In a couple hours we will be revealing additional stretch goals for Terror From The UnderDeep. These include backer submissions, additional content, upgrades to the clamshell box, and a couple great ideas suggested by backers. Watch live at 11am Pacific / 2pm Eastern right here on the project page!
In the meantime, lead designer Chris Doyle has put together some thoughts on what inspired Terror From The UnderDeep. We think you'll enjoy this design diary. If you think the title and cover design seem inspired by pulp horror - you would be right!
Terror From The UnderDeep, Inspirations (part 1)
By Chris Doyle
The 5E design team looks for inspiration in many places. Sure, movies, TV shows, books, and comics all come to mind. Heck, I’ve even gotten inspiration from Sesame Street of all places. But inspiration is all around us in the real world too. It's in the places we visit, the people we meet and the very experiences we have. Terror from the UnderDeep is no different, as we drew inspirations from many sources.
Let’s start with the title: Terror from the UnderDeep. Sounds familiar? Yes, we grabbed that from the old cult classic movies from the 1950’s. Using a similar font on the cover treatment was the icing on the cake. Huge thanks to Matt Hildbrand for coming up with this title during one of our numerous brainstorming sessions.
When we were designing the crazed cult that worships the kraken, we wanted something that was mysterious, but also gave a nod to the cult’s origins. We settled on the Cult of the Beast. The inspiration came from the one of Peter Benchley’s lesser-known novels, The Beast. That’s right! The author of Jaws also penned a novel about a giant squid terrorizing a coastal town. It never made it to the big screen, but there was a made for TV mini-series I recall fondly. In my opinion, that was perfect. What about the mysterious eldritch Sunken City in the UnderDeep, which features prominently in Chapter 16? We wanted an alien urban site at home to numerous clashing factions, such as the cult, the kuo-toa, a determined lich, and a cadre of aboleth, all with their own designs. The first part of the inspiration came from I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City. For this, we wanted an expansive city map, but very few areas fully-detailed. We wanted the GM to have a “blank canvas” to take their design in any direction. Next, we wanted the buildings to have an “alien” architecture and the streets to be flooded canals. For that, we took inspiration from the city of Venice, Italy. We believe the result is a setting that will give your players many sessions of thrilling adventure in an exotic location. These are but a few examples of the inspirations we used to make this “Giant Box of 5E Adventure” truly special. Stay tuned for another inspiration essay regarding the Kraken.
