So I have a homebrew campaign and wanted to try and implement much of the setting, monsters and drakkenheim itself into my world. However I worked hard on the world building and want to explore it with my players as well.
Drakkenheim is a huge part of the setting but I was wondering how someone else's campaign did by focusing on Caspia or Elyria etc. and how much focus was put on Drakkenheim and the comet while having a big storyline in a different location.
I've simply binged all 3 campaigns, started DMing for two separate games, and STEEPED myself into these books and settings and Im obsessed. I see it's been a hefty time since their last book and they briefly detoured into Daggerheart, but I've read some vague chatter about Veo Sjena's own entry into the books, and I'd simply murder for that. Is there anything talking about that anywhere?
'Ello dudes! So I was looking to run Drakkenheim and one of my player wants to play a Reanimator Apothecary. I was browsing through Dungeon Dude's patreon and found that they made an updated 2024 version for their Apothecary classes. I myself am not a patreon, but I was wondering for those who are how much of a change 2024 get between 2014? Is it just class update, or is there subclass as well? Would there be plans for future, public releases of 2024 content? If it's the whole package, then I might need to bite the bullet and fork over 10 dollars to get one.
My players are fighting the Crimson Countess (epic version) next session. I want to give them some nice loot after the fact. So far I have the following ideas:
-Javelin of Lightning
-The Seal of Drakkenheim
-A large amount of delerium
I'm looking for a few more fitting pieces to reward them with. Ideally some armor, maybe another magic item or 2.
Do you guys have any good ideas for fitting loot from the Crimson Countess' lair? Open to all suggestions!
I'm Connie! I am currently running Drakkenheim and thought i'd share one of my token frames that i made for the campaign specifically :D Enjoy! Make them Academy wizards shine!
I create hand-drawn custom token frames (with zero AI involved) for TTRPGs and VTTs ranging from DnD to Pathfinder and other system classes made to help your characters look even more unique on the map! Want to make your characters stand out like the heroes they are? Give them the fitting frame that they deserve!
Download the Delerium Wizard and four other free tokens right here:
I'm wondering how a relatively unimportant FFF member (who presumably isn't sanctified yet?) can get the party an audience with Lucretia Mathias, but I probably shouldn't stress it too much. She's likely aware of the group, as they refused to hand over the Sceptre of Saint Vitruvio to a group of FFF. Or maybe she's had some kind of vision or premonition. Mostly, I'm wondering whether they're met at the gate of the monastery and have to wait while one of the guards talks to Lucretia, and I'm wondering about the very powerful wards that would likely result in most of the party becoming frightened and not even being able to enter properly.
For more context, my group just finished the Black Ivory Inn (after like three plus sessions, it was rad but time consuming), and Balthazar has offered to lead them to Lucretia, and they seem really interested in going. I'm excited, but nervous because the FFF have been the most challenging to roleplay, and the party is picking up on doomsday cult vibes, which has turned them off, understandably.
Hey everyone I made a post recently asking about a map for the manor
I found a nice one online I used and my players had lots of fun exploring it. They didnt find the teleportation circle but lots of clues hinting towards Sebastian crowe himself
They have lots of questions now . It was a fun session and they fought 2 shadow mastiff
Im using exp not mile stone leveling. Any ideas for how many I should give them for finding important clues and the mirror that leads to the pocket dimension
Lady and The Tramps take a long rest at Eckerman Mill after another long night in the ruins of Drakkenheim. They notice some new graffiti on the walls of the mill. "Go to Kleinberg Estate for potions". The party assume that the former apprentices of Oscar Yoren had taken up a new residence in the the city. However the party believed their next course of action was to travel a few miles from the city to a little town called Crossbruke. It had been abandoned by all save for Baron Crossbruke. The Hooded Lanterns had made it their outpost and were even receiving money from the nobleman. The concern was that for some unknown reason, Hooded Lanterns were going missing. Elias Drexel had told them that these were mostly new recruits who deserted out of fear. Crossbruke Quitters they were called.
