar with some (potentially magical) persuasion but is more likely to have been set free on the edge of the Ash Mire. At this point in time the passages may or may not have been inhabited by unspecified "dark foul beasts" mentioned in the Saga (perhaps the devil's retinue and prisoner arrive later), but apart from some wandering vermin (see random encounter table for this section) he is unlikely to have had any issues that his spells and possible Hek "hirelings" could not deal with readily.

As Vanck, the delusional giant survives to the time of the original module timeline, I'd suggest Tikul either slips past the giant using an invisibility spell or ascends the exit stairs to a rock shelf overlooking the gully that the river tributary leading to the bog flows through. I favor the latter and rather than having the stairway entirely blocked by rubble, let's say for Tikul that the path is partly blocked but still accessible, leading to a surface building ruined by the volcanic eruption in the past. This ruin overlooks a path that channels him northwards around the *western* slopes of Mt Gegesti rather than back south into the bog and puts him near the grey "+1" camp marker on the annotated map above. This could easily have been the route Vanck traveled when exiled from his kin.

Note: as I consider this section, I don't really see the need for Vanck to be a fire giant specifically other than the proximity to Mt Gegesti. Given the retconning of the module to the Amedio, I think a "Suel Giant", first mentioned in Roger E. Moore's "Green Nightmare: the Amedio Jungle" Oerth Journal article, borrowing concepts from either the Pathfinder or this adapted 5E variant of the original Al-Qadim Jungle Giant might work better as a basis for Vanck and perhaps his cousins.  Swapping his hell-hound pets out for large panthers to tie him into the Atem's totem animal is a possibility - or perhaps a pet baby hydra from the bog? He can still be delusional and think everyone is another Suel giant, explaining his otherwise misplaced friendly demeanor towards exploring humanoids. A Suel giant makes him a more interesting NPC and leads to further story ideas and hooks so that would be my preference, even if mechanically he remains similar. 

The Northern Path around the Volcano

Regardless of whether Tikul encounters Vanck on his return, it makes sense for him *not* to retrace his steps exactly as his expedition fought with the Atem at their shrine and they are unlikely to be welcoming to him on a repeat visit. 

It's more likely he attempts a northern route - the gulley above the black stairs of area I8 has no northern boundary on the 1c map insert and the Indicara Jungle map suggests the "valley" between Mt Gegesti continues northwards and then turns eastwards to end in a waterfall before joining the unnamed northern tributary of the Utdoo that leads to area I2 (the Twin Falls). As this is the likely path Vanck followed in his exile, it may even be suggested to Tikul by a previous conversation with the deranged giant. Climbing over the depicted rocks would have been easier for the giant than Tikul admittedly but it's probably his only option at this point and provides a ready source of fresh water for him to drink after depleting his supplies escaping the Ash Mire.

If accompanied by Hek auxiliaries, the tribesmen will be fascinated by the natural running water of the Utdoo rover tributary - a sight and concept so foreign to them from their lives in the parched western desert. It's at this point they may either refuse to accompany Tikul further and rather than return to their village with the news, selfishly follow their water obsession and follow the cascading river down into the treacherous bog despite his loud protestations of danger from the waiting Atem. Their distinctive skulls become part of the collection at area I1 (White Tooth Water) or are used to mark the edge of Atem territory somewhere else along their boundary line...

Traveling in a northward and then eastward arc along the valley floor with or without his Hek companions would take Tikul about 3 days to reach area I2 on foot, likely exhausting his water supply. If alone by this stage, he'll be skirting any encounters with the giants of Mt Gegesti, having determined they aren't as friendly as their delusional cousin. There's the obstacle of the waterfall to negotiate due north of the volcano, but assuming he manages this through magic such as spider climb or sheer courage (the latter less likely), Tikul can then follow the river down towards the Twin Falls and his first familiar landmark. 

It's here at "Camp +4" above and between the falls that he leaves his dagger "thrust into a dead tree" and readily noticeable for his apprentice, which seems to make no sense if that's his only weapon as a 1E magic-user (or an OSR bard equivalent) but I've had an idea that might work I think...

