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everyaccentthesame · 4 years

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Preparation for running Tyranny of dragons: The Cult of the Dragon, reimagined

[DO NOT READ AHEAD IF JOINING MY GAME, SPOILERS AHEAD]

The Cult of the Chromatic Dragon

Cult factions were created by [Redacted] to bind together the Cult of the Dragon, the Church of Tiamat and allied organisations, into his new Cult of the Chromatic dragon, and minimise frictions between factions. Essentially creating a sub-cult for each aspect of dragon-kind, [Redacted] was merciless in separating out individual cells and giving individuals appropriate roles. He has encouraged competition between cults, including subterfuge, assassination and even cases of armed conflict, knowing it cements loyalty to one’s own faction, which, in a way, cements the faith in the Cult of the Chromatic Dragon.

The concept of each Cult faction was created during the Council of Tiamat’s Ascension, where their individual roles were laid out and structures created. During this council the Cult of the Dragon, the Church of Tiamat and multiple other smaller dragon-worshipping organisations were forcefully merged then split apart into five new wholes. The council is also notable for having a death toll equal to a small war, as any objections were overruled with extreme prejudice by the new masters of the draconic cults.

There are, however, lingering remnants of the old guard- followers of the scaly way of the cult of the dragon that disagree with the Cult’s new direction, including many of the oldest and most influential members of the Cult of the dragon. In addition, the wearing of purple has been retained as a common way of declaring who is in command across the cult, and many Wearers of Purple prefer to pursue personal ambitions over the wider cult’s goals.

The Red Hand

The largest and most military minded of the sub-cults and also the most obsessed with wealth, the Red Hand was founded to be the strong right hand of the cult, its largest and most powerful force, reflecting the attributes of the red chromatic dragon. The Red Hand revels in assaulting heavily defended targets with significant concentrations of wealth, using overwhelming force and savagely efficient tactics and strategies. They are not content until they’ve taken anything of any conceivable value from a target, including slaves and prisoners. Their might is currently concentrated to the south and east of the sword coast, with forces ready to react when great force is needed. Much of their activity is self-directed, set on training and enlarging their forces through recruitment of humans and goblinoids, as well as creating a large slave-army out of those it deems unfit for membership.

The force is composed of the Cult of the Dragons more conventional forces, including those new recruits deemed of a suitable mien, minor elements of the church of Tiamat that favoured red dragons above all others and significant elements of the remnants of the Red Hand of Doom, a Tiamat worshipping Hobgoblin horde defeated many years ago. This section of the cult spends much of its time drilling and training, working to synthesise cult, hobgoblin and draconic tactics. The Hand even has a number of notoriously arrogant red dragons on retainer, which they work with to perfect how they will fight together in a significant conflict.

The Red Hand only recruits those they deem to have the correct attitude and skills in battle. Professional soldiers, knights, mercenaries and disciplined warriors are all welcomed with open arms. They also recruit those that seem to have potential to be a great warrior, but lack the training. Of those they capture in raids the Red Hand has created an army of fighting slave-soldiers. These slaves are promised a place in the Red Hand and a chance to gain proper weapons and armours if they prove themselves skilled and bloodthirsty in battle, and death if they refuse to fight the Hand’s enemies. Few refuse an offer of promotion to the cult proper, as the conditions the fighting slaves are kept in are atrocious and require constant activity and marching to keep the slaves physically and mentally exhausted. Those that are promoted are encouraged to quickly forget their old lives and to be grateful to the cult for letting them escape the slave-armies. Thus the ranks of the Red Hand have grown full of skilled, fanatical and desperate warriors.

Because of their draconic allies, the cult has a wellspring of Kobold labour that replenishes rapidly. They despise these weak dragonlings, but make great use of their subservience, having them take care of basic errands and menial tasks. The cult also has a huge number of goblin tribes forced into its service, recruited by the hobgoblin elements of the Red Hand, which are mostly kept corralled in a separate area whenever the Red Hand is encamped. Neither of these forces is considered part of the Red Hand, but they are considered expendable auxiliaries, and are herded into battle when it is tactically expedient to do so. They are considered just equal to the fighting-slave forces of the cult, and greater than the slaves that perform non-combat functions for the cult. To the Red Hand, a warrior, no matter how lowly, is always superior in rank to a civilian.

The Red hand favours strength and despises weakness and believes conflict and flame can separate the strong and the weak. Those looking to prove themselves ritualistically burn their bodies as displays of devotion, and for those the dragon god favours, when these burns heal they may develop a layer of scales or other draconic features over them. Some particularly deranged and power-hungry cultists toss themselves head-first into pyres to receive blessings- those few that survive these experiences usually are crippled for life, but some are blessed, becoming creatures akin to half-dragons or dragonborn. Most cultists of Dragonfang rank or above have some form of burn on their bodies, and those of higher ranks have more burn scars and draconic features.

The Red hand has been taking territory in Vaasa, Damara and lands around the moonsea, and holding it. They prefer not raid, only conquer or raze, and either way they ensure their targets of looted of all wealth. Another, smaller part of the red hand is present in Mughorm, recruiting from a populace that already venerates dragons, and preparing to be part of the push into Tymanther, where they hope to convert many of the ‘misguided dragon-kin’. Some more independent Red Hand warbands have taken up raiding, working with other cult cells to provide their military expertise and strong sword-hands in taking hard targets, often in exchange for the lions share of the loot. Finally, a contingent of the Red hand, under the command of Draegloth Bladelord, have been placed in charge of security and the final defence of the Well of Dragons, made up of some of their their mightiest fighters and an adult red dragon, Skylkyth.

The Red Hand believe firmly in expansion through conquest, a result of the fusion of the credo of red chromatic and hobgoblin philosophy. They view the subjugation of populaces as a holy act, and many have almost heretically strong ties with Banites. When they defeat an enemy armed force, they give the survivors a choice: join or die. Those that choose to join are forced to kill their erstwhile compatriots to prove their loyalty, and quickly pushed into ‘taking the flame’ and other rites- any hesitation or refusal is punishable by execution, either immediate or on the pyre, until they have proven their loyalty well enough. When the Red hand needs to take resources, they take slaves as well. They then divide these poor souls into the elderly/disabled, children, and those of fighting age. The elderly are tasked with performing labour, those unable to do so are killed. The children are either sold or raised to venerate dragons as cultists. Those able to fight are given an option- join the ranks of the cult or be sold/killed.

The Wyrmspeaker that rules the sub-cult is [Redacted] himself, though he rarely deigns to manage the day-to-day affairs, given both his proclaimed lordship of the entire Cult of the Chromatic Dragon and mysterious duties that see him disappear with his inner circle for months or years at a time. Indeed, [Redacted]’s prolonged absence from the realms has left the various, the Wearers of purple for the Red Hand have taken it upon themselves to take more initiative to achieve their own ends. The most senior Wearer of Purple among their number, Severin, is attempting to usurp control over much of the Red Hand, though

The Azure Wing

The Azure Wing are not the largest faction, but they are powerful in the cult, being the most skilled and able in the breeding and creation of dragonspawn, and in the changing of humanoids into more draconic forms. Many of the wizards associated with the Cult of the Dragon were directed to join this cult, though many of them, especially the Necromancers, resent this imposition. Many members of the church of Tiamat, including powerful Clerics, have joined the cult, bringing their experience of manipulating dragonspawn The Azure Wing is only just having breakthroughs in many areas in the breeding and creation of the spawn, partially due to infighting and the reluctance of many members to engage in this new path. In addition, the cult has succeeded in attracting many members who have draconic heritage, granting them special treatment as they have come to appreciate and venerate the draconic form more and more.

Gradually the Azure Wing is gathering an army of Dragonspawn and Undead, keeping their powerful creations hidden away from prying eyes in isolated laboratories and seemingly abandoned fortresses. Thought their current experiments have peaked at the creation of draconic-flesh golems and drakes, new access to dragon eggs, granted by the Dragon masks and the new Wyrmspeaker for the cult, has greatly improved the speed at which their research progresses. The ultimate goal of the cult is to create the dragonspawn of old, mighty beasts that are spawned from Dragon Eggs, especially the fabled Godslayers, and speed up their growth through magical means to allow them to participate in the final battles of the cult.

Dragonspawn are draconic monstrosities created according to Tiamat’s design out of dragon eggs corrupted by dark magic and her malevolent will. They range from gargantuan monstrosities to tiny spies, from mindless monsters to cunning intelligent creatures, but all are built for battle. The methods to create these creatures are obscure and hidden by ritual and superstition, but all require dragon eggs, corrupted by profane rituals. For this reason, many Dragons are opposed to the creatures creation, and only through the power of the dragon masks has this secret been kept hidden. The cults experiments in creating dragonspawn have not just been limited to creating novel life- many cultists have taken to submitting themselves to modification, seeking to integrate the draconic with their body through dark magic and surgery. Worse still, some sects have found it to be easier to mutate and corrupt living humanoids into draconic creatures and will use prisoners for that purpose.

