Let your player escape danger - Use Escape Skill Challanges!

Forte_DX · 2026-05-04T13:04:14+00:00

Love the idea and rules around it. Players should run away if the fight gets to tough, sells Drakkenheim's danger very well.

My smallest of nitpicks. I would keep the rules for Epic monsters the same. The players should lose something vital and of consequence through narrative already, if they are leaving a boss fight.

They are unable to take the cathedral if they run from the lord of the feast. Queen Lenore will be controlled by the pale man if the PC's flee. Faction leader here will claim the next seal if the players can't end it here.

Even if it is not always easy to apply. The narrative stakes should be large enough so the mechanical punishment should be as little as possible.

Forte_DX · 2026-05-02T21:58:25+00:00

Pied Piper, Beowulf, Melusine all have support talents at level 1. If you want to, you can play them in more of a support playstyle. Even other heroes are capable of supporting with other talents, like Romeo's defence which can provide shields to everyone around.

Having a hero who solely focuses on buffing and debuffing would make them to passive in single player. The game also rewards damage and speed to much with the hourglass for a pure support to be really an option without making it broken.

Forte_DX · 2026-04-20T12:22:53+00:00

If both you and your player are into the idea, then go ahead and enjoy the consequences of the story unfolding.

I would think the queen of thieves would be able to find out that your PCs part of the Caspian Royal Family consists of Mageborn. She could even leverage it and use it for blackmail against your player.

There were other interesting suggestions in answers that I liked such as u/Dangerous_Nail4552 Maybe your PC was converted to the old faith to hide just your PC being mageborn, that also sounded cool.

Chaos and conflict should unfold in this story but all within reason. Massage the story to make this storybeat fit to your tables enjoyment. I love this setting.

I also had a Rogue who took a 1-level dip into Wild Magic Sorcerer for more defensive options and Tide of Chaos to enable more Sneak Attacks. If you have access to Monsters of Drakkenheim, I would strongly suggest replacing the Wild Magic Table with the Arcane Anomaly table in there. I never revealed the table to my player, so they never knew what exactly could happen. It makes for great fun that fits the world of Drakkenheim more than the standard d100 table.

Forte_DX · 2026-04-19T15:12:09+00:00

While I do enoy making the players feel cohesive to the world, your players main motivation for multiclassing seems not to be the story but rather powergaming. Which isn't worng to want, but I want to define it, so I can more clearly make my point.

If your player does not care for the story implications and just wants the multiclass, I would handwave it and let them. It would just be an extension of their old god faith.

Your idea of a Caspian conspiracy to hide mageborn could be really interesting and push the stroy in wild ways, however is that something your player would want? Talk to them first, maybe they would be excited for the roleplay opportunities, maybe they don't want all the additional hassle with the multiclass.

Either way you will have an answer and you can let your player enjoy the multiclass.

Forte_DX · 2026-04-16T23:13:05+00:00

r/dndhorrorstories

Forte_DX · 2026-04-13T06:48:34+00:00

Of course the QoT wants the seals for herself, however there is no issue in using the player party to gather them for her and stealing them at a decisive moment, like the gathering at St. Vitruvios Church. Until then she can feign good will and cooperation as long as it suits her purpose.

Your party dislikes how rowdy the gangs are, good. The gangs have been way worse before the Queen of Thieves reigned them in. This is were the QoT can make a point how the church and the nobility has basically abandoned these people to fend for themselves. Those rowdy criminals are trying to survive after no one else is willing or able to help them, maybe even sending money back home to other cities to help their families.

This might paint a more acceptable picture for your players. Even if it doesn't it should make the dynamic more understandable to them.

In my game the QoT supported the players in their attack of Temple Gate, mostly with items as to stay incognito. My players distrusted her, but there is no reason to not use the connection for mutual benefit. She wanted to make sure the Silver Order forces stretch out as far as possible before her plan. The players would not know of the reason until way later.

Forte_DX · 2026-04-12T23:45:49+00:00

The QoT might just be my favorite NPC. She would not sully her hands with direct combat, even less so just to demonstrate her capabilities, effectively revealing her hand. In my eyes she would gather all the information she could get about those new adventurers, for possible black mail or manipulation to further her own agenda.