Let's assume it's a Hek'Ilj dagger instead, gifted to him by the tribe's leader before the attack. It's still a valuable item, but not his only weapon and perhaps he's somewhat wiser now after suffering the consequences of his greed. Seems unlikely he would have gained such wisdom so quickly given his motivations for embarking on the original expedition, but the distinctive dagger makes a better marker than a basic weapon due to its exotic appearance.

The catch with this approach is that the magic mouth at area I3 is specifically activated by Tikul's dagger, implying he cast the spell *after* he came into possession of the blade. Alone in the jungle, far away from civilization deep within hostile Atem territory, the thought of him journeying back to the secret entrance valley seems somewhat foolhardy... but maybe Tikul really believed he would survive and needed to mark his way for a later attempt with his apprentice. 

The more sensible alternative is that it's his original dagger he leaves behind and he has another blade or keeps a new weapon recovered from the ruins of Ash Mire and gifted by the Hek before the temple assault. In this scenario he's already cast the magic mouth and linked it to his personal dagger on the journey westwards, arrogantly believing he will return triumphant.

Either way, it implies he has not only some forethought but also another unique weapon that could potentially be detailed and add to the richness of the items in the module. This raises the question of where exactly this second weapon ends up and creates the potential for it to be discovered by later explorers through a set or wandering encounter.

Interlude: Tikul's Remaining Lost Gear

The module implies Tikul loses the following gear somewhere along his return journey:

• Tikul's other dagger
• Tikul's ruined spellbook or collection of empty scroll cases
• Tikul's journal from which his map is torn, filled with his writings and sketches 
• A scrimshawed bone Hek'Ilj water bottle 
• A small amount of magical red incense to activate the steel hoops

All of these may be scattered in the jungle and have otherwise ended up in the hands of the Atem, discovered by the murderhobos, or sold by Mallata merchants. Allowing a party to discover these items to help piece together and foreshadow the later areas of the adventure seems desirable.

A further item, Tikul's skull (and skeleton), isn't so much a piece of gear but makes for an interesting item to discover in order to obtain some background about his expedition if used to interrogate his ghost or through the use of an equivalent to the PFRPG Occult Skill Unlock of Psychometry or object read... 

Flight through the Jungle

Note: there's some brief rules for jungle exploration given in the adventure but adapting some of the options presented for the Jungle of Chult from Tomb of Annihilation may be very worthwhile.

Having set up for a second future attempt, Tikul completes his crude map with its relevant symbols if he hasn't already and sets off for Kett's Rapids. Whether by his own choice or by being forced to avoid an Atem patrol returning to their village, he sets off in a northeast direction along the northern river bank of the main Utdoo River passing the rapids section but after camping on the western bank for the night decides to ford or swim the main channel at the junction with the southernmost tributary leading to the Atem village. He then forges ahead into the jungle in a straight line on his sixth day since leaving the passages rather than continuing to follow the water.

Although a surprising route, there is some benefit in terms of potentially avoiding the Atem warbands that likely travel along the main river bank. Landmarks can be readily seen by climbing one of the tall trees using spider climb but this route makes finding potable water more difficult and opens him up to encounters without the potential defense of the river at his back in case he stumbles upon a pack of animals he can't climb a tree to escape from and use his spells.

But maybe Tikul is again overconfident.

During the next three days, he crosses the main Utdoo River again. This time however his Hek water bottle is dislodged and lost while swimming or defending himself from a water encounter, leaving him without a supply of water that he'd hoped to replenish. The water bottle washes downstream past Kett's Rapids, to be discovered by an inhabitant of Port Elizabeth, and ends up on a trader's table to be sold on...

The day after crossing the river and just after passing the Atem boundary line, he drinks from a stagnant pool in desperation, poisoning himself unwittingly and becoming delirious. This ultimately causes him to scatter some of his possessions as he staggers through the trees only to collapse within a day of Kett's Rapids, propped up against a jungle tree (as in the illustration on page 2 that accompanies "Tikul's Saga").

Tikul's Skeleton (and Skull)

By calculation, Tikul's skeleton lies in the same hex as the settlement of Kett's Rapids, but won't be discovered by other explorers unless they are specifically searching for it rather than following the river's course southwestwards. It's possible one of the original Mallata that discovered the body and then used the map for wrappings for ivory carvings still lives in the village and may possess the magical red incense forgotten on a pantry shelf and fragments of Tikul's journal and spellbook, minus some other pages were torn out to use similarly as wrappings. This villager may be prepared to lead explorers to the skeleton where he found the wrappings if persuaded - Tikul's other dagger (the Hek weapon if the second choice above is made) is thrust into a tree a few hundred yards from his body but isn't easy to spot.