Because so many of the powerful necromancers joined the Wing, the Wing now lays claim to the loyalty of many of the Dracoliches that the cult once created, including those that were brought under the direct control of cult cells. [Redacted] has collected the phylacteries of many of these Dracoliches, personally destroying several to intimidate the others into obedience. Many rankle at this imposition, and would gleefully betray the cult, and only reluctantly follow orders under the threat of their phylacteries being destroyed. Still, given [Redacted]s absence from the realms, some are refusing orders outright, working to locate their Phylacteries, which they know must be stored somewhere on this Plane, and would work with adventurers to return them. Still others remain loyal to, or at least under the sway of their necromantic transformers, the old wizards of the Cult of the Dragon. Some of these wizards are full devotees to the new cause, while others are wistful for the return of Sammaster and the old ways.

The Azure Wing has been taking part in the raiding of the Sword Coast, as well as in the southern lands, taking the opportunity to put their creations to the test, and have been responsible for many atrocities. The Cult’s central base of operations, and the residing place of the Blue Wyrmspeaker, Galvan and their mask, is Castle Perilous, where they assisted the Red hand in clearing out forces of Bahamut from Damara and Vaasa. Here they have revived ancient spawning pools and reservoirs of necromantic magic, allowing them to progress with dark experiments, often on the terrified citizens of Vaasa and Damara.

They have a presence in the Dracolichdom of Threskel where a cell has been working with the ruling undead drake, Alasklerbanbastos, who was originally made into a Dracolich by the cult of the Dragon. Alasklerbanbastos’s support has been wavering however- he does not entirely believe Tiamat would favour undead dragons like himself, and fears being displaced from power in favour of a living dragon. He sees a great threat coming from Tchazzar, the ancient red draconic ruler of Chessenta. Though Tchazzar is a chosen of Tiamat, he has long preferred to nurture his own cult and claim godhood, but it is little secret that both the Red hand and the Jade Fang have sent agents and emissaries to convince him to lend the might of his forces and his own considerable combat ability. Alaskerbanbastos fears that Tchazzar is being offered rulership over the entire southlands in exchange for his aid and has agreed to commit fully to the cult if Tchazzar is prevented from joining, or even better, destroyed. The Azure wing has agreed, and works to bolster these efforts, knowing that if Alaskerbanbastos joins through their efforts, they will rise greatly in the esteem of the cult, even if their actions hurt the cult as a whole.

To the chagrin of the Jade Fang, the Azure Wing has been credited with the recruitment of allies form the Red Wizards of Thay. While the Jade Fang’s representatives attempted to infiltrate the courts of Szass Tam, the Wyrmspeaker of the Azure Wing, Galvan his contacts to establish a rapport with rebellious cells of Red Wizards, led by Rath Modar, his cousin. The contribution of the Red Wizards magic to the Cults activity has been a great boon and made up for setbacks the cult suffered in its failure to crack the secret of creating Dragonspawn in the early stages of their work.

Galvan the Blue Wyrmspeaker is an Archmage who favours schools of necromancy and lightning evocation, an interest he picked up during his education on the creation of Flesh Golems. An aged human whose life has been extended by multiple forms of magic yet has resisted the temptation of lichdom. He was old when Sammaster returned to the realms in the 1300s and has come to see Sammasters failure with the Dracorage Mythal as a divine event, as without the Dracorage, dragonkind would once again come to rule. He views Sammaster as ultimately misguided, but necessary for the completion of the prophecies found in the chronicle of years to come. He is unsure of the wisdom of summoning Tiamat to the world, but relishes a chance to practise his art and is terrified of [Redacted] , for he knows the full consequences of wielding the hand of Vecna. Galvan was the one to introduce the Red Wizards with the cult and innovate the mass-production of undead and dragonspawn for the cult, and is thus high in the Cults esteem, though slow progress in the creation of Dragonspawn has marred his reputation somewhat. Galvan’s age has given him great patience, and he knows he is close to creating something… magnificent.

The Jade Fang

The Jade Fang perhaps has the fewest competent warriors, monsters or magic-users in the wider cult, but of all its compatriots, it wields the widest influence on the realms. The fang is responsible for almost all non-hostile dealings with the wider world, charged with representing the cult in person and manipulating matters from afar. The current members of the Fang have been recruited from diverse backgrounds, most anyone with charisma or wider influence in the realms. This includes merchants, nobles, dignitaries, diplomats, bards and more. Entrance into the Fang is often made out to be akin to an elite club or society, and comes with significant benefits, courtesy of the cult. Indeed, many join the Jade Fang not knowing of its involvement with the wider Cult of the Chromatic Dragon until it is too late, by which point the cult knows too much about them and has too much dirt on them for them to ever escape.

Jade Fang cultists are often the nicest and most outwardly amenable members of the cult. Many hide a vicious streak, but some are genuinely nice people, who just happen to believe that the reign of dragons over the world is both inevitable and desirable. Others are simply in the Fang for the connections and influence membership can bring. Cultists will often attempt to retain their outward humanoid appearance in order to improve their diplomatic relations with others, but a common cult rite is to encourage members to build up a resistance to poisons and venoms through regular imbibing of small amounts, and because of this many cultists often appear sickly, pale and wan. The draconic changes these acts cause on their bodies are often incredibly subtle and hidden, though on occasion a more obvious mutation will occur, in which case an agent must either abandon their position or conceal it, perhaps covering it as an injury. Blessings of Jade Fang cultists can include increased perception, glibness of tongue and the development of retractable, venomous fangs.

The Jade fang coordinates the mercantile interests and finances of the wider cult. While all parts of the cult are expected to supply themselves, the Fang can provide resources and wealth to other sub-cults when needed, though it rarely does so freely, except under the command of [Redacted] . The Fang uses all forms of underhanded tactics and the resources of other sub-cults to ensure that its merchants always get the best deal, and that rivals always seem to suffer unfortunate accidents, whether to cargo, or to their persons. A great many wealthy noble houses and merchants have the Fang to thank for their recent successes as it has brought to bear all the old influence of the Cult of the Dragon.

Similarly, the Fang has been entrusted with securing powerful allies amongst the kingdoms and cities of the civilized peoples, where their most trusted agents bump shoulders with kings, queens and archmages. There has been less success on this front- the truly powerful of the Realms do not need the Cults help, but a rare few have been manipulated or converted to pledge allegiance to the cult. No monarchs have yet pledged, but success has been made in Cormyr to set up the succession of a ruler that will allow the Cult free movement through their land (allowing the red hand to reach the Well of Dragons without having to cross through the Anauroch desert or facing the armies of Cormyr) and refuse to commit forces against them. When the time comes, representatives of the cult that go to proclaim the Cults goals and demand the surrender of the cities and kingdoms of the realms will be of the Jade Fang, and many compete for this position.

The greatest success to date has been gaining the allegiance of the Eldreth Velthuraa, the achievement of which elevated the current Wyrmspeaker, Neronvain, to his position. The Eldreth Velthuraa have been led to believe that Tiamat will cleanse the Realms of all non-draconic humanoids, but that Evermeet will be preserved, and have been promised that the elves will be allowed to settle the lands alongside the dragons as equals. The Eldreth Velthuraa are no fools, and realize that they will be wiped out too, but believe that Evermeet can survive the Dragon Queen and her servants long enough for them to enact the Dracorage Mythal once again and introduce a new age of elven supremacy.

Recruiting at a street level is one of the most important duties entrusted to the Fang, and while less grand in scale than its mercantile efforts or its diplomatic forays, without it the cult would be a fraction of its current size. Recruiters, as in all cults, look for the downtrodden and destitute, and offer them a chance to part of something greater, to experience real power, and to gain prestige and status beyond which society currently affords them. In a realm wracked by the Sundering and a great many evils and injustices, their tactics have been incredibly successful, though the real challenge is turning the recruits into proper cultists, while keeping any activity secret from local authorities or organisations that oppose cult activity.

While the Jade Fang does have some operatives skilled in the arts of combat, they have the least of any sub-cult. They retain their status and prevent the other sub-cults pushing them around not only through their control of the flow of recruits and gold, but also through the fact they are in charge of hiring most of the cult’s mercenary agents. While most of these are hard-scrabble mercenary companies looking for the next payday, some of the things the Jade Fang treats with are more Fiendish in nature, hiring Devils and occasionally Yugoloths to work with them. Indeed, the Jade Fang’s Wyrmspeaker, Neronvain, treats with many Greater devils working to remove Tiamat from the nine-hells.

Alongside the Sable eye, the Jade Fang must constantly oppose and avoid the agents of the ‘goodly’ factions of the realms, as well as other churches, though it tries to do so in a more ‘hearts and minds’ kind of way, avoiding direct conflict. On occasion the Jade Fang will require agents to engage in assassination and spying, usually against targets that the Sable Eye cannot reach through stealth, but they prefer not to- such actions risk compromising their Agents cover. The Jade Fang has come into increasing conflict with the agents of the Harpers and Lords alliance as they increasingly come to manipulate the courts of the great and powerful.

The leader of the cult, Neronvain, is the son of king Melendrach and this status still grants him significant respect and admittance to elf-friendly courts across the realms. He currently resides deep in the misty forest, organising cult activities and raiding against elven settlements. In these raids he uses only non-elf agents and is using them to drum up support for the Eldreth Velthuura, while also advocating for them in court. He uses a network of ancient elven teleportation circles and his trusty griffon mount to travel rapidly across the realms and is famous for being both overly enthusiastic and controversial. Seen as a naïve idealist, as well as a hedonist, by many, he is in fact incredibly manipulative, charming and has been using the resources given to him by his new allies to great effect in stirring discord and conflict amongst those that would oppose the cult of the dragon.

