The diving bells of Oagon

[Lynos]

Hello folks

So kind of unintentionally (I had other plans for them), the PC's in the group I'm GMing have managed to find themselves off the shore of Oagon in the Sodden Lands.

Upon reading about this place, I was intrigued. Flooded city, giant diving bells lowering treasure seekers into the depths... it's all very evocative, and I think it can be interesting to set a small adventure there, possibly some kind of an underwater dungeon crawler.

However, after the scouring the internet, I could not find anything about this place other then a short paragraph from the Inner Sea Guide. More specifically, there is nothing about those diving bells and how they operate exactly. How much air is in each one, for how long does it last, what is their hardness, HP... who exactly operates them in Oagon... I did some research concerning ancient diving bells but could not figure out how this could reflect itself in game terms.

Also, there are no modules of PFS scenarios set in this place.

Anybody have any ideas about adventuring in this region, using these types of contraptions, etc...?

Thanks!

[Wheldrake]

I suspect that there isn't any further information on the topic.

So... handwave it. Players descend in giant diving bell, then exit using their magical means of water breathing (spell, potion, water weed, whatever) and do their dungeon crawl. Survivors return to the bell, pull on the emergency cord and rise to the surface.

The really limiting factor will be their magical means of water breathing, and its duration. Let the diving bell be a kind of "safe haven".

Fun ensues if one of the party (or even a stranger) enters the diving bell, pulls the cord, and then the bell isn't there when PCs return. Yow!

The last underwater adventure I ran was in the 70s. It doesn't seem like a popular trope with players, given the many dangers. Back then, it may have been an article in the Strategic Review or else Blackmoor which gave us water weed. And mermen. And sahuagins. Great stuff.

[VoodistMonk]

I second the idea of making the bells be pretty much indestructible, unless you introduce something that can swallow it whole. Oceans are big.

If you need to convert object HP and hardness, attack the rope or chain lowering the bells. Those already have stats for being sundered or broken.

[SmiloDan]

Underwater adventuring is fun!

In 3.5, my druid got a lot of mileage out of summoned dolphins. I was able to summon 1d3 or 1d4+1 of them, so we were pretty high level. Probably 7th or 8th level. High enough level I didn't feel like I was "wasting" spell slots on breathe water.

It sounds like the diving bell is effectively an elevator that leads to the dungeon area. Maybe give it some windows and describe evocative wild life on the trip down.

[Lynos]

Thanks, guys, for the suggestions. Yeah, seems like I'll have to make up most of it. But that's in the job description, I guess.

Something about this idea of the diving bells strikes me as very steampunk. I half expect Captain Nemo's submarine to turn up from somewhere.

[VoodistMonk]

It is very steampunk BioShock-esque. The bells are literally just elevators.

The game dynamics already available to adventure with the bells would be attacking, or decaying (think: old/ancient) the cables/ropes/chains lowering and raising the bells. Pesky rogue plugging or poisoning the air supply at the surface. Having a turtle dragon pursue the bell on its ascent like a chase adventure with the party shooting out of the bottom of the bell, trying to delay being swallowed before reaching the surface.

The bells, themselves, do not need actual stats.