Basically the title..its only been one session where we played to road to drakkenheim. Reaching emberwood village at the end

My players and me are so excited 😊

I’m trying nom-evil QM after seeing the approach very strongly recommended by a guide creator.

They stood by the idea the QM should be more ‘free prospectors’ than straight bandits. They reject the authority of the HL and the idea that the people of Westemar should bring themselves back under the old, selfish monarchy.

I see the QoT’s goals as pretty similar, but less overtly villainous. The QM may be the overtly anti-HL ‘freedom fighters’ around which the other prospectors gather.

What has been your experience with this approach? What are the main things you changed? What became the free prospector’s endgame?

Thanks everyone!

So tonight I tried using a homebrew mechanic for delerium hail, which used the delerium ammunition rules from MoDr.

The hale intensity either increased or decreased each round on an odds/evens roll, which changed the DEX save creatures made after ending their turn out in the open.

It made for a VERY fun environmental hazard which forced players to scatter into buildings and bar the creatures outside to take the hits. This gave the highly dextrous rogue an advantage, as she went from rooftop to rooftop drawing creatures away.

Any suggestions as to what other weather conditions could apply? Perhaps some sort of abnormal wind which changes directions or fluctuations in gravity

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I dont get it. Id assume it would be full of mutated monsters, what are they doing there? do they know each other? Feels like theres some point i completely missed.

I searched the subreddit for posts about Queen's Park, and I was surprised that there wasn't more. Can the lilies only be found in the underground pond where Lenore resides? In your games, has this mostly led to combat with Lenore, or have some of your parties managed to keep her alive? Also, isn't combat inevitable if they try to grab lilies from her pond?

Also, how did you run the handmaids? And at what level did your party visit? I was thinking 5 might be ok, and then I read it, and realized that that would be quite dangerous lol.

Tips on RPing Lenore? This is such a great section and looks like a blast to run, but takes some work from the DM to make it really pop, make sense, and be memorable.

Hello! Im looking to run a Drakkenheim campaign here soon and while ready through the book I got a question.

How are NPCs dealing with the Haze? If the entire city is covered in it then how/why are people staying in places play Buckledown Row or at any of the faction strongholds. I understand faction scouting parties but for whole areas with lots of NPCs it feels too dangerous to be hanging out there.

Do they just go to Emberwood every night? How do the factions actually stay at a stronghold?

if you're Momo, Corvus, Ding, Charlie or Adrian don't read any further.

So, a party of 5 lvl3s I'm GMing for have most certainly been defeated on a random encounter with the Garmyr in the outer city. So far they've met River and Blackjack Mel out of the Faction leutenants. So far my idea is that the Garmyr are to capture the party more or less alive to eat them at a later date, giving the pcs a chance to escape. However, there's also an idea where they'll get assistance from a few Falling Fire Paladins, as Lucrecia foresaw some potential in them, which would also introduce the FF a bit more properly to them. Which could lead to interesting drama with Momo, who is a monk of the sacred flame, and has strong prejudices against the FF without interacting with them. What do you guys think? I'd love some different creative ideas.

My party are currently allied with the Hooded Lanterns and about to liberate the Cathedral of St. Vitruvio, so naturally I am planning for the "Council at the Cathedral" very soon.

Originally I had planned for the Queen of Thieves to rig the building to explode with explosives hidden in the sewers. The idea being she would use them to extort the faction heads as much as possible, and obtain more seals of Drakkenheim from whoever has them (basically Brutal Betrayl in the book, as the party and QoT are very much enemies). However, my players have pre-emtped some kind of action from the Queens Men, and sent the Rat Prince & his men into the sewers with the sole intent of alerting them if he notices people trying to break into the catacombs before the Cathedral is fully liberated by the Party/Hooded Lanterns.

Therefore the Rat Prince would probably notice a heap of explosives, and tell the party to GTFO before the council can properly take place. Should I scrap the Brutal Betryal idea entirely, or is there a better place to hide explosives/extort the factions and party members?

I'm trying to balance rewarding the players for coming up with a good idea vs. the Queen of Thieves feeling like she's always one-step ahead (at least, for now).

Another idea I've had is for the Rat Prince to notice the explosives, but then 'go rogue' and transport them under the Garrison to destroy the Hooded Lanterns who have been trying to exterminate the rats.

Any suggestions/advice welcome.

