Can someone explain to me why Cauldron Lake is not just a big cesspool? As soon as my players saw the lake in the middle of the city they all immediately said, that’s disgusting! I did remember hearing something about clerics routinely purifying the water, but that doesn’t seem like nearly enough to cleanse the lake. I wanted to have people be able to pull water from it, have swimming races during the Flood Festival and people fishing in it, but it seems unlikely right now. Maybe Surabar Spellmason put some spell on it to keep it clean?
I suppose it doesn't have to be any more stagnant than any other lake. You could indicate that there are a couple of places near the shore of the lake which are known to be a bit "fresher" as if an underground spring comes up there, and a couple of areas along one side (and rumors of others out toward the middle) where no one should swim because there are underwater currents that can pull people down into water-filled caverns. As long as the water is generally circulating somehow, it should be okay. (Just make sure your examples of where water leaves the lake are all below shore level, so it still works when the flooding starts.)
Without working through all the details, what I've said is that several clerics can get together and perform a purification ritual, combining their Purify Food and Drink spells into a more powerful version, calling on the power of their god to help cleanse the lake. Different churches perform the ritual at regular intervals, with St. Cuthbert and Kord clerics doing most of the work.
Can someone explain to me why Cauldron Lake is not just a big cesspool? As soon as my players saw the lake in the middle of the city they all immediately said, that’s disgusting! I did remember hearing something about clerics routinely purifying the water, but that doesn’t seem like nearly enough to cleanse the lake. I wanted to have people be able to pull water from it, have swimming races during the Flood Festival and people fishing in it, but it seems unlikely right now. Maybe Surabar Spellmason put some spell on it to keep it clean?
Well, if you take it directly from the SCAP HC, the clerics do spend a great deal of their time tending to the lake - I see it as a form of social contract with the city, and helps explain the power of the churches in the area.
You'll also want to note that it's not stagnant water; the lake feeds into the Underdark and into the water table, so everything does eventually work itself out. Humanity has a history of throwing things in the water without regard to where the things go, so this isn't that unusual.
IMC, I use it as an explanation as to why the clerics of the local temples don't always have spells available to cast on the PCs, and it does go hand-in-hand with the urgency of the Flood Festival. People /do/ swim and fish and drink water from the lake, so unless it bothers you so much that you have to come up with an in-game rationale, don't sweat it. It bothered me for a few days, until I came up with my own solution.
That's a really clever idea- I'm going to have to steal that for my campaign if you don't mind. So far anytime the PCs need some sort of healing (i.e. remove disease from catching the Vanishing) they go running to Jenya, and I want them to get away from that if possible. After all, Jenya has better things to do than play wetnurse to the group, yes?
In real life there are volcanic lagoons similar to Cauldron's crater lake, with villages and hotels built along the shores of the lagoon inside the volcanic crater. And the natural cycle of these lagoons keeps them clean for the most part. Cauldron is probably too big in relation to the lake for it to stay very clean for long without magical help, but the SCAP mentions that clerics do engage in magical water purification.
After all, Jenya has better things to do than play wetnurse to the group, yes?
Steal away! I understand the logic behind running to your local friendly church and getting healing, but I find that having a realistic reason for the clerics to not always have spells available (besides "I said so" of course) is necessary in this game.
If the PCs are allied with one of the churches, I find they have a tendency to run back heal. Since the majority of the low-level adventures are located within the city, it's not that hard to pop down into the dungeon, then head over to Jenya for healing.
One thing to remember, though, is that the SCAP is lethal. Part of the reason is that the PCs have resources available to them to mitigate some of the difficulty. Don't overly punish them for having an in-game advantage, and it'll work out just fine. =)