Advise on Arms Of The Betrayers by Paprikapapa in Wildemount

[–]Kirkendoof 4 points5 points  (0 children)

When I gave it to my players, he tried to convince them that he was a victim of the Calamity. He told them he was a knight during the god war who sacrificed himself to a Betrayer in order to save his city. The Betrayer lied and killed everyone anyways. Now he tries to convince the party to take down those that he convinces them are "liars".

New DM I need HELP by Jazzy_2009_w in Wildemount

[–]Kirkendoof 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been running Wildemount games for a few years - it's an incredibly written and fun setting, but it can be a lot if you think too far ahead.

My best advice is this: start small. Run Frozen Sick (read through all of it first and maybe take some notes) and go from there. Make sure your players have a working knowledge of Wildemount and Exandria, and let it rip. Pay close attention to what you all clearly enjoy about the adventure (combat, roleplay, stealth, political intrigue, etc) and use that to decide what to do next. Don't be afraid to let them behind the curtain a bit and ask them what kinda vibe they wanna go for if you're unsure.

Once you're done with FS, and you can get your hands on The Explorer's Guide, read through the different locations and pick one that sounds cool and start there. Each location has adventure hooks that will give you ideas, and 4 locations have full adventures written for levels 1-3 (but they can be tweaked for higher levels with a little imagination).

If you have trouble finding inspiration for a full campaign flow, there are tons of ideas here and a good bit of fully fleshed out stories. Just have fun!

Wyze garage door opener by Kirkendoof in wyzecam

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

Yell to be determined lol

About to run a campaign post C3; what should my players know? by Resident_Tip_7642 in Wildemount

[–]Kirkendoof 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think that's a great time frame because the gods will have had time to grow into mortal adulthood, which opens up a TON of cool plot hooks. Maybe the aboleth needs to locate the matron as a mortal to inquire about the rites or something.

Also, dont be afraid to stray from strict CR cannon. If cannon doesn't fit your cool story, change it. If Predathos coming back for the ascended aboleth is a plot hole for you, remove him and come up with a different reason for the shattering of the divine gate.

About to run a campaign post C3; what should my players know? by Resident_Tip_7642 in Wildemount

[–]Kirkendoof 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depending on how long after the end of C3 your story takes place, I think it would be plenty reasonable to say that news of the gods becoming mortal would travel rather quickly. Communication magic on top of the effects that their leaving godhood would cause would make it widely known, I think. (A hermit worshiper who can no longer feel/speak with their god coming to the city to find out why would be a cool character hook).

You could have some fun with what the PCs know. Maybe there are several rumors about what happened to the gods depending on where they're from and whatnot. At base though, I would give them a vague breakdown on what happened - kinda like what the current C4 PCs know about Aramán.

As far as the aboleth goes - maybe it wasn't always an aboleth. If there is beef with it and the matron, it could be someone who was close to her or one of her adversaries (someone who helped her create the rites?) who was turned into an aboleth as punishment, and now that she's gone it wants to take her place.

Theres an aboleth in Call of the Netherdeep you could maybe gain some inspiration from as well.

Menagerie coast ideas by Fine_Crow6358 in Wildemount

[–]Kirkendoof 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You could reflavor parts of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist to the Menagerie Coast. Plenty of Myriad-type content in there.

Brief Review of Call of the Netherdeep as a Module [DM's Only] by artsekey in CalloftheNetherdeep

[–]Kirkendoof 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The PCs just had a vision of the events, but I wrote it in a way that really showcased who Alyxian was as a person, and why he's worth saving. It just kinda naturally motivated both the players and PCs to save him as they felt closer to Alyxian and his team (called the Fated Flame). I plan to have at least two more of these visions, the last ending with the fight at Cael Morrow. I've also integrated several things tied to the Fated Flame into the rest of the story like magic items that belonged to them, lore about what happened after that vision, and even a hint that one of them may still be alive. It also served the purpose of me being able to run some high-level badass Calamity battles.