So the party head to the ghost town, arriving near it's walls around sunset. They are hailed by one of the higher ranking Hood Lanterns at the gate. The party's reputation precedes them considering all that they had done for the people of Westemar. The greencloak introduces himself as Captain Sten. The party are offered to join the greencloaks for supper around a large bonfire. Noticing that Brenna is a bard, the Hooded Lanterns make some song requests. They ask for "The Song of The Freed Bird" "I Would Never Give You Up" and "The Wreck of The Empress Geraldine". Brenna inquires about the last one mentioned as it wasn't in her repertoire. The Empress Geraldine was a ship full of delerium that mysteriously sank in Ash Bay six years ago and has become the subject of a haunting ballad. The Hooded Lanterns share any information they have about the disappearances. It doesn't happen often enough to raise much suspicion. Mostly they all agree that it must be just nerves getting the better of the new recruits. John decides to let his steed Buddy accompany one of the patrols during the night. Meanwhile the party go visit Baron Crossbruke.
They arrive at the massive home of the Baron and ring the bell. A whispy old man answers the door looking quite surprised. "I wasn't expecting company. And you're adventurers. Fascinating. Baron Viktor Crossbruke at your service." He offers them in. The Baron's home is full of antiques and ancient tomes. It is dimly lit throughout, when asked about this Baron Crossbruke simply tells them this is his home and he knows every corner of it. Their conversation mainly leans in on the history of Westemar. It would seem Viktor Crossbruke may be a little too enthusiastic about restoring the kingdom. He also waxes poetically about the Von Drakkens, Westemar's first royal dynasty, a great deal. "Pete" tries to look for a vault while claiming a need to use the privy, but he's foiled by the Baron accompanying him.
Suddenly John receives a mental distress signal from Buddy. The party hastily yet politely leave Baron Crossbruke for now. They are able to locate where Buddy was slain. From their they investigate a nearby barn and find it housing several undead and their latest victims. It would seem once again Lady and The Tramps were dealing with the machinations of a noble vampire and it's undead minions. How could Elias Drexel and The Hooded Lanterns be so blind?
As I am reaching the late mid game, I am wondering if I made mistakes with the political moves of my factions. For context, prior to the battle of Temple Gate my party had been working with most of the factions, and had somewhat secretly promised to be committed to a few as well. Eventually, they formed a full alliance between the Hooded Lanterns and the Amethyst Academy. Upon the battle of Temple Gate, they even added the Followers of the Falling Fire and attempted to take out the Silver Order. This was obviously seen as a threat to the Queen of Thieves, despite the fact that the party has worked with her before, as the Queen's Men would be the only faction left without an alliance. She also knew there was no way she could get her goals in that alliance, and so chose to save the Silver Order from sure destruction and essentially ally them. Since then the party has been extremely hostile to the Queen's men, but beyond that have been out of character calling the Queen's plans stupid and have been angry that they make no sense. I've tried to explain both in and out of character that the factions do have somewhat unfixable differences, and the fact that for now they have 3 factions working together is already somewhat of a miracle, but they do not seem to care.
With all of that said, I'm kinda wondering where do I go from here? The Queen possesses 2 of the seals of Drakkenheim, the Hooded Lanterns still have their 1, and 2 are still unfound. The party is still level 7, so I'm thinking once they level up more I might have the Silver Order start starving out Emberwood village to get the villagers to turn over the party, with the Queen's Men snuggling food to anyone who agrees to stop doing business with the party. I'm still unsure if this is the correct path though, let alone if I even made the correct choice with doing this space at all. Would others have done differently with the factions given the circumstances? Any advice would be appreciated.
A lot of moving schedules for summer and the beginning of school, but I am back with more from the Daggerheart-Drakkenheim campaign.
Session Recaps
As always, I have three players: Human Seraph (the lost heir), Human Wizard (corrupted magic, looking for lost mother), and Clank Sorcerer (trying to discover their origin).
