Death Beneath the Waves

Underwater Adventuring
Written by Wolfgang Baur
Illustrated by Richard Clark and Andrew Hou
Edited by Nicolas Logue

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r
Underwater adventuring has been unfairly maligned for many years in fantasy
RPGs: people argue that it’s dull, it’s complicated, the movement rules are
terrible, everyone drowns. Always some petty complaint or another.
These whingers simply miss the point. A well-built underwater adventure is
wildly different from a land-based one, but it can be just as exciting if not more
so if you know how to set it up and you provide the players with some cool toys
that they just wouldn’t get on land.
Into the Depths
The first trick to underwater adventuring is convincing the party that it’s worth
the bother. The party must either be lured by enormous sunken treasure to be
had (not that difficult, given the ocean’s reputation for swallowing up ships laden
with gold) or that some grave threat from the sea must be dealt with on its inky
home turf below the waves. Dark Vista #1: Razor Coast offers plenty such hooks
to drag landlubbers down into the brine.
Luring Them
Luring a group with treasure requires no elaboration here; a few rumors or a
map to a treasure fleet and your players will do the rest. For a slight variation on
this, you might lure a party into the water with stories of secret Lands Under
Wave, merfolk magic unknown anywhere else, or other hidden knowledge. In
these cases, the treasure is magic or the thrill of discovery rather than gold,
but the principle is very similar. Make it sound enticing, and the players will
pursue that loot to the ocean depths. Perhaps the PCs seek knowledge over
gold, hunting a long lost ship wreck to discern what secrets went down with
her crew. The wreck of the Razor’s Edge in Razor Coast is perfect opportunity
send the party into the deeps in search of answers as much as in search of sea-

