Linking Dungeon Delve adventures...

[Klaus]

So I got my copy of Dungeon Delve, and I quite like it. 30 micro-adventures (3 encounters in a dungeon), covering all levels of play.

Anyone has given any thought to linking those micro-adventures into a campaign? Speak up! If you prefer to deal with it in smaller chunks, link them by tier (1-10, 11-20, 21-30).

Here's my contribution:

Delves 2 and 3 (Broken Tower and Orc Stronghold), being set in remains of previous fortifications, lend themselves quite well to a single locale, with both structures being a part of the ruins of a larger keep´.

Also, maybe it's the Egyptian theme of the tiles, but Delves 4 (The Raider's Hideout), 5 (Tomb of the Tiefling Empress, 7 (The Catacombs of Koptila) and 10 (Fear The Night) also lend themselves to a single location. Maybe these are ruins inside Vor Kragal, former capital of Bael Turath?

 

[Barcode]

I unfortunately don't have my copy of Dungeon Delve in front of me. Just replying to give a thread about games (rather than game companies) some love.

 

[GuJiaXian]

I haven't received my copy yet (it's an anniversary present), but given how busy I am with life (work, kids, etc.) I plan to use the pre-made stuff in the book as much as possible. I may, depending on exactly what's in each mini adventure, repurpose the maps to fit my own campaign. Time will tell.

 

[Badwe]

One challenge might be creating enough XP to bridge the gap to the higher levels. While the encounters tend to be of the format level n, n+1, and n+2, that’s still a bit short of the 8-10 encounters needed to level up. One other unfortunate omission is that, while it can be pretty easy to line up the magic items, there’s no real explanation of which treasure parcels are used as part of the delves.

So step 1 is probably to make all of the encounters they recommend in the “expanding the delve” as well as all of the skill challenges. That should bridge most of the gap. Though they don’t employ maps made exclusively with dungeon tiles, the “lairs” (another format I’m beginning to like) from Draconomicon and Open Grave are also quite easy to insert anywhere, more on that later.

The Egyptian tomb themed tiles aren’t the only indicators of easy linkage, I would say many of the delves employing DU2: streets of shadow, would lend themselves to occurring in a single city, rife with adventure. If you are using the traditional Nentir Vale setting like the one included in the DMG, then fallcrest might be a good candidate to host them.

Additionally, while it’s not obvious from the tileset used (DU3: caves of carnage), there are some delves involving fomorians, Cyclops, and evil eladrin that would likely benefit from being in some way thematically linked with the feywild dragon lair in draconomicon. In that case there may be some level adjustment needed since the feywild lair is around level 9 and if I recall correctly the fomorian delve is mid-paragon. Then again, you might be able to reasonably link one to the other with some side quests (and of course the remaining delves) in between.

I think using all of them would work well as something of a sandbox, putting little breadcrumbs in each of them that lead to the others, possibly even letting the PCs find tales of a delve 1 or 2 levels above them (but warning them of the danger) so if they’re feeling bold they can take on great challenges. Of course, if they want to stomp a delve a level below them, that’s fine too.

Best of Luck!

 

[Klaus]

I'd include at least one skill challenge in each Delve, either for travelling to the Dungeon or researching clues. I'd make them n+2, and if the PCs fail the challenge they get a n+2 encounter on their way to the Dungeon. Since it'd likely be the only encounter for the day, I think going for harder encounters (maybe even n+3) allow for a balanced encounter with good XP.

 

[Barcode]

Wow, this book has created some crazy demand for Dungeon Tiles DU1 "Hall of the Giant Kings". $80 on eBay. I should have put my money there instead of shorting stocks last summer.