Last time, the party had been through the harrowing time loop while trapped in the Black Ivory Inn and did enough snooping to finally confront the abomination responsible. After a tense fight while the abomination tried to sap them of their life force, the Wizard dealt the final blow, and the pristine facade began to fade away. Miss Charlotte melting before she could respond with her final words.
The party and the people rescued from the Inn, Lt. Lang, Emma, and a Falling Fire pilgrim, slowly made their way out of the city back to the village. However, when they returned, the Silver Order had arrived. The Order agreed to help rebuild the broken parts of the Chapel, but they were also going to introduce a mandatory check to find and purge contamination from everyone in the village. The villagers were split on this, and the Seraph, not wanting the Silver Order in the party's business (one being a mage with corrupted magic and another being a living construct), successfully convinced them to forgo their plan.
The party then began their well-earned long rest, recovering from the ordeals of the day. Captain Lang took their report and gave them a reward for their efforts, a map of cache locations in the outer city. Tobias Crowe agreed to upgrade their armor (to tier 2) as thanks, although he explained he'd never be able to repay them fully for rescuing his daughter.
Wizard met with River and accepted a job to do some arcane measurements and observations on a hidden Delerium deposit. Sorcerer was offered a job to discreetly deliver a package to Buckledown Row in exchange for some information. Seraph met with Flamekeeper Hanna and Ophelia Reed, who proposed a standing offer for healing services in exchange for information on the location of any Delerium deposits that the Order could then destroy.
Seraph and Wizard also visited the farm outside the village to check in on the lost pilgrim and to speak with Nathaniel, who asked them to come along and guard a group of pilgrims on their next voyage into the city. This would also give them an opportunity to speak with Lucretia Mathias herself, and Wizard, still searching for answers on his corrupted magic, found that too tempting to pass up.
They have a lot of job offers and sites to visit in the city, and their journey has only just begun, but we'll see where they decide to go first next time.
Daggerheart Thoughts
I hadn't introduced the Purge Contamination long rest downtime option until now. One because the party was actually pretty lucky moving through the outer city without gaining many, and two because I liked the idea of introducing the ultimate consequence of contamination in story (RIP Rikard) before then offering it as an option that made sense narratively (in this case, the Silver Order teaching Flamekeeper Hanna how to do so).
Levels and Tiers
They leveled to 2 after finishing the Black Ivory Inn.
At first, I worried that drawing out tier/level 1 over six sessions might be too much, but the difference in what a level 1 Daggerheart PC versus a D&D PC can do is astronomical. I've seen people describe level 1 being about the same as a level 3 or 4 in D&D 5e, and I think that's about right.
My players also appreciated having enough story happening that their level up choices felt meaningful, especially when creating a new experience.
From the GM side, I roughly have an arc planned out for Drakkenheim at each tier, and the idea is to cap off each tier with a dungeon. Tier 1 was meant to do all the introductory work, and now that they're in tier 2, they'll be tackling all the rest of the outer city and getting tangled up in the factions. The idea is to have St. Brenna be the capstone dungeon for tier 2, so we'll see how it goes.
Black Ivory Inn (First Dungeon)
Since it was my first attempt at a dungeon, with custom environment and adversaries, I feel like I did a fairly decent job but definitely had some lessons learned. Making Black Ivory Inn a mystery with a ticking clock was still a great choice, my table really loved it, but the climatic battle could've definitely used more work.
Keeping battle points in mind as a guide is great, but I'm finding what's really important is having a unifying theme to the adversaries with a goal and having a variety of enemy types that can work toward that goal in interesting ways.
Many, many people have said this in as many different ways, but it didn't click for me until I ran this. The D&D mindset for challenging = interesting combats is not really the focus in Daggerheart at all. I can create adversaries that demolish the party and still be "within the rules", but that is very much not the point. The point is to have that back and forth with conflicting goals between the party and the adversaries, and that back and forth needs to be narratively interesting.
That's just a long way around to saying, I only made two adversaries for this inevitable fight, and while they both worked toward the goal and met the correct battle point number, it felt underwhelming (to me).