Tikul's remains may be used to summon or contact his ghost for his potentially unreliable version of the story - after all, his arrogance and greed may mean he tells a different tale to the one outlined by the meta-game narrator of "Tikul's Saga"...

Of course, the adventurers need to know to ask about Tikul in the first place, something the module as written gives little clue towards, other than the MacGuffin map and an oblique reference to Tikul's unfaithful apprentice, who may be the leader of the later murderhobo expedition.

Summary Thoughts 

I think there's definite value in considering Tikul's undetailed flight back to civilization. 

Some of the elements that are implied or inspired by the module would add to the first section significantly and assist in foreshadowing the later sections without ruining the central "surprise". Even the concept of the water-greedy Hek "hirelings" could be readily fitted in. The "northern path" provides not only the potential for interaction with Vanck's cousins, but also helps open up the linearity of this section and free up the players from the "jungle railroad" presented as written.

Writing this post, I now believe the Indicara section of the original module has great potential to be a more developed sandbox with several possible factions (Atem, giants, Mallata, rival explorers) and would be key to developing a "Return to..." style adventure or campaign based on this material.

Return to the Wind Walker's Passages...

One of my favourite concept 1E modules of all time is UK6 "All that Glitters..." (or should that be "glisters" perhaps) written by Jim Bambra is a product of the short-lived UK branch of TSR  founded in 1980 that produced the often polarising Fiend Folio. It's a rare module, yet to be updated to 5E by the team at Classic Modules Revisited, and I've only managed to find one significant review to date.

Structurally the module is divided into 4 main sections:

• The Indicara Jungle
• The Wind Walker's Passages
• The Ash Mire
• The Temple of Aumata-Perion

Although originally considered setting-agnostic, in later years it's been adopted by Greyhawk enthusiasts and the Canonfire! forum whole-heartedly into the World of Greyhawk, specifically placing the Ash Mire in the southeastern reaches of the fabled Sea of Dust west of the Hellfurnaces range and fitting the Indicara jungle into the Amedio wilderness.

This is significant as it to me it links the module to the ancient Suloise civilization and it's degenerate slave inheritors, the dwur-rohoi or derro, the albino pygmies of Gygax's later Sea of Death novel.

In many ways, the adventure is a literal railroad in both plot and physical design, but somehow still manages to evoke a sense of novelty and high concept for me regardless. Although the Ash Mire is a unique environment and something I'd like to expand on, it's really the 2nd section, the Wind Walker's Passages, that most fascinates me about this module and it's the potential untold story behind the building of the tunnels themselves that have inspired me to rework the adventure in the style of the later edition Return to the... modules.

A significant amount of this blog will, therefore, be devoted to reworking this classic under the working title "All that Glisters..." aka "Return to the Wind Walker's Passages".

Note: to ease the workload of calculating stat blocks and concentrate on the concepts, I'll be designing this primarily using OSR "Old School Renaissance" rules such as Labyrinth Lord and/or OSRIC / Adventures Dark & Deep only when necessary. Although I intend to utilise more modern sensibilities at times and may make some comments for later systems this is intentional - in part to help keep to the original "feel", but mainly to avoid sinking time I don't have into lengthy calculations for PFRPG, and recognising I'm not particularly interested in learning the new 5E ruleset.   

 

Fix this Dish - Post Review Thoughts on UK6 (Part 2)

 This is the second of a group of posts triggered by my writing an extensive DriveThruRPG review of UK6. The first post dealing with fixes and additions to the maps can be found here.

Improving the Monsters and NPCs

There were several potential issues with the monsters used in UK6 in my opinion, as outlined in my review on DriveThruRPG using Bryce Lynch's (tenfootpole.org) "good adventure design" principles:

• The monsters have no sense of purpose, inherent action or clear timetable
• There is no "order of battle" for the humanoids once the alarm is sounded
• Limited or no factions throughout the module
• No foreshadowing of the major antagonist

The last suggestion is somewhat irrelevant (or rather the antagonist remaining secret is integral to the plot) but an additional element, random encounter tables, is present in both the wilderness sections but absent from the dungeon sections of the module. Unfortunately, even the wilderness section encounter tables are fairly bland and basic, so upon reflection, they probably count more as a "NO" than a "YES". I'll be reworking or adding these in various posts along the way.

