D&D 5E More Golden Vault Info!

From a recent press release sent out by WotC.

• “A secret organization called the Golden Vault sends mission briefings to its operatives—the adventurers!—in the form of magical, golden keys that are inserted into what looks like a mundane music box. Instead of a pretty tune, though, the music box then provides a recording with all the information needed for the adventurers to hunt a particular item of interest,” said Amanda Hamon, senior game designer on the D&D Team and co-lead designer of Keys from the Golden Vault. “It’s up to the adventurers to do the reconnaissance necessary to circumvent any defenses and pull off a legendary heist. Teamwork is paramount, because as so often happens in these capers, something will go wrong, and creative thinking could save the day!”
• The Golden Vaiult is linked to metallic dragons, and is good-aligned. It has a motto: "“Do good, no matter the cost.”
• The 13 adventures each have two full-page maps (one player map and one for the DM). The player map is often unreliable or incomplete.

Channel Your Inner Rogue with 13 Heist Adventures in Keys from the Golden Vault

Get the Mission, Plan the Caper, and Make Sure Everyone Gets Out Alive with the Prize

Renton, Wash., D&D players are not strangers to impossible missions. A perilous heist requires careful strategizing followed by daredevil antics when something unexpected happens and the players’ plan goes sideways. Dungeons & Dragons invites players to experience the thrill, drama, strategy, and intrigue of the heist genre in Keys from the Golden Vault, the latest Dungeons & Dragons book of adventures. Keys from the Golden Vault will be released in North America on February 21, 2023 and on March 24, 2023 in the UK/EMEA.

“A secret organization called the Golden Vault sends mission briefings to its operatives—the adventurers!—in the form of magical, golden keys that are inserted into what looks like a mundane music box. Instead of a pretty tune, though, the music box then provides a recording with all the information needed for the adventurers to hunt a particular item of interest,” said Amanda Hamon, senior game designer on the D&D Team and co-lead designer of Keys from the Golden Vault. “It’s up to the adventurers to do the reconnaissance necessary to circumvent any defenses and pull off a legendary heist. Teamwork is paramount, because as so often happens in these capers, something will go wrong, and creative thinking could save the day!”

The Golden Vault is rumored to be associated with metallic dragons and based on one of the good-aligned Outer Planes. Its operatives help the downtrodden and innocent when the law can’t. The organization’s motto is: “Do good, no matter the cost.”

D&D players can live out their fantasies of running a caper like one they might have seen on the silver screen in movies such as Mission: Impossible; Ocean’s 11; or even The Great Muppet Caper. The thirteen adventures in Keys from the Golden Vault range from levels 1 to 11. They can be played as one-offs dropped into ongoing campaigns, or run as a campaign of heists perpetrated by the same crew.
“Each adventure includes two full-page maps: one that players can use to plan their heist, and another the Dungeon Master uses to run the adventure,” said Chris Perkins, Story Architect of the D&D Team and co-lead of Keys from the Golden Vault. “The players’ map, however, is often unreliable or incomplete.”

Keys from the Golden Vault has an alternate cover by Simen Meyer, available only through game stores, and an evergreen cover by Anna Podedworna, available in North America on February 21, 2023. Fans who pre-order the digital/physical bundle at dndstore.wizards.com will be able to access the digital release on February 7, 2023.

 

[Maxperson]

SOLd, give me two copies.

Dibs on Gonzo!

 

[Maxperson]

Eh. Level maximums have been all over the place. They reset each edition. Level 20 is more common than not, but level caps have been unlimited (AD&D's Throne of Bloodstone included support for level 100 characters), level 36 and level 30 in the past.

If they can't make the higher levels work, take them out.

We may be a minority, but there are still a LOT of us that play to higher levels. How about instead of trying to take away from folks, suggest the additions that you want?

 

[Maxperson]

Given how many more signatures of paper are required to print all the higher level spells and monsters, that feels like a weird business decision to me. They could print smaller books or flesh out 1 through 10 more and print a smaller print run for the higher level content in a supplemental book.

If they tried to relegate my group and to being second class citizens like that, we'd walk away from WotC. We have enough old stuff to last forever. It wouldn't matter to us if they tried to make it up later in a supplemental book.

 

[MarkB]

I'm hoping they playtested these.

Heist in a magic world are hard. The writer forgets about speak with animals or something and the players turn a three session arc into thirty minutes.

That's a big reason why a high-level scenario in this genre would be a nightmare to write. There's just such a wide range of spells, class features and magic items to take into account that would swing the whole thing in different directions.

Second I don't want is a game where half of it is spent with a familiar, polymorphed character, or wizard eye scouting the location. While the other 4 party members sits on there phones

It'd be good to come up with a way of abstracting such scouting methods. Like, instead of playing the whole thing out, set a high DC for completely scouting-out the place, and just make 1-2 rolls to see whether they make it. For every 5 points they fail by, remove one area of the location, starting from highest security and working downwards, that they were unable to scout before they got cornered and had to back out. But they only actually risk getting detected/caught on a natural 1 followed by a failed save.

