Ok i have gotten a few complaints from some players, mostly about the underdark (horred already knows there is an issue there but i felt this info was alittle more helpful).
Quote from my website:
The money in the Newbie training area is still for shit. On average, you'll clear about 30 (or less) gold with one pass. If you get hurt (easy to do as skeletons have a DR), food for resting is upwards of 47 gold. Which leaves you 17 gold short. If you get hurt badly, you wind up not having enough gold to buy enough food to heal. XP is 5 per kill, except for skeletons at 7. At level 1, I've seen 1 firebeetle per pass. Sometimes, no fire beetle (and therefor, no beetle belly). With the beetle, you have enough buy food, but not enough to buy potions. Either way, yer screwed.
The Draix D'juiv'undus (I think that's how it's spelled) is for slightly more advanced characters, but you have to fight no less than 4 at a time, max XP is 9 per kill (I killed more than 100 halflings getting to Lvl 2) and gold is, again, for shit. Often, I would slog through 12 critters before getting 5 gold (5 gold being an average amount for one kill). I used a Rakshasa (very nice for work in the underdark, DR of +2/10) fighter and still couldn't venture out into the Underdark proper, anything that attacks with an ability that requires a Will saving throw almost automatically kills.
BOTH the Draix and the Newbie training area are in the Underdark Central. The Humanoid encampment is worse. Screwup would know more about that as he has been playing more there than I have.
A few things that don't seem to have been considered are:
1. Prices appear to generally be higher in the underdark, whether Underdark Central or the Humanoid encampment (Minotaurs spawn there).
2. Gold is much harder to come by.
3. There is precedent for creatures of nearly every race to follow the path of good. Kaz the Minotaur from the Legend of Huma, Drizzt the Drow from the Icingdale (?) series. Spawn point should be determined by choice or alignment.
4. PC's are constantly subjected to Crit Hits. NPC's and monsters usually only once.
Also:
There is a broken link in the Illithid outpost. I can use the door going up to Miners misery but It does not work coming back down so I am trapped up there sometimes with no way out (the drow hate me too).
LET ME STATE THAT I KNOW THE UD NEEDS SOME WORK. MOST OF MY ATTENTION HAS BEEN FOCUSED ON THE SURFACE. MAYBE I WILL SKIP CEP WEAPONS AND DO THIS INSTEAD. However, it isn't anywhere near as bad as described here. The player is obviously not taking advantage of numerous provided advantages.
Skeleton knuckles sell for 25 gold apiece, beetle bellies for 35, to the potion merchants (equivalent to percy). UD central, humanoid outpost, and illithid camp each have this type of guy. This guy obviously isn't doing this right. You can make about 200-300 gold per pass in the training area, if you aren't being a bonehead!
Or, you can run straight to broubok and get 1 gold apiece. Hmmmmm.....decisions
Food? There is a whole garden full of mushrooms, near the training area door. All but one kind are edible! Inside the training area--berries, fruit, nuts....Free food, in abundance---hmmm...but damn, they'd have to take the time to pick it. And who can be bothered?
Instead, be a bonehead and pay a lot of money for merchant meals.....hmmmmm
The underdark is a dangerous place. No question about it. It should NOT be set up to be a walk in the flower garden. Every group has at least one board that is set up this way, however. Use it, milk the treasure and resources. I never left home in the UD until at least 3rd-4th lvl. Exception---humanoid. At 2nd lvl I'd work my way over to UD central, where I was welcome.
Spawn drops occasionally will drop some really good stuff, magic items that can be sold for real good gold. The creatures in the UD are no exception to this!
There is a kobold quest that gives 500 gold and 600
XP in UD central. Go there at 2nd level, and you shouldn't have a problem. Servant of vaerun has a simple delivery task for you. Use the portal to go to Chausslin. But most of all, use your head! If it's attached....
Or, alternatively--I could set up a room for boneheads, that gives you 50000 gold and ten levels immediately. They'd still find something to complain about, I'm sure.
1) Prices are at the
same rate as the surface world.Sell 250%, buy 35% A couple sell for lower.
2) Well, there's no rat catcher, but there is a trash barrel, and lots of things to pick. See above for other anti-bonehead measures.
3) I agree, but where? Deep gnome encampent? Yet another starting region?
4) No comment, why waste the words...?
P.S: I'll check out the link from illithid outpost to miner's misery.
