Author Topic: Area suggestion - Expansion to the Drain - The Wasteworks  (Read 3134 times)

Feronius

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Area suggestion - Expansion to the Drain - The Wasteworks
« on: December 28, 2010, 02:10:38 PM »
This is a suggestion for an expansion of the Drain, the sewer underworld of Vallaki, that I've been working on the last two days as a personal project. This is not officially supported and by no means finished, merely an unofficial work in progress. Read the concept below and feel free to comment!
(It's only 1 area, which is supposed to go just north of the Drain. A small expansion to an existing module, not a new one.)




The Wasteworks

Just north of the Drain, a mere five minute boat peddle away through a sewagepipe, lies the area accurately named area "The Wasteworks", in theory still counted as a part of the Drain. Before the calibans took these large tunnels and rooms into use they were said to be used as waste storage, hence the name, a wide space for the topsiders to dump their trash... and essentially it still functions as such til this very day.

The biggest scum and poorest of the poor generally end up here, in back of the Drain. Wether it is an alcohol, gamble or opium addiction or simply the fact that "runtism" is written on your forehead. Everyone counted as a waste of space finds a use for themselves in the Wasteworks! And else the ones lurking around to profit on these outcasts will find a spot for you.
Consisting of a harbor (inside the sewer system, yeah), a prison, the fancy Opium Lounge and "The Cage" (an arena of gladiatorial combat) there are plenty of creative ways to waste your time (or life) alright. So hop onto the ferry and see for yourself.



Area Overview






O. The Ferry / starting position




1. The Opium Lounge
In their own words "The finest waste of time in the entire underworld" and even though coming from a bunch of drows, it is not entirely untrue. The Opium Lounge serves as both a restaurant and... ermm, lounge area for the more sophisticated residents of the Drain. This includes drow, tieflings, twists, rich shady topsiders and any caliban that does not suffer from "runtism" in any way. The place is most known for it's extraordinary services, which goes far beyond just a sniff of Opium or a waterpipe. A sharp tongue and knife are also often exchanged or arranged within this establishment.








2. The Cage
From far and wide caliban and topsiders alike risk traveling down the Drain to spectate at the events in The Cage! The source of gladiatorial combat in the Underworld of Vallaki (and beyond), wether it is a topsider with a gambling debt or captured monstrocity... Blood will spill! And only one (or none) will survive. If the caliban have anything worthy of being considered a sport or national event, this would be it.







3. The Prisonworks
An open end of a trade with the Cellar dwellers might end you up here. As will causing trouble in the Drain or being a possible threath in some other way. The majority of those in the Prisonworks are destined to either end up in The Cage or a stew, unless you're lucky enough to have a price on your head and to be bailed out. (On some occasions the sentenced ones unfortunatly pass away in the Prisonworks, the torturequipment -might- be partially to blame.)




4. The Docks
The area you first encounter when walking from the pier to the Wasteworks. Dozens of tents and piles of stored junk litter these docks. Most of the smuggling goods are stored here, but that also includes topsider slaves and the numerous caliban runts that settled down here. The living conditions are possibly worse than in the southern part of the drain, although illnesses are quickly treated... or the sick are disposed off. (This area would also serve to introduce merchants, crafting areas and other services normally not accesible to Caliban players, without going topside and risking to be slain mercilessly.)





5. The Dive to the lake
This room is little more than a swift escape out of the Drain, a drop off point into a fast streaming part of the sewer system which ends up in Lake Zarowich. It's main use is to ditch trash and corpses, but lately it has been used by the mentally challenged (or simply daring) individuals of the Wasteworks to quickly get to the surface, dumping the person at the shores of the Lake if they manage to avoid drowning.
(A similar idea was mentioned on the forums somewhere before, it's basicly intended as a quick alternative exit which drops you at a random shore of the lake.)




X. A collapsed tunnel
There originally were plans to dig out an underground railroad towards the Vistani Camp at the Tser Pool, as a swifter traveling and smuggling route towards the other Caliban underworld in Dementlieu. (Only accesible by those with a high enough outcast rating.)
Unforeseen and unspoken problems were encountered and the digging was halted until further notice, wether the collapsing of the tunnel was the cause of these problems or the intentional result to avoid further complications... nobody knows, apart from the highest ranked of the Cellar Dwellers. (Possible expansion)







Development info

I have little knowledge of the actual technical side of the toolset, which means I don't even know how to acces the CEP or .hak packages of PotM within the program. So below is a short list of what is already done or still missing.

