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Dungeons of Drakkenheim - 3rd Party Review
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<blockquote data-quote="Sparky McDibben" data-source="post: 9151604" data-attributes="member: 7041430"><p>Hahaha! A solid point, but I hesitate to show too much on here in regards to the book's major value prop, which are the adventure sites. Besides, I think a quick overview of the general themes showcases the diversity of options when it comes to Drakkenheim content. You're not just doing the same thing over and over again - even the stuff that feels familiar gets a weird twist.</p><p></p><p>Alright folks, let's go ahead and hit up Chapters 9 and 10 tonight, covering both Castle Drakken and the Fate of Drakkenheim!</p><p></p><p>Castle Drakken is a dungeon that's 14 pages long. The castle map is, interestingly, non-isometric and just lays out the first floor, with other sections getting their own sub-maps. Keeping track of the PCs' location will be a bit of a pain as we bounce from sub-map to sub-map, but there's a <em>lot</em> here. </p><p></p><p>How much? This much:</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/bQRgFDg.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em>DOES ANYONE HAVE A TIC-TAC? ANYONE???</em></p><p></p><p>Demonic sacrifices, interdimensional soul-sargasso, trapped civil servants, ghost balls (like the dance, not the other kind, you weirdo), and a genuine mother-****ing escape slide. This dungeon has a lot going on in it, and the verbiage gets real verbose handling it. This is definitely a case when giving the DM enough tools to realize your vision actually results in way more work. </p><p></p><p>I personally would have preferred a sparser, more evocative style, but there's enough here that I don't want to knock them that much. Solid B material. Great ideas, imperfect but earnest execution. You know what, we're going to B+. Screw it, I <em>can</em> be nice. </p><p></p><p>The final chapter, chapter 10, covers potential epilogues for Drakkenheim as your PCs finish it off. Basically it's a collection of brief essays listing out, "Oh, you did that thing? Here's a few ways it could pan out!" The ideas are good, non-obvious (well, some of them are obvious and some aren't, but I'm glad they put in the effort to dig deeper), and well-presented. This is a good idea and one that WotC products frequently shy away from. Personally, I appreciate the support, but cleaner layout would have helped here. </p><p></p><p>After chapter 10, we get into the appendices (A - F). Appendix A are all the new monsters; while several are reskins, there are 17 new monsters introduced, with several being key NPCs. There's a real divide between monsters at CR 1/2 - CR 6, and then several monsters at CR 13+ (bosses). </p><p></p><p>I don't really engage with monster design from a mechanical standpoint, but from a conceptual perspective, these are really interesting. We've got a harpy queen, the aforementioned soul-sargasso, a massive gnoll warlord, and a CE flower. Yes, a flower. I'm not even making that up, y'all. Interesting, evocative, and belonging to the setting. Damn good work; I can steal a bunch of these.</p><p></p><p>Appendix B is all about faction leaders, all of whom are CR 15, and all of whom are shagnasty. The head of the paladins, the Silver Order, wields a <em>holy avenger</em>, has a legendary action <em>guiding bolt</em> that doesn't use a spell slot, and hits like a truck, dealing on average 30 hp per attack. The static damage math is a little wonky, so if you use that, just check the math works before running it. </p><p></p><p>Appendix C is </p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://media0.giphy.com/media/tyttpHjOqtR22WNjUyI/200.gif" alt="happy cookie monster GIF by Giffffr" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p><p>for contamination. Hate to spoil the surprise there for ol' Cookie. But yeah, it's all about contamination, and how you can gain or lose it. It's basically a parallel exhaustion track, with PC's gaining exhaustion for staying in the Haze too long, getting hit by certain monsters' attacks, or drinking contaminated water sources. I really like this, and I like that it can straight-up destroy your characters if they try to ignore it too long.</p><p></p><p>Appendix D goes into delerium, new spells, and magic items. This appendix provides a handy reference for what delerium's worth on the open market, how you harvest it, what the dangers of it are, etc. Then we get 13 new spells, mostly dealing with contamination, mutation, or the Haze (and therefore all appropriate to Drakkenheim), and 26 new magic items, including everything from expendable items to full-on artifacts that grant three <em>wishes</em>. I can't really judge these mechanically; they seem pretty good for Drakkenheim, which makes them either useless in other campaigns that don't use the Haze, or quite overpowered in less-grim circumstances. Personally, I'd reserve everything here for use in an actual Drakkenheim campaign. </p><p></p><p>Appendix E goes over the broader world of Drakkenheim, including a timeline, three rival kingdoms, and some local flavor. Useful but not amazing. </p><p></p><p>Finally, Appendix F goes into backgrounds. There are several new backgrounds that tie directly into Drakkenheim's basic premise, and they are incredibly useful! I strongly recommend using these with your players if you run this campaign, as I could see these being a real weight off the DM's shoulders. </p><p></p><p>Alright folks, now the final question: <em>Should you buy it?</em></p><p></p><p>Buy if you're interested in running a well-done dark fantasy campaign, or if the specific blend of Lovecraft and Howard they're evoking speaks to you. You should also buy it if you're interesting in non-linear campaign design, or if you're a fan of <em>really good</em> third party products. </p><p></p><p>Hold if you're interested in running a megadungeon, and don't forget to buy the Maps. </p><p></p><p>Skip if you're not interested in running a dungeoncrawl, or if you're not interested in high-stakes exploration. </p><p></p><p>Personally, I'm really glad I bought this! It's damn good material from folks who clearly care a <em>lot</em> about providing fun material. God knows we need more of that!