Chemical Utensils from Alchymia 1606[glow=blue,2,300]
Other Equipment[/glow]
The Underdark races have created a number of unique compounds
and devices to aid them in their travels through the
Realms Below.
Alchemist’s Mineral Acid: Alchemist’s mineral acid is a
sticky, adhesive substance that dissolves rock and other minerals.
A flask of mineral acid can be thrown as a splash weapon (see
Splash Weapons in the Player’s Handbook). Treat such an attack
as a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 10 feet.
A direct hit against a creature with the earth subtype deals
1d6 points of damage. Every creature with the earth subtype
that is within 5 feet of the point where the flask hits also takes
1 point of damage from the splash. On the round following a
direct hit, the target takes an additional 1d6 points of damage.
If poured directly on inert rock or stone, mineral acid ignores
hardness and deals 3d6 points of damage (1d6 points per round
for 3 rounds).
Alchemist’s mineral acid can be created with a DC 22 Craft
(alchemy) check.
Blackwater: A single flask of blackwater rapidly taints a 10-
foot-by-10-foot cube of water. Any aquatic creature that
breathes affected water must make a successful Constitution
check or begin to drown. (See the Drowning rule in the Dungeon
Master’s Guide.) The DC for the check is 10 on the first round,
but it increases by +1 each succeeding round. Air-breathing creatures
are unaffected by blackwater, unless they are breathing
water via a spell or some other artifice. The taint of blackwater
lasts for up to 24 hours in still water but is swept away in 1d6
rounds in a moving stream or surging tide.
Blackwater can be created with a DC 25 Craft (alchemy)
check.
Darkoil: Darkoil is a rare mineral oil specially prepared with
various alchemical reagents. It protects drowcraft weapons and
armor (see Magic Items, below) from the effects of sunlight. A
vial of darkoil is sufficient to protect a weapon for 3 days or a
suit of armor for 1 day. Applying darkoil to any item requires
1 minute.
Darkoil can be created with a DC 20 Craft (alchemy) check.
Darkvision-Invisible Paint: This special alchemical substance
is designed to match the shading and color contrasts of the surface
to which it is applied. This property renders the paint invisible
to creatures that depend on darkvision, but it can easily be
seen with normal or low-light vision. Races requiring light to
navigate use this paint to warn other such folk of dangers and
threats. A single jar contains enough paint to produce twenty
large warning symbols, or two smaller messages of up to 100
words each.
Shriek Paste: This oily substance is derived from the fungus
with a similar name. When exposed to light of torch-intensity or
brighter, the paste emits a horrific screech that lasts for 1 round.
The noise is a useful signal—loud and easy to hear (Listen DC
–10, modified for distance, barriers, and other relevant conditions),
so Underdark denizens often smear it on areas they wish
to protect from surface intruders who require light to see. Once
it has shrieked, the paste becomes inert.
Shriek paste can be created with a DC 20 Craft (alchemy)
check.
Spelunker’s Kit: This kit consists of a headlamp, head protection,
protective clothing (including gloves and kneepads), and
heavy boots that aid in all sorts of spelunking. A spelunking kit
grants the user a +2 circumstance bonus on Balance, Climb,
Escape Artist, and Survival checks made to navigate tough-toaccess
areas (see Spelunking in Chapter 7).
[glow=red,2,300]
Poison[/glow]
The drow are widely acknowledged as masters of the dark art of
poisoning, but many other Underdark folk also make use of the
deadly poisons that are so common in the deep places.
Cave Terror: Distilled from cave creeper fungus (see Chapter
7), this poison can be made with a DC 25 Craft (alchemy) check.
Drow Knockout Poison: The dark elves are renowned for
their use of unconsciousness-inducing poison. They carefully
guard the secret of their venom, and it is difficult to find outside
of drow realms and outposts.
Sickstone Unguent: This paste is made of powdered sickstone
(see Chapter 7) and other virulent poisons. It is usually applied
to weapons.
Stun Gas: The svirfneblin brew this gas from the spores of
rare mushrooms. It can be stored in airtirght containers in liquid
form, but when such a container is broken, the poison is
released as a 5-foot puff of gas. The deep gnomes create special,
glass-headed darts to hold it and throw them at specific enemies
or at the walls of caverns to disable large groups.
