Just curious.
Underdork.
Ooh...another new name for the Underdark?
What are you guys calling it? Do you know yet?
are you allowed to use the name or just doing something different?
Lamashtu's Cellar
(from the GodsOfPathfinder thread: Lamashtu, Goddess of Monsters and Madness)
how about the "nether region" ... oh wait that's taken.
Green Ronin has an amazing book about the drow: Plot & Poison by Matthew Sernett. It has some really great flavour in it, and I'd love to see it used in a larger setting.
In my 1e campaign world of Wyrom the "underdark" is refered to as the "dry deeps", feel free to barrow the term if you like it.
What about Chthon or khthon, from Greek Mythology? Wikipedia has Khthon meaning "one of several words for 'earth'; it typically refers to the interior of the soil, rather than the living surface of the land (as gaia or ge does) or the land as territory (as khora does). It evokes at once abundance and the grave."
"Abundance and the grave?" Sounds like the Underdark to me. Plus it has a creepy, Lovecraftian ring to it.
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The Deepstone Way.
Deepstone.
Below.
The Silence Below.
Blackdepths.
Darkenway.
The Black.
The Dark.
Hollows of the Varissa(sp?), The "Hollows" for short.
Use a phrase to see which would work better.
"We are needing supplies to save our friends. We need to travel_______________ and our travels will be dangerous."
I like "the Hollows" for the spooky factor.
FH
Well it's current title is "Lightless Depths of the Subterranean Realm". Which is going to be kinda hard to say all the time.
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The Deepstone Way.
Deepstone.
Below.
The Silence Below.
Blackdepths.
Darkenway.
The Black.
The Dark.
Hollows of the Varissa(sp?), The "Hollows" for short.Use a phrase to see which would work better.
"We are needing supplies to save our friends. We need to travel_______________ and our travels will be dangerous."
I like "the Hollows" for the spooky factor.FH
I kinda like "The Dark," because then it will have its own Metal Church song.
Lamashtu's Cellar
(from the GodsOfPathfinder thread: Lamashtu, Goddess of Monsters and Madness)
Lamashtu's Labyrinth?
--Eric
Does it really need a name?
I'm going to second this. I always felt it was awkward to try to maintain a distinction between, say, a Dwarven Hold and a Drow city if both are at the same depth and never see the light of day. In Faerun, it makes sense, because the Faerunean Underdark has certain magical properties that define it, most notably but messing with Teleportation.
In David Farland's novels, The Runelords (Coincidence? Yes, probably, but a good one!) there is a whole subterranian world just like the D&D Underdark. They called it... the underworld. (Note the lack of capitalization. As I recall, though that was its name, it wasn't like some "official" thing like the Underdark. It was just what everyone called it; it worked, so no one ever thought of anything different).
I rather like it, really; simple and descriptive. And if that auther can get away with it, surely Paizo can!
How about the Utter Dark?
The Sunless Realms
The Dark Realms
The Netherdark
The Nether Realms
The Lands Below
The Black Hollows
Whatever. Underdark is almost as generic as underworld. Why don't they copyright the terms "longsword" and "sorcerer" while they're at it? Anybody remember what C.S. Lewis used in the "Silver Chair"?
Edit: answer: Underland
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I kinda like "The Dark," because then it will have its own Metal Church song.The Deepstone Way.
Deepstone.
Below.
The Silence Below.
Blackdepths.
Darkenway.
The Black.
The Dark.
Hollows of the Varissa(sp?), The "Hollows" for short.Use a phrase to see which would work better.
"We are needing supplies to save our friends. We need to travel_______________ and our travels will be dangerous."
I like "the Hollows" for the spooky factor.FH
I'm down with that but it will take a Ton of Bricks to build it.
FH
This reminds me of a habit my gaming group had when we played FASA: Star Trek--the habit to name Klingon warships after Judas Priest songs and albums.
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I kinda like "The Dark," because then it will have its own Metal Church song.The Deepstone Way.
Deepstone.
Below.
The Silence Below.
Blackdepths.
Darkenway.
The Black.
The Dark.
Hollows of the Varissa(sp?), The "Hollows" for short.Use a phrase to see which would work better.
"We are needing supplies to save our friends. We need to travel_______________ and our travels will be dangerous."
I like "the Hollows" for the spooky factor.FH
I'm down with that but it will take a Ton of Bricks to build it.
FH
FH, is there a Method To Your Madness?
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I kinda like "The Dark," because then it will have its own Metal Church song.
I'm down with that but it will take a Ton of Bricks to build it.
FH
FH, is there a Method To Your Madness?
I Cannot Tell A Lie, I am Of Unsound Mind, but remember....It's A Secret!!
FH
You're dying on a stretcher
We'll try to save your life
If you can't afford my service
I will let you die
I'm trusted and respected
Says my diploma on the wall
Before I will do anything
I'll give your bank a call
I'm a healer
I will keep you all alive
I'm a healer
A Fake Healer!
In my home campaigns I have used the terms "the dark realms, and " the realms below."
Then again, I was influenced by the old Torg Land Below sourcebook with how I often presented the underdark in my homebrews.
The reason we have to change it is because the term is WotC's intellectual property.
I know the reasoning for it, but it still makes me laugh. There is an ice cream shop originally called "The Freezer" in the town I grew up in. Slightly after I was born it changed hands, and though the twirling cone motif out front and the shop name have been replaced multiple times, here 30 years later everyone still calls it, "The Freezer." Name it what you like, at home it'll be called "The UnderDark."
