Veins of the Earth feedback?

solomani · January 12, 2024, 06:52:27 PM

Hi all,
I am reading through veins of the earth and I think its great overall. I was thinking of using it wholesale for an OSE Advanced version of Descent to the Depths of the Earth (D1 to D3).

However, though I can find plenty of people praising it I cant find anyone who has used it, especially for an Underdark hex-crawl like D1+ would be.

Has anyone here used it for large underdark-crawls? Any feedback?

Thanks.

Socratic-DM · January 14, 2024, 02:19:00 PM

Having owned and read the PDF (though yet to play) I find the systems and generation method for caves to be pretty neat. the monsters I think are pretty standout as well, and light being measured in value is a clever concept.

That said a lot of underdark, underworld exploration modules tend to have their own exploration mechanics, so I can see why this book hasn't been used wholesale to run one, more as a supplement for making the underdark actually scary, and that certainly what this book does.

solomani · January 14, 2024, 05:14:31 PM

Fair enougth, if my PCs end up going this route (few months yet before they are anywhere near the level), I'll report back here.

grodog · January 14, 2024, 09:56:34 PM

Is it still OOP?

Allan.

solomani · January 14, 2024, 10:23:14 PM

Believe so, I am reading the PDF version.

Persimmon · January 15, 2024, 06:56:35 PM

Allan's too humble to mention it himself, but if you do end up running D1-3, you should absolutely add his D4 expansion: https://sites.google.com/site/deadgreyhawk/mappingthedepths

grodog · January 15, 2024, 10:21:55 PM

Quote from: Persimmon on January 15, 2024, 06:56:35 PM
Allan's too humble to mention it himself, but if you do end up running D1-3, you should absolutely add his D4 expansion: https://sites.google.com/site/deadgreyhawk/mappingthedepths

Not mine personally, I just contributed to it

I don't recall that link offhand, but Maldin maintains the latest version files on his site at http://melkot.com/locations/underdark/underdark.html

(And I am working on a new major encounter area for the D1-3 drowic underworld map too).

Allan.

solomani · January 15, 2024, 10:52:58 PM

Very good. Was not aware of this, thanks.

King Tyranno · January 16, 2024, 08:26:32 AM

I've read through Veins of the Earth and would love to run a game using it's content. Probably LotFP. I really like it's creative and horrific version of the Underdark that isn't just " Underground, there are spiders and some mushroom men. Also dark skinned lesbian elves and gnomes who are mean I guess, idk." Stuff like the Cancer Bear can be a great shit-test for a absent minded group used to 5E. No you can't just hit it with your axe. Think and learn.

But I will say it's not going to be to everyone's taste. If your party just want Forgotten Realms style kitchen sink High Fantasy they may not like Veins of the Earth. So keep that in mind before you decide to spring it on them.

solomani · January 16, 2024, 03:14:19 PM

Good advice. My players are used to the slight weirdness/whimsy tinged with horror my games tend to be. Forgotten Realm it is not. But it's not as horror as something as flame princess. I between.

Ruprecht · January 17, 2024, 08:48:19 AM

I always got the impression that it makes a wonderful read but it would be difficult to get your players to ever want to go down that deep and scrounge desperately for light and food and basic survival. It might be really good if you came up with a good reason for them to go down (D series provides such a mission, sort of).

Feratu · January 17, 2024, 09:59:46 AM

Nobody has mentioned the elephant in the room, so I'll be that guy:

The Scrap Princess "art". What even is that?

The meat of the text is very useful, though.

solomani · January 17, 2024, 06:09:31 PM

I'm not a fan of the art. But I won't not use it because of it. The art is objectively bad IMO. But each to their own.

solomani · January 17, 2024, 06:11:01 PM

Quote from: Ruprecht on January 17, 2024, 08:48:19 AM
I always got the impression that it makes a wonderful read but it would be difficult to get your players to ever want to go down that deep and scrounge desperately for light and food and basic survival. It might be really good if you came up with a good reason for them to go down (D series provides such a mission, sort of).

That was the question behind my question. It's a good read, has good ideas but I wonder how far you can push it and it's still usable. I plan to give it a go at some point this year and see.

King Tyranno · January 21, 2024, 09:51:55 AM

Quote from: Ruprecht on January 17, 2024, 08:48:19 AM
I always got the impression that it makes a wonderful read but it would be difficult to get your players to ever want to go down that deep and scrounge desperately for light and food and basic survival. It might be really good if you came up with a good reason for them to go down (D series provides such a mission, sort of).

Basically, it needs to be a campaign by itself. A full dungeon crawling exploration. You can't really spring grimdark caverns of creeping horror on a noble and bright fantasy campaign normally. Essentially just inform the potential players of what exactly they're in for in session 0 as you would with any game and you won't have any problems so long as your players are adults who understand personal responsibility. Veins of the Earth can get fairly brutal with it's monster encounter design alone. So stress that it's going to be hard and you can't just smack everything away.