Note: I've just stumbled across a more recent 2016 distillation of Bryce's principles into a 30 point post by Jon Miller (of the now defunct "Into the Dark" blog), that outlines some aspects with greater clarity than Bryce himself as seen in the image below. It's based on Jon's distillation of two of Bryce's lengthy and deeply critical reviews for The Hoard of the Dragon and The Rise of Tiamat. UK6 would seem to score badly on these 8 points, so I'll try and address my original concerns and incorporate in further suggestions and fixes according to Jon's distilled list...

Excerpt from Jon Miller's Summary and Distillation (Mark 2)
of Bryce Lynch's Adventure Design Tips 

Suggested Fixes

Step 1 - Give the Monsters a Sense of Purpose. 

Step 2 - Create an Order of Battle for the Humanoids.

Both of these can be dealt with in the relevant specific sections as addendums, leaving the more general issue of the lack of coherency and factions to be dealt with...

Step 3 - Add Factions! 

Lots of them and detailed. They're really the key behind the principles for monsters in adventures that Bryce espouses in his reviews and Jon distils in the above excerpt from his longer post.

To create workable factions that create dynamic strategic interactions, in turn, requires interesting, believable motivations for monsters and NPCs and this leads to the various schedules, routines, tactics, and orders of battle. Likewise, with workable factions, a choice of party actions opens up and the evocative descriptions and non-standard monster ideas and descriptions follow. Wandering monsters encountered randomly can then become linked to these core faction ideas and add to the evocative atmosphere and concepts as if they were intended to be part of the adventure form the start. In fact, having a key NPC or monster encountered outside it's "set" default context is likely to add greatly to the experience.

So basically UK6 just needs factions. Should be easy right?

Note: a "Sense of Terror" might help also I admit, but I think that's less of an issue here so let's have a look at the module as written and see what implicit factions we can lift from the text and flesh out.

The Mystery of Maintenance Station I

 Note: For the map here, I've inverted the "Maintenance Station VIII" map to reflect an example western complex, so the chambers adjoining the wind passages are to the west of the access stairs. Given the module doesn't detail this area at all, I'd assume the lesser circles binding the invisible stalkers are untouched by Tikul's expedition and likely also remain unexplored by the previous band of adventurers in the default "murderhobo" scenario.  

The Temptation of Exploring the Wind Walker Passages...

Unlike the eastern Maintenance Station VIII accessed via the giant Vanck's cave, its western equivalent, Maintenance Station I, is not part of the original module, being considered off the default linear path of the adventure and not even displayed on the map as an inset like its twin.

This makes sense given the small size of the module and the mad rush to treasure to the west, but if you think about the symmetry of the complex, the players may well think to head back eastwards looking for the surface via this first maintenance station - after all they *entered* from the equivalent Maintenance Station VII stairs W1, rather than the Terabar terminus's W11 stairs which are buried in the volcanic rockfall. 

So what if the party instead decides to look for egress at the westernmost station, rather than simply walk up through the staircase via the intact Rod Room (assuming the murderhobos haven't smashed it for the gem if they are following a prior party which seems highly likely)?

This I think is not an unreasonable course of action based on their limited map.

But there are other good reasons why they may consider this, if not as the first party to move through the complex after Tikul's expedition, but possibly after the murderhobos, or even as part of a much later "Return to the..." style 5E reboot and revisit.

Variant Option: Turning Back at the Forbidden Valley

Even if a party does leave via the stairs from W26 and climb up to the stairs as intended by the author, they emerge into A1 The Forbidden Valley - a most unwelcoming and desolate sight (see UK6 pages 18-19) as detailed in the boxed text to the left here.

It's really not that promising an option and may indeed be enough to dissuade them from stepping out into the ash and considering another route if they haven't interpreted Tikul's map correctly or lost it during their travels. 

Note that the section of the map shows a stair emerging from the mountains but not directly into the Ash Mire and they may consider it the wrong route without DM nudging. It's not really clear that the map indicates the desert without meta-gaming as they entered via the jungle.