- The level design is done. This includes the lightning, sound, environment and conceptual side.
- There are no NPCs yet whatsoever, not even the "passive" ones. (Apart from two guard dogs)
- Zone transitions and other scripts aren't in place. (Like the ferry from the Drain to the Wasteworks and the Dive to the Lake)
- Exporting / importing this into the actual module would need to be done, doh... should the development team choose to work out this concept further and include the area in the server. (Which would be awesome, just poke me about it if it's possibly being considered!)



Thanks for viewing, constructive criticism is ofcourse more than welcome.
(Wether the Devteam decides to pick up the concept or not. It was a fun waste of time regardless, hehe)

Feronius
« Last Edit: December 28, 2010, 02:23:50 PM by Feronius »

herkles

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Re: Area suggestion - Expansion to the Drain - The Wasteworks
« Reply #1 on: December 28, 2010, 02:31:51 PM »
This is great, though this seems to better fits the port over barovia, but that is just me. Also if you want something like this, You should apply to the dev team,you seem to be quite good at it. Though I do think that one issue with expanding the vallaki sewers is that it already is too large for the town anyways when compared to canon.


Psyche

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Re: Area suggestion - Expansion to the Drain - The Wasteworks
« Reply #2 on: December 28, 2010, 02:42:52 PM »
I find a lack of CEP content disturbing, but otherwise looks fun.

Emomina

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Re: Area suggestion - Expansion to the Drain - The Wasteworks
« Reply #3 on: December 28, 2010, 02:47:22 PM »
All of what Herkles said is more or less true. Unsolicited areas are not accepted, but new developers are always welcome.

I'm curious about what your motivation to create such an area was. You think the module does not have enough of a space for outcasts like caliban?
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Feronius

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Re: Area suggestion - Expansion to the Drain - The Wasteworks
« Reply #4 on: December 28, 2010, 02:50:43 PM »
This is great, though this seems to better fits the port over barovia, but that is just me. Also if you want something like this, You should apply to the dev team,you seem to be quite good at it. Though I do think that one issue with expanding the vallaki sewers is that it already is too large for the town anyways when compared to canon.

I might apply, but the downside is I can only do the design and conceptual side of things.. I've yet to figure out all the scripting and technical stuff.
(And not sure if I'll stick to this one time thing or not, just wanted to show my ideas rather than whine about what is lacking with words.)


And yeah, true the sewers are a bit big for the town.. but a connection from the sewers towards the lake seemed quite logical to me. The Caliban population also seems to be increasing though, since as far as I know the Cellar dwellers are building up quite some power with minimal resistance. And the only other Underworld for outcasts would be Dementlieu, which isn't exactly a safe haven. (Both because of the fact it is a dungeon and the amount of gangwars taking place)
Although I must admit I've only seen the Dementlieu sewers on screenshots, not in-game.

The main OoC thought behind this was to offer more possibilities to the Drain, like crafting and vendoring without being killed by NPCs (or having to kill NPCs, hehe) As well as a working jail, arena and other varied oppertunities for social RP (meaning RP with just PCs and possibly DMs involved.)
So it was not so much the lack of living space for outcasts, but more the lack of social activites / OoC mechanism such as crafting or a simple dye merchant / RP hangouts for the less deranged and dirty outcasts, such as Drow or tieflings (hence the Opium Lounge)
For the rest my motivation was obviously that Caliban and shady RPers rock, I very much enjoy it. Thus need a bit more encouragement.



And yup, I have no clue on the technical side of things.. which includes acces to the CEP and .hak content in the toolset, so before this would be a working area it'd have to go past someone else who does know how to fix working chairs, NPCs and so on. (Did make the signs / examine functions work properly already)
So that's also why I am in doubt wether to apply or not. (I was already aware unsolicited areas will not be accepted, but again.. I prefer this for once over yet another "whinepost" full of words merely claiming what people want to see, rather than putting themselves to work and making it visible.)
« Last Edit: December 28, 2010, 02:54:20 PM by Feronius »

Heretic

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Re: Area suggestion - Expansion to the Drain - The Wasteworks
« Reply #5 on: December 28, 2010, 02:53:06 PM »
I might apply, but the downside is I can only do the design and conceptual side of things.. I've yet to figure out all the scripting and technical stuff.

