TheSword
Legend
Ryan, Cat, Andrew and Bob Stop Reading Now!!!
So I have been thinking running a mash up of Golden Vault, Dragonheist and Undermountain for a long time… pretty much since each of these books came out. (With a little dash of Paizo's Curse of the Crimson Throne for spice).
I've always loved the idea of Undermountain ever since buying the original TSR boxed set as a teenager. The idea of a 20 level dungeon crawl is anathema to me. Even the coolest idea sours when repeated ad nauseum. Dragonheist is full of great character and interesting plots/locations but is really sketchy in parts. Goldenvault is a full of great ideas and well planned out scenarios but lack something to link them together. So by mashing them up, I get to take the best from all them. A great heist campaign featuring some of the best villains in D&D history, in a WFRP detailed vibrant city setting with forays into the games deepest coolest dungeon.
Unfortunately there is a catch… the rules as described in the book just don’t carry the game far enough for me. I was reading about what happens if a museum guard catches a player during the heist… make a DC 10 intimidate, or persuasion check. Success means they let them go… in the middle of a robbery! DC 10… so basically a 75% chance of solving with one dice roll. Want to make Undermountain scary or dangerous? Good luck doing that with 5e rules.
So I put off the planning for a few months until one day I happened to write up a crib sheet for my new WFRP campaign starting next month. I spotted a skill called Bribery which I hadn’t noticed before. It allows players to bribe NPCs based on their status/rank. A simple skill system that let players know what was a reasonable amount to get a job done. More skills and talents appropriate for heists like Gossip, Research, Secret Identity, Shadow and Schemer and wonderful careers like Spy, Fence, Charlatan and Entertainer.
When I then thought how actually terrifying Undermountain would be if a PC broke their leg halfway through level 7 I decided it was worth giving it a go. I thought I’d share my planning stage/notes. Cubicle 7 is releasing a sourcebook this year called Deft Fingers and Light Steps which will be invaluable so I’ll be looking to start early next year when Age of Worms finishes. That does make 3 out of my 4 long term regular campaigns WFRP but I think I just enjoy the system more.
More to come. Feel free to share thoughts particularly suggestions of things that would work well or areas you think i might come unstuck. It would be great to avoid recommending other systems though I'm just not into that. This is for folks thinking of using or adapting Dragonheist, Dungeon of the Mad Mage and Golden Vault to WFRP or DnD. Not a debate about what system handles this stuff best
I'm hoping the adventure structure and ideas will be useful for anyone who wants to try the mash up - not just using WFRP. If no one’s that interested I’ll just use the thread to organize my thoughts and maybe it be useful to folks one day.
So I have been thinking running a mash up of Golden Vault, Dragonheist and Undermountain for a long time… pretty much since each of these books came out. (With a little dash of Paizo's Curse of the Crimson Throne for spice).
I've always loved the idea of Undermountain ever since buying the original TSR boxed set as a teenager. The idea of a 20 level dungeon crawl is anathema to me. Even the coolest idea sours when repeated ad nauseum. Dragonheist is full of great character and interesting plots/locations but is really sketchy in parts. Goldenvault is a full of great ideas and well planned out scenarios but lack something to link them together. So by mashing them up, I get to take the best from all them. A great heist campaign featuring some of the best villains in D&D history, in a WFRP detailed vibrant city setting with forays into the games deepest coolest dungeon.
Unfortunately there is a catch… the rules as described in the book just don’t carry the game far enough for me. I was reading about what happens if a museum guard catches a player during the heist… make a DC 10 intimidate, or persuasion check. Success means they let them go… in the middle of a robbery! DC 10… so basically a 75% chance of solving with one dice roll. Want to make Undermountain scary or dangerous? Good luck doing that with 5e rules.
So I put off the planning for a few months until one day I happened to write up a crib sheet for my new WFRP campaign starting next month. I spotted a skill called Bribery which I hadn’t noticed before. It allows players to bribe NPCs based on their status/rank. A simple skill system that let players know what was a reasonable amount to get a job done. More skills and talents appropriate for heists like Gossip, Research, Secret Identity, Shadow and Schemer and wonderful careers like Spy, Fence, Charlatan and Entertainer.
When I then thought how actually terrifying Undermountain would be if a PC broke their leg halfway through level 7 I decided it was worth giving it a go. I thought I’d share my planning stage/notes. Cubicle 7 is releasing a sourcebook this year called Deft Fingers and Light Steps which will be invaluable so I’ll be looking to start early next year when Age of Worms finishes. That does make 3 out of my 4 long term regular campaigns WFRP but I think I just enjoy the system more.
More to come. Feel free to share thoughts particularly suggestions of things that would work well or areas you think i might come unstuck. It would be great to avoid recommending other systems though I'm just not into that. This is for folks thinking of using or adapting Dragonheist, Dungeon of the Mad Mage and Golden Vault to WFRP or DnD. Not a debate about what system handles this stuff best

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