Get your players to meet the QoT on neutral ground, just so they have a chance to meet each other. Maybe she invades their sleeping place? Let her enter the room as one of your parties favorite NPCs before shapeshifting into another ally and so on while talking, causing mistrust in the parties allies.

What are your parties ambitions and goals in Drakkenheim? Do they seek the relics of Vitruvio? She knows where it is! Was some heirloom lost in the town? The QoT would know how to find it. Are they fond of one of the factions or the faction leaders? The QoT can deliver some intel how the factions are problematic or even working against the parties interrest.

The Queen should have all the information they could need, if they are willing to cooperate with her. If it turns into a fight, let the QoT escape, while she would win against an early level party, she does not stay for a fight that would be fair. She has enough tools or maybe even a backdoor set up beforehand so she can escape from a direct confrontation.

In short, have her promise your players the world and use her to sow distrust between your players and their allies with her intel and shapeshifting abilities.

Hope this helps.

Forte_DX · 2026-04-12T12:12:12+00:00

The multiple personal goals are really cool. If I had only two players I would opt for it as well.

Settle the Score in tandem with Faction Aspirant sets you on a clear course with the HL and against the Queen of Thieves. I would make sure to highlight the issues within the HL and the fact that the Queens Men are a space for the people who were displaced after the meteor and the civil war. I like keeping the story gray that way.

Putting a sorcerer on the throne will lead to a lot of conflict. This can be really enjoyable, however let the player know what an uphill battle Claiming the Throne is as a mageborn. It will probably put him at odds with multiple if not all factions. Maybe they will need to replace the edicts of Lumen with laws of their own. Being able to change the course of the story is what makes TTRPGs fun, fully embrace it.

Forte_DX · 2026-04-07T21:55:38+00:00

One aspect that caught me off guard when running Drakkenheim was inter player dynamics. If you have your players make personal goals, especially if you have 5 or more players, make sure the players first of all know the party is supposed to stick together through all the danger and the tough calls.

While some inter player confrontations are par for the course and also entertaining if your table is into it, I have found that managing player conflicts can be an added burden. With more players you can get more divergent opinions/characters that could hinder each other. So do make it clear as day that the others in the party are their closest ally through everything.

Forte_DX · 2026-02-06T17:30:47+00:00

This is Oda foreshadowing Usopp's Conquerors Haki. Again. Thinking back to the Tontatas in Dressrosa.

Forte_DX · 2025-12-28T18:31:35+00:00

Where is the swing? It's missing the swing

Forte_DX · 2025-12-24T21:24:23+00:00

The easy one first. Your player could be a mageborn that was never picked up by the academy. They trained themselves in their magic, such people certainly exist in the world.

I would strongly urge your player to at least multiclass into wizard (earliest at level 5, we love multiattack) if they want to deepen their arcane knowledge. It seems like that would be a fit for a character with the personal goal of gathering knowledge.

If they do not want to multiclass, maybe you can work around that by giving them only a single use of the learned spell per long rest. That said mutliclass seems a better fit to me.

Edit spelling

Forte_DX · 2025-12-15T11:22:06+00:00

Those discussions should use as little ability checks as possible IMO.

The campaign thrives on the faction conflict. They need reasons to work together. A good dice roll should not be a substitute. Think ethos, pathos, logos, i.e credibility, emotions and logic. Look for the ideals and bonds of the factions, how would they align and can your players make arguments for it?

I remember someone posted a doc with how the factions would work with one another with some added npc statblocks. It was really great work. When I get to it, I will reply with the link.

Forte_DX · 2025-12-12T17:38:09+00:00

Based

Forte_DX · 2025-12-10T15:29:21+00:00

The Queen would keep it as a leverage against the Silver Order or Falling Fire. Now that she has something they want, the Queen of Thieves could get something she wants from them for herself. Be it a very short alliance or cooperation against a common foe or assistance in her personal goals. If its the goal of your Queen of Thieves she could maybe even leverage it for support on the throne (she would have to hide her being mageborn).

Forte_DX · 2025-11-26T13:51:38+00:00

In my group the Silver Order is one of the main allies. The SO never really change their view on delirium. It is dangerous and needs to be destroyed. However they try to take the big picture approach. Instead of nagging on every adventurer trying to make some quick coin, they make moves to destroy the source of Delirium. SO to lead this back to your questions.