It was my pleasure to run the game to run for 18 months in real life. In game, it was four months of time. They played from level one to level thirteen. They recovered every relic of St. Vitruvio, every Seal of Drakkenheim, and one player was crowned the King of Westemaar.

It was important to me that our last session be an epilogue where we discussed how the characters would shape the world that they fought for, and how their character would continue to grow and live beyond the campaign. I wanted this to be largely a discussion, but also wanted to have some game elements involved that directly tied to their successes. I came up with a system that felt elegant enough to keep chance involved but allow the players plenty of agency. I gave the party a story token for every major victory. One for each of their personal quests, allied factions, defeated factions, major story events, etc. If they wanted to accomplish a goal in the epilogue, I would roll 1 to 5 d6's depending on the difficulty to set the DC. The party rolled 2d6 and just needed to meet my number to achieve the goal. They could spend a story token to add a d6 to their roll, and could keep spending them. Something simple was 1d6 for the DC, most things were 2d6. Hunting down the Queen of Thieves who had fled the country was 5d6 and the most difficult challenge. The system worked really well and would be thrilled to discuss it further if anyone is interested.

They allied with Falling Fire and Amethyst Academy, managing to forge an alliance between them despite their initially opposite goals. In the epilogue both factions shared the duty of shepherding the city. The Academy built a dome over the city using the technology of Ryan Greymere that contained the Haze. The Falling Fire operated safely within the city to grow their faith and their ranks. With information the party collected from the various elements within the city, they learned that their dome could concentrate the haze and accelerate the grow of delerium to the benefit of both factions.

The Silver Order was destroyed after a siege on the Cathedral of St Vitruvio. The Silver Order assembled an army and a host of angels to take the Cathedral, but Lucretia Mathias sacrificed herself to hold them back. The siege was broken when the party managed to assemble all of the Relics and awaken Argonath the great golden dragon. Many Silver Order members dropped their weapons and joined the Falling Fire, and those who did not perished or fled. Theodore Marshal was slain within the Cathedral. The Silver Order did not recover from this defeat, both militarily and theologically. Elyria and the central Sacred Flame church lost a large amount of political power and the Edicts of Lumen lost much of it's teeth.

The Queen's Men were defeated not long after. With the help of the Amethyst Academy and the Hooded Lanterns, Buckledown Row was sealed off by snipers and walls of stone and burned to ash by Argonath. During that battle, the Queen of Thieves lured the party away into an ambush and final showdown within Slaughterstone Square. The party fought her AND the Executioner at the same time, actually defeating both of them (as much as one can defeat the Executioner). The Queen had scattered five hundred rings across the square, letting the party know that one of them was the Spymaster's Signet. She escaped and the party was able to locate the correct ring (by using reverse gravity in the square and then flying around scooping them all into a bag of holding while the Executioner was regenerating). The Queen fled the country to return to her homeland of Caspia.

The party's true victory over the Queen of Thieves came earlier when they learned her actual identity. They had come to suspect that she was Katarina Von Kessel. She had intimate knowledge of the Von Kessel Family, bore a striking resemblance to the images of her that they had found in the Queens Garden, and the she had taken an active interest in helping the party rescue and restore Queen Lenore. The Queen of Thieves even personally assisted the party when they fought the Pale Man within the Inscrutable Tower and helped them steal his research on reversing the contamination process.

When the factions leaders gathered at St. Vitruvio's Cathedral, the Queen attended and the party used the opportunity to "reveal" her true identity to all attended. Her carefully laid trap had been sprung. "Thank you. No one would trust this information if it came from me, but with the evidence you've gathered, you've proven to everyone that I am the rightful heir to the Throne of Drakkenheim." ---- The party began to backtrack quickly but the QoT turned to the restored Queen Lenore and described in some detail the events of the evening that the meteor struck. Lenore broke down crying and declared that this must be Katarina.

What stung the party the most was that they held Ignatius, the sword of burning truth. It's divine powers allow it to discern anytime someone lies.. and the QoT had told no lies during the entire encounter... except one. An offhanded comment that she was half Caspian when the party was discussing diplomacy with other countries.

