My PCs are all aristocrats who have been hiring the iconics to do various tasks for them. The most recent task is a long-term project to map the Vaults of Korvosa. I'm not sure how to proceed.
I think that for the first little while they'll map someplace relatively benign, such as beneath South Shore. They'll find hints of derro and discover lots of nasty, dangerous critters to explain why people haven't mapped the Vaults before.
There's particular interest in the region near Castle Korvosa, which of course will likely end up with the deaths/captures/vamping of the NPCs. I'd like to give some lead-up to this and possibly allow for a rescue mission down the road, but I also want it to seem fair rather than like a GM cheat. There's no reasonable way for level two characters to survive a mapping trip into Sorshen's home, after all.
I'd be willing to start up a second game in which players take on the roles of these mappers, but actually creating a map of the Vaults strikes me as a ridiculously tedious task. If someone were to do some sort of Open Design-style project seeking funding for maps of the Vaults then I'd definitely sign up, but other than that I'm in the market for extensive generic maps for what's under the city.
Any thoughts on The Dungeon Under the Mountain?
but other than that I'm in the market for extensive generic maps for what's under the city.
Have you looked at the assortment of maps available at the WotC site? Many of them are fairly self-contained, and vault-like, and could act as "sections" of vaults underneath the city. You could then add in a passage or two on these maps to another set of maps (and thus, another set of vaults).
Thanks for the suggestion. I think I'm just going to have to grit my teeth and do the extra work, either using the pregenerated maps (like you suggested) or else customizing them to fit the city's backstory. I'm not sure I can abstract this one away.
Thanks for the feedback!