The Sable Eye

The Sable eye has been tasked with keeping order in the wider cult and ensuring that its enemies and erstwhile allies are prevented from learning of its existence or growing too powerful. It is also tasked with orchestrating campaigns of terror and fomenting strife through famine and pestilence. It is composed of those agents of the old Cult of the Dragon and the Church of Tiamat more suited to the subtle arts of spying, assassination, interrogation and intimidation. Entrance into the Eye is unusual in that it usually occurs horizontally, with an invitation to a member of another sub-cult that displays desirable talents, fanaticism and loyalty. Recruitment is often laced with significant incentives, such as increased authority, wealth, access to magical items and less arduous duties. Those recruited directly into the sub-cult are always those that chose to join the wider cult voluntarily and are undergo severe vetting to ensure their loyalty and weed out any spies or potential traitors. All in all, the Sable Eye is the most difficult Sub-Cult to join, but possibly the one that grants the greatest degree of freedom and power from the outset.

Members of the Sable Eye, as a result of the stringent recruitment methods, tend to be proud and of the attitude that they are superior to the members of other sub-cults. They also tend to be highly skilled in their chosen area of expertise and dedicated to the wider cult’s goals. The Sable Eye revere acid as a tool of cleansing, and believe it reveals purity, and will ritualistically daub their bodies in just enough to irritate their flesh. Though painful, this process, accompanied by the correct rites, eventually creates patches of acid-resistant black scales that absorb light and hide motion from the eyes. In addition, many are granted mutation of more esoteric form- those that risk daubing their eyes with acid may go blind, or they may be granted greatly superior vision in the darkness, their eyes turned to cat-like pupils, those that suspend their extremities in vats of acid might be granted painful transformations into claws or simply lose them, some may even be granted wings.

Of the two main duties of the Sable Eye, the one that it is known and feared for within the cult is its work policing the other sub-cults. It has explicit permission from [Redacted] to spy upon the other sub-cults and a duty to report any traitors in the ranks, and even has the power to eliminate those within the cult that it deems subversive, though any assassination against a target of Dragonwing or above must be approved by a Wyrmspeaker. In addition, the Sable Eye is important for ensuring that other sub-cults cleave to the overall will of the Cult of the Dragon, and do not let petty vendettas and rivalries get in the way of achieving the overall goal of the cult.

Members of the Sable eye will join the raiding parties or task groups from other sub-cults and act as a constant reminder of the watchful eye of the greater cult. In addition, they will act as advisors and specialists in subterfuge to these groups, ensuring that the cults activities don’t garner too much unwanted attention from the wider world, an important activity as the cult ramps up its operations. If too much ire from other factions is drawn at this early stage of cult activity, then the cult will be unable to assemble the resources to complete its plans. They are also favoured inquisitors and interrogators amongst the cult, combining their expertise with inflicting pain, a terrifying mien and a trained skill at questioning to quickly extract information the cult needs, or to uncover any traitorous acts from amongst the ranks.

The other main activities for which the Sable Eye is responsible are theft, spying and assassination, jobs for which their agents are highly suited. The theft of powerful magical artefacts is an important goal of the cult, as many will be useful in their ultimate goals or in achieving secondary goals. They typically seek objects of great power and importance, with wider abilities than just offensive power.

The Sable Eye also works with the Jade Fang to work with, or eliminate, criminal organisations such as the Xanathar guild, thieves’ guilds, or guilds of assassins. They have come into conflict with these organisations just as often as they have managed to arrange cooperation, however, and certain parties are increasingly alarmed by the increasing presence of the cult in the criminal underworld. They have recently begun to engage in wider criminal enterprise to help fund their increased scope of activity and to provide tribute to the wider Cult, ranging from protection racketeering to fraud to engaging in the trade of illicit substances to piracy.

The Sable Eye has found itself in increasing conflict with the shadowy Zentarim and the Harpers network. The Zentarim have had multiple items stolen from them and are growing increasingly concerned about the Sable Eye’s influence in the criminal underworld, including alliances made with the Xanathar guild, an old enemy of the Zentarim, with the aid of the Jade Fang. Their agents are now beginning to wage a subtle, hidden war, outside of the public eye, as the Zentarim increasingly begins to interfere with the operations of the wider Cult. Though the Zentarim and the other factions of the Sword Coast are not natural allies, they nevertheless have a common purpose in this matter, and some limited cooperation has been achieved.

The Wyrmspeaker of the Sable Eye is Rezmir, a black half-dragon, who is a skilled combatant, assassin, and practitioner of shadow magics. She has become extremely personally involved in the transport of the cults looted treasure across the sword coast, taking charge of ensuring that it reaches its destination without piquing the interest of factions opposing the cult. She is also highly aware that members of the cult may try to steal from the hoard being transported, so has the agents of the Sable eye ready to clamp down on any theft being perpetrated- by the other factions, of course.

The Ivory Claw

Of all the sub-cults of Cult of the Chromatic dragon, the Ivory Claw is seemingly the most disorganised, and the most apparently fanatical and barbaric. It forms the expendable muscle of the cult, the base mass of swarming bodies sent to overwhelm and intimidate the Sword Coast, the scouts and skirmishers, scavengers and raiders. They gladly induct recruits from all walks of life, no matter their prior skillset, allegiances or outlook- anyone willing to join enthusiastically with their worship of Tiamat is accepted, no questions asked. The claw will recruit from any race or species, but the majority of its recruits come from human communities. Recruiters of the Jade Fang also send recruits that are too fanatical and unskilled to be useful elsewhere to this sub-cult, including many powerful warriors deemed too chaotic and unmanageable for the Red Hand. Furthermore, most that approach agents of the cult actively looking to join the cult are directed to join the Ivory Claw, as it is both widespread and willing to accept anyone who wishes to praise Tiamat. Despite this, the Ivory Claw remains only the second largest sub-cult, after the Red Hand, as its strength is constantly being expended on ceaseless raiding and acts of brutal devotion, activities which have increased exponentially in recent years. Nevertheless, it is perhaps the most quickly replenishing and vigorous, and its agents will be those which opponents of the cult will face most in open combat until the Red Hand receives orders to march on the Sword Coast.

The Ivory Claw likes to portray itself as a welcoming family of faith and community, that offers purpose to those that join (at least to potential recruits, to its victims it is little more than a pack of slavering barbaric raiders), though it is clear to anyone joining that this ‘family’ has a very cruel and vicious streak. Each new recruit is inducted into a ‘warrior band’, a tribe-like group of warriors led by a Dragonfang. This band sleeps together, eats together and fights together. It expects every member to welcome a new recruit, and will provide them with new clothes, weapons and (very) brief training in how to use them. After this the generosity of the cult quickly ends, with the recruit being granted few rights or privileges, left at the edges of the campfire, as the more experienced cultists laugh and carouse amongst themselves. The new member is expected to join in the cult as it engages in its ritualistic acts of worship, before being thrust to the frontlines of the next raid. If they survive their first ‘blooding’ their status in the band improves, and they begin to be allowed to join the band proper, granted limited privileges over unblooded recruits and a small portion of loot- though nothing more valuable than a silver piece.

All this time the Dragonfang or one of their four lieutenant Dragonwings will be observing the new recruit, as well as any other recent inductees, ensuring that they integrate well into the group and begin to earn their place, and that they display no signs of disloyalty or subterfuge. Any suspected spies are dealt with brutally and immediately. A cultist that survives five successful raids, in which they manage to achieve at least one kill (slaughtering civilians is fine), or otherwise comport themselves with ferocity and fanaticism, will get promoted through the ranks to become a Dragonclaw- an eponymous ‘ivory claw’, and is inducted in the arts of draconic magic. New Dragonclaws are apportioned a greater share of loot and may even take slaves for themselves on raids.

From here, a Dragonclaw must prove itself in the eyes of the Dragonfang in command of the band- those that show sufficient skill and devotion are further promoted to Dragonwing, usually upon the death or promotion of another Dragonwing. A Dragonclaw is welcome to challenge a Dragonwing to a duel for their position as well, though this rarely ends well for the Dragonclaw, as the duel is to the death and Dragonwings are skilled and magically empowered combatants. Ascension to the rank of Dragonfang occurs when a Dragonwing challenges and defeats the current Dragonfang of a warband, and then is granted full authority of the position when the band is next visited by a Dragonsoul, or on rare occasions, the Wyrmspeaker.

The Ivory Claw, though it seems simple and barbaric, actually implements a large number of highly effective tools to turn new recruits into frothing fanatics, loyal only to the Claw and Tiamat. These strategies were devised by [Redacted] ’s lieutenants and a number of veteran recruiter and organisers from the old Cult of the Dragon and Church of Tiamat. The creation of the warrior bands, as described above, is but one of the tactics used by the cult to indoctrinate their followers, making a follower feel isolated when separated from their newfound ‘family’, and only complete when working within their band. Each band is too small, with perhaps 50-100 or so members, to effectively rebel, and the leaders of each band are incentivized to seek to join the ranks of the Dragonsouls.