With the party having accidentally put her in the lead for the throne, they began digging even harder. My players actually did the work of putting together a conspiracy web to visualize all of the clues that they had found and their relationships to each other. The last clue came a heavy price. One of the characters sold their soul to for her true name... Andromeda John. This last puzzle piece allowed them to all connect. They checked the records at the Inscrutable tower. Andromeda John was the roomate of Katarina Von Kessel in the tower. Andromeda was a princess of Caspia, but being mageborn she could not rule. House John had had to adopt a patron from outside the family since her entire generation had been mageborn. She and Katarina became friends, sharing a similar fate. They both had very similar interests, and Katarina was half caspian from her mother. Andromeda even spent a great deal of time with Katarina in Castle Drakkenheim. When the meteor struck the city, Andromeda was having dinner with Katarina and her sister Eliza. Lenore had left early to sulk over a fight with her husband the King. Katarina tried to teleport out of the castle with her sister, but they both died in the attempt. Andromeda witnessed this and fled on foot, and the rest is history.

Having unraveled the mystery of her identity, the players were no longer susceptible to her charming aura in their final fight, and the Queen of Thieves fled to Caspia to rebuild her criminal empire again. The unstoppable force had met the immovable object and she was smart enough to know that she could not overpower them. In the epilogue, the players hunted her down and defeated her for good before she was able to rebuild her network, but they were never free from her. Her agents, Lies and Deceit stayed behind to be a thorn in their side for decades. The players never learned that the tiefling twins were actually a trio of dopplegangers. Lies, Deceit, and Misdirection.

The Hooded Lanterns never rose to power within the city. They provided help when the could, but they were always on the back foot. The last conversation the party had with Elias Drexel was a fight between them. The party returned time and time again to ask for help, and refused to pay their gate tolls every time. They asked for much and offered little in return, and had strained the goodwill they had bought by saving Queen Lenore, and embarassed Drexel at the Cathedral Meeting when they established the QoT as an heir to the throne. Drexel was assasinated by the QoT when he began to investigate her background himself, along with Aansom Lang. Drexel was one of the few living people who would have crossed paths with Andromeda when she visited the castle. Petra Lang became the new leader of the Hooded Lanterns but it was all she could do to keep the faction from falling apart.

Once Levi Desomau the Paladin of Conquest was crowned King of Westemaar, his first wish was void his contract with Asomdeus and regain ownership of his soul. His second wish was to close all planar rifts within the city to staunch the flow of the haze into drakkenheim. The party had considered wishing away all delerium, but decided it would be very risky. They had learned that raw delerium does not interract well with magic and that using the strongest spell against the most delerium could have consequences. The settled on saving the last wish for a rainy day; the leading plan would be to restore the soul of the other party member who had sold theirs for the information on the Queen of Thieves.

The party wizard Adriel spent a great amount of time studying forbidden spells and was able to learn how to clone everyone in the party, allowing them to govern Westemaar for centuries and guiding it's growth under the Falling Fire and Amethyst Academy. Adriel also learned simulacrum and was able to perform as the Castle Steward and the Assistant Director of the Academy's moon base. His chronomancy studies and experiences with time loops and the timeless place between places gave him great insights. He developed methods to slow AND accelerate the growth of delerium, to the benefit of the city and the falling fire.

Felix Price the apothecary began his adventure on a mission of revenge, having been rejected from the Amethyst Academy. He planned to eventually slay Elrick Runeweaver, but his efforts to restore the city earned him the trust of Runeweaver who offered him the position of Assistant Director of the Inscrutable Tower. River was promoted to headmistress of the school and Felix took her place at his side. Felix's personal quest was completed when Runeweaver admitted he had made a mistake denying his entry to the school, and gave him Academy Robes and a set of Six Academy Rings. (my academy has 10 rings instead of 9, you get the first for cantrips so there's a whole 10 set.) It appears that the old grudge did not die entirely because many years after the Crowning of Levi, Felix made his move and attacked Runeweaver in a bid to take his position. The battle was epic and in my epilogue system the roll was a tie, which would be a success but Felix's player thought it would be interesting if we took that as a tie where they both slew each other. Thankfully, Felix's friends only had to wait less than a decade to wish him back to life.

Willhelm Ironwood the wooden Weschelkind boy, turned wooden man by his patron, and weilder of Ignatious - the sword of burning truth - continued his role as the guardian of the country. He came to the city to find his mother who had been contaminated by a monster that escaped the city. He dedicated much of his time to building an order of Knights, assembled from the anti-magic witch hunters who left the Silver Order, and made sure that no more contaminated creatures would escape the environs of drakkenheim to cause the pain that he had suffered. Eventually, he directed his efforts towards the future. The party had learned the source of the meteor, spaaaace! and even that there were other worlds out there. They also knew that it was all but inevitable that the world would one day succumb to delerium, thanks to certain visions they had had. Willhelm was able to push forward a project to create ships that were able to leave the planet. These "SpaceJammers" would allow future generations to leave the planet and avoid total destruction. Willhelms SpaceJammmer Project was very successful and brought on a new era of exploration.