Virile Madness: An admixture of rare earths and magical
rocks, virile madness is a dangerous, tempting poison. It grants
the imbiber a temporary enhancement bonus to Strength and
Constitution, while degrading her mental powers via penalties to
Intelligence and Wisdom. It can be made with a DC 25 Craft
(alchemy) check.
[glow=purple,2,300]
Magimorphic (Magic-Formed Rocks)[/glow]
Magimorphic rocks are stones or rock formations that have been
warped and changed by magic. The Underdark of Faerûn
includes several very different manifestations of magimorphic
rocks.
Clear Black Rock: In its natural state, this rock is found only
in the Lowerdark, where it is cut in slave-worked quarries and
prepared for export to the Middledark and Upperdark. Clear
black rock is not common, but it is certainly available to those
willing to pay premium prices.
To regular and low-light vision, this rock looks black, shiny,
and perfectly opaque, but to darkvision, it is perfectly clear. Creatures
without darkvision often mistake it for obsidian, but drow,
mind flayers, and other creatures gifted with darkvision find it
a challenging yet worthwhile stone to incorporate into their
strongholds and encampments.
Crumblestone: This rock breaks very easily and is the bane of
miners and travelers anywhere. Crumblestone exists in a precarious
equilibrium with the other rocks or strata surrounding it.
A Small or larger climbing or flying creature that begins to put
its weight onto crumblestone must make a DC 15 Balance check
or fall when the rock beneath it turns to powder. For flying
creatures, this situation rarely poses a problem, but for climbers,
an encounter with crumblestone is often deadly. If enough
crumblestone gives way in a cavern, a cave-in becomes likely.
Crysstone: Beautiful, intricate, and very delicate, crysstone is
a rock that resembles spun glass. It is very hard but not at all
durable (hardness 8, 2 hit points per inch of thickness). Crysstone
shatters easily, and sonic damage automatically bypasses its hardness.
Because it is so susceptible to sonic damage, the threat posed
by monsters with wide-area sonic attacks increases in areas where
crysstone is prevalent.
Darkstone: Darkstone seems to drink in light. In tunnels cut
through this material, light sources dim, shedding a glow only
half as strong as usual. Thus, a bullseye lantern illuminates a
cone only 30 feet long and 10 feet wide, while a torch lights only
a 10-foot radius. A daylight spell in a darkstone area radiates
daylight in only a 30-foot radius.
Photogenerative Rock: These rocks grow quickly when
exposed to light. In each round of exposure, a photogenerative
rock doubles in size until it’s sixteen times as large as it was when
unlit (4 rounds). Eliminating the light halts its growth, and each
hour of darkness reverses the effect of 1 round of light. Some
Underdark undead use photogenerative rock in their demesnes to
stall light-bearing adventurers until the undead can ready their
defenses. Photogenerative rock can also be used to seal a doorway
and divert light-bearers into more trap-ridden or better-defended
areas.
Photostatic Rock: Events that happen in the presence of this
rock imprint upon it for a short time. One cubic foot of photostatic
rock picks up impressions in a 10-foot radius and automatically
relays them to anyone who touches it later. The effect
is similar to that of a stone tell spell, except that the photostatic
property reveals only what happened within its radius in the past
hour. Every additional cubic foot of photostatic rock provides 1
more hour of memory and expands the radius of sensitivity by
10 feet. A photostatic rock records only what it witnesses (treat
its perspective like a burst), so it cannot record what goes on
beyond a closed door.
Quickstone: Quickstone is the Underdark’s answer to quicksand.
Like many Underdark features, it’s much more terrible
than its surface-world equivalent. Quickstone looks like solid
stone and blends into the surrounding rocks, but it functions like
quicksand as given in the Dungeon Master’s Guide, except that
the Difficulty Class for each maneuver increases by 5. Transmute
mud to rock permanently solidifies quickstone, but a success
on the spell’s Reflex saving throw enables a creature trapped
within it to escape.
Rock Gourds: These rocks have been warped by long-term
proximity to a portal leading to the Elemental Plane of Water.