Mandatory participation in vile rituals of sacrifice and torture leads the cultists to feel they have crossed a line and can never return to normal civilized society. The leadership of the Claw distributes psychogenic and hallucinogenic drugs that make cultists feel both elated and truly spiritually aware and savage during religious ritual and before combat, leading to the cultists anticipating and demanding both, as well as creating an addictive tie to the cult. The nature of the drugs is a deliberately kept secret in order to ensure that the cultists can never fulfil their addiction without the help of the cult and their warband. Cultists are encouraged to engage in sexual and brief but fierce emotional relationships with other cultists, in order to tie them even more emotionally to the cult. Contact with family members and friends from one’s old life is forbidden, with the exception of those that may be open to recruitment.

It is commonly said that there is no leaving the Ivory Claw but through death, by both the Claw’s members and its foes alike. If a member of the sub-cult attempts to flee the band, the entire group will drop what it’s doing and hunt them down, and entire villages have been raised for harbouring a single fugitive ex-Claw. Cultists are encouraged to hate theses ‘traitors’, and whenever a band suffers set-backs, it is often blamed on hidden spies and traitors in their midst.

The Claw is often deployed to support other bands of cultists and will often be recruited by Wearers of Purple to accompany them on missions for the Cult. They are often treated as little more than expendable fodder, but the bands follow slavishly nevertheless, fanatical in their worship of dragons, Tiamat and the Cult of the Chromatic dragon. Otherwise, the Ivory Claw is left to reave and raid as directed by their local Dragonsoul and wearers of purple, typically in areas that are away from major population centres but contain many isolated populations of humanoids. Some accompany Jade Fang diplomatic expeditions to treat with ‘barbaric’ tribes in the far north and other lands, as both security and to impress those tribespeople with the cults’ similar way of life.

The leadership of the Claw has an entirely different mien from the cult at large. Chosen for a completely different set of characteristics, those of Dragonsoul and Wearer of Purple rank are usually proficient warriors, but also circumspect and manipulative social climbers and leaders. Contrary to the beliefs of most of the Claw’s cultists, they often are promoted from outside the organisation, taken from sub-cults such as the Jade Fang or Sable Eye, and a great many are members of the old guard of the Cult of the Dragon, or agents introduced by [Redacted] himself. These leaders have a better grasp of strategy and work to ensure the brutal fanaticism and savagery of the cult is directed where it is most valuable, while also letting bands remain mostly self-sufficient and independent. The leaders treat with each other in comfortable safe houses in isolate regions of Faerun, where they live lives of luxury while protected by an elite caste of fanatically loyal berserkers, culled from the ranks of the Claw. From these places they organise raiding, recruitment and coordination with the wider cult.

The current Wyrmspeaker, Varram the White, is a dwarf that was once a Battlerager, and integrated many of that cult of warriors’ doctrines and tribalistic worldviews into the Ivory Claw’s indoctrination techniques. He considers himself more of a philosopher and researcher of people than a cultist and will often spend long periods observing the behaviour of prisoners and cultists when put into cruel and unusual circumstances. Nevertheless, he is prone to fall into rages when provoked, struggling to deal with the anger issues that originally led him down the path of the Battlerage, linked to the death of his wife and child at the hands of bandits. He uses these rages in a constructive manner, however, to understand what might provoke his followers into similar states of mind when required. This led him to create a creed of dragon-touched berserkers dedicated to Tiamat within the Ivory Claw, which can fall into great but controlled rages and serve as bodyguards for many of the more senior members of the claw, and as shock troops for the cult. This achievement led to his elevation to the position of Wyrmspeaker of the Ivory Claw, but he has been struggling to manage the position and maintain control over the sub-cult.

The success of the Ivory Claws methods of indoctrination and recruitment has led to other cults to adopt many of their practices. The ranking structure of ‘Dragonclaw’ to ‘Dragonsoul’ has widely been adopted as a way of designating rank and cult secrets to cultists. The Sable Eye, the Jade fang and the Azure Wing have their own ‘warbands’ of cultists that take in recruits in a manner akin to the Ivory Claw

Wearers of Purple

Without central organisation, the 5 ‘Heads’ of the cult would be little more than a squabbling group of loosely affiliated factions. Recognising this problem, [Redacted] co-opted the wearers of purple from the Cult of the Dragon and made them into a special caste within the Wider Cult. These individuals have authority and power invested in them to demand obedience from any member of the cult, aside from other Wearers of Purple and the Wyrmspeakers. The Wyrmspeakers have the authority to appoint normal cult members to the rank of Wearer of Purple, but to do so requires a special ritual, where the prospective member is granted access to the innermost mysteries of the Cult of the Chromatic dragon.

A Wearer of Purple therefore often leads specific cult activities that require a multifaceted approach beyond which individual sub-cults could provide, such as finding long-lost magical artefacts, coordinating raiding activities, gathering and moving resources or organising assaults against powerful targets. One Wearer of Purple cannot overrule another from a different sub-cult, so most groups of each sub-cult of any importance are assigned a wearer of purple to oversee operations and command any auxiliaries from other sub-cults. When Wearers of Purple in the same sub-cult disagree, the most senior (whomever received initiation as a wearer of purple first) is granted authority, but only while they are present.

Each Wearer of Purple is (usually) associated with a specific colour of chromatic dragon and sub-cult and is given a title loosely based on the colour of dragon they favour. For example: Tallis the White, Langdegrosa Cyanwrath, Alson the Argent.

The Wyrmspeakers

The Wyrmspeakers are wearers of Purple that have been placed at the head of each of the Cult of the Chromatic Dragons. Charged with ultimate authority over their own faction, and charged with ensuring that the ultimate goals of the Cult are achieved, they are promoted based on the merit of achievement, and the leaders of the Jade Fang, Ivory Claw and the Sable Eye have been replaced multiple times as their Wyrmspeakers have fallen out of favour for one slight or another. Only the Red hand (whose Wyrmspeaker is [Redacted] ) and the Azure Wing have retained their Wyrmspeaker since the Chromatic Council.

Dragons

Given the Cult of the Chromatic Dragons focus on serving dragonkind, most drakes in their service do so voluntarily, out of lust for power, promises of wealth or sheer boredom. Some serve out of coercion, as the Cult has stolen their eggs, mate, or some other emotionally valuable item to them, but such practise is frowned upon by the cultists. Most of the factions of the Cult prefer to associate with those dragons of the hue that their faction is associated with and make great promises and bribes to acquire their services on raids. As the power of the cult has increased, so has the number of Dragons pledging loyalty to it. Some metallic dragons have even sided with the cult, mostly out of the belief that they could use the renewed rule of dragons to improve the lot of the smallfolk, though some have joined out of fear as well. The former are often unaware of the cults ultimate plans, while the latter are.

#dnd #tyranny of dragons #hotdq #hoard of the dragon queen #the rise of tiamat #rot #tod #d&d #dungeonsanddragons #cultofthedragon #cultofthechromaticdragon #arkhan #neronvain #rezmir #galvan #varram #dragons

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everyaccentthesame · 4 years

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Infinities are stupid. There I said it. I’m not talking about mathematical infinities, however. They’re fine, even if I don’t really understand them. Ignorance is bliss and all that. No, today I’m talking about the only sort of infinity that I remotely feel somewhat confident talking about: infinities in worldbuilding and how they’re used in D&D.

Let me define infinity as far as I understand it in terms that will be useful for this discussion. Infinity, outside of mathematics, means something that is boundless and endless. The description of universe (or in the case of d&d, a plane) as infinite typically means that something is infinite in terms of spatial dimensions but can also refer to the contents of that universe. An infinitely large universe may well contain finite amounts of ‘stuff’ (people, material, energy) within it, though if a finite universe contained infinite amounts of ‘stuff’, that stuff would be infinitely compressed within the finite bounds of that universe.

D&D has had a long, convoluted, and collaborative history, and this is true for both its ruleset and its worldbuilding. The settings of D&D have been created to act as a basis or a baseline for DM’s to work off as a reference for their stories. Whether they set their games within these settings is up to the DM, but D&D has always released extensive setting books describing the settings endorsed by the creators of D&D. Often these settings have had little impact on one another- Dragonlance, Greyhawk and the Forgotten-realms have changed little about each other over years, each holding to different pantheons, and with little crossover except in a number of niche products. Some settings have sought to create a setting that ‘connects’ other settings- the Spelljammer setting, for example, and references to Spelljammer have percolated through 2nd to 5th edition. Many editions like to imply that all settings are connected in some way through a shared cosmology of connected dimensions or ‘planes’, though this cosmology is interpreted by different folks in those settings in different ways.

Many of the core concepts of this shared D&D universe were created in its early days by Gary Gygax, Jeff Grubb and others. Each edition of D&D has liked to change the way that the so-called D&D multiverse has worked, switching it up a bit, or in the case of 4th edition, scrapping it completely to create something new. One thing that has remained consistent through each edition up until the 5th, is the description of all planes except Demiplanes as being ‘infinite’ in extent, including the material plane. Indeed, the 5th edition has dropped all mentions of absolute infinity, except in regards to the Astral- a plane defined by not having anything in it, except for that which is brought in from outside it.