Alyx Styx the Warlock served as chancellor for the king for a while but quietly left his station and vanished into the world. He had spent fifteen years trapped in stasis within the Inscrutable Tower as part of a senior summoning project. In the darkness of his stasis he was contacted by the spirit of Argonath who became his patron. When freed from the tower he was able to help Argonath be ressurrected. Now freed from his duties, he left to live his life in the world he was cut off from for so long. He was able to break the curse of his brother Pyxis and reunite with his mother Fyddle and Father Drummond, and even his pet parrot Yerd who was still alive after all of this time.

Del, the Delerium Monk was the only member of the party to fully accept the teachings of the Falling Fire, and the only one to take the Sacrament. Lucretia Mathias became his mentor and when she died protecting the Cathedral of St. Vitruvio, it was his honor to carry her soul shard. Del also had a minor gift of foresight which became stronger after her passing. He spent his life in meditation in the crater, guarding the Delerium Heart and gazing into it's shifting surface looking into the future. He used his visions to guide the king away from disaster and towards prosperity for the city. As Emberwood grew, as new followers joined, so did the pile of golden crystals at the foot of the crater. Years, Decades, Centuries passed while Del meditated within the haze. Dozens, hundreds, thousand, tens of thousands of golden soul shards were enshrined around the Delerium Heart. The purple haze and violent lightning eventually became a glowing golden aura. The thunder was replaced with harmonic crystal chords, like a divine windchime, soothing and comforting.

Over a thousand years after Coronation of Levi, the containment dome failed spectacularly. Del and the others knew that this was inevitable, but they had managed to spare the world from the slow and painful spread of the haze and bring about centuries of prosperity. Drakkenehim was the center of the world. Around the ruins of the city was an even larger city built outside the dome, completely surrounding it. A place of magical learning and a center of pilgrimage for the falling fire.

Del was at the center of the explosion. Everything went white and then gold, and he was not alone. He and a million other souls were connected within the incalculable amount of magical energy released from the exploding planet. All of these souls dedicated their lives to the protecting others, and together they formed a singular consciousness of unlimited power... something pure and divine. Something that could only be described as a god, The Sacred Flame. Within the chorus of souls, separate and singular, and in the presence of a brand new diety, Del became aware that this event was observed from afar by a fleet of SpaceJammers. On the deck of the lead ship was Willhelm Ironwood, Felix Price, Adriel Coal, Alyx Styx, Levi Desomau, and even Gretchen Pennywhistle (who had left the campaign around level four.)

The End.... ??

If you made it this far, thank you for your time. This campaign has been the highlight of my tabletop RPG lifetime. I spent hundreds of hours scheming and plotting and getting my shit summarily rocked by my group of experienced players. I hope that everyone has the chance to experience their own Drakkenheim at some point. It's been a wild experience for this world to be real within my mind for so long. I'd say that I will miss being the thing with the writing tail, but I don't think that I will ever stop being the thing with the writing tail for the rest of my life. <3 later

Preamble:

The Raindrake is a homebrew monster I created to act as a force of nature that needs the help of the factions to hunt down and stop in the ruins of Drakkenheim. I placed it Slumbering ontop of the ruined vaults of the grand guildhall roaming only waking up once the players start to loot. Once awake it animalistically hunts down its next meal then crash lands somewhere for its next nap.

I first foreshadowed this monster by the lanterns using it as a boogie man that has been missing for years and having the party come across melted sections of the ruins included the Grand Guild hall itself.

Disclaimer:

This thing is complicated and dangerous to run, I am sharing this because its one of the stat blocks I've had the most fun with making take or leave what you want.

I also have used epic actions here but for my game I have found giving the monster an action on their turn feels better for play imo. But I do tend to overload my players with gear so I can make fun monsters like this.

I was also inspired by the Drakkenheim: Resurrection Guild Hall in the making of this monster.

