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While the good people at Alluria Publishing who wrote Cerulean Seas probably did enough research to get their Bachelor's degrees in Oceanography (and have), the problems of playing in a 3D environment through a play by post medium are much more stark than at the dinner table. I can't exactly buy pizza for everyone. Also, this is Oceanography from an Atlanteologist -- so at all possible, verify what I said.
homer simpson:Pizzzzaaah!:/homer simpson
The Zones of the Sea are differently categorized by scientists than what they present in Cerulean Seas. Although it's not as much as the "Oceanography for Gamers" you get in the Blue Planet RPG, it's best to revisit the Cerulean Seas' tract on Oceanography. All the information below is found on MarineBio.org.
The Sea is divided into two major divisions: the Pelagic, which includes the ocean expanse; and the Benthic, which includes the seas next to the continents.
The Pelagic Zones
The Pelagic is further divided into: the Epipelagic, the Mesopelagic, the Bathypelagic, and the Abyssopelagic. The Epipelagic is where most of our adventures are going to take place. It's the zone from the surface of the water to about 200 m. or 600 feet. The Epipelagic zone is also where the greatest biodiversity is found. As in, about 4 out of every 6 song dragon kinds are found here. The other two are found above the water and in the Abyss.
As you are playing intelligent species, the Epipelagic is your home, and most of our adventurers will take place in the Epipelagic zone. The Mesopelagic is from 200 m to 1000 meters below sea level. It's the twilight zone, with me so far? The biodiversity here is diminished because not enough light can get through for photosynthesis. The Bathypelagic zone is the zone of the Hush song dragons, the kraken (Megateuthis) and regular Architeuthis dux or giant squid. it's the midnight zone, and most animals here use bioluminescence. It's from 1000 meters to 4,000 meters below sea level.
There is the Abyssopelagic zone, where the water pressure is so great and the animals are strange. Here, among the black smokers you get tube worms, crabs, fish, and other organisms. it's from 4,000 meters down. And the last of all is the Hadopelagic zone, which includes all the water in the deep ocean trenches.
The Benthic Zones
The Benthic zones have to do with land. The first of the benthic zones are the supralittoral zone, the intertidal zone, and the sublittoral zone. The supralittoral zone (or "Spray Zone" from now on) is only underwater during storms and is located from the high tide line and dry land. The intertidal zone is located between the high tide mark and the low tide mark. The subtidal zone is always below water and includes the Continental shelves. The abyssal planes are in the abyssal zone, and the trenches are located in the ultra abyssal zone.
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PART 2 -- Undersea Cities
I am not a marine biologist, although I know enough to get an Associates degree, we are passing up the plants and animals that live in the sea and going to undersea cities. Undersea cities are found practically everywhere. Most of them are remnants of a bygone era that historians would call the Older Dryas and the Younger Dryas (the Last Ice Age).
Of the actual cities undersea, only the ones around the North African Coast, the Spanish Coast, and the Indian Coast were confirmed. There are villages under the Black Sea, the Bimini Road around the location of Bimini island, and the Yonuguni Pyramid. But these are hardly confirmed cities and only evidence of human presence.
Finally, at 31 degrees north, and 24 degrees west; you have the "City." The "City" is 17,000 feet below sea level and is a grid made up of right angles. Right angles are hardly natural in nature and always points to human intervention. The "City" is confirmed because Google -- for some stupid reason -- tried to photoshop it out of Google Earth. They did a poor job of it.
Fantasy Cities
I placed the cities of Thallassia at the intertidal zone, about 100-150 meters below sea level, around Spain and North Africa because I wanted a culture for Sea Folk that is easily related to. There are actual undersea cities around spain and North Africa. Some of these confirmed cities have been turned into dungeons, and others are reinhabited.
The domed cities Tritonis and Posiedonis are located around the Azores islands and were built about 300 feet below sea level. They are high tech because they were built to preserve air breathing humans.
Lastly, there are the cities of Xyluf, Xylug, and the sahaugin colonies. These are placed around Madeira Island and the Canary Islands. They are commanded by the sahaugin. Beyond is the unexplored Expanse, and finally the Americas. There are people there whos cultures are strange and enigmatic to the Thallassians.
I am writing an RPG Campaign -- unfortunately I'm a man of a few words. :(
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PART III: Handling Depth
The first problem is handling depth. Buoyancy and pressure rules are going to stay the same. As for depth:
DISCLAIMER:
I am not the best Undersea Game DM in the world. I am probably the worst because I'm just getting started. I will make mistakes. But I want to attempt this, but I'm trying to reduce my workload.
Unlike a regular dry land campaign, which can be run in 2 dimensions, this game is run in 3 Dimensions. Essentially, think of the PCs between two planes. The surface of the sea above, and the bottom of the sea below. The space between is where all the action happens. I will try to state out the depth of the dungeon you are venturing in.
Say, if you want to explore an undersea, Ice Age ruin (and there are a lot of them), I will do my best to state the depth of the ruin. Or if you want to visit a particular city, I will do the same. For example: The Grey Citadel (written by Nathan Douglas Paul) exists between Gades and Tartessos (it's not on the map). It's about 120 feet below Sea Level. I will state it is at this depth. Parts of the adventure is deeper, however, like the crypt.
Don't count on me keeping you constantly updated, however. But it is up to you to keep track of your depth tolerance.
PART 4: HANDLING COMBAT
Combat is the real trick on a PbP forum. How to do it? The best way is to use Photoshop. By using the X-Y coordinates to stand for North, East, West, and South; and the z coordinates to stand for depth, I can photoshop some pix for you to use in relation to depth, and location. it should be easier on everyone. I can't use a depth cube, or stand everyone up on a tracker tree to recognize depth.
Note, I may get actual depth wrong. ;) Oh, and paper miniatures would be nice to have. :)