There are more than a couple of problems with the use of the term ‘infinite’ to describe a planes size, or the number of planes in existence. For a start, its lazy. Its shorthand for, ‘I don’t want to go into details, or restrict my creative space’. It allows an author to say ‘very big, bigger than you think, unimaginably big’ in an impressive manner, without saying very much. The issue is that infinities, while fine as a concept, and even interesting to deal with as an idea, if the stories you tell are designed around that- anyone who’s seen the TV show Rick and Morty will appreciate the difficult implications of dealing with our own insignificance in an infinite multiverse where our actions have little to no actual consequences- in traditional storytelling, they don’t help us achieve anything. I don’t know about you, but most of my adventures are not based around telling my players how insignificant their actions are and that they should embrace nihilism, and I don’t think my players would appreciate it if I started doing that. Traditional stories require tangible, achievable goals, meaningful stakes and plots that emotionally resonate with those appreciating them. Infinities as a cosmological concept, depreciate from my ability to tell stories with those in mind.

Why do I think that? The universe we live in is so large it might as well be infinite to us and indeed may well be, but we don’t consider stories told about the real world to be lacking in stakes. The counterargument there is that humans have a special attachment to their specific little blue and green rock that they happen to live on that your players won’t, and by virtue of experience and the significance we attach to those experiences, we place value in stories told about it. Furthermore, Earth is the only planet in the known universe which contains life, no-less technologically developed life, and thus hold an importance to us who live on it and value that sort of thing. However, many people do struggle to find meaning in the real world, and if you have the option of preventing that sort of existential dread, I would take it. If your D&D setting never interacts with the other planes or wider multiverse then fair enough, you have effectively dealt with the problem by ignoring it. But sooner or later, you might engage with the wider D&D cosmology, and you’ll want to make sense of it. And infinity will get in the way.

Infinity could be dealt with in a way that kept the above critique valid but didn’t add any additional difficulty. Infinite planes of material reality could combine with every other plane being infinite to create areas of ‘planar continuity’, carving out finite areas of each plane that only interact with finite areas of other planes. Instead, up until 4th edition, in general terms, anywhere in a plane was equally accessible and if you ‘plane-shifted’ the area which you ‘plane-shifted’ from would rarely matter. This has a number of cosmological implications- for example, Sigil, supposed centre of the multiverse, is a set finite plane interacting with an infinite multiverse, and thus would immediately explode with an infinite number of planar travellers, if there were an infinite number of planar travellers. That it does not implies one of 3 things:

1. There are not infinite planar travellers.

2. Something prevents all but a finite number travelling to Sigil.

3. The designers didn’t think this through terribly well.

While the first two options are what I would see as the ‘in-universe’ reason, in our universe the official published material mentions neither option, indicating that it is likely to be the third option which is correct.

In addition, there is the issue of having finite gods in infinite planes, and in infinitely large planes. Assuming an infinite number of beings reside across infinite material planes, a finite number of gods would be constantly be dogpiled by infinite mortals and petitioners (petitioner is a fancy word for dead souls that go to their gods side when they die). The material that established much of the ‘great wheel’ setting, ‘Planescape’ discussed a great many gods, but nowhere mentioned that there were infinite numbers of these beings. This does not happen, so either we:

1. Assume that gods are ‘infinite’ in their nature (which is not stated in the official material but does make for good theological worldbuilding material) and thus able to deal with infinite petitioners, planar travellers and godly duties at once.

2. Assume there are not infinite travellers, and thus a finite number of planes inhabited by those capable of planar travel.

3. Assume that the designers, once again, did not think this through.

The assumption that gods are ‘infinite’ in nature has consequences for our abilities to tell stories in a planar sense- many players love the idea of challenging the god to combat and defeating them, or become gods themselves, which is impossible with gods that are infinite. Now some DM’s may like the idea of infinite gods that can’t be challenged too, and that’s their prerogative, buuuut, that is complicated by the fact that every single D&D edition has, at some point, provided stats for their gods.

It also doesn’t help that the authors of many supplementary materials seem to forget that the planes have been defined as infinite many times. Modrons, for example, have been given a hard cap on their numbers, which should, by the nature of infinities, make them infinitely irrelevant in the scheme of things. Yet they are not, and the march of the Modrons is an event that can make ‘the planes go crazy’. In reference to the ‘Blood war’, a massive plane-spanning war between the forces of Evil Law and Evil Chaos, numbers are discussed in a very, very, finite manner, as are battlefields and distances. This has been the case in all materials in every edition since AD&D’s Planescape.

All this suggests that the concepts of infinities as mentioned have been routinely ignored, largely because it assists with the telling of compelling narratives. And if the presence of infinities gets in the way of telling compelling narratives, as a game about creating compelling narratives with your players, D&D and it’s settings would be better served by ignoring infinities, and instead choosing to deal with the far more comforting finities. Thankfully, as of 5th edition, this seems to be what has been done, and the lore of D&D is better off for it.

#infinity #d&d #planescape #dnd #dnd 5th edition #dnd 4e #dnd 3.5 #dnd 3 #ad&d #ad&d2e #Overthinking d&d

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everyaccentthesame · 4 years

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What is it to be a Dragon?

(This post contains some musings I’ve written to give me mental inspiration for a ‘Tyranny of Dragons’ campaign I plan to run. I wanted to get into the head of a Dragon, and understand what would be required to compel such a being.)

What is it to be a Dragon? To the two-legged smallfolk that cower in fear or desperately flee from the winged behemoths, terrors of the skies, dragons might as well be gods. Many have fallen to worship such beasts- Dragon cults, entire religions dedicated to one or more of these incredible creatures have sprung up across the ages. It has been remarked by many sages and observers, not least among the Dragonkind themselves, that should they so choose, Dragons could claim dominion of the lands, natural lords of the material plane. That they do not is something every mortal should be thankful for. Dragons make for terrible kings. Why they do not requires a deeper understanding of their nature.

What is it to be a Dragon? Imagine, if you will, being entirely self-sufficient. On your own, through the strength of your talons and the terrifying assault of your breath, you can provide yourself with any food you need, relying on no-one. Your thick hide protects you from the elements. Your wings give you mastery of the air, no far-off land or ocean is barred to you. Spears break against your skin, armour melts, swords shatter, men die when you exhale. The natural world is yours, no mortal creature, barring your own kin, can match you, can claim mastery over you. Imagine all this power, all this freedom. Imagine it not being enough.

What is it to be a Dragon? All Dragons hoard. Even the ones that the smallfolk mistake for being ‘good’. Some hoard wealth, great mountains of it. Some hoard knowledge, guarding grand repositories of it jealously. Some hoard history, hiding away ancient relics of great significance. Some hoard magic. Some hoard friends. Some hoard subjects. Some hoard slaves. How each Dragon hoards is unique. Some common trends appear based on the Dragon’s hue, but there is no clear rule. One might favour coins minted in a certain kingdom. One might like scholars trained in the art of combat. Another might favour the paintings of a certain artist and her apprentices. One thing is clear however- Dragons hoard what others create. They desire what beautiful things mortals create, because in truth, Dragons can only create one thing of any significance. Destruction.

What is it to be a Dragon? All Dragons are alone. A Dragon is fiercely independent, and indeed, they can supply all their base needs on their own. But this has another consequence. Save for those rare incidences where a Dragon might cohabitate with a chosen mate, Dragons are intensely solitary creatures. There is good reason for this, unlike more fragile creatures, Dragons do not need the support of a community to survive. Indeed, the only real threat to an individual Dragon, are other Dragons. This is an oversimplification of course- many things can kill a Dragon, and many things have. But from a Dragons perspective, such creatures are usually easily avoided, lacking powerful Draconic wings, or if the Dragon misjudges the capability of a foe, easily fled from. When a Dragon does die to a mortal or monster, others of its kind view this as an aberration- that creature must have suffered from some flaw that they did not. Weakness, stupidity, slowness- the arrogant draconic minds dismiss any possibility that they might share these traits with the deceased. The only thing a Dragon fears are other Dragons.

What is it to be a Dragon? By default, Dragons are Atheists, by the D&D definition of the word. They know that the Gods exist, they just don’t respect them. A Dragon has no need for prayer, or divine intervention. The Dragons don’t need the Gods, and usually the Gods can’t affect them, residing in planes far from the prime material, so the Dragons simply ignore them. This does, however leave us with a question: If the Dragons do not worship the divine, why are there gods of Dragonkind? Tiamat and Bahumut, alongside other, more obscure deities, claim to be gods of the draconic pantheon, yet few Dragons indeed worship them, and such Deities have turned to the mortal races as their emissaries and agents in the world. Dragons respect the strength of the Draconic gods, as they would the strength of another drake, but long ago abandoned them, when their Empire fell in a millennia long war. It is telling, perhaps, that the Dragons were the ones to abandon their gods, rather than the other way round.

What is it to be a Dragon? Dragons are proud. They exult in their raw physical and magical power over others. A Dragon might destroy a townhouse with a beat of its wings because it wishes to demonstrate that it can. Another might incinerate a Forest because it enjoys the thermals that such an activity creates. A Dragon might dominate a town because it enjoys the terrified mewling of the subservient folk or save a town from a marauding group of monsters because it desires their applause and adulation. Many ‘benevolent’ Dragons, even metallics, act as they do not due to any moral compulsion, but because they enjoy the praise that is heaped upon them for their acts. Some Dragons even seek to gain worshippers, believing that it is only right that they, the most powerful and deserving of beings, receive treatment normally reserved only for gods.