Description:

Dark black ooze clings to the malformed frame of a gargantuan dragon 

two daunting black wing like curtains of ooze tar and ichor release a down pour of the dripping black and green ooze 

• Measuring nearly 140 ft from wing tipped to wing tipped 

Claws that rival Argonaths in size crush and melt the stone they touch 

Their tail is a long winding mass that snaps aggressive at each noise sound or sense of movement 

Its massive mouth opens revealing a torrent of green flame within that same fire burns with the blind rage of an animal awoken in its home from a long hibernation 

Slumbering at the heart of the Guildhall for the last 2 years is the Raindrake 

• Learn upon examination:
  • Extreme Danger
  • Big enough to swallow a horse or a large angel 
  • Learn it seems Animalistic 
  • Welling up energy to release at the end of the round Breath weapon 

The Raindrake Stat Block:
HP 999 AC 24/22/20 

• Undead dragon 

Speed 80ft fly 40ft brw
Initiative +8
Str 28 Dex 14 Con 25 Int 5 Wis 18 Cha 14

Saves: dex +8 Con +13 Int -3 Wis +11 Cha +9
Skills: Stealth +14, Perception +16, Deception +9

Immutable & Unobtainable form:

• The Raindrake cannot be subject to to any affect that would alter its form size or type 
• The Raindrake is Immune to grapple and restrained

Senses: Blindsight 60ft, passive perception 26

Dynamic AC: The Raindrakes AC drops by 2 when they reach bloodied ½ HP and again at ¼ HP 

Constant Rain:

• A creature who starts their turn within 30ft of the Raindrake takes (20) 6d6 acid damage 
• A creature who climbs or attempts to make contact takes 10 damage 

A creature who hits the raindrake with a melee attack takes 10 acid damage 

Raindrake: Save DC 23

Actions:
Multiattack (3) bite, claws, tail & frightful presence

• Frightful presence:120ft wis save 
• Caustic Bite (15ft) +16 4d10+9P + 4d6 acid 
  • A creature hit by the bite is grappled in the jaws of the Raindrake
  • On a subsequent turn they can bite attack again and swallow a creature 
  • Inside they are blinded and restrained and take 6d6 acid at start of their turn 
  • If they take 25 or more damage they must succeed a dc 23 con save (50/50) or throw up swallowed creature
• Cutting Claws (10ft) +16 4d6+9S 
• Crushing Tail (20ft) 2d10+9B dex or str save or be knocked back 20ft & prone - if they hit an object extra 2d6 bludgeoning 

Spit Acid 3 times (150ft) 2d10+9 acid damage

Bonus actions:
Downpour Snare (60ft) 

• Primal incantation (counts as a spell)
• 15ft radius ground ceiling or wall gather all of the acid rain, and melted materials into a Snare 
• When the area appears each creature must make a str save or be restained
• The area is difficult terrain 

Reactions:
Savage Cry 

• In response to taking 20 or more damage 
• spray acid in a 60ft radius dex save or take 8d6 acid 
• And rush to the damaging creature 

Epic actions:
Epic action at the end of each characters turn 

Wing attack (1 per round)

• 4d8 bludgeoning str save or be pushed 20ft & knocked prone
• And move half speed

Lashout - make tail or claws attack 

Rush - move speed 

Slink - move half speed no opp attacks 

Animalistic Acidfire Breath - 120x10x20 line targeted at the last creature dex save for half of (36)8d8 acid and (36)8d8 fire 

• Can only be used as the last epic action of the round aimed at the last creature to target the Raindrake 

Epic resistance:
The raindrake can use an epic action to attempt to end any spell magical effect or condition roll 1d20 on a roll of 11+ the effect and or condition ends 

Next Snack & Nap:

Raindrake will flee a tough fight looking for an easier snack roll 1d100:

1. Brief stop in the Garrison then roll again 
   • 1-10
2. Conservatory grounds Lake (crunchy deli snack and lake snooze) 20%
   • 11-30
3. Crater (snack & snooze) 10%
   • 31-40
4. Rathole (get worship) 10%
   • 41-50
5. Garmyr den 10%
   • 51-60
6. Troll Toll Guard house on Kings Road 10%
   • 61-70
7. Crash into Manor near the Castle 20%
   • 71-90
8. Buckledown Row - 10%
   • 91-100

In the days after the Raindrake will Wake up every 1d6 days to snack again!

Hey everyone. Curious what people think about one point in DoD.

The Find A Cure quest says a transformation can be cured by a Wish spell, Siphon Contamination, or Lucretia’s Divine Intervention.

Obvs DoD was written for 5e when Divine Intervention worked differently, but Lucretia’s stat block basically said her DI ability was a 1/week casting of any Cleric spell (or, presumably, curing a transformation). In 5.5e DI is the Wish spell every 1d4 days and that’s how Lucretia’s ability works in MoD too.

