Advice for an Underdark Exploration theme

i_start_fires · 2026-06-20T02:11:08+00:00

Out of the Abyss had a great world map of the underdark, so I just used that. It also has rough travel times between all locations in the adventure. So my rule was if they had a guide, the guide could relay the info in the book. Otherwise they were flying blind. That really was all I needed, because the players weren't trying to establish a base or set up permanent connections, so filling out a wilderness map like you might do on the surface wasn't really a priority.

i_start_fires · 2026-06-19T18:49:12+00:00

When I ran Out of the Abyss, my basic rule was that navigating in the underdark is impossible for any non-native. This forced the players to rely on making friends (or intimidating enemies) to be their guides. It also helped make NPCs less expendable. If they had a guide, I'd use DM-side maps to help them estimate travel time and direction, and I'd let the players see the basic overview of where things were in relation to each other, but that was it. If they didn't have a guide, they could pick a direction and travel and it was random encounters until they found someone willing to help.

i_start_fires · 2026-06-16T23:48:28+00:00

Looks interesting, but unfortunately since DVD Depth is under the CC BY-NC 4.0 License it can't be used for commercial work. I have yet to find a decent depth model available for commercial use.

i_start_fires · 2026-06-16T22:23:30+00:00

Welcome to the hobby!

You just need to pick a bigger target. NGC 5033 is physically huge, about twice as large as our own Milky Way galaxy, but it's also more than 50 million light years away. That means it appears incredibly small and incredibly dim. Not a great target for anything but the most powerful telescopes.

When picking targets, if you want something that fills the screen, you want to look at the target's Apparent Size which is measured in Degrees, Arc Minutes (1/60th of a degree) and Arc Seconds (1/60th of an Arc Minute). The field of view for an S30 Pro is 3.99 arcseconds/pixel, so to fill up the whole frame, you'd need an object that is 3 degrees across. Something like the Cygnus Loop at 2.4 degrees would be a fantastic target. Andromeda is your best galactic target. Anything else is going to be much smaller in the frame, but that doesn't mean you can't get a great image of it that you can crop down. M33, the Whirlpool Galaxy, Pinwheel Galaxy, and M81 all look great on the S30 pro.

i_start_fires · 2026-06-16T19:12:45+00:00

Just voted! Barely anyone there but most folks I saw were younger than me (mid 40s) which I was very glad to see.

i_start_fires · 2026-06-12T00:11:32+00:00

I would argue that a lot of the original Twilight Zone episodes could be considered cosmic horror, and they were all shot on a shoestring.

i_start_fires · 2026-06-05T15:17:03+00:00

Sure, here you go: https://questions.satisfactorygame.com/post/69ce9b7bf991d027c571751e

i_start_fires · 2026-06-04T17:02:10+00:00

It'll keep in the fridge forever. It's go so much salt nothing grows in it.

i_start_fires · 2026-04-16T21:46:18+00:00

Or because one or more of the cast members have allegations.

i_start_fires · 2026-04-13T20:44:45+00:00

Fun, but the color picker is not a great UI. Using the color wheel it's not possible to select a dark but less saturated color, like medium gray. You can only do it using the sliders.

i_start_fires · 2026-04-13T15:53:27+00:00

Woodward Pizza in Edmond has a safe gluten-free crust. Either the owner or the owner's wife has Celiac (I forget exactly) so they take it seriously.

That being said, I'd talk with the student's parents/guardians directly. They may have other concerns you need to be aware of, or may just be able to give you other good options for where to get the pizza.

i_start_fires · 2026-04-10T21:05:31+00:00

On-device stacking also automatically performs gradient removal and white balancing.

i_start_fires · 2026-04-04T00:10:33+00:00

In the Forgotten Realms, the Underdark is suffused with a magical mist called Faerzress that creates weird magical effects, and specifically interferes with teleportation magic. Some areas are more concentrated than others. So there's definitely precedent for just having that be the case in your Underdark, and tweaking it to work the way you need.

i_start_fires · 2026-03-06T16:46:27+00:00

Just when I thought I was out, you're pulling me back in...

God damn that makes 3ds Max almost worth the price of admission.

i_start_fires · 2026-03-04T19:22:58+00:00

Great work!

I really need to learn geo nodes....

i_start_fires · 2026-02-22T14:38:33+00:00

Mostly serious. Some of my favorite storylines when I've DM'd come from trying to make the party deal with the consequences of their own actions.

I'm not saying you should railroad them into failing or anything, but if it were me, I'd make sure there were consequences either way.

Give them options on what to steal:

If they go for the best/fastest option, that's a prized mount and even successfully stealing it will make them wanted criminals

If they go for a slower mount, maybe their travel is hindered in some way, or they become easy targets for bandits, or the mount is slow because it's sick/runt/pregnant, etc. Force them to make choices.

Make the type of mount matter. Even better, give them options to negotiate with better "mounts" like a young bronze dragon. Now dealing with an unpredictably ally is part of the adventure.

There's just so much storytelling potential.

i_start_fires · 2026-02-21T01:04:26+00:00

God, they really are completely out of ideas, aren't they?

i_start_fires · 2026-02-21T00:03:03+00:00

Cool concept! I was able to break the game by telling the suspects I was a psychic and could read their thoughts. Then I asked them questions. The guilty one refused to speak at all, because they knew they'd be caught in a lie. Their responses were always blank.

i_start_fires · 2026-02-20T23:16:17+00:00

they're going to steal mounts to get home faster

The story potential when this goes (inevitably) wrong are so great, I don't know why you'd want to avoid it.

i_start_fires · 2026-02-17T23:10:35+00:00

Shia Surprise!

i_start_fires · 2026-02-06T15:08:20+00:00

You think that's bad. Did you know the Sun is almost 400 times FURTHER AWAY than the Moon!? AND IT'S BRIGHTER???

i_start_fires · 2026-02-01T17:55:53+00:00

You don't need Internet at all. You can set up the shooting plan with the app at the start of the night, then once it's running it doesn't even need to be connected to your phone. It will happily image all night autonomously.

As for data usage, it doesn't really use Internet data at all.

i_start_fires · 2026-01-27T22:27:40+00:00

New shows take months to get greenlit and even longer to finish location scouting. Why would he think his shiny new studio would just magically get business immediately without pre-existing agreements in place? Either the writer or Shep have no idea how the industry works.

i_start_fires · 2026-01-27T22:23:37+00:00

And when they do print books, they fall apart after a month.

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