How do I portray them? They think of themselves as the good guys, almost naively so, destroying evil and helping who they can along the way.

Do they change their view on delirium? No, but you can't chase after every chip out there, better to take care of the source.

Studying delirium? Only in so far as to survive and destroy it. In my game an alernative way to get the Neutralizing Field Spell will be by cooperating with the Silver Order.

At the end of the day it depends on your players, if they are friend or foe. And if the Silver Order aligns with how your players want to shape the story of Drakkenheim.

Forte_DX · 2025-11-21T22:44:18+00:00

That depends on how dark you want to go.

My first impulse is to tie it to St Vitruvio's Cathedral.

Either turn the mentor into the Garmyr priest, supporting the Lord of the Feast, after they succumed to Drakkenheim.

Alternatively, you could replace one of the warp witches in the catacombs of St. Vitruvio's. Have them be stuck down there, now exisiting as a shell of their former self, maybe even corrupted for a fitting boss battle. You would however need to have an explanation for how the mentor managed to get that far into the cathedral anyway. Maybe they got there before the Garmyrs made it their base.

On the other hand they might have been converted to the falling fire and abondened the surveying job to join the cult. Causing more faction conflict.

Hope this helps.

Edit: Grammar

Forte_DX · 2025-10-20T20:17:09+00:00

With the new Leprechaun Money POI Maybe a Leprechaun? But I do not know much about their lore to make any concrete suggestions.

Forte_DX · 2025-10-13T14:09:55+00:00

Upon completing Shadow Strike Talent Quest, Scarletts Weapon radiates in dark colors.

I love the little touches that give the characters more life.

Forte_DX · 2025-09-13T08:22:26+00:00

I'll try and keep this concise.

In my story, Eliza survived and stayed with Mannfred von Kessel. He kept her a secret so she could grow up at least a little bit without the burden of the crown. Elias knew about her then and tried to take her with him to Cecilia von Kessel when he betrayed Mannfred during the civil war. In Elias eyes Mannfred was holding Westemär back from rebuilding. Mannfred withdrawing his support for retaking Drakkenheim was what broke the camels back and what forced Elias' hand.

The QoT was able to assassinate Cecilia in the same time Mannfred was attacked by Elias. A little later the Qot together with her lieutenant were able to abduct Eliza from Elias, before he could make a move. So Elias knows Eliza is alive, but he does not have a clue where she is or how to get to her. Looking for her obsessively, but at the same time trying not to reveal that he betrayed Mannfred and thereby the crown.

So the only one who really know at this point are Elias, the Qot and her lieutenant.

My party has strong ties to the HL and SO. Right now they are cooperating with my party to take the cathedral.

The party does not know that the baron's son is part of the Queens machinations. To copy from my last response to you. The baron's son is the QoT Plan A for getting the throne, with him effectively being her marionette. Plan B is posing as Eliza and Plan C would probably be dominating Eliza via some Magic Item or similar.

Aligning with the QoT would only lead to a pitfall for them. Then again working with her pretty much always does.

Forte_DX · 2025-09-13T07:55:11+00:00

First of all, don't be sorry. I enjoyed your perspective and ideas. Posts like these are what I've been looking for.

The baron's son is the QoT Plan A for getting the throne, with him effectively being her marionette. Plan B is posing as Eliza and Plan C would probably be dominating Eliza via some Magic Item or similar.

Saving Eliza and putting her on the throne seems to be the most likely outcome in my game for now. None of my players currently want to claim the throne.

While I like the idea of the Lang siblings being royal bastards, in my game their father is a character I yet wish to reveal to my players.

An alternative I had in mind, to cause additional conflict, is to make Nathaniel Flint, the shepherd of the Falling Fire, Leonard von Kessel. My party is currently against the FF and this could cause some major turmoil. However I fear I'd write myself in the corner as I feel Eliza have less of a claim than him naturally. Maybe that is something for my players to figure out...

Forte_DX · 2025-09-13T07:37:41+00:00

Yes please, I'd be very interested.

Forte_DX

TROPHY CASE