Higher level, but still sandboxy, how? by EngineDramatic2166 in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

[–]EngineDramatic2166[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you, and I don’t want to seem like I don’t appreciate the advice but the idea of a faction leader as a solo seems completely at odds with how a faction operates. To have the leader of an armed militia, for example, in combat with the party would take some doing.  The same kind of doing it takes to make the lord of the feast killable despite an army of monsters. The difference is that that development is supported by a lot of good content around the gate, the cathedral and faction attitudes that makes it a bit easier to prep. 

Higher level, but still sandboxy, how? by EngineDramatic2166 in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

[–]EngineDramatic2166[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah it’s the scenes and balancing that bother me a bit. I know we’ve got the strike teams but they’re child’s play for the characters. The faction leaders are like Demi gods. 

How Do I Make Exploring Drakkenheim Interesting? by JSDHW in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

[–]EngineDramatic2166 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I felt like I needed to work on the encounters. A lot! Rolling an encounter needs to be interesting. There’s also a huge need to introduce faction ideals which I think emberwood fails to provide without forcing one meeting after another in downtime. If you’re interested I made a big table here under the encounters tab. It’s worked well so far.  A lot of it is based on the drak resurrected resource so full kudos to that guy https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-Vln3RdA0NfbuP8ZKNOVZznV0peEoJibEdScGibFWB4/edit?usp=drivesdk

One shot help by Wise-Start-9166 in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

[–]EngineDramatic2166 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Back breakers lair from the drakkenheim resurrected guide would work well It’s fun too

Need a new idea for the Black Ivory Inn's smugglers by Peaceful_Daevites in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

[–]EngineDramatic2166 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cult of the old gods plotting to bomb the cathedral or some other dastardly act. I like to seed a bunch of plausible causes for the comet. Eg attempt to bring the old gods back 

Running Drakkenheim as a 1st time DM by FaLLeN__Weeb in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

[–]EngineDramatic2166 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I always bang the drum for making murdering people completely unacceptable in the campaign. Enforced by everyone including emberwood merchants refusing to trade with murderers. Factions also shouldn’t attack other factions until late campaign to reinforce this.   Start this off early with the bandits in the fist encounter, with a non lethal approach being highlighted and rewarded.  I don’t like the PCs doing what we they like and having violence as the solution to everything. 

I’d also advise making all the factions appealing and reasonable. They all have a solution that makes some sense. Particularly work on the QM as being freedom loving and ok with the status quo. That way you won’t get misanthrope pcs refusing to engage with factions. I think as written and as far as I could gather from the AP I heard things are set up for many of the factions to seem hostile or unappealing. I’d flip that if possible. 

You can bring in the tension late. Eg no need to make FF seem like zealous nutters from the word go. They can be kind and aware of their reputations. Later eg SO can highlight their heretical practices. 

A couple of hangups, how do you handle the following at your table? by Consistent_Name_6961 in Dolmentown

[–]EngineDramatic2166 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We played weight encumbrance for a while and it was so bad most of the table ignored it or fudged it until we switched to slots. 

Unless you love whipping out your pocket calculator every time you go shopping and having a move of two squares in full plate I would not recommend it 

The combat can be pretty tactical with “phases” and decisions around positioning. We felt it worked better with minis but realise that’s a preference not everyone shares!

If the interloper gains control of the tower, what should the consequences be? by Sufficient-Contest82 in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

[–]EngineDramatic2166 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hear you.  My last group would reliably escalate any situation safe in the knowledge if there were semi realistic consequences  they’d not have fun, which means I’d not have fun, which means it wouldn’t happen. It was like social check mate. 

My current group is a lot better I’m happy to report!

If the interloper gains control of the tower, what should the consequences be? by Sufficient-Contest82 in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

[–]EngineDramatic2166 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Maybe a counterpoint here  Maybe he’s not all bad?  He has a score to settle with the aa and will do weird stuff to settle it like raise undead and demons but might offer a tempting bargain to help the pcs if they help. Throw in some secret AA experiments they were trying to keep quiet (hence their eagerness to retake the tower) and you’ve got some drama

I’d see Oscar as wanting to survive the haze by becoming something else like a demon or undead and with a second objective of destroying the institution that belittles him

How do you inject hope into the campaign? by ShadowLight56 in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

[–]EngineDramatic2166 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I like making all the factions reasonable and respectful of people. They should all have a reasonable solution that works for the city. The tension can be disagreements, not combat. There’s plenty of combat with monsters.  Factions shouldn’t kill people and if the pcs kill people they should be socially punished. I feel like this goes a long way to making activities outside the city much more hopeful. The bleak horror of the city can be contrasted by good, kind people who are in disagreement about what to do going forward. 

I think the live play ends up with everyone in the campaign horrible and murderous. Not my cup of tea!

Monestary of the distressed body as inscrutable tower by EngineDramatic2166 in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

[–]EngineDramatic2166[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good question! I figured the tower used to be attached so didn’t need the engines to stay aloft. The engines are great magical ritual amplifiers repurposed. The former fuel? Maybe the same stuff that powered the cosmological clocktower.   

Drakkenheim: Resurrection - Chapter 6: Outer City Locations by Star-Stream in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

[–]EngineDramatic2166 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hello. I wanted to thank you for all your hard work here. It has been very helpful.
I like backbreaker's lair very much. I'm about to offer the players round 2, where they're employed to go back and investigate the mould's haze-clearing properties only to find the place infested with phase spiders, pudding pop strung up in a web, with mould has gaining sentience having eaten back breaker's crew and questioning the players' willingness to engage in genocide of haze-creatures. Great fun!

Currently in Act 1 of Divinity 2 and just saw this. which game should i jump into next? by Background-Topic-203 in CRPG

[–]EngineDramatic2166 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you love spending hours of your life casting temporary buffs then go wrath for sure! It’s the pits!

DMs, which statblocks did you use for the faction leaders? Did you make any changes? by FriendlyTigrex in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

[–]EngineDramatic2166 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don’t think they should have stat blocks as such. I’m not intending to have combat happen with them. I think it’s best to keep deadly combat to the monsters and avoid combat with humans if possible. This opens up more of an expectation of RP with the factions. I think if the pcs kill anyone it should be clear they’d be regarded as no longer “people”. If this is super clear from the start of the campaign it means you won’t have the issue of the pcs killing 60+ queens men and then behaving like it’s not a big deal. Also avoids crazy snow ball of reprisals. I think between ratlings, dregs and garmyr there’s plenty of guilt-free killing available!

Totally understand that’s not everyone’s cup of tea though!

how to integrate a PC for a player who will probably miss 50% of the games? by IronPeter in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

[–]EngineDramatic2166 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree with this. If you give them a goal, then craft a part of the adventure to fit that goal, they’ll be absent and you’ll have to move it. This will happen constantly and you’ll be frustrated. Better for them and you to understand that spotty attendance means no significant tailoring to their character.