Also, the major landmark for the temple, the tall peak of Yatish d'Ladet is only visible 5 miles distant and is not visible from the exit to the surface - it's not even visible from the opening of the convoluted valley to the main desert and there is a chance the characters would stumble around in the valley's various gorges and lose heart.

Sure, the A2 Ill Met in the Ash Mire encounter with the Hek leader is a triggered event designed to nudge them in the right direction, but if they never venture far enough west or use a create food and/or water (or equivalent later/alternate edition spell) they could technically miss the clue and return back into the complex for shelter and in search of a natural source of water, which is more likely to be found in the mountains or underground.  Particularly if they have *lost* their cleric or druid. I mean what idiots wander into an unknown desert without a reliable source of water or significant stores to last their predicted journey.

Remember, one of the key requirements of UK6, mentioned as early as page 2 in bold: 

"It is essential that the party contain at least one cleric or druid"

Why is this? Well because in *every* edition of D&D, a "create water" 1st level spell variant is available (except in 2E it's actually a cantrip!). As RPGBot puts it when referencing the related spell purify food and water this is "one of the reasons that...< 5E (and earlier editions / PFRPG) > ... makes a terrible wilderness survival game". I mean, it just takes all the challenge out of resource management if even a beginning party contains a cleric or druid and leaves the ranger with even less to do with the Survival skill. 

Admittedly this spell also underscores why such a divine spellcaster is valuable to the Hek and makes an important lever in influencing the party's behaviour if they are kidnapped. I mean the whole area is meant to be desolate and unforgiving, forcing the Hek culture to develop uses for the local flora and develop an almost Fremen-like obsession with water ... create water just seems like a bit of a cheat really.

If we're serious about expanding this module, allowing in some survival aspects seems reasonable. 

Addit: I'd also like a cave complex such as a modification of this one at the top of the stairs rather than a simple door that just randomly opens straight onto the desert but that's for another post.

But Wait... No Cleric or Druid?

Even if using original 1E, 5E, or another system, I'd actually suggest encouraging a play through *without* a cleric or druid - as noted above, the potential lack of water becomes a major factor in the journey (and fittingly the disposition of the final treasure). If nothing else, a party with a ranger or a similar themed character with the Survival skill has a chance to let that character shine for once.

LotFP Note: if using my proposed BX/1E system of choice, it's worth commenting that LoTFP clerics do *not* have access to a create water spell. Also, the same system does *not* have druids or rangers even(although you can probably build one using the specialist according to this article). So if using this system, this variance in class design completely changes this 3rd Act of the module into a serious survival adventure! This would require significant rework but expanding on the options of the Ash Mire is one of the secondary goals of this blog...

The Tunnel Leads East...

So the party now has reason to explore along the tunnels eastwards in search of either water, an exit to continue their treasure hunt... or a way home as they have passed westwards through the passages without the correct incense to activate the eastern return route.

Note: as far as they know there are active Pentagular Ward barriers (pages 8-9) and invisible stalkers as discovered earlier in the Terabar Terminus. Or maybe not, after all, it's been hundreds since the passages were built and seismic shifts and the volcanic nature of the mountain ranges may well have disrupted the defenses without affecting the transport functions. There's a faultline to the the immediate west of the Windgate Terminus that has blocked exit through the original entrance hall after all so maybe the stalkers have even escaped - a possibility considered below.

But which passage to take?

The southern passage, just east of W20 would seem the obvious choice as its glassteel hoop is inactive and there is no wind, making it a simple enough journey. The default route through to the Ash Mire is along this way as well and if the characters are turning back, the lack of wind blowing against them likewise favours the southern tunnel. The headwind in the northern tunnel may not be significant physically, but it might seem counterintuitive given the southern tunnel is seemingly intended by original design for the return trip - ironically the lack of distance distortion effect in the latter makes it the longer journey in any case. 

Also, if the party thinks to search for incense for the return, they may reason that it is more likely to be found along the return route and/or there is a fail-safe system or cache of the material despite little evidence of a correlate of this in the eastern end of the complex. 

Regardless of which tunnel is chosen, the party will eventually reach the lesser circles of Maintenance Sation I after 5 miles of travel through the completely lightless southern tunnel assuming the original distance of the tunnel is 80 miles - this takes about a day of subterranean travel, ample opportunity for an interesting encounter or two, whether living or more of a geographic hazard.

