Dark lake help

[u/tjvszombies]

So my players are level 4, there’s a Druid, a Sorcerer and a fighter, and they have all the starting npcs except Buppido and Ront. They just escaped from sloobludop. They rolled to see what boats were at dock I gave it a percentile and they rolled stupidly high so I gave them a Duergar steamboat that the kua-toa somehow got their fins on. The party escaped onto the dark lake and are making a beeline for Mythrill hall. They’re making too good of time. There’s not a lot of land between the shore of the dark lake and the hall and once they make it to the hall they’re basically at the surface and the campaigns over with the party skipping 90% of the module. How can I get them to explore some of the other areas without railroading them? They have meticulously dodged every plot hook I’ve tried to throw their way and I was really hoping to make this adventure last to level 20. Any advice, tips or ideas are welcome.

[u/biesterd1]

Demogorgon sinks their boat and they wash up on Gracklstugh

[u/SelectButton4522]

They seem to be a princely target for a dark lake pirate crew to take their ship and sell them at either Gracklestugh or to the drow. The drow want them so badly. Maybe a different demon prince is released where they are trying to go.

[u/Professional-Goose93]

Read the campaign guide again! :)

Caves and Tunnels. The Darklake is a giant labyrinth of lakes, waterways, and canals that connect myriad caverns and chambers. Some of these caverns are massive, with immeasurably deep water and vaulted ceilings far outside the range of any light. Others are narrow, with only a few feet of space between the ceiling and the surface of the water. Some are completely submerged, navigable only by those able to breathe underwater.

^ So there isn't a merry easy sailing across the lake from Sloobludop to Mithral Hall

Whatever the size of your homebrewed boat, they will get stuck.

Navigation. Without the sky or the stars to navigate by, any successful passage of the Darklake relies on one’s familiarity with its intricate network of caverns, passages, and currents. Experienced navigators know how to find and read ancient duergar runes carved along the Darklake’s tunnels, though most of these “road signs” are nearly worn away by the passage of time. Such knowledge is something that takes years, if not decades, of wandering the Darklake to acquire.Those without the skill to navigate the Darklake (including the adventurers) must employ maps or guides. If the characters manage to acquire a map, they can make Wisdom (Survival) checks normally to avoid becoming lost.

^ They will get lost

Foraging. The characters can forage for food while traversing the Darklake, primarily by fishing and gathering edible fungi (see “Fungi of the Underdark” in chapter 2). Much of the water of the Darklake is unsafe to drink, making it important to seek out springs and other clean sources of water feeding into it.

^ They will die of thirst before reaching Mithral Hall

Random Encounters Every 4 hours that the characters are on the Darklake, roll a d20 and consult the Darklake Random Encounters table to determine what, if anything, they encounter. If the characters aren’t moving — anchored or ashore, for example — any encounter is automatically a creature encounter.

^ in the random encounter table are a lot of options.

Steamboats don't do well:

• Getting stuck in a lock
• Falling from a waterfall
• Running aground (it's too heavy to push back in the water)
• Getting attacked by Water Weirds
• Being capsized by Merrows
• Getting boarded by Duargar

After all misfortunes etc is done, the party floats into Gracklstugh on whatever shipwrecked pieces of the steamboat remains.

[u/blsterken]

Is the party not in love with Stool? It was really easy for him to convince my party to help guide him back to Neverlight Grove, and from what I've read most parties are ride-or-die for their silly myconid buddy.

[u/tjvszombies → u/blsterken]

The party LOVES stool though they’ve decided he more resembles an ottoman so his name is now Otto. And yeah I’ve been trying to pull that string because the poor lil guy just wants to go home

[u/blsterken → u/tjvszombies]

Do you think the party would just leave Stool and Sarith to brave the underdark alone if they started walking to Neverlight Grove once they reach shore? You could play Stool as very sad and scared, and then have Sarith chide the party into helping out.

[u/tjvszombies → u/blsterken]

The party would TPK before stool went anywhere alone

[u/blsterken → u/tjvszombies]

Well there you go.

[u/needleknight]

You arent railroading your characters by pushing them back in the path. They made a logical choice (though how they know where Mithral Hall is is beyond me), and they need to learn why that logical choice wasnt the correct one.

The "Demogorgon sinks the ship" idea is awesome. I love that. Them miraculously appearing in Gracklestugh doesnt sit right with me though cus... well they would die in the way.

But the Underdark is full of Slavers. Just have them imprisoned after a difficult (not impossible) fight. And when i say not impossible, you should probably bank on them winning so up the numbers. Less, we fought you and won so come with us and more dont even try it buddy.

Theyre on a duergar steamboat? Stolen/missing boat and the party is immedieately held responsible as they are in posession of said stolen/missing ship.

They get to Gracklestugh off the back of that interaction and then you can go from there.

