Technical Notes about Adventuring in the Underdark
The Underdark Capaign
 ericnoah@home.com 

What you can and can't do with Infravision:
 Most of the Underdark races have superior infravision, which allows them to see in the lightless depths.  There are limits to what can be accomplished with infravision, however.

In general, beings with infravision CAN: 

Participate in combat with creatures that give off heat

Cast spells 

Identify individuals at close range

View Underdark terrain to the limit of infravision range 

Operate within the dim light of a faerie fire spell and still use infravision normally 

In general, beings with infravision CANNOT: 

Read spellbooks, scrolls, maps, runes, or other writing -- you need a candle, torch, or even dim light such as that from a faerie fire spell in order to read.

Participate in combat with opponents that don't give off heat without a penalty -- most undead, golems, animate constructs, reptiles/reptilian humanoids, and some other types of monsters (ropers, for instance) don't give off body heat; combat with these is as if in the dark/blinded (standard -4 to hit penalty lessened if you have the blindfighting proficiency).

Identify individuals at farther than about 15' -- you can tell what race someone is, perhaps, but until a stranger comes closer, you can't identify a particular individual without other clues (hearing a voice, etc.). 

Use infravision at all if in light brighter than faerie fire -- if someone lights a torch, that heat "blinds" your infravision, and you must rely on normal sight. 

Movement Rates:
 Traveling through the Underdark is much more akin to dungeon-crawling than moving overland on the surface.  However, most of the main tunnels of the Underdark are clear of  debris, are fairly level, and are big enough for travelers to move a little more quickly than when carefully exploring dungeons.  The movement rate in typical Underdark tunnels is the character's movement rate in miles per day (a "day" being a 10-hour period of travel in each 24 hours).  A party of characters moves at the rate of the slowest character -- a dwarf or gnome in the party can slow the movement rate to 6 miles per day!  However, a dwarf (including duergar and derro) or gnome (including svirfneblin) can perform a "double-time" march to double his movement rate.  At the end of a "double-time" march, the dwarf or gnome must make a CON check (dwarf with no penalty, gnome at -2); a failure indicates that for the remainder of the day (the next 14 hours), the dwarf or gnome is weakened and fights at -2 to hit and damage, a -4 to all ST and CN checks, as well as suffering a +2 penalty to initiative.

Day and Night, Calendar:
 The Underdark is a realm of eternal night.  As such, it is very difficult for its inhabitants to follow the typical calendars of the surface world.  As trade with the surface is so vital to most Underdark cultures, however, most cities of drow, dwarves, svirfnebli, duergar, and derro attempt to at least be aware of the passage of time in terms of surface calendars.

In the drow city of Menzoberranzan, for instance, time is kept via a huge stone pillar called Narbondel.  At the start of each "day," a drow wizard casts a fiery spell into the base of this hollow pillar; throughout the day, the fire rises, heating the pillar and making it a bright beacon to those with infravision.  Then as the day progresses, the fire subsides, eventually fading into darkness.  At that moment, 24 hours have passed and the wizard returns to re-cast the fiery spell for the next day.  Not only does this system keep the drow aware of the passage of time on the surface, but it also makes it possible for citizens of Menzoberranzan to agree on meeting times.  Narbondel's Peak (noon) and the Black Death of Narbondel (midnight) are typical choices.

For those living away from civilization, however, accurate timekeeping is extremely challenging, if not impossible.  Underdark travelers are frequently surprised when they reach a city and find that they've miscalculated the passage of time by days or even weeks.

Air Supplies:
 Breathing in the Underdark usually isn't a problem -- unless you're around a wizard who loves to cast fire spells.  Large fiery magic will quickly deplete oxygen in a small cavern, and worse, the smoke has nowhere to go! It typically takes 2-8 turns for an area to clear out once filled with smoke, and the smell can linger for months at a time afterwards.

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