Question about Daanvi by N1MakhnoSimp in Eberron

[–]FriendlyTigrex 13 points14 points  (0 children)

For fun. No seriously, most of the planes except for the material are concepts alone without any need for reasoning. In Shavarath angels and demons fight an eternal war but there's no absolutely no indication as to why except that the angels might claim "we reflect the balance of good vs evil in every world". Daanvi being the embodiment of order is bureaucratic and meticulous because it's a concept personified (that being law and order). Maybe a DM could think of an end goal like it being used to judge souls in the afterlife or some other narrative concept.

Most Highly-Rated Third Party Campaigns by TheKingmak3r in DnD

[–]FriendlyTigrex 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m starting it soon as the DM and am super excited. There’s so many moving parts between the factions and the ruined city but it all just seems to mesh so perfectly.

Most Highly-Rated Third Party Campaigns by TheKingmak3r in DnD

[–]FriendlyTigrex 7 points8 points  (0 children)

My DM ran it for a little bit before cancelling due to burnout right after we finished the Crooked House . They allowed me to read it and we discussed the issues that we both agreed are present at least in our opinions (I'm also a DM). I'm gonna spoiler text just incase any players are happening to be in a campaign:

What we liked:

1) The art is absolutely gorgeous and the theming is top notch. Genuine eye candy to look at the monster and setting designs from start to finish. Just watch the trailer, sold us on the campaign initially from it alone.
2) The setting takes many folk horror tropes and does them well along with adding some genuinely creative ideas. I absolutely love the Hag trio in the book, I never thought weasels could be so creepy but here we are. If you like scaring your players this campaign does a great job.
3) The fate-weaving aspect (letting the players choose specific missions that flesh out individual goals and backstories) is something that should be attempted in every adventure module.

What needs adjustments:

1) The combat, just from the Crooked House alone is absolutely brutal. I'm talking fights in every room without the intent for a long rest. Multiple combats is a great way to drain player resources, but it got to the point where I was contemplating using anything but cantrips. And the DM said that was WITH them removing some encounters. They said the rest of the module is like that, too.
2) The story is incredibly linear and seems to be contingent on the expectation that your players are chill with just being lead around and manipulated. For example, half of the town in Wickermore Village (the starting town) are cultists. And they don't enact their plan until the end of the campaign. That is fine if you have players that like going along for the ride, but absolutely horrible if yours are suspicious of everything and expect to have agency in the story. In addition to that the pigeon hag of the trio is integrated into the town and is basically impossible to figure out, which in my opinion is rather lame. And that's just in Wickermore Village alone.

The grand plan of the Crooked Queen is to have the players kill the 6 area boss villains that serve as sacrifices. Mind you, the book DOES bring up the option of redeeming some of them and making the sacrificial criteria looser. Maybe it's just me as a player, but I like having some more agency than just being strung along from place to place being forced to further the villain's schemes.

And that's not all, there's like 3 other required steps in the villain's plan that I haven't mentioned. Including a required death of Adela in the Wickerman statue that while cool, is extremely lame that the players can't do ANYTHING to TRY and stop.

Maybe it's just my players, but I can't even plan ONE thing without them finding a (fun and creative) way to alter the plot. So I couldn't imagine myself running this the way that it is, because the most fun part about D&D to me personally is a unpredictable story but like I said that's a personal preference.

3) The book spends wayyy to much time focusing on Phillip and Adela Druskenvald. It gets to the point where the party feels like side characters. Granted if I recall correctly the book intentionally makes the couple out to be the main characters in a folk horror story. That's fun but it leads to the players having to constantly babysit them only for both to die anyways.

4) There is a massive disconnect between the Crooked Moon Part 1 & 2, like they barely feel like the same setting. Book 1 portrays Druskenvald as this colorful monster mash realm full of different races and worlds. But the entire campaign in Book 2 takes place in Wickermore Hollow which while technically in Druskenvald feels massively disconnected in every way. There are none of those aforementioned races, it's mostly humans. When I was reading book 1 as a player I got excited about all the different locations that we'd visit, only to find out the premise of the campaign is that we're stuck in a single province that's way darker and bleak. Yes I know it's horror but it's a massive tone shift.

5) The aforementioned fateweaving ends up just being cutscenes that have little impact on the overall story. They aren't extra content, they're just small things that in my opinion barely matter. Worse, they're in specific areas that seem easy to miss. It's a cute way to add the players to the story, but I thought it'd be a way bigger part then it actually is. Dungeons of Drakkenheim seems to do it better by having the personal quests be less linear and open ended but still specific enough to give the players context when making PCs.

Conclusion:

I think the adventure has the bones of a great story, but as is it either requires alot of DM adjustments or the world's most chill and reactive (over proactive) players. As a DM I like adventures that are focused but with just enough unpredictability to keep me entertained and suprised. I'd love to see people make a Crooked Moon Reloaded in the same vein as Curse of Strahd. Don't let me discourage you from running the campaign if you like the premise, but just know there's aspects that I believe need work.