Rock gourds are rare, naturally occurring stones, not created
magic items, though they register as faint conjuration magic
under examination with a detect magic spell. Shaking a rock
gourd causes water to dribble out. The ability of these stones to
produce up to a gallon of water per day apiece makes them
highly valued commodities in the Middledark and Lowerdark
regions, where water is scarce.
Cost: 500 gp. Weight 10 lb.
Sickstone: Sickstone glows with a nauseating, not-quite-green,
not-quite-silver light that provides illumination to a radius of 40
feet. Any creature within the range of this illumination must
make a DC 15 Fortitude saving throw each round or take 1d6
points of Constitution damage. A successful save reduces the
Constitution damage to 1 point. Anyone in physical contact with
sickstone takes a –4 penalty on this saving throw, and any Constitution
damage it takes becomes Constitution drain instead.
The damage caused by sickstone results from a magical disease,
so creatures immune to magical diseases are immune to the
effects of sickstone.
Slickstone: This rock is very smooth to the touch. Although
it is natural stone, it functions at all times as if it had a grease
spell cast upon it. An actual grease spell cast upon slickstone has
no additional effect.
[glow=yellow,2,300]
Natural Illumination[/glow]
While most of the Underdark is exactly that, some locales
possess sources of natural illumination.
Luminescent Growths: Rare forms of lichen, fungi, and moss
are bioluminescent. In sufficient quantities, these growths can
illuminate large caverns. Most bioluminescent growths are quite
dim, so a cavern illuminated by glowing moss or fungi is typically
as dark as starlight, although some particularly bright
regions might be equal to moonlight.
Molten Rock: Areas with exposed pools or streams of magma
are illuminated by the dim, ruddy glow of the molten rock. The
glare of molten rock is typically equal to moonlight.
Radiant Crystal: Some rare rocks of the Underdark are naturally
radiant, ranging in brightness from starlight to full daylight,
although daylight equivalence is quite rare. The great vault
of Deep Imaskar is roofed with radiant crystal that is as bright
as weak surface daylight.
Reflective Stone: While not naturally luminescent, caverns
made partially of reflective stone can be much more easily illuminated
by small light sources than normal. Reflective stone
quadruples the radius of illumination of any light source
brought inside.
Wizard Fire: The rarest and most wondrous of natural illuminations
in the Realms Below, wizard fire consists of dancing
sheets of dim light, like the northern lights of the surface
world. Though it is only as bright as starlight, wizard fire is
weird and beautiful.
[glow=orange,2,300]
Gases and Fumes[/glow]
Some areas of the Underdark are plagued by air that is not just
stale, but actively toxic. Often this situation results from geothermal
activity in the vicinity of volcanoes. Sometimes the
escaping gases emerge with an audible hiss or a putrid smell, but
not always.
Gases tend to concentrate in areas that are isolated in some
way from the nearby passages. For example, a passage that dips
down sharply and then climbs up again forms a natural, low-lying
pocket where deadly fumes can accumulate. An air-filled passage
sealed by water siphons at either end could also concentrate
deadly gases.
Irritating Fumes: These gases cause coughing, stinging of the
eyes, dizziness, and similar difficulties. A character exposed to
irritating fumes must succeed on a Fortitude save once per
minute (DC 15, +1 per previous check) or become sickened.
Recovery from this condition is not possible until the character
leaves the affected area.
Poison Gas: These gases are deadly. Anyone who ventures into
an area of poison gas must succeed on a Fortitude save once per
minute (DC 15, +1 per previous check) or take 1d4 points of
Constitution damage.
Some poisonous gases also have the characteristics of irritating
fumes, so their presence is obvious. Others, however, offer no
telltale burning of the throat or stinging in the eyes to warn
creatures of the danger. Any creature exposed to poison gas is
entitled to a DC 15 Survival check to detect the threat before
breathing enough to force a saving throw. With a successful
check, the creature can retreat before risking any damage. A
creature with the scent ability gains a +5 bonus on this check.