1
claimed silver.
Luring the PCs to adventure with threats and fear
is another matter: You really need to sell the threat to
convince the party, and give them time to prepare whatever
countermeasures they think they need to go diving to
the depths. One option is the old “invasion from the sea”
approach, which has been done every so often going back to
the TSR days. But I think you’re probably better off with a
smaller-scale threat: how believable is it that aquatic monsters
will rule the land? About as believable as air-breathers
conquering the seabed. Still, creatures of fell power such as
the twisted off spring of kraken and demon might have dire
plans for any land-dweller communities clinging to the coast
line.
Let’s look at an example of a lesser threat though: Consider
a pale fomorian, a twisted giant with webbed hands who
terrorizes the shore. He may rape women, he may steal
cattle, and he may sack monasteries just for the amusement
value. But he cannot be defeated by any land-based knight or
hero, because every time he sees a foe coming, he walks into
the sea, where no one can touch him. In this sense, the ocean
is like the underdark: a place where only heroes venture, and
where evil breeds and festers. The fomorian knows this, and
skulks onto land on dark days or at night, when he can strike
and retreat to safety before any response is organized. But
beneath the waves, the monster is certain he is safe.
Perhaps your villain is a raider, from a submerged kingdom
of lightless death, or an enchantress from below the foamy
seas, to force the party into a confrontation in that alien
environment. The watery terrain itself is the party’s first
challenge, but not the last. If you convince them they must
delve the deep, they’ll take precautions and venture out far
from shore. Then you need to be ready to make the action so
much fun (or the loot so appealing) that they’ll be less hesitant
next time out.
Sinking Them
Some heroes are reluctant to get into the water, no matter
how big the threat or how rich the loot. In these cases, I think
it’s perfectly acceptable to sink their ship out from under
them, and railroad them into the adventure. Once they fail
their Swim checks and make the first couple drowning checks,
things will get desperate. Ask them if they want to hold onto
their swords and shields and armor. Let at least one PC start
drowning.
Then hit them with a devil’s bargain: Have a sahuagin priest
with a potion of water breathing show up, or an aboleth with
his water-breathing slime.
This is, of course, a completely cruel and sadistic thing
to do to a party of heroes, but you can make sure that they
recover some of their toys (and their dignity) later. Show no
mercy: sink them and have them enslaved or at least beholden
to some watery villain…all the more satisfying when they get
to turn the tables on their evil “benefactor” later.
2
Watery Spells and Gadgets
The SRD and the 3rd edition D&D rules in general don’t
say a whole lot about underwater adventuring. There’s the
drowning rules (DMG 304), which have a nasty reputation
among designers because they kill all heroes equally. I’m not
sure this is such a bad thing, necessarily, but it’s a good reason
for parties to avoid the water. You need to help them get past
it with the lures or sinking mentioned above, and then provide
some tools so that your game doesn’t become an endless
stream of drowning checks.
Most players overcome their hesitation when characters
can use appropriate magic. That is, they wait until they have
both water breathing (3rd level spell) and the 4th level freedom
of movement spells available to them. Another, perhaps
overlooked option for underwater use is the 2nd-level spell
alter self, which gives the recipient the abilities of the creature
whose form is adopted. In the case of underwater campaigns,
the form of a merfolk or a sea elf makes movement much
easier. It does not, however, grant water breathing.
These spells remove many of the dangers and restrictions
of underwater adventuring, which makes play easier but takes
away some of the fun as well. However, players can easily
grow too reliant on magical help; any underwater spellcaster
worth his saltwater knows that dispel magic is a powerful
offensive spell against magically-protected surface dwellers.
It’s not a trick you can play often, but a standard dispel (or
greater dispel) will definitely make your players sweat.
The game offers underwater movement rules (DMG, 92
and 93) which simply negate the usefulness of ranged attacks
and fire, limit slashing and bludgeoning attacks and halve their
damage, and generally make the terrain hostile to the party.
While freedom of movement negates these penalties, its 10
minute/level duration means that it eats up a lot of 4th level
spell slots. Some DMs may be tempted to hand out water
breathing and freedom of movement items like candy, with easy
potions, scrolls, and even permanent items providing the spells
that turn underwater into just another type of scenery.
Resist this temptation! It’s bad for the game for two
reasons. First off, it’s just not logical for an aquatic native to
make spells and potions for the air-breathers; the undersea
civilizations don’t need that stuff. Second, part of the
challenge of the environment is forcing players to devote
precious resources to just overcome the environment. Every
3rd and 4th level spell slot devoted to breathing water is a
slot that doesn’t turn into an ice storm or net of comets (from
KQ #3). The party should be using up a substantial part of its
daily spell allotment to keeping up movement and breathable
air, or they should be forced to surface every so often.
Underwater is hostile terrain, and making it too easy takes
away some of the sense of overcoming adversity that makes
for real heroes.
• Piercing Weapons: While bludgeoning or slashing
weapons suffer penalties underwater, piercing weapons do
not. It’s worth giving the party a magical piercing weapon
or two in the adventure before you plan to send them