What is it to be a Dragon? Dragons possess within them the spark of the divine. Most never realize this, and never cultivate it, but under the right circumstances, these creatures can enter the ranks of the gods. Most famously in Toril, Tchazzar ascended to become a god-like entity, ruling over a city state and with designs upon a nation. Perhaps the draconic gods are just particularly powerful examples of their kind, and this, perhaps is why Dragons don’t worship them. A dragon does not seek to submit itself to another, it seeks to rule.

What is it to be a Dragon? Dragons do not share power. A Dragon is not content to exist in a subservient state. They seek to either be left alone, or to rule. When Draconic empires have existed, Dragons have competed for power and influence, acknowledging no-one among themselves as King or Queen. Unable to rule over each other without significant risk (a dragon that appears subservient is merely waiting for a moment to strike and claim its authority), Dragons that wish to rule, rule over humanoids.

What is it to be a Dragon? Dragons are smart. Some act as if they are little more than beasts, it is true, but such creatures typically do so by choice, spurning what they view as the ‘pathetic trappings of civilisations’ and embracing their feral side- the barbarians of dragonkind. They are smart enough to recognize their shortcomings as a species- though they rarely reflect on how they can apply to this analysis to themselves. Instead they have developed ways of working with other members of species without risking conflict. Ancient games that simulate conflict, such as the Xorvintaal, allow dragons to use the lives of others in games of intrigue and open warfare to settle disputes, without coming into open conflict themselves.

What is it to be a Dragon? Dragons have life-spans far longer than most humanoids, exceeding even that of the elves. The lives of most creatures appear short and inconsequential to them. When dealing with smallfolk Dragons tend to focus more on lineages or organisations than individuals, which become replaced so easily. It takes an exceptional humanoid to be remembered as an individual by a Dragon, much less respected. Dragons slumber for long-periods, guarding their hoards for many years as their bodies and abilities grow and develop, letting the rise and fall of nations and empires pass them by. A Dragon might not care for the individuals of a local township or city, but care deeply for the place itself, even if only for the entertainment and treasure it provides it. A Dragon may come to know a human family well, as it treats with successive generations of individuals, even if it fails to really distinguish the different family members from one another.

What is it to be a Dragon? Dragons are vulnerable. Dragons are the arrogant lords of the world. They are beings of blistering power and fury. They cannot create, but they can influence the rise and fall of nations, they can compel others to craft great works in their names. Yet for every Dragon of legend, there seems to be a Dragon slayer. A Dragon might be mighty, might be arrogant, but they know these legends too. And they fear death. So, a smart Dragon avoids causing undue trouble, and ensures its subjects or neighbours, while kept fearful of it, do not feel unduly burdened by its presence. Similarly, they avoid provoking more powerful Dragons, and may even make displays of respect or subservience to them. There is no true hierarchy amongst Dragons, but they do respect strength, and theoretically a might Drake, godlike in power, or even a god brought to the mortal plane, could compel them to serve, if only through fear.

It would take an exceptional humanoid to gain a Dragons respect. Think then, on what it would take for one to gain a Dragon’s service. Bribery, perhaps, could work, for a time. Magical compulsion is always an option, though risky- dragons have a ‘legendary resistance’ to spells such as Dominate Monster. Gaining a Dragon’s fear is perhaps the most difficult, and most reliable option then. Consider the Cult of the Dragon. Consider their leader. What could they have done to gain the allegiance of so many great drakes? What power could they wield? What wealth do they command? What promises have they made, and which can they keep?

What sort of being could a Dragon fear?

#tyranny of dragons #dragon #dragons #d&d #dnd #d&d5e #dnd5e #tiamat #the rise of tiamat #hoard of the dragon queen #everyaccentthesame

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everyaccentthesame · 4 years

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BG:DIA. Some thoughts on how Chapter 1 could be improved.

Unconstructive criticism has its place, in helping consumers understand a product’s flaws, but more helpful to the artist and the DM is constructive advice, on how to improve a work of art. In this piece, I will be discussing my thoughts on how to improve the first chapter of Baldur’s gate: Descent into Avernus, as part of a series of posts on the topic of this module.

The fundamental issue with chapter 1, which I have tried to outline in my previous posts (bear with me if I expressed myself poorly, I’m new to this), is that chapter 1 fails to set up the rest of the adventure. It doesn’t provide emotional stakes, or a reason for the PC’s to pursue the plot beyond their metagame understanding that the DM is running a module, and that they are expected to play it. And perhaps I have been too harsh. In terms of providing interesting encounters, set-pieces, art-pieces and characters, the module is quite generous. So what we want to do is keep all the good work that has been done for us by the many, many authors of this adventure, but tie it together in a compelling narrative for our players.

In essence, there are three routes that I can see, that a prospective DM can take with the first chapter of this module, without causing the modules’ themes to be cheapened or without significant new material having to be written or improvised by the aforementioned DM.

1. The adventure can start in Elturel, and have Elturel descend into Avernus.

2. The adventure can start in Baldur’s gate, and have Baldur’s gate descend into avernus.

3. You can keep the original story-line of the module, and greatly increase the threat that Zariel and the forces of the Nine-Hells pose to Baldur’s gate, while tying the fate of Elturel to the fate of Baldur’s gate.

Each of the first two options involves getting rid of one of the cities described in the adventure, making the adventure a more thematically appropriate ‘tale of one city’. Each option involves similar work, where we have a description of Baldur’s gate as it is in it’s day to day life, we have none of what it might look like when it plunges into hell, and vice-versa for Elturel. Ultimately choosing between the two probably comes down to personal taste- if you and your players like the idea of Baldur’s Gate, perhaps from the video-games and fiction set there, run it there. If you find the idea of Elturel more compelling, due to the storyline of the Hellriders and Zariel’s connection to them, and the concept of a corrupt, supposedly ‘lawful good’ theocracy breaking down and crashing into hell, go with that city instead.

The last option takes the most work to create a cohesive and compelling narrative, while also remaining the most similar to the plot-line of the book. I personally don’t like this option, so I will only touch on it lightly, and don’t particularly recommend it, though I may write more on it at a later date.

Option 1: The Fall of Elturel, the brightest new star of the Sword Coast.

In this option we will be replacing all of the first chapter set in Baldur’s Gate, and instead setting it in Elturel. Instead of having characters create backstories in Baldur’s Gate, and creating a dark secret, I would instead have them create backstories and backgrounds for their characters that relate to Elturel. A good resource for this is Baldur’s Gate: Fall of Elturel which provides the Hellrider background. I’d also encourage backgrounds that relate to the city in other ways- acolytes of Torm, Helm or Lathander would be very appropriate, as would other city-related backgorunds. For those backgrounds that don’t make sense as being from Elturel, such as Hermit or Outlander, let them know that the dominion of Elturgard is watched over and purified by the light of the Companion, which keeps undead and monsters that fear the light at bay for a hundred miles around, and that the people of Elturgard owe Elturel their safety.

Next, we’ll want to familiarise ourselves with the city. The module gives you a large and detailed description of Baldur’s Gate and day to day life there. It’d be worthwhile reading up on the wiki page on Elturel. In addition, the Hellturel dmsguild product may be worthwhile inspiration (and will be useful in the next chapter as well!). Indeed the tavern, A Pair of Black Antlers, could stand in for Elfsong Tavern. It might also be worthwhile to look at the second chapter and include some of the locations from there in the first chapter, such as the high-hall. This means that when Elturel does descend into Avernus, you can bring the players back to familiar places, and have them be shocked by the deaths of those they knew there, or the destruction of these beloved sites. If you own the Sword Coast Adventurers Guide, it might be worthwhile reading up that section on Elturel, but honestly it’s not too worthwhile.

Depending on how you want to portray Elturel, you could describe it as a bastion of purity and good (now being corrupted from the inside, as a pure-of-intention but misguided theocracy (with a few bad apples), or as a totalitarian quasi-fascist state that hides behind a veneer of purity and religion. The streets are clean, people are well fed and happy, but it’s up to you how much secret crime goes on behind closed doors, or how dangerous it is to speak against the official religion. Questions like ‘Are other religions allowed in Elturel beyond the proscribed gods, Torm, Helm and Lathander?’, ‘How harsh are punishments for crimes committed?’, ‘How are people of races that are perceived as evil by many treated, are they even tolerated?’ and more are worth considering.

We’ll also want to consider what will precipitate the fall of Elturel- I imagine that the players will come close to revealing Thavius Kreeg’s corruption, which will force him to plunge Elturel into hell early (his original plan could have been to plunge all of Elturgard, or perhaps even other cities along the Sword Coast in simultaenously.). Since Thavius will become a major player in this version of the adventure, we should have him be spoken about by various NPC’s as well- usually singing his praises, but sometimes talking about him suspiciously.