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sparky McDibben, post: 9151604, member: 7041430"] Hahaha! A solid point, but I hesitate to show too much on here in regards to the book's major value prop, which are the adventure sites. Besides, I think a quick overview of the general themes showcases the diversity of options when it comes to Drakkenheim content. You're not just doing the same thing over and over again - even the stuff that feels familiar gets a weird twist. Alright folks, let's go ahead and hit up Chapters 9 and 10 tonight, covering both Castle Drakken and the Fate of Drakkenheim! Castle Drakken is a dungeon that's 14 pages long. The castle map is, interestingly, non-isometric and just lays out the first floor, with other sections getting their own sub-maps. Keeping track of the PCs' location will be a bit of a pain as we bounce from sub-map to sub-map, but there's a [I]lot[/I] here. How much? This much: [CENTER][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/bQRgFDg.png[/IMG] [I]DOES ANYONE HAVE A TIC-TAC? ANYONE???[/I][/CENTER] Demonic sacrifices, interdimensional soul-sargasso, trapped civil servants, ghost balls (like the dance, not the other kind, you weirdo), and a genuine mother-****ing escape slide. This dungeon has a lot going on in it, and the verbiage gets real verbose handling it. This is definitely a case when giving the DM enough tools to realize your vision actually results in way more work. I personally would have preferred a sparser, more evocative style, but there's enough here that I don't want to knock them that much. Solid B material. Great ideas, imperfect but earnest execution. You know what, we're going to B+. Screw it, I [I]can[/I] be nice. The final chapter, chapter 10, covers potential epilogues for Drakkenheim as your PCs finish it off. Basically it's a collection of brief essays listing out, "Oh, you did that thing? Here's a few ways it could pan out!" The ideas are good, non-obvious (well, some of them are obvious and some aren't, but I'm glad they put in the effort to dig deeper), and well-presented. This is a good idea and one that WotC products frequently shy away from. Personally, I appreciate the support, but cleaner layout would have helped here. After chapter 10, we get into the appendices (A - F). Appendix A are all the new monsters; while several are reskins, there are 17 new monsters introduced, with several being key NPCs. There's a real divide between monsters at CR 1/2 - CR 6, and then several monsters at CR 13+ (bosses). I don't really engage with monster design from a mechanical standpoint, but from a conceptual perspective, these are really interesting. We've got a harpy queen, the aforementioned soul-sargasso, a massive gnoll warlord, and a CE flower. Yes, a flower. I'm not even making that up, y'all. Interesting, evocative, and belonging to the setting. Damn good work; I can steal a bunch of these. Appendix B is all about faction leaders, all of whom are CR 15, and all of whom are shagnasty. The head of the paladins, the Silver Order, wields a [I]holy avenger[/I], has a legendary action [I]guiding bolt[/I] that doesn't use a spell slot, and hits like a truck, dealing on average 30 hp per attack. The static damage math is a little wonky, so if you use that, just check the math works before running it. Appendix C is [CENTER][IMG alt="happy cookie monster GIF by Giffffr"]https://media0.giphy.com/media/tyttpHjOqtR22WNjUyI/200.gif[/IMG] [/CENTER] for contamination. Hate to spoil the surprise there for ol' Cookie. But yeah, it's all about contamination, and how you can gain or lose it. It's basically a parallel exhaustion track, with PC's gaining exhaustion for staying in the Haze too long, getting hit by certain monsters' attacks, or drinking contaminated water sources. I really like this, and I like that it can straight-up destroy your characters if they try to ignore it too long. Appendix D goes into delerium, new spells, and magic items. This appendix provides a handy reference for what delerium's worth on the open market, how you harvest it, what the dangers of it are, etc. Then we get 13 new spells, mostly dealing with contamination, mutation, or the Haze (and therefore all appropriate to Drakkenheim), and 26 new magic items, including everything from expendable items to full-on artifacts that grant three [I]wishes[/I]. I can't really judge these mechanically; they seem pretty good for Drakkenheim, which makes them either useless in other campaigns that don't use the Haze, or quite overpowered in less-grim circumstances. Personally, I'd reserve everything here for use in an actual Drakkenheim campaign. Appendix E goes over the broader world of Drakkenheim, including a timeline, three rival kingdoms, and some local flavor. Useful but not amazing. Finally, Appendix F goes into backgrounds. There are several new backgrounds that tie directly into Drakkenheim's basic premise, and they are incredibly useful! I strongly recommend using these with your players if you run this campaign, as I could see these being a real weight off the DM's shoulders. Alright folks, now the final question: [I]Should you buy it?[/I] Buy if you're interested in running a well-done dark fantasy campaign, or if the specific blend of Lovecraft and Howard they're evoking speaks to you. You should also buy it if you're interesting in non-linear campaign design, or if you're a fan of [I]really good[/I] third party products. Hold if you're interested in running a megadungeon, and don't forget to buy the Maps. Skip if you're not interested in running a dungeoncrawl, or if you're not interested in high-stakes exploration. Personally, I'm really glad I bought this! It's damn good material from folks who clearly care a [I]lot[/I] about providing fun material. God knows we need more of that! [/QUOTE]
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