You can learn that with us. All of the systems are custom built anyways, so every developer has had to learn them. The areas look very awesome btw, some ideas there that I have already made for a concept of mine, you should really apply for the development team.

Feronius

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Re: Area suggestion - Expansion to the Drain - The Wasteworks
« Reply #6 on: December 28, 2010, 02:57:28 PM »
You can learn that with us. All of the systems are custom built anyways, so every developer has had to learn them. The areas look very awesome btw, some ideas there that I have already made for a concept of mine, you should really apply for the development team.

Mhm, well I do study game art so I might be cheating a little bit. (Although that's quite different than this, but still very related.)
But on the same point.. I do study game art, so that study does consume most of my time and creativity.

That said.. How do I apply? Or rather.. where? / to who? This is actually the very first time I used this toolset, heh.


And thanks for the positive comments and criticism btw, much appreciated.

Telkar

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Re: Area suggestion - Expansion to the Drain - The Wasteworks
« Reply #7 on: December 28, 2010, 03:00:08 PM »
http://www.nwnravenloft.com/forum/index.php?topic=157.0

Here you go...I like how your brainjuices flow.  :)

herkles

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Re: Area suggestion - Expansion to the Drain - The Wasteworks
« Reply #8 on: December 28, 2010, 03:00:33 PM »
I second what heretic said and what I said early, do apply for the DM team you are very good. you can find the application here

Also the port sewers are fun, though I do wish that the safe area was actually a separate area, this would fit wonderfully in the port sewers IMO much better than vallaki. Vallaki should not have the sewers that big, than again I think vallaki should be just a tad bigger than the village and not as big as it is IG.



Feronius

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Re: Area suggestion - Expansion to the Drain - The Wasteworks
« Reply #9 on: December 28, 2010, 03:11:35 PM »
I second what heretic said and what I said early, do apply for the DM team you are very good. you can find the application here

Also the port sewers are fun, though I do wish that the safe area was actually a separate area, this would fit wonderfully in the port sewers IMO much better than vallaki. Vallaki should not have the sewers that big, than again I think vallaki should be just a tad bigger than the village and not as big as it is IG.


Pherhaps on second thought placing this in a cavernsystem would be more realistic IC, in terms of size compared to the town.. then again, I do love the sewer-harbor atmosphere! And I should really visit the port sewers, but they're too dangerous for me still.
Which is exactly why I prefer focusing on the Drain, also because they already have a decent population of player characters.

That was also exactly the point behind that "Collapsed tunnel" / possible railroad towards the Port-bit.
It would be incredibly beneficial to the shady RPers to link both destinations with a smuggling route, as the two existing underworlds are both amazing already.. but they do kind of split the player populace between them now. Atm that means all criminal RP basicly sticks around Vallaki a bit, seeing the Port is mainly a dungeon rather than a social RP spot. (At least the sewer-part of it that is, which is mainly unused beyond leveling, right?)
So pherhaps linking those areas would be good (while putting an "Outcast rating requirement" on the use of this route), especially for the Port it might bring some more Caliban / shady / more general RP there. Just a rough possible idea I tossed in there though.


P.S. I never got why more than half the Drain consisted of locked dining areas.
Given the Drain is amazing and all, but I would've liked to see more varied caliban areas, hence how this concept came to exist.
« Last Edit: December 28, 2010, 03:24:34 PM by Feronius »

Telkar

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Re: Area suggestion - Expansion to the Drain - The Wasteworks
« Reply #10 on: December 28, 2010, 03:23:53 PM »
That was also exactly the point behind that "Collapsed tunnel" / possible railroad towards the Port-bit.
It would be incredibly beneficial to the shady RPers to link both destinations with a smuggling route, as the two existing underworlds are both amazing already.. but they do kind of split the player populace between them now. Atm that means all criminal RP basicly sticks around Vallaki a bit, seeing the Port is mainly a dungeon rather than a social RP spot. (At least the sewer-part of it that is.)
So pherhaps linking those areas would be good (while putting an "Outcast rating requirement" on the use of this route), especially for the Port it might bring some more Caliban / shady / more general RP there. Just a rough possible idea I tossed in there though.

