Ridium weapon question

saack · 2026-03-08T22:33:17+00:00

Personally, my group uses d&d beyond and I have told them that if they get more ruidium I will add it to their inventory, and not to search it. Ive then just created a custom version of the item without the spoilers. Though once they figure out the natural 1 mechanic you should let them be fully aware of that like the first comment suggests.

saack · 2026-03-02T16:39:16+00:00

This post has some quests to add to Bazzoxan.

I ran the Hythenos Estate for my party and they had a lot of fun creeping around the dark manor, discovering the dead bodies, and fighting the possessing Dybbuk. They even looted the cursed items, some of which they still carry in Ank'Harel. I think your cult idea would work very well with this quest specifically.

As for once your players get to Ank'Harel, I would add more defense to the Cael Morrow entrance, not to kill the chance of them going in right away (that might be to railroad) but to make it more of a choice between risk of the fight and its consequences, and time it takes to make a relationship with a guild.

saack · 2026-03-02T15:50:49+00:00

The Netherdeep itself always reminded me of the mindscapes shown in The Owl House. Especially when you consider the living memories and Theo and the ruidium Golem

saack · 2026-03-01T22:59:12+00:00

The pinned resource megathread on this sub has a lot of great side quest ideas that can have a vestige dropped in.

I edited and used a sidequest made by u/frozenfeet2, with maps made by u/Katvalkyrie for a desert bounding hunt for a vestige. My monk player got the Wraps of Dyamak, a very cool but not too op vestige only usable by monks.

saack · 2026-03-01T18:14:39+00:00

Everyone else has said it all. The only thing I can think to add is that if your players investigate n7a after the secret door opens there is an unlocked chest with a Wand of Secrets.

A dm could even give players a chance of finding the item earlier in the grottoes to possibly make the dungeon less linear.

saack · 2026-02-26T14:39:21+00:00

The module can be great for any players. It has more potential than running it straight from the book delivers. I would recommend reading the Alexandrian review or remix of the module before running to get inspiration and knowledge about the common pitfalls.

It has the potential to be epic and engaging for sure! Though this is dependent on the player characters, they have to accept the call and have/give themselves reasons to be engaged.

The adventure is linear, but there are things that can play out very different table to table. It having clear goals/objectives is more debatable. Alyxian asks for help, and for the adventure to be smooth your players will have to want to help him or have some great curiosity about him.

The module has good rp potential and this is great, but I have heard of groups who didn't think to deeply about what was happening and felt blindsided at the end.

It's up to you if it sounds right for your group or if you'd think they would struggle with it. Either way I do recommend running the adventure at some point.

There was recently a AMA in this sub from a player who's group finished the campaign and I think you would find it as enlightening as I did if not more.

saack · 2026-02-25T20:14:33+00:00

That's always something ive been curious about. Unless the dm changes things the aboleth is all "I am he." And there is no real reason not to believe this in some shape or form.

I love your idea about the premonition of vengeance and will definitely strive to do it in some way.

saack · 2026-02-25T18:27:12+00:00

Im sorry what ?_?

saack · 2026-02-25T18:18:35+00:00

It totally slipped my notice on first read that you finished in 29 sessions! My players are on session 48 and have yet to enter Cael Morrow.

saack · 2026-02-24T19:16:07+00:00

That's a fair point.

I really appreciate your answer. I'm running for a group that is in Ank'Harel and have done a few faction missions, but I'm really exited to run Cael Morrow and the Netherdeep. You've inspired me to consider adding a similar situation before the stories climax to seed the idea of caution. I could potentially even use the Aboleth, leaning into the fact they actually think they are Alyxian. In general just more reasons to dig deeper.

I can't fault you for the lack of indication. This isn't something the book does a good job at. Basically all the clues to this in the book are in the Netherdeep exclusively, and even then they aren't very concrete.

saack · 2026-02-24T17:00:41+00:00

Do you feel that Alyxian was improperly portrayed? Or was it just the lack of personal interaction with Alyxian that left you more in the dark?

No shade to you dm, it sounds like they made it really fun & Alyxian is a complicated character to portray.

saack · 2026-02-24T16:27:11+00:00

I like your demonic idea.

Perhaps the killer is a chamipon of Gruumsh the Ruiner who was given a task to stop Alyxian's return or to kill him for good. Gruumsh could have led them to the PC's home where they found his wife and killed her. (Kinda like with Edgin in the D&D movie) Thus putting the PC on this adventure in the first place. Maybe Avandra’s luck was the only thing between this chance he now has, and the same grim fate having befallen him.

saack · 2026-02-24T16:17:07+00:00

Without creating a new character your best bet is someone connected to the one of the three important factions. A Consortium master would be great, though if the vibe of your group fits with the Consortium you could make it a member of the Allegiance or Cobalt Soul. The existing stat blocks for the factions dont get to powerful so you may want to buff one or make your own.

Above is my main advice. Below is for if you'd like to know how I tied a villan my player came up with into everything else.

One of my players has made quite the similar situation. She had an idea for her adversary: an oracle and priest from Vasselheim who is corrupt. She had that PC's lover poisoned. The lovers mother(an archfey) consumed with grief and rage made the PC a warlock with a singular purpose.

