r/dungeonsofdrakkenheim

Hi everyone,

just as the title says I have found out that Crossbruke exists thanks to Monsters of Drakkenheim, but that book only gives you a description about what is happening in that ghost town and a map of the castle.

Did anybody include it in their Campaign and if so how? Did it go well or does it add complications?

Any input about this is wellcome as I also couldn't really find any maps about Crossbruke itself anywhere.

There are lots of posts about this location, with lots of questions and questionable takes. I'm planning to use one or two hazewind harpy valkyries and a few hazewind harpy warriors (both from Monsters of Drakkenheim) in the market square plaza itself, then the Crimson Countess statblock and probably as needed a couple other harpies in the rookery itself. The party is level 6. As others have noted, getting dropped from that height is potentially lethal. I haven't, though, seen discussion about the complicated grappling rules in 2024 that make it much more difficult, and how that might interact with the hazewind harpy statblocks that make grappling much, much easier. In my mind, the more specific almost always trumps the more general, and that would go for their ability to grapple. But that just makes these encounters at the Clocktower all the more challenging for the party.

Thoughts, folks? Especially from those of you that have run it recently with the MofD harpies, and a party of roughly 6th level. Or just in general about this location.

Obviously, their focus in the rookery would be on grappling party members and dropping them to their deaths. Seems like it could be a deceptively difficult encounter.

If you don't have the MofD book, the aforementioned statblocks auto-grapple on a successful hit with their claws, and at least some of them aren't slowed down in terms of movement when they're grappling a creature.

okay my plan is "Rat´s Nest Tavern" -> "Smithy on the scar" lvl up to 4 -> (maybe buckeldown row)-> Chapel of Saint Brenna

The party will get the job for the rats nest from the queens man since one member has connections to blackjack mel and another knows Petra and Ansom Lang so saving Petra is nice.
Chapel of saint brenna will be given by the silver order since another party member knows hannah the flame keeper and plays a cleric that followes the Faith of the Sacred Flame

but im unsure what hook to use for the smithy , in the party is a runaway Amethyst Academy member and since i have a cleric of the sacred flame i fear it could be hard to sell them on the falling fire.
But i would like to bring this factions into the mix (while later down the line i have ideas for Amethyst Academy) i have not yet any ideas how i could bring the falling fire into the picture so the party can struggel between all faction interessts

Short background:
My player’s party is most strongly aligned with The Hooded Lanterns and The Amethyst Academy. They don’t really like The Falling Fire but have assisted them and been rescued once by them. They mostly seem disturbed by the Delerium Sacrament. They don’t seem interested in and try to avoid The Queen of Thieves and her men.

The Silver Order tried to take Temple Gate from the Gnolls and my players decided to sneak in and use a Delerium bomb to destroy both sides and ruin the gate. The gnolls discovered them and fought back as they escaped back into the inner city. Due to my bad rolls the Silver Order doesn’t know/didn’t discover it was them but do know the party didn’t assist them as they asked. The Silver Order is waiting for more reinforcements and is pretty much stuck to the outer city unless they fly in.

The Issue:
My players accepted The Falling Fire’s quest to negotiate getting the AA and HL to assist in retaking the Cathedral. They have talked to everyone and relayed each side’s requests/demands to be willing to assist but when anyone asks what the plan to retake the Cathedral is, the party says no clue and want someone else to decide. I have mentioned that someone will need to lead as many gnolls away as possible and someone else will need to take on the Lord of the Feast.

They won’t make any recommendations even for who should do what or what they are willing to do. Should I just force the issue myself and assign tasks? How have other DM’s engaged their players here?

The AA didn’t really want to help as they have no reason to go to or want the Cathedral but offered to send a task force if my players would investigate/help take back the Inscrutable Tower in return. I am thinking they will send a limited number of mages with bound elementials as the main assistance.

Just curious what other DMs would suggest on who leads the gnolls away and which groups should focus on the Cathedral? It seems to me that my players should be tasked with the Lord of the Feast.

My DM experience:
I am a first time DM and my 3 players have been enjoying the campaign a lot so their disinterest in this major event surprised me. My best friend was our original forever DM so Dungeons of Drakkenheim was my way to let him play and I am the only one who has watched the Dungeon Dude’s campaign online. Usually I feel I am strong on running the campaign and adapting when my players surprise me but the larger battles involving other groups I find a little more daunting. I don’t want them to get bored with me running so much. Should I let them run the other faction groups instead of doing it?

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Sorry for the long blocks of text!

If his MOD stat block has “call of the feast” as one of his actions, does that mean the party is expected to fight his epic stat block plus all the other things mentioned in the book as normal? i’m a bit confused if they are supposed to fight his epic stat block alone at the cathedral now or not really