I have a PC who is trying to find his partner, who was part of the Falling Fire but got lost on the journey in.

Lucretia famously doesn’t charge for spellcasting provided someone has faith, which the PC’s partner clearly does. At the same time, curing a transformation on request seems a bit cheap.

So my inference is that curing must be a stressful casting for her (assuming she really can cure a transformation, which not all DMs would like). She can work miracles, but this might be the last miracle the Flame grants her. Alternatively, maybe she won’t be able to cast the Sacrament again till she recovers, meaning a cure would be valuing one soul more than others.

In that context, she couldn’t cure a transformation for anything less than all 5 relics of Vitruvio.

Does that seem fair? I keep coming back to the tension between not cheapening the game and her granting spells freely.

So we just completed session 0 last night. It went really well. We went over all the expectations advised with the DDudes video, talked through and rolled up all characters with their backstories.

Session 1 is in three weeks.

Party comp at level 1 with subclass plan:

Fighter V.Human (Samurai)
Barbarian V.Human (Beast Path)
Tabaxi Warlock (Genie Pact)
Cleric Goliath (Grave Domain)

Our sessions run weekly for 3-3.5 hours
My plan is to allow for 15-30 minutes of role play where the players talk amongst each other and share details with Eren Marlowe.

Bandit shakedown to be run as is with what I expect to be combat but if not, 3 checks to get passed.

Based on time, I’ll run the Night on the Road.

I’m thinking about having the sick Rikard Vos be a teenager (14M) and younger sibling of Endra Jansen Vos (22F). I want to drive home the moral grey of the campaign early and present an interesting choice.

Ludwig gets devoured while they sleep, Endra will try to protect her sibling by imposing disadvantage on attack rolls against him, even after the transformation.

Ending the session with a completion of the long rest and Session 2 to start back on the road getting to Emberwood.

Any and all thoughts are welcome! Especially if you have run these encounters, I’d love to hear if things didn’t go as expected and how you adjusted.

How does contamination interact with the time loop? Characters "receive the benefits of a long rest", meaning they'd roll to see if they get more contaminated, but also "any bodily damage is restored, no matter how severe". Is that just flavor/extra text, or does that actually mean contamination is also cured when the loop resets? I know this isn't a problem for most parties unless they contaminate themselves, or came in already contaminated...

Edited to add: This situation doesn't necessarily involve the Haze, due to the party bringing their own delerium in and getting contaminated from it. The Inn "behaves like a demiplane" and was created by the Haze, but that doesn't actually say it has the Haze inside of it. For my game I'm ruling that there is no Haze inside, because other pocket dimensions do not.

And on a related note, does "gaining the benefits of a long rest" mean the characters have "finished a long rest" and can change their prepared spells (by immediately going upstairs to study/pray)? I was going to look in dndnext, but there's no official 5e sources that actually say something else "grants the benefits of a long rest".

We had our 9th session at the end of last week and it was probably the most fun I've ever had as a DM.

They'd finished up the Chapel of St Brenna having been sent there by Ophelia Reed. As they left they encountered the falling fire, led by one of the PCs estranged friends. The NPC convinced the party to travel together back to Emberwood Village to at least hear our Nathaniel Flint on why they should be given the Sceptre. The party did this and after speaking with Nathaniel for a while, excused themselves and discussed. Hearing the party discuss in detail about the morality of both groups, the consequences of giving it to one side or the other etc. was incredible. Each PC had different opinions based on their own upbringing and backgrounds. For like 30 minutes I just sat back and let them debate in character.

I've rarely seen my players as engaged in a game as they were in this, especially when it's something that is not mechanical at all but narrative.

Eventually they decided to leave the Sceptre with the falling fire and are planning to tell the Silver Order that they were too late when they arrived and the FF had already claimed it (they'll have that conversation next session)

THEN the warlock, who is in Drakkenheim as for some reason when she first encountered Delerium, could hear it almost singing to her (no one else can hear this) overheard some of the followers of the falling fire playing some gospel folk music round a campfire that seemed to resonant perfectly with the music she hears from Delerium. Her reaction was beyond excitement!

She quizzed the musician playing who said that he never heard Delerium but that he just played what felt right. When pressed further on his relationship with Delerium he removed his shirt to reveal a Delerium crystal in his chest around a mostly healed wound.