underwater. Even if it is a simple spear or trident, it can
 make a big difference to fighters who have nothing but
enchanted swords and great axes. For a lot of fun give them
something exotic and interesting like a damascus harpoon
(from Dark Vistas #1: Razor Coast).
• Masterwork Armor: You can simplify Swim checks
with the use of masterwork armor that characters
bring from shore, which allows them to take 10 on their
Swim checks. Better yet, they might buy specially made
swimming armor, complete with weights and air bladders
to control buoyancy, which might provide a +2 or +3
equipment bonus to Swim checks. As an added feature,
these might feature a “air bladder helmet” with an
emergency bit of air as insurance against a foe’s dispelling a
water breathing spell. Undersea denizens would surely sell
these helmets for a steep markup.
• Shark Arrows: These enchanted arrows are tipped with
dire shark teeth and ignore the usual range and damage
penalties for ranged fire underwater. They fly through the
water with a hiss for normal damage. Part of the fun of
putting big restrictions in place is then lifting them. Players
love having the edge.
• Magic Pearls: You might consider creating a new
category of magical items to replace potions or scrolls
(which dissolve in water, or are awkward at best). I’d
recommend replacing them with black pearls, which can be
easily swallowed for the same effect.
Depth and Pressure
So right, the heroes have some cool gear and they are packing
their own created items for water breathing spells when
underwater adventure beckons. Assume that the PCs are
high enough level that they can brush aside the need for
air and free motion with their own created items and spell
resources. How can you make the environment challenging if
they move through water as if it were air?
Well, the thing about the oceans is that they are very deep
and very dark. Oceanic trenches can easily be as deep and
dark as Mt. Everest is tall and airless. So put some of your
biggest and baddest villains deep in the lightless depths, where
the freakish hagfish, tubeworms, and vampiric squid live. One
such creature is the Benthic Serpent presented below.
For characters who venture into that deep water, having air
isn’t enough. The pressure crushes any submarine vessel, and
just moving water in and out of lungs is hard work. The party
must make frequent checks against the cold (use the rules for
exposure in any cold-environment book; the water is actually
just below freezing at a few thousand feet down, but kept
liquid by the intense pressure). And when they ascend, they
will suffer the bends and die from the pressure change unless
they have magic to prevent it.
As a change-up, you can also relieve some of the pressure
of the hostile environment (and give your players a palpable
sense of relief), by setting your finale encounter in a half-
water, half-air-filled cavern. Sure, the heroes will still have
movement penalties, but they’ll be extremely grateful when
3
he can bring out the dwarven greataxes and magical maces
again without attack and damage penalties.
Deep Dive
Transmutation
Level: Sor/Wiz 5
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One creature per two levels
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving Throw: None; see text (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes
This spell grants the target creatures immunity to the effects
of deep water, including immunity to all normal cold (and
resist 10 versus magical cold) as well as darkvision to 120 feet
and immunity to the bends and surfacing effects.
Material Component: A manganese nodule from the
seafloor (50 gp).
Buoyancy
Transmutation
Level: Sor/Wiz 2
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Target: One creature
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: Yes (Fort negates)
Spell Resistance: Yes
This spell makes the target creature more or less buoyant in
water, and moves the creature up to the surface by 20 feet
per round, makes it neutrally buoyant, or sinks it by 40 feet
per round, as the caster directs. It provides no protection
against the bends or against the cold of the depths, and can
be used offensively to sink foes into the oceanic abyss. In
this case, the target creature is entitled to a saving throw to
negate the effect. Even if it fails, it can use its own movement
to partially counteract the rising or falling movement of the
spell.
If cast on a friendly creature, its ability to generate neutral
buoyancy makes it possible for creatures carrying heavy gear
not to sink to the seafloor.
Arcane Component: A piece of nautilus shell (20 gp.
Waterborne Tactical Mapping
So, given that most of the existing rules are about
RESTRICTING choices for players, how can you make it
more fun? Make the three-dimensional nature of underwater
combat work for you!
Like aerial combat, part of the challenge with fighting
underwater is strictly about bookkeeping. How deep is
monster A? How much higher in the water column is the
sorcerer? Can the spell range reach? It’s annoying to track this
in the middle of an otherwise exciting combat.
My solution is to ignore MOST of it, but not all of it, by
simplifying the water column. That is, divide up the water
into two, three, or more layers, and only worry about who
is within that layer for combat. For instance, a fight near the
shore might just have two layers, creatures on the surface
and creatures in the shallow waters below it. Travelling up or
down requires a full action for any creature with Swim speed
less than 20, and a move action for any creature with Swim
speed 20 ft or more.
Want a deeper environment? Add more layers. Somewhere
out on the open ocean, a merfolk city might be in the last
lighted layer before the oceanic abyss. So characters fighting
or chasing something there might have the choice of 4 or even
5 layers: surface, shallows, mid-depth, last lighted, and deep
abyss. Moving from one to another is the same as before, and
combatants must be within the same layer to engage in melee
or spell attacks. If you like, use Legos or colored paper to mark