Note: given the canonised version of the module is located spanning the Hellfurnances, the distance could be increased by a factor of 3 to 15 miles ie 2-3 days travel depending on terrain which makes the trip potenitally more likely to have an encounter of interest. This also applies to the original journey from area W3 to either W17 or W18 at the Terabar Terminus. 

 

The following insert about Underdark travel is from the 5E product Out of the Abyss, page 18 -  in fact Chapter 2: Into Darkness of this hardback has some useful rules for for such travel:

Technically the northern tunnel, retaining its distance distortion effect unless interrupted by the party or perhaps the preceding murderhobos, is shorter and takes one less day to traverse. 

Although the included map in UK6 implies the passages are a smooth 30' wide (well, at least near the termini and maintenance stations), I propose that they may not be as well finished throughout their length and indeed their builders may have in places co-opted existing *natural* tunnels and caverns for long sections. There is also nothing to say that the passages are completely straight or maintain the same depth uniformly other than the stylised fresco plan at the termini. 

For the sake of interest ad variety, I'd like to think that small seismic shifts, water, and perhaps even the influence of intersecting subterranean creatures have influenced their outline into having a more natural contour in places, such as these two fairly straight examples of "Primary Passages" from Dyson Logos: 

Although there are 5 examples in the original post, I picked these two sections as they are relatively straight and uninterrupted for the passage of the gaseous travellers, albeit the lower tunnel has columns around which the airy form of the traveller could be blown in an eddy, so perhaps the other examples are appropriate after all. 

These sections lack side passages or evidence of habitation as they are meant to be uninterrupted prisons for the summoned invisible stalkers that guard the sections, bound by the Pentagular Wards and the Rod Rooms... but over time, the passages may have been ruptured by all manner of burrowing creatures of various sizes and/or humanoids mining across or down into the tunnels. Sure larger tunnels that would allow the escape of the stalkers may not have occurred, but smaller passages left by Underdark vermin such as burrowing insects, jermelaine, and various oozes would still fit with the original descriptions... 

The original module text spends a lot of time describing the complex and the technology used to sustain the transport system but lacks any comment other than the main tunnels are relatively unaffected by the seismic activity of the region. I note however that there are no specific magics to make the tunnels impenetrable, and a pierced or partly collapsed tunnel is still fully usable to a gaseous traveller who is unable to be affected as they are blown westwards.

However, for a traveller on foot, the presence of obstructions, hazards, side passages and perhaps even inhabitants in the tunnels is a different story indeed, creating the potential to expand on this section of the journey...

 

Thoughts on the Terabar Terminus...

Most of the suggestions and comments above that can be used for the attempt at exit through Maintenance Station I apply to a section earlier in the module - the initial journey again eastwards along the tunnels W8 and W9 from the easternmost station to the destroyed Terabar Terminus. 

In fact, given the closer proximity to Mountt Gegesti, the broken lesser circle freeing the invisible stalker, and the lack of the distance distortion effect, there is likely to be more chance that the inactive southern passage has been disrupted by seismic events, volcanic activity or the burrowing of subterranean creatures. Sure, the hellcat is meant to guard this route but, it's unlikely to be able to stop some of the larger creatures or groups. Once the murderhobos have made their way through and presumably slain it, the tunnel is open as a potential part of an underground trade route or territory.

Some suggested random encounters in this section include:

• Derro slavers and albino apelings
• Partial cave-in turning the passage into a squeeze
• Drow caravan using the tunnel as a short cut highway 
• Purple worm borrowings but no worm to be seen 
• Interruption by a small lava lake or falling magma column with lava children 
• Giant centipede colony 
• A Jermelaine nest
• A chasm bisecting the passage completely needs to be crossed
• Grimlock raiding party 
• Salamanders
• Hook horrors and/or dire corbies
• Grell
• The devil's original basecamp and egress into the passages 

However, I wonder if in some of the stations the stairwell climbs both *upwards* towards an outpost with an aerial dock on the side of one of the Hadarna Mountains slopes and another *downwards* towards a series of tunnels possibly linking into the derro settlement, from which the lesser derro ancestors of the Hek fled westwards and then into the Ash Mire following the Cataclysm...