D&D 5E (2024) The Dalelands & Myth Drannor : Are they inseparable ?

[S3PTI4N77]

I recently got my hands on Adventures in Faerûn, and it got me SUPER inspired for my next big campaign in the Forgotten Realms. After going through some of the content, I focused my attention on the section about the Dalelands. It quickly became my favorite setting. Sadly, one little aspect of my playgroup make me hesitate about taking the Dalelands over another region : Myth Drannor. As I understand, Myth Drannor is supposed to be (the book says it) a megadungeon meant for the players to be explored gradually through a campaign, when resources fall flat, or when the monsters' levels are too high .

The thing is, my playgroup does not really find dungeons particularly interesting, and I really want to include at some point Myth Drannor. I genuinely find Myth Drannor's story interesting, and it seems that the players can't not know of Cormanthor's biggest secret if they begin a campaign in a setting almost entirely based around it.

My questions are : Does Myth Drannor can really be skipped in a Dalelands campaign? If so, what could I do without it ? And if not, in what way can Myth Drannor (full of monsters and ruins) be interesting to my players who don't like the concept of dungeons* ?

*It could certainly be a way for me to show them how cool dungeons can be in D&D, but I don't know how to tackle the matter yet... I've always found the dungeons as something important in the overall game of D&D, and yet so tricky to insert in a game.

 

[Cruentus]

I added "Myth Drannor" into my Moonshaes campaign. I shrouded it in rumor, and made it very clear how dangerous it was to enter. That didn't stop the players from beelining directly to it anyway. I used it primarily as a ruined city, full of atmosphere and wandering monsters, which could be considered a dungeon, but my players treated it as a large city. They didn't delve too deep underneath (what we would consider a 'dungeon', but had several encounters amongst the ruins.

I didn't scale the encounters (I was running 5e at the time), so the players did encounter monsters that they couldn't handle. They also had encounters with NPCs on the outskirts who could give them rumors and quests in exchange for their help.

The other way to approach it would be to have specific locations within the city that are small 5-10 room dungeons, which makes them quicker to explore. The players could then go in or out of the city if they want to, or need to, without having to spend the entire time in it.

If you are interested in Myth Drannor, I'd track down a copy of the Ruins of Myth Drannor (2e) (available on Drivethru RPG), and base it around that. There is tons of good info in it. There is also other material in DTRPG around Myth Drannor.

 

[Zardnaar]

Its up to you how you use it. You've got a map what you put on it is up to you

 

[sevenbastard]

It would make a great 5e sandbox adventure. Go back to D&Ds roots and include a actual big ruin of a dungeon.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I recently got my hands on Adventures in Faerûn, and it got me SUPER inspired for my next big campaign in the Forgotten Realms. After going through some of the content, I focused my attention on the section about the Dalelands. It quickly became my favorite setting. Sadly, one little aspect of my playgroup make me hesitate about taking the Dalelands over another region : Myth Drannor. As I understand, Myth Drannor is supposed to be (the book says it) a megadungeon meant for the players to be explored gradually through a campaign, when resources fall flat, or when the monsters' levels are too high .

The thing is, my playgroup does not really find dungeons particularly interesting, and I really want to include at some point Myth Drannor. I genuinely find Myth Drannor's story interesting, and it seems that the players can't not know of Cormanthor's biggest secret if they begin a campaign in a setting almost entirely based around it.
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My questions are : Does Myth Drannor can really be skipped in a Dalelands campaign? If so, what could I do without it ? And if not, in what way can Myth Drannor (full of monsters and ruins) be interesting to my players who don't like the concept of dungeons* ?

*It could certainly be a way for me to show them how cool dungeons can be in D&D, but I don't know how to tackle the matter yet... I've always found the dungeons as something important in the overall game of D&D, and yet so tricky to insert in a game.

I'm curious what about dungeons don't your players find interesting? Or switched around, what do they find interesting? Perhaps ratchet up some of that in your version of Myth Drannor?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Living in the Dalelands is kind of like living near adventurer Disneyland.

 

[Zardnaar]

Living in the Dalelands is kind of like living near adventurer Disneyland.

I thought that was the Sword Coast

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I thought that was the Sword Coast

Not so much - the Sword Coast is a very large area, it's easy to find places that are not Baldur's Gate, Waterdeep or Neverwinter.

Also, Sword Coast has contributions from many authors, Dalelands is very much dominated by one - Ed Greenwood. Hence the Disney reference. There are lots of theme parks, but they aren't all the vision of Walt Disney.

 

[Zardnaar]

Not so much - the Sword Coast is a very large area, it's easy to find places that are not Baldur's Gate, Waterdeep or Neverwinter.

Also, Sword Coast has contributions from many authors, Dalelands is very much dominated by one - Ed Greenwood. Hence the Disney reference. There are lots of theme parks, but they aren't all the vision of Walt Disney.

Ah gotcha. I remember Dalelands pushed hard in 2E.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Ah gotcha. I remember Dalelands pushed hard in 2E.

Indeed, to me it feels too well trod, and almost like sacrilege to not use Ed's own stuff. I haven't read FR: AiF yet, but I would be more inclined to lift the elements I liked from the Dalelands chapter and relocate them into one of the less well trod areas of the FR (it's huge, there are lots of vaguely defined areas).

Or make a fantasy Yorkshire Dales as a homebrew setting. There is plenty of real world stuff which I could throw into that.