In David Farland's novels, The Runelords (Coincidence? Yes, probably, but a good one!) there is a whole subterranian world just like the D&D Underdark. They called it... the underworld.
I like that name, too. Just call it the Underworld. After all, what is it if not an entirely different "world" where the sun never shines because it's "under"-ground. Simple. Direct. Would even make general sense among the common-folk. No need to get too fancy with it, in my opinion.
The Underworld.
Gets my vote.
--Neil
The Lightless Depths.
The Endless Dark.
The Crawling Caverns.
The Dark Down Under ;)
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Kobold Press
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We don't have a name for it yet. The reason we have to change it is because the term is WotC's intellectual property.
No, it isn't. Their claims to the contrary are simply false.
By US copyright law, WotC can't own a word or phrase. They can trademark a particular graphic representation of the word as a logo or emblem, but that's about it.
Words can't be owned. Heck, this is why Lucasfilm's attempts to protect the term "Nazi" were laughed out of court.
The "Underdarkness"
Der "Unterschwarz"
Just kidding.
Blackhollow
The Dark Maw
The Underbelly of the Beast ;-)
Shadowpits
The Black Expanse
Empire of Caverns
Lightless Wastes
Evernight
Ooh, ooh! I hope someone at Paizo is paying attention to Mr. Baur's last 2 posts! The more continuity I can have w/ D&D from this new world, the better. The Underdark is simple but perfect, IMHO, for the subterranean regions.
In a perfect world, it'd be UnderOerth, but hey :)
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Lightless Wastes
Evernight
Oooh.. I like these two! Especially Evernight. Maybe instead of a Drow or Dark Elf presence, the dominant society could be Vampires. Now that would be different. They would be able to be active pretty much on a regular basis and deal in the same kinds of trades that the drow deal in. Slaves, information, flesh, etc. etc.
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Under World
Exactly. This leaves lots of room for myth and legend that confuse the underworld, the world under the earth, with the Underworld, the planar realms of the dead, devils, demons, etc. There might even be connections between the underworld and the Underworld.
Or not. Those can have their own names as well so there is no confusion. Just an idea.
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We don't have a name for it yet. The reason we have to change it is because the term is WotC's intellectual property.No, it isn't. Their claims to the contrary are simply false.
By US copyright law, WotC can't own a word or phrase. They can trademark a particular graphic representation of the word as a logo or emblem, but that's about it.
Words can't be owned. Heck, this is why Lucasfilm's attempts to protect the term "Nazi" were laughed out of court.
But you KNOW that WotC would SCREAM bloody murder on that one.
We don't have a name for it yet. The reason we have to change it is because the term is WotC's intellectual property.No, it isn't. Their claims to the contrary are simply false.
By US copyright law, WotC can't own a word or phrase. They can trademark a particular graphic representation of the word as a logo or emblem, but that's about it.
Words can't be owned. Heck, this is why Lucasfilm's attempts to protect the term "Nazi" were laughed out of court.
Isn't the point that by using the d20 System Trademark License Paizo is agreeing to avoid this stuff? If it's in the license and they're using the license then the legalities of non-licensed use are somewhat moot.
Besides, they've also said that they're going to play not and not just try to rules-lawyer this stuff.
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Kobold Press
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Isn't the point that by using the d20 System Trademark License Paizo is agreeing to avoid this stuff? If it's in the license and they're using the license then the legalities of non-licensed use are somewhat moot.
Well, they aren't using the d20 License, they're using the OGL.
I agree that it may be smart for Paizo to pretend that WotC's broader claims are legitimate. But legally, there's no way to copyright a title or a word. It's silly for anyone to claim they can.
Creative Director
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Yeah... the whole issue surrounding the Underdark's name is pretty hazy and weird.
Suffice to say, there will be an Underdark equivalent in our setting. As to what it's going to be called... I'm not sure yet. Sounds like a good topic for an upcoming Friday Paizo Brainstorm Meeting (TM)!
Sounds like a good topic for an upcoming Friday Paizo Brainstorm Meeting (TM)!
In my profession we call those "choir practices." (Bottoms up!) ;)
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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hmm, Pellucider maybe?
Watching Cities of the Underworld on History Channel
Lagerholm?
I would find it amusing if the races of the surface held that hell was a place of eternal darkness and damp cold.
While the underdwellers thought it was a land of light and flame, with the light dimming so the sinful could appriciate the pain.
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I'd really like to see something different done with Paizo's "Underdark" (for lack of a better term). Every game setting has a massively large underground component featuring Drow, I'd like to see something new, and have certain assumptions about an "Underdark" turned on it's head.
Maybe the environment is completely different, like co-existing with the plane of Shadow, or the Underworld (place where the dead physically roam before finding their way to the afterlife), or maybe the Drow don't reign supreme, or may not even be evil per se, but are rag-tag little groups fighting for their mere survival using any means possible in such a hostile environment? Just some thoughts.
I second that idea. While the concept of an Underdark is probably essential to any D&D world worth its salt, Paizo has the opportunity here to take the idea and run, to push the boundaries of what such a relam can be. Surely, there are some concepts that need to be incorporated to cleave to a baseline D&D mentality (read: not alienate the bulk of the fan/customer base). But these concepts needn't be limitations. Why not define their new setting by pushing ideas in new directions? It certainly was a formula for success with Malhavoc Press.