which character is in which layer.
The upside of this approach is that you can stop worrying
about feet and have normal fights within a marine layer. Give
the creatures the option to attack from above or below a
foe (or flank that way), and call it good. Your goal for these
combats is to provide some sense of the water and swimming
up and down, but not to perfectly simulate a scientific
dive team. Keep it heroic by keeping it simple. Your players
will have enough to worry about with the gigantic benthic
serpents trying to eat their heads.
Benthic Serpent
A serpent easily the length of the grandest frigate to sail
the seas, rises from the churning brine. Its sinuous body
is marked with a white lateral line, its spine a strange
luminous green hue. The titanic dragon’s eyes are
enormous, full four feet across, and surrounded by small
glowing tentacles that ripple hypnotically.
Benthic Serpent
CE Gargantuan dragon (aquatic)
Init +0; Senses darkvision 120 ft., low-light vision, scent; Listen +15,
Spot +15
defense
AC 26, touch 6, flat-footed 26
(+20 natural armor, -4 size)
hp 174 (12d12+60)
Fort +16, Ref +8, Will +8
Immune fire, sleep and paralysis
offense
Spd 20 ft., swim 40 ft.
Melee bite +18 (4d8+10) and
2 claws +13 (2d12+5)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Special Attacks capsize, deepwater stare
tactics
Before Combat Benthic serpents lurk below their prey and surge up
from the depths to ambush.
During Combat Benthic serpents attack by capsizing and crushing
any vessel they encounter. When hungry, they may sweep a deck,
swallowing half a dozen sailors in an instant (using Great Cleave).
Their deepwater stare also helps them lure large warships onto
reefs and rocks, usually by dominating the sailor at the helm during
a long night watch.
Morale Benthic serpents are far from mindless and flee if their food
proves too troublesome.
Statistics
Abilities Str 30, Dex 10, Con 26, Int 9, Wis 10, Cha 18
Base Atk +12; Grp +34
Feats Cleave, Great Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Power Attack,
Snatch
Skills Diplomacy +19, Intimidate +19, Listen +15, Swim +33, Spot
+15
Languages Draconic, Common
Special abilities
Capsize (Ex): A submerged benthic serpent that surfaces under a
boat or ship less than 20 feet long capsizes the vessel 95% of the
time. It has a 50% chance to capsize a vessel from 20 to 60 feet
long and a 20% chance to capsize one over 60 feet long.
Deepwater Stare (Su): A benthic serpent’s deep yellow-green
eyes have a hypnotic quality that allows them a gaze attack in a 60
foot cone. Creatures in this area must make a DC 20 Will save (or
grant the serpent concealment or total concealment if they avert
or close their eyes) each round. If the save fails, the creature is
dominated as the spell. A benthic servant can dominate only one
creature per combat; once that creature is dominated, the gaze
attack no longer applies to others.
Ecology
Environment temperate aquatic or coastal
Organization solitary
Treasure triple standard
Alignment always chaotic evil
Advancement 13-24 HD (Gargantuan), 25-36 (Colossal)
Level Adjustment —
CR 11
The benthic serpents are aquatic dragons of the deep ocean
trenches, dark grey creatures that surface only rarely
Normally they feast on whales, dolphins, walrus, seals, and
merfolk, whatever they can catch. Sometimes, however, their
lust for treasure drives them to attack ships or even coastal
lands. When they prowl the surface or shallows, their lust
for gold is as great as any land dragon’s: they often destroy all
shipping in a huge region.
Olaus the Grey, a Benthic Serpent Villain
The new sea serpent present above can easily be part of
your game, and can even be a recurring villain. Here’s a quick
timeline of how he can appear and reappear.
First Meeting: Olaus should first appear when the party is
low-level, and he might roar at the captain of their ship. The
captain probably throws a goat or sheep overboard, the sea
serpent eats it, and that’s that. This works fine at 1st or 2nd
level, just to make it clear that Things Live In the Water.
4
More!: The next time the heroes see Olaus, he’s just as
big and hungry, but this time he speaks, demanding “more
tribute!”. The captain has to make a quick decision: the goat
is not enough. Should he sacrifice a sailor? If so, who? It’s
clear the captain doesn’t want to consign anyone to that
horrible fate, so he hesitates, and the serpent chooses for him.
If the party attacks, let them. Arrows and spells don’t bother
Olaus much, and he casually eats the captain. This is fine
anytime around 3rd level. The PCs might be clawed by Olaus,
but not bitten, and survive.

Constant Danger: The next couple trips are dangerous,

as Olaus’s appetites grow and grow. He may charm a PC
on watch or the steersman of their boat, to sail the party’s
ship onto the rocks. He may sweep the deck with his Great
Cleave, eating up most of their crew. He may knock a hole
below the waterline, hoping to eat everyone on board. Any
seaborne voyage runs at least a 75% chance of meeting the
nasty bugger, and the players should be relieved when he
doesn’t show up. This works until about 6th level.

Sporadic Resistance: At 7th level and up, the party likely

can get underwater and ask the local sauhagin and merfolk
where the serpent lives, what its weaknesses are, and try
to fight him. Olaus refuses to fight except on his terms, and
capsizes the PCs’ ship every time he can. The party can
probably do decent damage to him, even to drive him away,
but never enough to finish him. This is a good stage for 7th or
8th level.

Into the Water: If the party goes to pursue Olaus, they

won’t have an easy time of it. The benthic serpent lives too
deep in the water to fight easily, and avoids any combat that
isn’t going well. Eventually the party will find a way to get
there, and do what they’ve wanted since they first met the
monstrosity: face Olaus in combat and win. The party needs
to be at least 9th level for this to really work.

5
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