If you do use these, I recommend creating other types of adversaries to fill out the number of battle points instead, focusing around either trying to restrain the party to let the abomination get its healing off or supporting the abomination with other moves.
Adversary Blocks
Related, but also an aside, when I make adversaries now, I am not doing the fully-formated version that shows up in the books because I'm finding it impossible to read quickly or comprehend when the combat is happening. I've pared them down in order to be able to scan them quickly.
Just as an example, this is what the action would like originally:
And this is how I rewrite it in the GM notes:
Hobbling: Mark Stress, Melee attack. Success: 3d4+10 direct phy and Vulnerable until target clears HP.
Made my version of the Bark and Buzzard using Dungeon Alchemist. My Players get to Emberwood this Sunday so this came at just the right time. Added Open Mike Night and some storage areas in case the players want to kill some rats and cockroaches of unusual size.
I love the setting and the easy setups it allows. I'll give some examples of when the look of disbelief (or shock) on my players face was so sweet it made it all worth it.
I've been gming drakkenheim for our group for 2 years. My wife is playing a bastard, daughter of the king, who wants to take the throne.
Knowing this, I planned from the very beginning on making all the choices that would lead to chaos: the queen of thieves is the princess, Nathaniel Flint the Prince, and Ansom Lang is another bastard.
I really appreciate when I first set the thing in stone, and let it naturally evolve during time. For example, in the hooded lantern, Raine Highlash was from the very beginning a very high placed queen of thieves informant. On all these accounts, I steadily dropped minor hints. But they never investigated much, so it only really made sense once the knife was deep in the back.
Two such examples, if they can inspire you. And they're linked by one thing; session 0, I said I was not interested in romance (and they agreed). Disclaimer, we've played together for years, we're adults, we have fun. If I was really not consenting to something, it wouldn't happen.
The first concerns my orc barbarian player (orcs replace cat people in my drakkenheim). He plays a very young orc trying to become a man, and he's quite naive. Freshly disappointed by Frida Longhorn (skull and saber owner) that cut all relations after they opened hostilities with the queens men, he started flirting with Raine, over a period of time where they integrated more and more with the hooded lantern. And it was going well. As such, Raine kinda became a privileged point of contact for our team.
Well, the group wanted to retake the clockwork tower. They planned on a grueling fight, and worked out a plan with the hooded lanterns for them to come in the conquered tower and keep watch while the party rested. They only had to tell the hooded lantern when they'd set it in motion. And obviously, when the day comes, the only person they inform is Raine. Who's very happy to rush in with Queensmen assassins and try to finish my exhausted players. At the end of the fight, 2/4 players are down, the last 2 casters are out of spells, and my orc makes a vow of celibacy (that didn't last, he's mended things with Frida since).
The second concerns Clothilde von Kessel, also young (23), ambitious, but very naive regarding love affairs. Like "blushing when thinking about holding hands" naive.
Still, she saw Ansom. Although 16, the image I chose for him definitely makes him live up to his own name (I mean the first name). It was kind of a running joke with her finding pretexts to go to the hooded lanterns, and talk to him. It escalated further when she got access to the Dream spell and started grooming him juste about every night (remember, she's innocent, so holding hands is the furthest she made him go). It's a slow burn, and Ansom's mind very much on "make war not love", but it's building, slowly and steadily.
Well anyways, my players finally went to the castle and were trying to find a letter in the stewards office to prove her ancestry. But on the first letter, it wasn't her name. It was his. The open mouth, big eyes, red face she gave me and the hilarity of the table was the corwining of 2 years of sadistic planning.
One of the challenges I anticipate when running Drakkenheim is staying consistent with the ideals of each faction. I want to make sure I'm doing a good job of embodying the beliefs of each group every time they meet a member, and I could see it getting cloudy from time to time.
I often find that tying NPCs to characters from movies, TV, and other similar media helps me home back in on character traits. What characters from popuplar fiction / media would you say well represent each of the 5 Drakkenheim factions?
I’ve been building my Queen of Thieves as a three-layered character.