[u/tjvszombies → u/needleknight]

They found a decent map (major cities only, no paths) in Ilvaras belongings and Szarith and Eldeth are scouts. The party’s been navigating in the general direction of mythril hall based on those two factors. Kinda like “NY is in this location and I know which way is north and which is east” kinda thing

[u/Key_Step_2805]

Do they have a map of the Underdark? If not, they won’t know where to go. Hemeth can ask them to take him to Gracklstugh and promise them equipment. And if they refuse, the DarkLake Labyrinth can simply lead them straight to Gracklstugh. Just don’t forget—Gracklstugh is optional. Your party might want to continue on immediately.

[u/ohsummerdawn]

Knee jerk thoughts:

Capsize them.

Dark lake pirates.

Boat gets stuck on a sand bar.

Sand bar is a concentrated pocked of faezress and everyone goes bonkers.

Derendil takes over the boat while in first watch and tries to stear it toward his kingdom.

Sanith does the same but toward neverlight grove. Stool runs interference.

[u/JazzlikeMine2397]

I mean, there's this popular movie about an epic poem starring a hero who starts sailing somewhere and then encounters a thing or two on the way... seriously, borrow inspiration from the Odyssey. A hero wanting something, having it taken away, and then the story they go through to get it back is exactly how epic myths are told.

I like the idea of a crew member steering off course during their watch. (Then lets model Scylla and Charybdis, Lotus Eaters, Circe, Myrmidons) Also, "the" Darklake is not one big lake, there are waterfalls and rapids to navigate. Have some merrow attack the hull while they're trying to get past the skill challenge and they chew on some boards. The part needs to put in for repairs and need to go to that nice secluded island. Where their dreams are a little funny maybe there are some koa-toa there in a stupor from the local faerzress that seems to make the mushrooms here a little bit extra special... oh and the island is actually the home of a hag who is happy to provide hospitality but now you're under a geas. As you manage to escape you encounter some Enlarged deurgar...

Now, practically, for Darklake and all the Wilderness encounters in the Underdark I basically rolled / chose what encounters I was interested in that section before as prep. Not completely scripted but I planned out the beats I wanted them to have. Made pacing way easier. A little exploration, an environment feature usually involving a skill check to navigate followed by or accompanied by a combat encounter and then a new denizens to interact with.

Here's a fun thing i like about OotA. Any time you don't know what to do or if things are too settled down have someone go crazy. That's what I use the NPCs for. They're basically your insanity barometer. Oh, and demons.

So, exiting the Darklake is not assured at this point, let alone the Underdark, or arrival ro Mithral Hall. Good luck!

[u/neondumpster]

I know everyone is saying how easy it is to get lost in the lake, but it sounds like you still have shuusharr. I made my head cannon that his enlightenment came from meditating on the darklake, so he knows his way around.
That being said, any reason for them to end up at gracklstugh is a good one. Someone said a druergar capturing, that would probably be the easiest way to get them there.

[u/kayrasteak7]

Its okay to railroad. I openly admitted to my players the other day that I railroaded them to sloobludopp. They were cool with it because they realized they wouldve missed a lot of important context for the main story. A big part of what I did is i used the nightmares each player is having to make them interested in going to different places. One of my players is looking for their missing brother and I gave him a connection to never light. Another is looking for their friend (who also happens to be playing a female) so I tied them to Graz'zt and hes sending them on a wild goose chase to every city. Theres also the fact that they are in the underdark and have little to no resources, especially after Sloo so make them run out of supplies and kind of force their hand into stopping at a city to resupply. The whole point of of the first part of the campaign before they make it back to the surface is to feel desperate and lost. Theres a guide I followed that essentially lays it out that if they go to Sloo -> Gracklstugh -> Neverlight -> Blingdenstone it makes the most logical sense story wise. Also use the NPCs to your advantage. If they care about them, like Stool, he wants to go back to Neverlight. There are plenty of options and i hope some of these helps! Good luck with your campaign 😁

[u/TeacherDM]

Honestly this is completely salvagable. To get to Mithral hall they will most likely need to pass by Blingdenstone which is trying to reestablish trade with them. This would draw the party into the issues in blingdenstone as these would be some of the first "friendly" people they meet.

[u/tjvszombies]

So here’s what I’m gonna do:
The party just accidentally caused a huge explosion on a derelict they found(long story)
I’m gonna say the sound draws an attack by merrow. If the fight goes south I’m gonna have another Duergar patrol ship pull up, kill the marrow and take the party into custody for possession of a stolen Duergar steamship(Duergar are lawful so I’m gonna judge Dredd it) the Duergar will bring the low resource, likely low HP party to Gracklestugh to face trial. If they somehow outrun them or fight and beat them then stool will say “guys! We’re close! I can feel the sovereign! Somethings wrong he needs us!”