The very first mission of the original module was to meet captain Zodge of the Flaming fist, where he will give them their. This works fine, and you could make the dear captain a member of the Hellriders, and use him to represent growing corruption in that organisation and the city as a whole. You could also replace him with Ontharr Frume of the Order of the Gauntlet, hiring the players as he no longer trusts the Hellriders to do their job properly. Obviously replace the mission with something related to cult activity, perhaps the quest-giver believes the cult of Malar that terrorized the city so long ago has returned?

You could use this point to introduce Reya Mantlemorn, though I’d advise against using her Veteran statblock just yet- she’d make a great 1st level fighter, or you could use the Adventure Sidekicks supplement to level her up with the party. This could be the mission that makes her (and any other characters with the Hellrider background) into a full Hellrider, or she could be there to watch the party as the mission-giver trusts her.

I would run the encounters at Elfsong as normal, but with the numbers filed off- rename the Tavern, perhaps to the ‘Pair of Black Antlers’, but the people that inhabit the tavern can remain the same, as should Tarina. This might also be a good time to introduce Reya Mantlemorn if the players are having trouble in the fight, and be certain to tell the players that the people in the Tavern could be persuaded to help out.

The next encounter, the ‘Dungeon of the dead three, I discuss in more detail below, in ‘What should be considered for change in all cases’. It might be worthwhile making the dungeon the old ‘Temple of the beast’, used by the cult of Malar to launch a ‘wild hunt’ from. At the end of the Dungeon, rather than the inclusion of Mortlock Vanthampur, you can insert a character of your own design- perhaps one of the Hellriders, perhaps Reya Mantlemorn if you’ve not introduced her yet. This individual should tell the players that they found out that someone in the Hellriders was funding the cult activity, and letting them into the city discreetly to perform dark rituals and rites. Someone high-ranking, with the power to authorise the funds and to get the Hellriders to look the other way from cult activity.

Run the dragon cultist encounter as normal, its good foreshadowing for Tiamats involvement in Avernus.

You should have the players be made aware of two options at this point- they can go to the one person they know who knows anything about the underworld of Elturel (literally, most criminal dealings would go on underground, away from the Companions light)- Amrik Vanthampur, or they can try to bring their findings to their Quest-giver. We’ll be reflavouring Amrik as an information broker, as well as a loanshark, and he can either be persuaded, negotiated with or threatened for the in for. If you want, he can send the players off on a side mission in exchange for the info, perhaps to smuggle goods past the Hellriders. If they choose to go back to the quest giver, have them give the PC’s their reward, and tell them to report back the next day- when they do, have Thavius Kreeg himself show up, and thank the PCs for their service personally, and inform them that he will take over the investigations personally. He will then tell any Hellrider PC’s or NPC’s that in the next Tenday they will be sent to act as guards of the High Hall, and removed from active duty. This in and of itself should be suspicious, and an insight check of 15 or above should confirm this.

Either way, the PC’s should be directed to investigate the High Overseers personal residence, the re-flavoured Vanthampur Manor. If the players investigate, it will come to light that he’s changed much of the normal security at the manor, and has refused the normal offer of Hellrider guards, preferring his own, personally chosen staff.

While in the manor, the basic dungeon serves as a perfectly good set-piece, but the Vanthampurs should be gone or replaced by Thavius’s servants- Hellriders who’ve lost their faith or paladin oaths but hidden it through infernal contract,or even Thavius himself. Falasker Fisk should be encountered at some point, and inform the players about the importance of the Infernal Lockbox, and send them to Sylvira Savikas, a mage who has long suspected Thavius of dark dealings. You may or may not choose to include the Shield of the Hidden Lord in the adventure. Instead of Thurstwell, have the Infernal Lockbox be found by the players on any serious investigation of Kreeg’s room, but protected by Imps that go to try to warn him what they found. It may also be fun to have the PC’s find a plan that indicates the Thavius has used his power and the cultist activity to create a Nonogram, a 9-pointed star, around the companion in Elturel. This is neat Foreshadowing for what will happen next.

Have the PC’s arrive in candlekeep, where you may wish to take inspiration from Elminister’s candlekeep companion. Have Sylvira meet them, replace her Quasit companion with Lulu, put her in a tower with a high balcony. When she opens the Lockbox (ooh art), have their attention be brought to a low rumble the moment they finish reading the contract. In the distance, have the sky turn red with Hellfire in the distance, and let them see a blinding flash of light and a terrible peal of thunder as the Companion (visible even from this distance), turns black then dissapears.

From here you can have the PC’s feel compelled via the power of the infernal contract to go to Elturel, and Lulu can tell them about Zariel, her Sword, and how she thinks that with the Sword, they can save Elturel. You could also tie their fate to the city, letting them know that if the city falls, so do they- if they swore an oath to defend Elturel, for example, they could suffer a point of exhaustion for every ten-day they stay away from it.

In addition, if the players choose not to go to Candlekeep, and instead try to expose the High Overseer, or even manage to kill him, have the city plunge into Avernus with them in it. That’d be pretty fun, but would require some improv and your players would have to meet Lulu (if they meet her at all), another way.

Option 2: This time, Baldur’s Gate actually descends, first into madness, then Avernus

In this option, Baldur’s gate will be the city that plunges into Avernus. This will keep the first chapter mostly the same, but will require a significant rework of the second chapter (which I will discuss at a later date).

What we will change in this chapter is make Thalmara Vanthampur a far more active villain- while the game goes forward, have her campaign to become Grand duke become far more vocal. She will be using the spat of murders the cult of Zariel has been commiting (on her orders) to justify a series of new laws that will reform the security of Baldur’s Gate, and she becomes highly popular amongst the nobles, who have been victimised by many of her attacks. One of these laws will involve every Baldurian citizen over the age of 16 swearing an oath to defend the city, similar to the one that Elturians swear.

In addition, the refugee crisis that threatens Baldur’s Gate will have to be re-flavoured or removed. I have suggestions about that below. Reya Mantlemorn and the Hellriders will have to go in their current incarnation, but re-flavouring Reya as a Flaming Fist recruit that stumbled on something they shouldn’t and refused to look the other way would be an interesting way to keep her character in the game.

Have them meet Mortlock as usual who tells them about his brothers and how they’re supporting his mothers plans for taking over the city, but that he suspects that her association with the Cult of Zariel goes deeper than just using them as a tool. After the players finish the ‘dungeon of the dead three’ (see the recommendations on that dungeon below), have them hear about Thalmara’s successful election to the position of Grand-Duke, and the new laws being enacted.

Remove Thavius Kreeg from Vanthampur Manor, and have Thalmara not be present- indeed, make it clear that the manor is light on guards due to her moving into the more secure High-hall. Have the Lockbox be experimented on by Thurstwell because he wants to know what deal his mother has made, exactly, so that he ensure he will be spared, or so he can take advantage.

As before, if the PC’s try to expose Thalmara, she will dump the city into Avernus with them in it, and if they go to Sylvira (as before), the city will be sent to Avernus the moment they open the lockbox.

It might be interesting to hint that the Flaming Fist are actually descended from the Hellriders- scrap the Hellriders Elturian origins, and have them be the predecessors of the Flaming Fist mercenary company. This would explain Zariel’s interest in the city and the mercenary company, and could be an interesting and fun revelation for the Players.

For further advice, you might want to check out Eventyr Game’s supplement on this chapter.

Option 3: Now this is actually going to be a tale of two cities

(I will discuss this point in the future, as writing it proved more challenging than I anticipated. I think this does prove my point that having two cities in this adventure does not make terribly much sense.)

What should be considered for change in all cases

There are a few things, that for the sake of thematic consistency could be changed in all of these options for chapter one.

First, the ‘dungeon of the dead three’, while a good dungeon and solid mini-adventure in its own right, should be changed to the ‘dungeon of the infernal cult’. There’s no reason for worshipers of the dead three to be in this adventure, so swap them with cultists of Zariel, and possibly other Archdevils. Have them be working on the Orders of Thavius Kreeg or Duke Vanthampur, but don’t reveal that right away- the cultists probably only know that they’re working through Mortlock or one of Kreeg’s corrupted Hellriders. You can even keep the stats of the cultists of the dead three, just reflavour them as worshipping different devils! Have the Bane-worshippers worship Zariel, have the Myrkulites worship Mephistopheles and have the Bhaalites be devotees of Bael (You don’t even have to change the name for that one much!). If you’re running the dungeon in Baldur’s gate, you could even say that the cult wiped out a local cell of dead three worshippers, and were pretending to be them, albeit sloppily.

In addition, the sojourn to Traxigor’s tower is just unnecessary in my eyes. If the players are in Candlekeep already, filled with Archmages, why not just do the ritual there? Personally, I find Traxigor much more compelling than Sylvira as a character, but his cuteness does distract from Lulu’s. If you want to replace her with him, do so, otherwise just remove him.

If your players are struggling to find a reason for why they should be the one’s to go to Avernus, rather than the other qualified adventurers of the Sword Coast, you may want to introduce a plot point relating the adventurers to the sword of Zariel, or a create a mysterious prophecytm for them to be part of the rescue of the fallen city. You could also tie their fate to the city, letting them know that if the city falls, so do they- if they swore an oath to defend Elturel or Baldur’s gate, for example, they could suffer a point of exhaustion for every ten-day they stay away from it.