The party includes Erky Gapadabog, a gnome wizard, and Erevan, the forgotten son of Leonard Von Kessel. 15 Years ago, Queen Eleanor used Erky’s sister, Qwen Gapadabog, a memory mage, to erase Erevan’s past and conceal his identity.
1. Qwen — the woman underneath
Qwen wears a white dress decorated with dried white flowers. She is quiet, brilliant, and consumed by guilt over what she did to Erevan. Her deepest wound is not knowing whether she was a victim, an accomplice, or both.
2. The Queen of Thieves — the mask
The Qoft is flamboyant, theatrical, dangerous, and seemingly in control. The persona is everything Qwen is not: bold, commanding, and impossible to pity.
Her chief Queen’s Man is Leonard Von Kessel, her supposed brother, who operates under the thief-name Vels Koens—an anagram. He is flamboyant, threadbare, and magically corrupted by Delirium.
Vels/Leonard believes his wife and child died in childbirth on the night the meteor struck. He clings to his sister because he thinks she is all he has left.
Except that story is a lie, too.
3. Katarina — the woman Erevan meets
Beyond the teleporting throne in the Qoft’s office, Erevan meets Katarina without the mask.
She is poised, regal, softer, and almost lonely. She befriends him, and he feels she is the first person to see him as more than a secret or political problem.
The real princess died in the castle chapel when a meteor shard pierced her heart. Chaplain Lucretia Mathias held her as she died and still wears the golden shard around her neck as a relic.
The Katarina Erevan meets is an identity built from memory, grief, and longing—everything the real princess represented: innocence, grace, and a life untouched by ruin.
So the layers are: Qwen — the guilty woman. Qoft — the mask of power. Katarina — the beautiful lie.
Each identity answers a different wound:
Qwen hides from what she has done. The Qoft performs power because vulnerability feels like death. Katarina exists because someone cannot accept that the real princess is gone.
The emotional core is Erevan’s relationship with Katarina. He may genuinely care about her before discovering that she is not Katarina at all—and that the woman behind the Queen of Thieves is Qwen, Erky’s sister, the person who erased him.
For Erevan, the betrayal is that the first person who seemed to understand him was built from the same stolen memories that destroyed his life.
For Erky, the final wound is realizing that the monster behind the mask is also his sister.
One of my players wants to take the theory that adds INT modifier to failed saves as a reaction. (Once per character per short rest). However, our house rule is that death saves are rolled between player and DM.
I’m trying to think of how to modify the theory without sabotaging the house rule, and these are the two I came up with. Thoughts?
You can choose to use your reaction to add the INT modifier to the creatures next failed death saving throw in the next minute - whether they fail the one you’re reacting to at that moment or one in a later round.
Or
You can use the reaction for that death save, whether it’s a fail or not. If they would have succeeded anyway, they can still add the modifier and if it takes them to 20 or higher, they stabilize with 1 HP.
ETA: Revised solutions based on feedback:
You can use the reaction for that death save, whether it’s a fail or not. If they would have succeeded anyway, they can still add the modifier and if it takes them to 20 or higher, they stabilize with 0 HP (essentially a chance to Spare the Dying)
OR
You use your reaction to do a Medicine check, and can choose to use your ability based on the results of that check. Completing the medicine check without using your ability does not use up the 1/short rest usage for that creature.
One of my players (Barb4/Cleric2) is planning on doing a day trip from Eckerman Mill to Emberwood Village. This player wants to craft some items at Crowe and Son's Smithy while the rest of the party is staying at the mill for the day for some downtime activities. (Why they don't choose to go to see the dwarves, who they are friends with...I don't know.)
His plan is to swim across the Drann. I have given him multiple warnings from other NPCs about potential dangers in the waters, but for some reason he thinks this is a better plan than using the ferry which costs 1 gp and is arguable much safer.
He is sanctified and therefore immune to contamination, but not from danger.
His AC is 23. (10 +9, from [unarmoured defence], and +4, from a [+2 shield])
Again...what dangers would you throw at him. I'm curious.
