DMing a 3.5 campaign and the low level party just entered the underdark

DMing a 3.5 campaign and the low level party just entered the underdark

Basically, how do I make a fun trip through the underdark without bending the rules and lore too much

Download Out of the Abyss. It's 5E, but there are plenty of cool ideas you could steal.

Why is the party in the Underdark in the first place? I don't exactly imagine it as a hot vacation destination. Telling us what they're there for might make it easier to come up with encounter ideas.

Memepost. I remember you from That GM thread.

This followed by "how familiar with the Underdark are you already?"

Namely, have you read any of the Salvatore novels?

Driders
Driders can be fun as shit to fight against, especially when you get creative with how they show up and use the terrain. Show your players the wonders of 360° battles.

Do we have a mega for 3.0/3.5 material?

they tracked a mind flayer to his lair and they got absolutely fucked up so they ran away into another part of the dungeon and found a portal to the underdark. They jumped into it and closed it to get away from the mind flayer

they are all level 2

no

>they are all level 2
>in one of the most dangerous places in FR
They are all going to die. How many of them can see in total darkness, how many torches or other light sources do they have? If the answer to either of these questions is none, you're shit out of luck unless they're right at the surface.

2 of them can see in the dark and they have 2 everburning torches
they will have a Slyth guide with a Svirfneblin companion

they will have 4 ways to exit the Underdark
1. Through a mindflayer city but they will end up lost in a massive forest
2. Through and Orog city and end up at the town they started in
3. Through a drow city and they will end up near on a mountain near the other half of the party that got sold into a dark lord's army because they are vampires
4. die

Captured as slaves by the Drow, use that as a way to get them in to a drow city, they can then access strongre Drow equipment if they forced in to a slave army to fight in a Drow House War. During it, they are able to escape and able to get the chance to pass themselves off as traders or visitors to the Spider infested shtihole that is a Drow City.

I was going to make them slaves but the House war is a good idea

It's always good to get mixed up in things beyond your control occasionally. Personally, I would advice strongly against making one side omg-misunderstood drizzt family and the other evildoubleplusungood side as they are Drow not special snowflakes.

Make them unknowable and unasailable (sp?) rather make them part of the background, a natural danger that they must avoid akin to lava pits in a volcanic area.

That's badass and perfect for low levels

Have a mindflayer mindfuck them, follow them obviously but is just torturing them.

Have a dockyard but have it filled with a couple of Spelljammer ships

Have it common knowledge that for outsiders breaking the law they will be sent to The Cage, in reality this is a one-way portal to Sigil. Only it is activated by stepping through silently. This is made harder by being pushed off a high platform high in the ceiling of the city-cavern and when you fall you must not make any noise in order to trigger the portal to the Hive.

I don't think the Underdark is used to it's full potential, the Upperdark will be your ebil drow but going deeper you should be able to find a deep and complicated web of the entire shared world.

Why are you putting level 2 characters up against a mind flayer?

Anyone have pdfs for 3.0 or 3.5? Well met and thank ye

Homeland and Exile are the main ones to read. Despite the series bad reputation, there are good parts of it, and the prequel trilogy is one of them.

epubs should be easy enough to find on your own.

Don't do this, you will learn more from finding a simple wikia and reading up on anything you want.

>implying
A wiki will give you a summary of plotpoints. Reading the books will give you whole sentences dedicated to setting the scene and building the environment. The latter is what OP is after.

but then you die by crushing. you should scream to enter the portal.

read also the Daughter of the Drow and first two WOTSQ

This guy has it right, your party should be dirt to these people, useful dirt. Maybe have one drow who is sympathetic, but they should not feel that this is somewhere they can stay.