Perhaps I should explain
why I like Dungeons of Drakkenheim so much.
Dungeons of Drakkenheim is set on a ruined city, contaminated by raw magic crystals (delerium) and filled with magic-mutated monsters. The story/plot is pretty cool, but a lot of D&D adventures have cool plots/story. What the adventure have that's special is the
structure. They clearly put a LOT of thought on making this usable.
- the magical radiation prevents long rest. The very
geography naturally enforces the "adventuring day".
- Each location has advice on how the PCs might get there, and why. For example, they could go to the chapel of St-Brena to retrieve a relic/magic item for the sect of the Fallen Fire... or get it for the Silver order, who doesn't want heretics to have it. Or get it for the Queen's Men (thieves) who want to sell it.
- Each location has a list of possible aftermath - the reaction of each factions to the party getting them the relic, or what happens if the party keeps the relic to themselves, or if a rival faction got the relic.
- the five factions all have clearly laid out objectives, personalities, methods and capabilities, and flaws/source of conflict. For example, the Silver Order wants to destroy delerium, while the sect of the Fallen Fire believes the delerium meteor striking the city was a holy event. The book provides clear guidance on how they react to cooperation or betrayals form the party.
As
any adventures, it has flaws. Nothing is perfect. But with such a
robust yet flexible structure, it's far easier for me as a GM to fix those flaws because I'm on such a solid foundation.
It's also easier for me to prepare. I don't have to worry about the entire structure of the story being undone by something happening at level 6 messing up the ending. I know that
whatever the party decides to do I can adapt to it. And for 2/3 sessions, all I have to do is prepare the current adventure/dungeon. I can keep more of my focus on the immediate.
I'm currently running it, but I also played it. And it's remarkable how
different each playthrough has been. Once again, the robust and flexible structure made it possible for players (and GM) to experience it is a very different way.
Lastly, the adventure has a "community" of fans who can give each other advice, ask questions etc. Heck I even got to ask the
authors questions a few times