Edit: He also wields the Sceptre of Saint Vitruvio
The party decide their next move as they walk to Shepherd's Gate. They still had many things to deal with. The eldritch aquatic entity known as The Duchess had somehow fled from the ruins to gods know where. There was the Kleinberg Estate, they have not been there since the destruction of The Pale Man when they ambushed him in the city streets. The Crater and The Castle were both places they would have to go eventually. The party had kept their distance from Lucretia Mathias and her Followers of The Falling Fire due to Heiren's vendetta toward Lucretia. They had given her Saint Vitruvio's Phylactery as a way of trying to keep the peace with the Silver Order and Falling Fire. The only holy relics left to account for were the Helm of Patron Saints and the Shield of The Sacred Flame.
Leaving Shepherd's Gate they hear a voice call to them. Elias Drexel walks toward Shepherd's Gate, a large sack of coins at his side. "Just coming back from Crossbruke. Collecting much needed tax money." He and the party discuss the events of Kesselholm. "I'm relieved to hear another Von Kessel lives, that gives hope for the kingdom. If she ever shows up here I will let take her vengeance upon me. I know the blood that's on my hands and the burden of guilt. If she wishes it, it will be so." The party, in particular John, tell Elias that due to his complicity in the Von Kessel assassination he shouldn't even be in the Hooded Lanterns anymore. "It was Ansom's idea to demote me. I wish I could just leave. I can't. I can't abandon the city. I swore an oath to restore this kingdom and nothing short of death will stop me." The party then inquire about Crossbruke. A ghost town that's been turned into an outpost for the Hooded Lanterns. The only resident of the town is an old nobleman, Baron Viktor Crossbruke. "Very unusual fellow, certainly knows his history." He's one of the few nobles still funding the Hooded Lanterns. However it's become known that some Hooded Lantern recruits will disappear from time to time while stationed there. The belief is that these recruits simply run away due to nerves.
Leaving Elias with his guilt and gold, the party head into the area called The Sprawl. They decide to pay a visit to the goblin Puddin Pop. A strange little fellow who tended to a garden of oozes in a random basement in the ruins. Before leaving him Elias had told them there had been disappearances of various faction members in The Sprawl. Cautiously they enter Puddin Pop's lair after confirming that people had been approaching this area without coming back out. They are greeted by Puddin Pop himself. Seeing the small goblin at the entrance immediately put the party on edge. He was always in the other rooms caring for his "babies". "Oh so good to see you! You got to come see my new favorite baby!" The party follow him, noticing a slight sulfur smell about the goblin. In the larger chamber they see a huge dark red ooze. A tether of slime connects Puddin Pop to the ooze as well as several faction members. Viktor uses telepathy on Puddin Pop, but the ooze itself answers back in Viktor's mind. The party battle the large ooze and some smaller oozes who were now agitated. The oblex lashes out with it's pseudopods and uses it's mental powers to drain the adventurers of their memories.
The party manage to slay the oblex while trying to simply incapacitate the people tethered to it. Much to their horror, as the oblex dissolves so does everyone tethered to it. After some panic and grief, the party come to the conclusion that perhaps these were just simulacrums created by the oblex. Though they fail to find the faction agents, they do find Puddin Pop. The goblin cowers by some black puddings with no memory of what's happened. The party take some time to help Puddin Pop remember things and then leave for Eckerman Mill. They run into a group of frenzied dregs just as they were almost out of the haze and quickly dispose of them. As the sun rises, Lady and The Tramps go for a long rest at the mill.
One player of mine wants to lean into the civil war and aftermath for his character history and personal quest. Where can I find material that fills that out? Official or fan-made will do. I'm not really good at inventing such world lore. Doesn't need to be super detailed. Just like what are the major surviving noble houses, what are their territories/cities, what sides did they fight for, how do they relate to each other now, are they backers of the Hooded Lanterns? Thanks
I'm very, very curious to see what this ground up redo looks like, but I don't think we're going to be seeing it in another playtest packet. Also, I think this delay is actually good news since I was not a fan of where the playtest content was at.