Then, instead of playing out the scouting mission, just let them ask questions about the facility as a group and fill in the details.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

My experience matches what @Parmandur has been saying.

We bought into Mad Mage (the only WotC AP that goes to 20th level); and we petered out around 13th. We have moved onto the new shiny (actually, 3 new shinies - we finished Icewind Dale, have played some Candlekeep; and are maybe halfway through Witchlight). One definitely, and maybe one other of the players say they'd like to go back to Mad Mage; and I'm not against it; but boy Mad Mage became a slog at the higher levels.

Having the aspirational uber powerful 18th-20th level characters is fun to imagine; but even at 13th level hooboy the options to choose from and the length of combats made a session sort of a slog...

 

[Reynard]

That's a big reason why a high-level scenario in this genre would be a nightmare to write. There's just such a wide range of spells, class features and magic items to take into account that would swing the whole thing in different directions.

If the target is in Hell, protected by divine level magic, things stay on track better.

 

[MarkB]

If the target is in Hell, protected by divine level magic, things stay on track better.

I have my doubts about that, but there's no profit in us slinging specific scenarios at each other.

 

[Parmandur]

If they tried to relegate my group and to being second class citizens like that, we'd walk away from WotC. We have enough old stuff to last forever. It wouldn't matter to us if they tried to make it up later in a supplemental book.

And I think WotC has any intention of doing that, even if they also have nonintention of putting out mu h high Level pre-built material.

 

[Maxperson]

And I think WotC has any intention of doing that, even if they also have nonintention of putting out mu h high Level pre-built material.

And that has been killing me. My campaigns end at anywhere from 15th to 20th level. I've been struggling since 8th or 9th level because the vast majority of things are below those levels.

 

[Parmandur]

And that has been killing me. My campaigns end at anywhere from 15th to 20th level. I've been struggling since 8th or 9th level because the vast majority of things are below those levels.

Yeah, that's unfortunate: obviously the market for pre-built stuff at higher Levels is not zero, but the economics are about playing the numbers.

 

[Clint_L]

What about a short adventure aimed at Level 20s, but include sample characters that the players can either use, or calibrate the power levels against?

 

[Older Beholder]

2. Once again WotC chickens out and provides no high level scenarios.

The previous two books of short adventures: The Radiant Citadel (went to level 14) and Candlekeep Mysteries (went to level 17)

So rather than ‘once again’ it’s actually the first book of its type not to cover higher levels. It might also be that characters of high levels are usually kings, if not Gods and have little need to be pulling heists?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

We may be a minority, but there are still a LOT of us that play to higher levels. How about instead of trying to take away from folks, suggest the additions that you want?

I did. They should hire great people to write at least one book showing how those levels should work.

"Supporting it" by having the rules in the book but not producing any content for it is a waste of everyone's time.

 

[Maxperson]

I did. They should hire great people to write at least one book showing how those levels should work.

"Supporting it" by having the rules in the book but not producing any content for it is a waste of everyone's time.

If it's not in the core three, they would be treating us as second class citizens. I and my group would leave the game over it, and I'm betting a lot of other people would as well. A LOT of us play high levels.

 

[Parmandur]

I did. They should hire great people to write at least one book showing how those levels should work.

"Supporting it" by having the rules in the book but not producing any content for it is a waste of everyone's time.

They have produced some material for all Levels...but they focus on what will broadly be bought.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

If it's not in the core three, they would be treating us as second class citizens. I and my group would leave the game over it, and I'm betting a lot of other people would as well. A LOT of us play high levels.

You've said, yes.

Again, that's where I started. They should support it in the core with more than just "oh, and here's some spells and a few monsters."

I don't think they do support it in the core in any meaningful way.

 

[Maxperson]

You've said, yes.

Again, that's where I started. They should support it in the core with more than just "oh, and here's some spells and a few monsters."

I don't think they do support it in the core in any meaningful way.

I guess I misunderstood you. I thought you were saying that the core should be level 10 and under and that they should put out another book with high level in it. And I agree, they currently do not support it in any meaningful way. Even without taking what WotC just did into account, my group and I have a pretty high chance of just going back to 3e over this issue.

 

[Dire Bare]

It did not say that the music box would self-destruct in 5 seconds.

It didn't have to. Of course the music box self-destructs!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I guess I misunderstood you. I thought you were saying that the core should be level 10 and under and that they should put out another book with high level in it.

That's Plan B.

Plan A would be to not put anything in the core books they don't meaningfully support in those books.

"Eh, the groups will figure it out" works for low level adventures, but not for the complexities of high level play.

For the record, my long running campaign is entering into the high level range at long last, with an expectation that it will end in a final level 20 adventure (WORLDS WILL LIVE! WORLDS WILL DIE! THE DC UNIVERSE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME!), so I would love WotC (or another publisher) to have my back in a meaningful fashion.

 

[Jharet]

Nice to see WotC start reskinning Paizo IP now. Former Pathfinder creators remaking PFS.