When I first got here, the Drain was an outcast exclusive semi DM supported faction area for the Sewer Dwellers. I say semi-supported because DMs (even back then) never found it a place interesting enough at the time it seemed to want to run with it for any real length of time. There was a faction door with a faction key and we had a fun little necklace that did some mechanical things (which I still have!). While the powers that be eventually decided to open it up to all 'shady' folks, at least during that earlier time it felt like the place had an identity and a purpose.
I can understand why they wanted to open it up for more roleplay potential but I think, for the most part, the place just hasn't been the RP magnet that they though it would be. Aside from a place for outcasts to hang their cloaks, it really doesn't have much of a purpose. The place continues to be neglected by DMs and honestly, there is no real reason for any topsider to go down there besides the occasional auction or fight, to brew potions, or for the 'thrill' of slumming it with the freaks.
If the point of making the Drain was to be more inclusive of the shady types, maybe we should take it a step further. It will foster more roleplaying potential, give the Drain a real purpose/identity, and make being an outcast less of a chore. I have a couple outcasts and I want to play them as outcasts. By this, I want them to have to play the game differently for me as a player, not make playing an outcast feel like a form of sado-masochism.
Right now the Drain is a hole in the ground with a bunch of freaks playing king of the castle. There's a bar, a merchant selling practically nothing, a quasi-medic that sells herbalist gear, and a banker charging outrageous sums to safeguard your money. This doesn't exactly foster RP or really even endear the place to anyone that doesn't NEED to be there. We need to tie the Drain to the topside and give it a bit more of a purpose. The Drain used to be known for being a den of evil cannibalistic freaks. Let's make it a den of chaos and skullduggery instead.
First, we have places like the Tigan's Rest and the 'pawn shop' in the warehouse district. Both are places shady folks go for one reason or other but rarely for actually roleplaying. I say that we have the Drain acquire one or the other and connect the Drain to it. That way there is an actual physical connection and reason for the Drain to exist (and even prosper). If you look at the history of organized crime, they almost always operated their illegal activities out of the back of a legitimate business. I think this would actually open up a lot of possibilities and options going forward.
I think the biggest improvement would be the addition of a Drain supported fence. The Drain is the most logical place to deal with stolen and illegal merchandise. It even gives them a reason to exist and an identity. Both helps foster roleplaying potential that is currently lacking.
Reasons why the fence could improve the current status quo:
1. They can support outcast/shady occupations. I've seen several occupations around Vallaki that are options for meager income: farming, mining, courier duty, working the docks, etc. The fence and the Drain can employ bookkeepers, enforcers/knee-breakers, 'gophers', and similar supporting roles to folks that are willing to take on a less savory occupation.
2. The Drain needs a storage facitlity. The fence will most assuredly have a safe place to store goods that aren't in transit. He can rent out excess space at not entirely unreasonable rates.
3. Deliveries and lost item quests are completely unavailable to outcasts despite outcasts having the possibility of coming across the missing items and abandoned delivery items. (Fishing lodge fish barrels, I'm looking at you.) Have the fence willing to pay half the value of those goods but none of the XP. Have the fence also be a backup for folks that can't deliver the found antiquities that occasionally drop as loot to the art dealer in the Port. Not everyone has a reason to go there, certain classes eventually raise OCR so high that they can't go to D'loo at all, and it even gives folks banned/wanted in the Port a way to continue to conduct some kind of business.
I'm just brainstorming here, but I think it would really start to give the Drain a rightful place in Vallaki. While it's not cannon, I think it could help give the place a purpose and an identity. It would give folks a reason to go there and stay. When some folks think of the Drain, they see the old, evil-bent Drain of the old guard. Let's make it a chaos-bent refuge of shadowy business. It makes sense for even the existing NPCs so there isn't much tweaking necessary barring the physical connection to the surface. I think this can also introduce new ways for the Drain to interact with other existing factions that could create some interesting antagonism with the Vardo and the Garda.
And on another note, yes, the Drain needs leatherworking stations. It's the one craft besides alchemy that they can't do in Barovia and yet it seems the most appropriate. Old school tanning involved brains, urine, and a lot of other stinky things. The Drain even leans towards catering to the thugs and rogues that prefer leather armor.