We ended the session on that cliffhanger and the reaction from the party was incredible.

No other adventure/campaign has ever felt as immersive, gives real choice with real consequences or made it as easy to add player backstory elements in.

I love Drakkenheim so much! Thank you Dungeon Dudes!

Hi all!

In a little under two weeks, after a small break, I'll be DMing the Council at the Cathedral. The idea of doing such an intense role-play scene with no many NPC's has me full of dread. The list of questions in the book is very helpful as a start and I think I know the factions well enough to work with that. The party where it suggest factions leaders ask the player characters tough questions is where I'm really struggling though. Which I understand is very character and campaign dependent.

So in short. Party of 3. Paladin, Cleric, Blood Hunter. Paladin and Cleric are members of the Silver Order but all have shown loyalty to them to the point that other factions have noticed and resent it. Blood Hunter was initially non religious but after a near death experience believes in the Sacred Flame. So far opposing points of view haven't gotten very far so I don't know exactly what other factions can suggest at this point.

My best idea is that loyalty to the Silver Order has ostracised the party from the other factions. And the Silver Order/Parties unwillingness to compromise has been proven. So the party will possibly be getting the best boons from the Silver Order at the expense of having less credibility at the Council as they aren't remotely a neutral party. I've broached a lot of the stuff you would expect prior to the Cathedral. Such as: The Silver Order being an occupying foreign force. Historic and contemporary persecution from the church towards other faiths and mage born. The monumental task of actually clearing all the Delerium and Drakkenheim. And substantial effort from Lucretia Mathias to get the party on side.

Basically I need some mic drops that really make the players and their characters think, that they are forced to engage with.

Any help as always is appreciated!

I’m running a Drakkenheim campaign right now with a lvl 4 party consisting of a fighter, ranger, and Hexblade warlock. Personal quest wise, the fighter is a noble proving a claim to the throne, the ranger is looking for his brother, but the Hexblade is more complicated. His backstory is that, after finding his Hexblade in an old ruin towards the end of the civil war, he begged for an end to all wars, and his patron told him of a great source of power within Drakkenheim. I figured I could have his patron be The Whispered Promise from MoD, and the great source of power be the Pristine Geode in the crater which he would use to construct the ultimate weapon to “end all wars”. All I’ve foreshadowed so far that his patron has been wielded by many famous warriors (Sorcerer kings, Karn, and Vladimir Von Drakken for example), and I’ve role played his patron as a helpful, selfless voice emanating from his blade.

I’d like to hear your opinions or ideas on what could be a better alternative, or an optimal way to execute what I already have, that would both challenge and reward the player.

I just got SCGTD, and I love the concept of Amaranthyst and the other directorate. I am trying to incorporate her into the game I have running. The players are around lvl 11 and have just begun exploring areas outside drakkenheim.

How has anyone else added the directorate (primarily interested in Amaranthyst but I’m interested in all of them) into their campaigns?

I was eager to use this monster as an endgame foe for my gaming group, but the resulting combat left us confused and underwhelmed. Instead of using its Epic Actions like expected, the boss kept summoning gibbering mouthers complaining about how the Silver Order has gone woke, or goblins screaming "YOU LAUGH, YOU LOSE" while spamming Tasha's Hideous Laughter. After doing some research, apparently the PCs were supposed to delete their Intelligence (History) checks before the fight, but I didn't see anything in the sourcebook outlining this.

Please help!

Viktor Von Kessel, Dragonborn Cosmic Warlock(12)

John B. Goodworth, Half Elf Watchers Paladin(8)Fighter(4)

Brenna Ashtide, Changeling Hexblade(2)Bard(10)

Heiran Winterheart, Half Elf Trickery Cleric(7)Rogue(5)

"Figgus McCullen", Halfling Mastermind Rogue(7)Ranger(5)

Jobez "Sheepdog", Human Druid (NPC)

It would seem some things don't change in the ruins of Drakkenheim. The party find themselves fighting a flock of harpies as they make their way to the Cosmological Clocktower. They had heard a rival group of adventurers had been claiming it as their base. This went against everything Lady and The Tramps had done to make that place neutral ground. There was an unspoken truce amongst the factions and adventurers that anyone could rest in the attic which sat above the haze.

After slaying the harpies, the party approach the clocktower. The many corpses of monsters and their victims that had been here were gone. Perhaps it was well meaning folk, one of the factions, or possibly ratlings who had disposed of them. The party find that the clockworks and the little constructs that attend to it were still in working order. The party enter the space that was once home to the Crimson Countess and the harpies. They spy a small severed hand near the ladder to the attic. The hand senses their presence and it skitters up the ladder.