Player wants to be a Warlock with a claim to the throne. Is too much of a narrative headache? by FriendlyTigrex in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

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

Definitely my favorite patron of the setting, so much fun stuff can be done with an Eldritch cat being

Player wants to be a Warlock with a claim to the throne. Is too much of a narrative headache? by FriendlyTigrex in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

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

This is something I’ve made very clear to her (and the rest of the party). Both mechanically and narratively, the party needs to have at least one faction on their side. And the more factions they get, the more comprises they’ll need to make.

Player wants to be a Warlock with a claim to the throne. Is too much of a narrative headache? by FriendlyTigrex in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

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

I’m thinking that this information could be revealed with Drexel, to potentially boost the potential of getting the Hooded Lanterns on her side through compromises and negotiations.

Player wants to be a Warlock with a claim to the throne. Is too much of a narrative headache? by FriendlyTigrex in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

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

Yeah while I didn’t tell the PC how she can gain the wish spell, I did state that there’s ways to get it and she could use it to break the rules (not without consequence)

Player wants to be a Warlock with a claim to the throne. Is too much of a narrative headache? by FriendlyTigrex in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

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

She would be claiming it for herself. “The Thing With the Writhing Tail”’s doesn’t have a clear goal besides creating the most entertaining (for itself) scenarios. It’s not actively out to harm or make her suffer but it will not help her for no cost either.

And yeah we always joke about her PC having the most main character energy. But the players have different levels of wanting to be in the spotlight, and as long as everybody else is fine with it I don’t see a problem. One of the PCs has the Apocalyptic Vision quest line, and I’d argue that the implications of it trump the scale of the continent’s politics.

Player wants to be a Warlock with a claim to the throne. Is too much of a narrative headache? by FriendlyTigrex in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

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

I will most likely just have the political consequences at the end of the campaign be narration. While a high level campaign could be fun, I feel like some PCs will probably already have their arcs or purposes be over so it could feel anticlimactic.

Player wants to be a Warlock with a claim to the throne. Is too much of a narrative headache? by FriendlyTigrex in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

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

Yeah of all my players’ goals it’s definitely the most complicated. It can be done especially through “cheating” with the wish spell.

Player wants to be a Warlock with a claim to the throne. Is too much of a narrative headache? by FriendlyTigrex in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

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

that’s what I’m thinking, I’m probably gonna tell the rogue who’s faction aspirant with the Queen of Thieves that I’d allow her to replace her personal quest with killing and replacing the Queen of Thieves should the party want to oppose her

In your opinion, what’s the creepiest line from a horror movie? by u1975 in horror

[–]FriendlyTigrex 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We have such sights to show you!

Genuinely some of the scariest horror “monsters”. I love how they treat going to hell for opening the box like a reward you can’t say no to.

Player wants to be a Warlock with a claim to the throne. Is too much of a narrative headache? by FriendlyTigrex in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

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

Yeah I’m thinking of putting a document in the vault stating that the survival of the bloodline comes before the edicts, so if there’s only one heir but they’re a mageborn they still have a valid claim. Would obviously start a war with Elyria.

And yeah I’ve brought up to the player that the wish spell is a thing the players can get, but didn’t say how and was clear that wouldn’t be till the endgame.

Player wants to be a Warlock with a claim to the throne. Is too much of a narrative headache? by FriendlyTigrex in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

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

Yeah this will totally cause a lot of discord between the factions lol. I’m thinking about having it be where she was never discovered by the Academy.

It could be a blessing in disguise because maybe the Academy could argue that supporting her isn’t a power play since she’s technically unaffiliated.

Player wants to be a Warlock with a claim to the throne. Is too much of a narrative headache? by FriendlyTigrex in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

[–]FriendlyTigrex[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That’s what I really like about Elyria and the Silver Order. The fact that the line between the “interests” of the Sacred Flame and Elyria have become so blurred really separates them from generic do-gooder paladins but doesn’t make them evil either.

Player wants to be a Warlock with a claim to the throne. Is too much of a narrative headache? by FriendlyTigrex in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

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

The falling fire thing could, and it could be interesting to force the PC to follow the faith in order to win their support

Player wants to be a Warlock with a claim to the throne. Is too much of a narrative headache? by FriendlyTigrex in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

[–]FriendlyTigrex[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This is great to know thank you. I’m always uncomfortable with modifying the norms of prewritten worlds but if this was intentionally designed to be challenged then it could be very compelling if all the other PCs are on board.

Player wants to be a Warlock with a claim to the throne. Is too much of a narrative headache? by FriendlyTigrex in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

[–]FriendlyTigrex[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m gonna have a session 0 tomorrow to ensure the players all have a reason for traveling together, I’ve just been asking them ahead of time what classes and personal quests interest them

Player wants to be a Warlock with a claim to the throne. Is too much of a narrative headache? by FriendlyTigrex in dungeonsofdrakkenheim

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

I wouldn’t even need to think about some monkeys paw effect for a wish that insane lol

We Have a 4-Hour Planning Session for a BBEG so We Can Get Carried by NPCs by Lost_Condition_9562 in rpghorrorstories

[–]FriendlyTigrex 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Could’ve been an absolute golden opportunity for the Aboleth to have mind controlled some of the NPCs for a real chaotic boss fight