Explosive Gas: Some naturally occurring gases can explode in
the presence of open flames. If a burning torch or lit lantern is
brought into a pocket of explosive gas, the vapor explodes, dealing
3d6 points of damage to each creature in a 10-foot radius
(Reflex DC 15 half). An alert spelunker might notice the danger
before causing an explosion, since the open flame often behaves
strangely (burning in a different color or exceptionally brightly)
right before the explosion. Allow the creature carrying the light
a DC 20 Survival check to observe the danger before the explosion
actually occurs. If an open flame remains in the hazardous
area thereafter, there is a 50% chance of an explosion in each
subsequent round.
[glow=green,2,300]
Plants and Fungi[/glow]
Plants of one kind or another are the beginning of any food
chain. By organizing inorganic minerals and capturing the
energy of sunlight, plants create food that animals of all kinds
depend on. Since plants in the Underdark do not have access to
sunlight, they must make food by other means. Thus, most take
very different forms than the green plants of the surface world.
Most of the Underdark’s plant life consists of a tremendous
variety of fungi. Fungus normally requires some amount of
detritus or decaying material to thrive. So where does the fungus
find its food? The answer is simple: magic. The natural magical
radiation of the Underdark and its various planar connections
support many weird fungal growths, as well as lichens, mosses,
and other simple plants, whose existence would otherwise be
impossible. In effect, faerzress is the sunlight of the Underdark,
forming the basis of the subterranean food chain. Underdark
regions particularly rich in faerzress or planar energies have
been known to support fantastic forests of pale, gnarled trees or
crystalline plants. These growths are completely adapted to their
lightless, hostile environment.
Surprisingly, however, green plants are not entirely absent
from the Underdark. Some caverns illuminated by particularly
bright radiant crystals can actually support green plants. Caves
with this sort of dazzling illumination might be filled with grass,
moss, ferns, creepers, or even small trees. Any such place is a
treasure beyond price in the Underdark, and it is certain to be
guarded by deadly spells, monstrous guardians, or both.
Barrelstalk: Stout as a hogshead of ale, the barrelstalk is a
large, cask-shaped fungus that grows up to 8 feet in height and
5 feet in diameter. Its outer layers are tough and woody, but its
inner flesh is edible, and its center is filled with a reservoir of
water (usually from 20 to 50 gallons) that can be tapped and
drained. The inner flesh turns black and poisonous when barrelstalk
begins producing spores, which happens after ten years
of growth.
Bluecap: The grain of the Underdark, bluecap fungus is inedible
to humanoids, but its spores can be ground to make a nutritious,
if bland, flour. Bread made from bluecap flour is usually
known as sporebread. Bluecap seems to do well with or without
faerzress, and most Underdark humanoids cultivate it.
Cave Moss: Found only in faerzress-rich regions, cave moss
is inedible to humanoids, but it is a favorite grazing food of some
giant vermin, as well as rothé.
Fire Lichen: Pale orange-white in color, fire lichen thrives on
warmth, so it grows in regions of geothermal heat or near connections
to the Elemental Plane of Fire. Fire lichen can be
ground and fermented into a hot, spicy paste, which is often
spread on sporebread to give it flavor. Duergar ferment fire
lichen into a fiercely hot liquor.
Luurden: Luurden, or bloodfruit, is a rare tree that grows
only in areas of strong faerzress. The barren branches of this
pale, gnarled tree seem more dead than alive, but once every 3
to 4 years, it produces a small amount of bitter red fruit that is
used to make rare Underdark wines and elixirs.
Ripplebark: A shelflike fungus that resembles nothing so
much as a mass of rotting flesh, ripplebark is surprisingly edible
without any special preparation, although it tastes much better
if cooked properly. Ripplebark grows naturally in living caves.
Sussur: Rare and magical, the so-called “deeproot” tree is
found only in the largest of caverns. It can grow to a height of
60 feet, and its branches are long and gnarled, with banyanlike
aerial roots. Few leaves grow on the sussur; it exists almost
entirely on faerzress and is often found in caverns where wizard
fire is prevalent. a sussur treecan drink in magic from its environs,
so most sussurs are surrounded by antimagic fields that
extend for hundreds of feet.
Waterorb: This bulbous fungus is aquatic. It grows in boulderlike
patches underwater wherever the water deposits detritus.
Zurkhwood: This giant mushroom can reach a height of 30 to
40 feet. Its large spores are edible with proper preparation, but
zurkhwood is important primarily because its stalks are hard and
woody. Zurkhwood is one of the very few sources of timber (or
anything like it) in the Underdark, and many items that would
be crafted from wood in the surface world are fashioned from
zurkhwood in the Realms Below.