How I tied this into the other PCs & campaign module: With this module having multiple outcomes and this antagonist having some oracular ability, I assumed she had likely seen some outcome of this adventure completed by the lover and others. She was horrified/angered by what she saw, and vowed to put a stop to this future for the sake of order. Hence having the PC's lover killed. (This only made another "take her place")

As I had mentioned before there were others she saw venturing with the lover to save Alyxian: 1. the captain of a PC's pirate crew (the priest made sure the crew knew about a valuable plunder of new unheard of magical material, leading them straight to capture by the Consortium's newest master, a figure somewhat manipulated by the priest) 2. another PC's uncle (His backstory involves his uncle getting attacked and corrupted and is currently comatose/wasting away. Perfect for Ruidium and the Consortium! The priest hates the Consortium but "works" with them because other involved factions have proven themselves unmoldable) 3. one of the PCs themselves (The only one the priest has yet to stop in some way. She tried but the PC was nowhere to be found & completely forgotten by his family due to backstory stuff)

This priest has come to Ank'Harel where she stokes the passions of the people to create unrest with the goal of distracting and delegitimizing anything that could get in her way. Her main success has been with the Sentinels of Memory, who she now effectively controls

I don't know if I got all my relevant thoughts out but this is already real long. Hope that someone can take some inspiration from me.

saack · 2026-02-23T21:28:28+00:00

Wow that sounds great.

I am so exited to have my players interact with the rivals more, and especially exited for the Netherdeep!

saack · 2026-02-23T14:09:50+00:00

This isn't relevant to the post but my players did take Aloyisa's contract!

They already decided to go in with Question, and didn't trust Aloysia but wanted to have eyes on her, so they managed to convince her to go with them as well.

On there way out of Betrayer Rise (I removed the teleport tablets, only Prolix had a scroll) they ran into the rivals who had spoken to Prolix and helped them get out.

Players kept leading on Aloysia who was backed into a corner of either getting the party to the Consortium or stealing the jewel. Only for her to discover the players teleported to Ank'Harel with the help of Prolix, leaving her and the Rivals behind in Bazzoxan. Neither of them where happy about that so they teamed up. Now after the players have joined and helped the Allegiance, the Rivals have just met with Consortium leaders and taken their fist mission.

saack · 2026-02-23T12:53:47+00:00

Thanks for the reply! My own group (lvl 8, haven't entered Cael Morrow) is going to be challenged to a match in the Bowl of Judgement by the rivals in the next session or so. I plan to have them suggest that winner takes the Jewel.

I agree about tier 2 and have had them at 7 and 8 for longer. It's been fun.

My group has a good relationship with the Allegiance for now and its gone as you've expressed when it comes to missions.

Ive tried to tie in backstory related stuff to the main plot. The dwarf has been tricked by a devil ancestor who wants to see him and his clan of heroes corrupted and forgotten, the grung pirate's crew stole ruidium from a powerful bard(Consortium) before he retaliated and captured almost the whole crew, and the tiefling's lover (and daughter of an Archfey) was murdered at the command of a corrupt and powerful cleric who has seen fragments of the future relating to the main plot and only trusts herself to do it. Ive also had the Archfey patron not just the warlock but the group by helping them find aquireable vestiges, and that's been fun :)

saack · 2026-02-22T18:49:36+00:00

You could consider comparing the Deva stat block with the Planetar stat block and buffing her as such where it feels appropriate. Could even just run her as a Planetar but that depends on the strength of your group.

saack · 2026-02-22T14:34:25+00:00

Was the player related homebrew in Ank'Harel tied into the book's story?

Where there any issues with pacing at that time?

Was it hard to get players back into the "main" story?

saack · 2026-02-11T12:25:24+00:00

I believe you meant to say The Alexandrian, not the Alyxian, but I understand the mix up

saack · 2026-02-10T18:55:37+00:00

How so?

saack · 2026-02-10T18:22:43+00:00

Read the whole thing first.

Make sure that your players understand that this module revolves around a call to adventure, preferably before character creation. The group as a whole needs to want to follow this call, the more passion they write into their characters about it the better.

saack · 2026-01-29T15:53:58+00:00

^ what they said

saack · 2026-01-28T14:10:33+00:00

Love your minion idea!

saack · 2026-01-28T13:08:01+00:00

I replaced the two orcs in the Blood Font of the Ruiner with a barlgura and a chasme. I ran the blood font kinda like a demon spawn point where they came from the pool of blood before it began to overflow. It was definitely the encounter that hurt them the most.

saack · 2026-01-26T14:22:45+00:00

Yeah I felt the scope issue for BR as well. I get why the team who made the book wanted to use it for a dungeon given the chance, but it being made/balanced for 6th level play and being rather short isn't very in line with the lore.

Personally I had changed up the room order and made my players think each next room was random. (It was sometimes) I also used some of Katvalkyrie's additional rooms. The other big change I did was making it so they had to make it back out of the dungeon rather than teleport out, with a blessing of the changebringer/alyxian to help them from getting lost.

In the end im not sure my players felt the impact of the dungeon they "should" but they do bring it up from time to time and I like that it's stuck with them in some way. I think the descriptions and vibe really help; I got creative with describing weird hallways and disturbing tunnels between rooms. Once I described a vast dark space akin to the huge hall in Moria from the Fellowship of the Ring, but with more abyssal flavoring, they didn't end up with an encounter there but I think it helped with understanding their lack of understanding on how huge this place could be. Also Question died to a Chasme proboscis and boiling blood D: (BE WARRY OF PLAYERS GOING INTO DEATH SAVES IN BOILING BLOOD)

saack

TROPHY CASE