There could be a tunnel route from the area you described to the bandit tunnels near Midway maybe...just a thought. They'd naturally need to use the vistani to get to Port then.

Feronius

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Re: Area suggestion - Expansion to the Drain - The Wasteworks
« Reply #11 on: December 28, 2010, 03:26:40 PM »
There could be a tunnel route from the area you described to the bandit tunnels near Midway maybe...just a thought. They'd naturally need to use the vistani to get to Port then.

Yup, that was the idea behind that closed tunnel. Although I'm not aware of these bandit tunnels, but sounds fitting.
(A tunnel straight to Dementlieu would probably be impossibly long? Even if it was a railroad, rofl)

Telkar

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Re: Area suggestion - Expansion to the Drain - The Wasteworks
« Reply #12 on: December 28, 2010, 03:31:02 PM »
There could be a tunnel route from the area you described to the bandit tunnels near Midway maybe...just a thought. They'd naturally need to use the vistani to get to Port then.

Yup, that was the idea behind that closed tunnel. Although I'm not aware of these bandit tunnels, but sounds fitting.
(A tunnel straight to Dementlieu would probably be impossibly long? Even if it was a railroad, rofl)

Yea...they'd have to breach the mists on various points which only the vistani can do. Having a tunnel to the bandit tunnels would be perfect for raiding travelers too, as the area above the tunnels is sort of a road with hillsides on both sides of it, perfect for archers and such. I've actually had such an experience with bandits there once.

Edit: By the way, the area I'm talking about is eastwards towards Tser Pool where the vistani are.
« Last Edit: December 28, 2010, 03:34:15 PM by Telkar »

DM Nocturne

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Re: Area suggestion - Expansion to the Drain - The Wasteworks
« Reply #13 on: December 28, 2010, 06:35:51 PM »
I like the look of those areas Feronius. You are quite talented for it being your first shot in the toolset. So apply for developer!

I'm in favour for anything additional to the underworld like what Telkar suggested! (Biased here)  :)

Zedrik

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Re: Area suggestion - Expansion to the Drain - The Wasteworks
« Reply #14 on: December 28, 2010, 11:37:39 PM »
There could be a tunnel route from the area you described to the bandit tunnels near Midway maybe...just a thought. They'd naturally need to use the vistani to get to Port then.

Yup, that was the idea behind that closed tunnel. Although I'm not aware of these bandit tunnels, but sounds fitting.
(A tunnel straight to Dementlieu would probably be impossibly long? Even if it was a railroad, rofl)

Yea...they'd have to breach the mists on various points which only the vistani can do. Having a tunnel to the bandit tunnels would be perfect for raiding travelers too, as the area above the tunnels is sort of a road with hillsides on both sides of it, perfect for archers and such. I've actually had such an experience with bandits there once.

Edit: By the way, the area I'm talking about is eastwards towards Tser Pool where the vistani are.

Reliable one-way Mistway from Drain in Barovia to Underworld in Dementlieu?  :shifty:

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herkles

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Re: Area suggestion - Expansion to the Drain - The Wasteworks
« Reply #15 on: December 28, 2010, 11:50:33 PM »
I favor that, but the port is designed to be a high level and the normal people have to go to the vistani near the village to get to the port, but than I favor the vistani near vallaki to transport people to the port too. but this idea is also good.


Dashru

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Re: Area suggestion - Expansion to the Drain - The Wasteworks
« Reply #16 on: February 05, 2011, 10:30:53 PM »
Why isn't this in yet? It looks fantastic and would add a whole new dimension to outcast roleplay (which is already tough enough as it is!)
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Feronius

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Re: Area suggestion - Expansion to the Drain - The Wasteworks
« Reply #17 on: February 06, 2011, 05:47:05 AM »
Why isn't this in yet? It looks fantastic and would add a whole new dimension to outcast roleplay (which is already tough enough as it is!)

Because it's not PotM ready, I would need to be in the Devteam for it to be implemented.
And I don't have the time or motivation to join a development team at the moment, sorry.

And also for the reasons of the sewers already being too large, etc.