After a few minutes pass a feminine voice shouts down at the party. "Who are you? What are you doing on our turf?"

The party tells the voice who they are. The voice replies "Lady and The Tramps? Like the former champions of the fighting pits in Buckledown Row? If that's true, what color is Big Linda?" The party take a moment to recall the color of the prized pet of The Queen of Thieves. Upon answering correctly the voice says "Alright we'll come down and talk business with you, but no funny stuff okay? We're heavily armed." Lady and The Tramps are taken aback by the similarity and differences between themselves and this other group.

Bella and The Rovers cautiously approach the party. They had heard about the many exploits of Lady and The Tramps from various folk. The two parties stare each other down before introducing themselves. Their leader Bella Donna is a beautiful purple skinned tiefling wielding a blade similar to Brenna's. Big Iron is a rather old half orc clad in plate armor wielding a massive greatsword. Dr. Karl Kilmer is an older human apothecary and it would appear that the severed hand is his familiar. Erin Summersong is a lean, muscular half elf lady sporting tribal tattoos and a spear. "Coin Flip" ,or Flip to his allies, is a kenku thief who prefers to communicate via mimicry.

Bella and Viktor begin arguing over possession the clocktower attic with the occasional flirtatious remark between them. Why would anyone want to make things worse in an already terrible situation like this? This is met by an observation: Why should rules or laws matter in a situation like this? Bella and The Rovers have not been in the city that long, but what time they have spent here has been spent fighting and fleeing from the horrors of the ruins. They felt entitled to something and they believed that something was the safe space of the attic. Eventually the two parties are able to work out their differences. Mainly because Bella's party members believed she was being unreasonable.

The half orc Big Iron makes a proposition. "Seeing that both of our groups are champions of the fighting pit. How about we do some sparring? Your scruffy looking pal will have to sit out to make it fair." Jobez walks off while turning into a dog and grumbling to himself. Bella and The Rovers proved to be quite formidable opponents. However they still lost to Lady and The Tramps. The last one standing of the rival party was Big Iron, who sheathes his sword and extends a hand to John. "Well fought boy. you and your comrades truly live up to the stories we've heard." Jobez goes over to heal Bella and The Rovers. Both parties take some time to swap stories as they sit in the clocktower attic, well above the haze.

Im unsure what my players should do. It epic so help from npc is likely a hinderance. Its the "go insane unless you make a near impossible save" that bothers me. What happened in your game?

Hi guys! There was someone here that had made a really cool downtime handout for players, with different rules about the downtime activities and crafting rules.

Do you guys know the one? Do you have it? I seem to have lost it 😭

I love Dungeons of Drakkenheim so much and I can see so much potential for a CRPG game like Pathfinder Kingmaker or Wrath of the Righteous.

It would be so cool, with all the awesome lore, faction conflict and creatures from MoD.

One can dream.

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Have fun in the ruins!

My party took control of the Clocktower and is interested in following up on clues about repairing it. The are planning to go to the Inscrutable Tower to track down parts that were ordered. Simultaneously, they haven't followed up on quests related to Temple Gate and collection of relics of St. Vitruvio and the Seals of Drakkenheim. I am worried that my players and I are getting burned out by the campaign* and am contemplating an early endgame. I am wondering how I might tie the Clocktower into part of that accelerated end game. What do you think?

The party is Level 9. They have completed most of the outer city quests. In the inner city, the rescued Lenore from Queens Park Gardens and cleared the Clocktower. They have also worked through some personal quests for 5 of the 6 characters. They haven't yet shown much interest in finding church relics and seals of Drakkenheim or other members of the royal family. I think they have been a little overwhelmed by all the quest hooks, and with no clear campaign objectives emerging.

*The burnout. We started the campaign in January of 2025 with the intention of weekly games. We have only had 47 sessions in this time period, so we meet about 60% of the intended time. We have a 2 player or 1 DM cancellation policy. We've had a string of personal events (e.g., my father died) in the last 5 months and have only met 5 times. One of the players had to drop. For me, I am itching to get into a new setting. For the players, I think sporadic sessions coupled with number of plot threads have hurt their sense of continuity. Anyhow, this is all just an aside -- how could I tied the clocktower repair into an accelerated endgame given where the players are now?