[glow=red,2,300]
Underdark Hazards[/glow]
Explorers routinely encounter common dungeon hazards such as
yellow mold or green slime in the Underdark. In addition, the
Realms Below are home to a variety of unique perils and diseases
that have laid low more than one heroic adventurer.
[glow=green,2,300]
Underdark Slimes, Molds, Fungi, and Lichen[/glow]
No place in Toril, or perhaps even the multiverse, boasts a
greater variety and quantity of fungi than the Underdark.
Much of it is innocuous, and some is even cultivated for food
(see Plants and Fungi, above), but some of it is exceedingly
dangerous.
Fool’s Water (CR 3): This slime looks like a small spring of
water, but a DC 20 Knowledge (dungeoneering or nature)
check can reveal its true nature upon sight. Any creature that
touches fool’s water takes 1d6 points of acid damage. Thereafter,
the substance clings to the victim like slime, dealing the
same amount of acid damage each round for the next 2d6
rounds. On the first round of contact, it can be scraped off
easily, but after that it must be frozen, burned, or cut away.
(All these processes apply damage to the victim as well.)
Against wood or metal, fool’s water deals 1d6 points of acid
damage but has no continuing effect.
Fool’s water is extremely reactive with regular water. Trying
to wash the slime off with water causes an explosion that deals
3d6 points of acid damage to every creature within 10 feet.
Extreme cold or heat, sunlight, or a cure disease spell
destroys a patch of fool’s water.
Cave Creeper (CR 5): Cave creeper is a gray-and-white
fungus that flourishes near water. It is especially common in
the Lowerdark where it grows close to most of the water
sources. Cave creeper continually emits spores that cause cave
terrors. Every creature within 20 feet of it must make a DC
15 Fortitude save or suffer the effect of a confusion spell.
Another DC 15 Fortitude save is required 1 minute later—
even by those who succeeded on the first save—to avoid taking
2d4 points of Intelligence damage. Sunlight or acid instantly
destroys cave creeper.
Fire Fungus (CR 4): This fungal growth sheds a muchappreciated
warmth, raising the temperature within 30 feet of
it by 10 degrees. However, any open flame brought within
40 feet of fire fungus causes it to explode, dealing 5d6 points
of fire damage to each creature in a 20-foot radius. Such
an explosion kills the fire fungus, and it can also be killed
by cold damage—10 points of cold damage is sufficient to kill
a 5-foot-square patch.
Some Underdark races use fire fungus for warmth instead of
fires, since kindling and firewood are scarce in the Realms Below.
Grimlocks and gloamings especially favor it.
Wisp Lichen (CR 4): This white lichen clings to the ceilings
of high caverns and poses a threat primarily to flying creatures.
Its sticky strands can paralyze a creature that touches them
(Fort DC 15) and hold smaller creatures (up to 100 pounds) that
it has already paralyzed for eventual, slow consumption (1 point
of Constitution drain per hour). Larger paralyzed creatures fall
if they had been flying by natural means. Because of this phenomenon,
earth-bound predators usually lurk near patches of
wisp lichen, waiting for the crash or thud that indicates a tasty
morsel of paralyzed prey has fallen to earth.
[glow=purple,2,300]
Diseases[/glow]
The Underdark environment also poses a considerable threat in
terms of disease. All the diseases described in the Dungeon
Master’s Guide exist in the Underdark, but a few diseases are
unique to this realm.
Lungrot: This disease most often strikes air-breathing
creatures that have been sealed inside ancient ruins.
Scaleflake: This disease most often strikes aquatic or reptilian
creatures, but anyone swimming, wading, or submerged in
tainted water can contract it. Scaleflake manifests as swelling,
oozing, smelly pustules coating the surface of the afflicted
creature’s body.
Softpox: This disease makes the skin soft, swollen, and tender.
This effect reduces the victim’s natural armor bonus (if greater
than +0) by 1 point per day. Once the creature’s natural armor
bonus reaches +0 (whether by reduction or because the creature
had no natural armor bonus in the
From
Underdark