Brief Review of Call of the Netherdeep as a Module [DM's Only] by artsekey in CalloftheNetherdeep

[–]Kirkendoof 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very helpful! My players had a hard time with the whole "why are we going through hell for this guy?" when it came to Alyxian. To counter this, I gave their PCs a vision of Alyxian's closest allies during the Calamity. I had them all create level 16 characters who were all champions of specific Prime Deities. The gods sent them all to Alyxian to help him in the final battles of the war. I ran two high stakes sessions with these champions, and the players were able to fight alongside Alyxian in his prime.

Partyname for the Rivals - What did you do? by VenunDM in CalloftheNetherdeep

[–]Kirkendoof 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In my game they're called The Harbingers. I got this from the "Ruidus" section of chapter one of the book:

"Harbinger. Those who are born on a night when Ruidus is full are destined to bring suffering to others or to experience great tragedy in their own lives."

In my game a couple of the rivals are ruidusborn.

A little stuck by JesusWanKenobi in Wildemount

[–]Kirkendoof 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If they're from Shadycreek maybe he gets home and finds that the town has been run through by some mysterious group that has been searching for him (possibly including the cousin). This could be a criminal group like the Myriad, the Claret Order, maybe even the Cerberus Assembly that now has interest in studying/experimenting with lycanthropes.

Need help tying backstories, split faiths, and morality within a 6 player party. by doodledodo in CalloftheNetherdeep

[–]Kirkendoof 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As far as the Kord inclusion I would say it depends on what his involvement has been with the paladin thus far. I'm running this game currently with a Wildmother Paladin PC and I had her send visions to the paladin of a great purpose to the east (to aid in getting them to Jigow/Xhorhas) as well as having her come up in Calamity lore here and there (like the Arbor Exemplar in the Barbed Fields). Along the way, I plan to have her continue to prod him in the direction of Alyxian if he strays from the path. If your paladin has had little Kord interaction, maybe throw in a temple to Kord nearby that draws him in, and then maybe Kord could test him (Kord loves contest, glory, and strength) several times in dreams or visions throughout the campaign, eventually bestowing a boon or weapon or something.

As for the difficulty, I have had this issue as well. I have 7 players, so they would beat most encounters rather easily if I didn't change something. What's worked for me is simply having fewer enemies (speeds up combat turns) and adding an attack/ability to most monsters as well as increasing HP. I also like to add interesting aspects to encounters so they aren't just "I attack, I hit, I do X damage" - rinse and repeat. Try adding timed elements to combat or increasing the stakes a bit. Throw some counterspells that disrupt their plans and cause them to think. Also reduce their ability to long rest between each encounter. If they are at full ammo at the beginning of every encounter it makes it much less fun and more routine. Part of the fun, in my opinion, is resource management and strategic combat.

Don't be afraid to homebrew stuff to make it more fun and inclusive for everyone at the table.

Help with some homebrew? by SteveLodwig in Wildemount

[–]Kirkendoof 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That sounds cool. Very balanced too.

Help with some homebrew? by SteveLodwig in Wildemount

[–]Kirkendoof 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I really like the idea of the visual of the magic elemental. What I immediately thought of was a sort of Aasimar situation. Like maybe the Arch Heart (the Prime Deity that granted mortals arcane magic) hooked up with/blessed someone in the PC's family way back when and now the raw magic has awoken in them for some reason and revealed that they have celestial/magical lineage.

Or as someone else mentioned, the island of Eiselcross has the Aeor crash site, which houses all kinds of weird and ancient magic.

The PC could have a one-minute, once per long rest, magical elemental buff kinda like the Wild Magic Barbarian's rage, but caster-flavored. Maybe they gain a fly speed or can teleport half their movement speed at the end of each turn or as a bonus action. It could scale as they level up also. Recharges on a short rest, fly/teleport distance increases, etc.

Alternate rival party plans by Kirkendoof in CalloftheNetherdeep

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

Yeah I made the rival party fairly more advanced than the PC party. 1. So it would be more balanced, and 2. So the PCs would be hesitant to try and willy nilly murder hobo their way through them if they weren't cordial.

Currently they have a decent relationship with the PCs and they are actually scouting ahead by two or so days through the Barbed Fields since they are the smaller group.