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Hello all,

Given that adventuring parties going down the hole in The Yawning Portal is becoming more common and Skullport exists, I've been wondering about player knowledge of the Dungeon.

In advance of starting our campaign, I have thus far been describing it in vagaries along with the caveat that the Dungeon changes. The older that rumors or maps are the more likely they are no longer accurate.

They know it is very dangerous and barely anyone used to return. But now, possibly due to preparation, sharing of knowledge, and exercising due caution; parties are more likely to return... even if a few get left behind.

What did your players know of the Dungeon before going in? What rumors did you seed or would you recommend spreading?

Hello everyone, I've been playing this game for a while but we took a break for a while, now that we are going to be back on schedule I really need help figuring out the best way to play.

We play in person but we have a gaming table with a TV on it. I want to play with them able to move their people on their tablets/laptops.

I wantedd to do the whole "Purchase the whole module with shadows and doors and pieces" etc. but I dont LOVE roll20. Is there another VTT I could use?

And then what custom better maps fit over the old ones well that I dont have to edit any doors or shadows or pieces? We usually play in person so I am very bad at VTT stuff. Any help is appreciated. Thank you!

TL;DR of my campaign. We're doing Waterdeep: Dragon Heist close enough that the general NPC names and places match up. What is different is that the Stone of Golorr is an apocalyptically powerful item that is preventing souls from passing into the next life, and it's deeply connected to my homebrew undercity adapted from Dungeon of the Mad Mage causing intense fogs and occasional zombies. There are still factions, and the relevant ones based on our sandboxing are:

1. Drow, somehow connected with the stone. Have come out of hiding to take it, citing it as a threat to the world. (Undercity, deep lore heavy dungeon crawl)
2. Xanthar Guild: Same as Waterdeep, Dragon Heist
3. The Rival Restauranteur who owns a bar down the road. He has been a persistent thorn in the PCs sides and is secretly managing their (terrible) in house band to drive customers away. He would want the stone simply because the PCs want it. (Nightmare theme restaurant dungeon)
4. The Borough Magistrate: The PCs stole a bunch of tax information, discovered the magistrate's wrongdoings, and tried to commit blackmail. Now they're under investigation. She might have been following the stuff with the stone (she's been snooping) and wants to move up the local government organizational chart. (Wild Card, Dungeon of the Mad Mage)
5. A dragon: Garden variety black dragon (with story relevance!) has been snooping around looking for the stone. The stone actually wants the dragon to find it. The dragon is kind of meant to be the surprise final boss, but nothing is sacred. The dragon has an optional love plot with the local apothecary, but it's not canon yet (Also Wild Card)

My problem is that one player will leave soon, and so the campaign needs to wrap up in two (long) sessions of climax. My setup is that we are ready for the part where Dalakhar is hit with the fireball and killed. This will start our version of the chase and heist. Each of these factions has been built up as potentially being 'the thief', and any option has multiple possible endings. Assuming that I'm going to be repurposing maps from Dragon Heist and Mad Mage, I guess my question is which of these five factions seems coolest to run?

We started off with Dragon Heist, and it was very diplomatic, relying on persuasion checks and conversation. Then we moved into DOTMM, and now my party just kills everything in sight, even if it's a tough fight that almost wipes us out, it's just all murder.

Hi everyone!

I am planning on running this module

I have purchased the Roll20 module as I was hoping it would speed things up, but I’ve noticed the maps are the ones in the book which are VERY dull

I know there are other maps available but does anyone have any advice on what maps to use that overlay really easily with the roll20 maps?

It’s rather confusing me at the moment

Thanks!

One of my players has a bag of tricks, should it work in the dungeon?

As eg. Bag of holding doesn't work as mentioned in the description of the dungeon.

I cannot find the mention of bag of holding anymore, maybe it was in an older version of undermountain?

^(My party have reached Dweomercore, and the sorcerer has entered as a student. They only met a couple of the other students, killing Cephalossk when he tried to eat their brains, when they stumbled into the training hall and were all taken out by the Archmage statues. What are the most interesting situations for them to wake up in?)

Edit for clarity - When the statues in the room take a player out, they leave them at 0hp and stable, so the party is still alive.

Vanrakdoom is one of the coolest levels in Undermountain (in my opinion). Not just because of the shadowfell stuff, the vampire or even the awesome shadow dragon, but because it's one of the few levels with a mechanic for overcoming it's biggest encounter without just killing everything.

There's an issue though. How the hell are you supposed to hint at the players that this level in particular has a special mechanic that turns the big evil dragon back into a good guy/potential ally, when that's not something that has ever happened on any of the previous 17 levels.

Yes, the visions are a good start, but I feared they could be confused with just a cool lore-driven hint at where some loot can be found.

Yes, you can also just straight up tell your players at some point that this level as a hidden mechanic, but that's kinda lame when it can be avoided.

So I wrote a poem. It is technically just exposition, but in a way that can fit into the theme of the game that doesn't stick out like a sore thumb. You could have a bard in the Yawning Portal be receiting it when the party surface for a respite, or maybe a PC had just heard it in the past and is reminded of it when they first hear the name "Umbraxakar" (I had a version of this for my game, aided by an NPC).

Here it is! Please tell me if you end up using this, and if any cool moments came from integrating it into your game. Would also love to see any variations of this that anyone else comes up with 😄

(Also, I'm not in any way a literary person. I don't read poetry, and have never written one before this, so please be gentle.)

The Umbraxakar

>In the shadows of Vanrak's doom,
A once bronze beast shrank into gloom.
In despair, he shall wait,
For his saviour's gait,
To remind him of the friend he once knew.

>Within sight of his most prized gifts,
The beast may begin to shift.
A ring so finely polished,
Of friendship never abolished,
That is, if you believe the myths. 

>A blade made only of light,
Would surely make quite the sight.
Although compared to his dress,
Made of Mithril, no less,
It's wielder might be quite contrite.

>Oh, but isn't guilt always the last,
It's horns leaving scars of the past.
Even made of gem and gold,
Terrible memories it can hold,
Of the dwarven screams amidst his blast. 

>If only reminded, before his fall,
Of the true meaning behind them all.
Thrice times need succeed,
To seal the wound before the bleed,
And cause a shattered mind to recall.

>Could anyone ever be so clever,
To find these four treasures, and remember.
The beast could never place blame,
On one who uttered his true name,
To help banish the shadow forever.

My players are exploring the Maze Level and have killed Maku and all the other minotaurs (save for three who escaped). They talked their way into Spiderwatch Keep by being/disguising themselves as drow and showing off Maku’s horn that they took as a trophy.

In Muiral’s Gauntlet, they sided with Xarann A’Daragon and helped him to kill Vlonwelv. Xarann died as well, so the party really doesn’t have any allies in House Freth.

I also had House Auvryndar make use of chitines and choldriths from Volo’s Guide to Monsters to add variety, so by now House Auvryndar is completely destroyed and Muiral’s Gauntlet is overrun by these creatures.

How would Erelal and Drivvin react to this news? I guess Drivvin would probably be relieved he doesn’t have to become Halaster’s apprentice after all, but I’m not sure how to play Erelal. Would she be angry that their plan to use the minotaurs is ruined? Relieved to know that House Auvryndar has fallen? Upset that she didn’t get to destroy her enemies herself, or that the PCs stole her thunder? Should she reward them? Chastise them?

My players have gotten used to this campaign having quests where one side just wants them to kill the other, and I’m just not sure how to handle this one where the situation is so different, as I really want it to be an interesting change of pace for the players