If you want to introduce a Refugee-angle into the game, you could place the adventure in the middle of the events of another module, such as the Tyranny of Dragons or Elemental Evil. Whichever city the PC’s are in should be flooded with Refugees from the countryside or towns that have been attacked, desperate for the safety high walls and armies can give.

I’ll be responding to any thoughts or criticism anyone has on these ideas, and may be expanding on them, before I begin my critique and analysis of chapter 2!

#d&d #d&d 5e #dnd 5e campaign #dnd 5th edition #dnd 5e #baldurs gate: descent into avernus #descent into avernus #vanthampur

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everyaccentthesame · 4 years

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BG: DIA. A rationale for bizarre choices in the first chaprer.

Descent into Avernus is a thoroughly confused module. Throughout the first chapter we’re meant to unravel the mystery of what happened to Elturel, but the players have no reason to care about Elturel, and until the very end of the chapter, no indication that devilish forces are responsible, or even at work in Baldur’s Gate. Furthermore, at the end of the chapter the players seem to be expected to leap into hell voluntarily to save Elturel, but are given no indication on how that could possibly be achieved, or why they are the one’s being sent to do the ‘saving’. The PC’s, by the end of the first chapter, will have effectively saved Baldur’s Gate by killing Thalmara Vanthampur or disrupting her plans, job done.

This is a mad, jumbled plot, and near-impossible to work with without massive adjustments. So why was it written this way? Well, some of the blame can be put at the feet of sheer incompetence. There are issues with how the plot of this adventure that no amount of mitigating factors can explain, especially with a project of this size and budget, with dozens of people working on it. These sort of issues are now infamous, and plague many WOTC official adventure modules, forcing DM’s to warp the plotlines to their own ends, and frustrating any attempt to run a campaign ‘straight out of the book’.

Too many cooks spoiled this broth

Some of the blame can also be put on the sheer size of the project. Not in the sense of the size of the book, though that is large, but in terms of the size of the team that worked on it. There are eleven so called ‘story creators’ (an unhelpful title), two story consultants, 15 writers (what separates these from the ‘story creators’ is unclear) and four developers listed in the books ‘credits’. Some of those listed have multiple roles. This could be a classic case of ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’- there are less than 10 pages of actual adventure content per writer. What were they doing? Why were so many needed, when three or four would really suffice?

Its obvious that this bloated team of creatives did not help the adventures structure, and they obviously failed to communicate and create a cohesive story-line together. But the same goes for other D&D modules, which while generally unclear, few were as tonally deaf as the first chapter of this one.

A video-game tie-in, sort of?

The issue, is, of course, Baldur’s gate. As I reflected in my previous post, the module is not about Baldur’s gate, it is about Elturel. And yet the game takes on that name, insists on the players being from there, starting there, levelling up there. Why?

Well, simply put: Marketing. For a video game called Baldur’s gate 3 which set in the forgotten realms setting, using the d&d 5e rules (adapted to a video game format) and is being promoted by Wizards of the Coast, the producers of D&D. It looks like it’s going to be a decent game, and I’m moderately excited about it. But it looks like someone at WOTC, or even Hasbro, saw this as an opportunity to use an official d&d module to market, or try to ‘tie-in’ to this new video game.

Instead of building a new module from the ground up to fit into the game, which seems to feature mind-flayers and planar travel quite prominently (and rather few fiends for that matter), that would complement the new video games themes and setting, they instead have hamfistedly crammed baldurs gate into what seems to be a module they had developed with a different vision in mind.

In addition, it seems the designers, as illustrated in the ‘dungeon of the dead three’ were far too eager to throw in references to previous video games set in Baldur’s gate. Now I love references to obscure pieces of D&D lore, but not if they detract from the main plots and themes of a story.

A tale of two cities, but not really

One of the writers and ‘story creators’, the much loved Chris Perkins, had this to say about the module, in an interview with Inverse:

“I like to think of it as A Tale of Two Cities. One city has fallen under the sway of hell, the other is in danger of suffering the same fate unless you step in and do something about it.“

Given this quote, I’m pretty sure Chris Perkins either has not read ‘A tale of two cities’, as it is quite clear that the adventure does not tell a tale of two cities, it tells two tales, that happen to be set in different cities, or only accidentally referenced it.

The fact is that Baldur’s gate is under no such danger of suffering the fate of Elturel by the end of the first chapter, and the two cities indeed have no other connection, or indeed any connection to each other other than physical proximity. Indeed, the design lead Adam Lee admits as much in an interview:

Todd Kendrick: “How does that bring us to Elturel”

Adam Lee: “So Elturel is connected to Baldur’s gate by the river [chionthar], probably a couple hundred miles up the river is the city of Elturel and Elturel, uh, you hear about it through a courier or through people who are reporting, who say ‘oh my gosh, Elturel has just, been taken, it has disappeared and just become a smoking crater’, and something terrible has happened there.”

That’s it. That’s the connection. Someone comes and tells the PC’s while they’re in Baldur’s gate that Elturel is missing, and they’re, for some reason, meant to care about it. And do something about it. While the rest of the universe, it seems, sits on the palms of their hands, and does nothing.

Conclusion

The fact is that Baldur’s gate inclusion is awkward, clumsy, and unnecessary, and the designers put in the minimum possible effort to make it fit. This is compounded by the bloated size of the design team likely contributing to nobody in the team actually knowing what the overall plot was, or should be. The module seems to have been primarily written with the city of Elturel in mind as the primary hub for the players, and that connection seems to have been scrapped, almost at the last minute, leaving the adventure completely adrift, and condemning it to be even worse than the usual mediocrity produced by WOTC these days.

The tie-in isn’t even that worthwhile, in the end, Baldurs Gate 3 has suffered repeated delays and has only just opened up a public alpha. Fucking morons.

In my next post in this series, I’ll actually be constructive, and I’ll be discussing how the adventure could be better, and what I would do differently if I were running it again. I actually like a lot of the adventure’s themes, and I think that with just a little effort, it could be a brilliant experience, to run and to play.

#d&d #dnd #d&d 5e #dnd5e #d&d5e #baldurs gate: descent into avernus #descent into avernus #baldurs gate #baldurs gate 3 #rpg #review #rpg review #dnd resources #rpg resource #mistakesweremade #notbymetho

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everyaccentthesame · 4 years

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BG:DIA, A retrospective and review of a completed campaign. Part 2/?. Inauspicious beginnings

In my previous post I began discussing, in broad terms, what I thought about running Baldurs gate: Descent into Avernus. Safe to say, my overall opinions on the module are not favourable. In this current post, I will discuss how the module introduces itself and my experience running the first 4 levels of the adventure, or as it calls it, “Chapter 1: A tale of two cities”.

I should first note however, that this chapter, despite the name, is not a tale ‘of two cities’, it is a tale of one city: Baldur’s gate. Given the name of the adventure, this initially seems appropriate, until you realise just how little anything your players will do in, or relating to Baldur’s gate after the first 4 levels of the adventure. Indeed, Baldur’s gate as a city, which is afforded a grand total of 54 pages of description in the books back-pages, is disposed of as a setting and a plot point after what could amount to three or four sessions of in-book play.

The book grants players an entire section dedicated to character backgrounds, and does a remarkably milquetoast job of tying the characters together with a ‘dark-secret’- a crime they committed together, and now share the burden of. But all of these backgrounds relate directly to creating characters in Baldur’s gate! Why are the characters being encouraged to tie their backgrounds to Baldurs gate, when the city itself is barely put at any real risk for the entire adventure? And the dark secret doesn’t really hold much weight for the players, as the adventure barely mentions it or brings it up in order to compel them to action- they might as well have committed no crime at all, for all the adventure seems to care. Indeed, they are being hired, HIRED, by the Flaming Fist, the mercenary police force of Baldur’s gate, at the start of the adventure. This hardly seems to be the fate of a band of criminals, now does it?

I should mention, at this point, that the entire point of the latter 80% of the BG:DIA adventure is to save a city from certain damnation in the nine hells. That city is not, in fact, the one that the players have spent the past 3 levels in, or the one that they’ve made their character backstories and connections to, or even one that the main enemies of the first chapter seemed to even care slightly about. The city that in ‘Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus’ that actually Descends, is a charming city called Elturel.

Now don’t get me wrong, I like Elturel as a setting, and as a plot point. A holy city corrupted from inside out is a brilliant piece of thematic imagery, as is the holy zeal and tale of Zariel and the Hellriders. A ‘Lawful good’ nation state that suffered from that which afflicts all autocratic theocracies- greed and corruption from its most trusted and powerful members. It’s disappearance into the nine-hells, lore-wise, would spell disaster, both spiritually and physically, for those that lived in the nation state the city had founded, Elturgard. A significant amount of lore had been created about this enthusiastic, naive city and fledgling nation by BG:DIA’s publication that would have been brilliant to expound and expand upon in this work. But this Elturel is never seen by the players, nor do they ever have a chance to learn about it.

Instead, the players learn to love Baldur’s Gate. They are from Baldur’s Gate. They live in Baldur’s Gate. They work for Baldur’s Gate’s people. They investigate Baldur’s Gate mysteries. Very little about Baldur’s Gate is left unexplored in the Baldur’s Gate gazetteer. There’s so much about this city in the first chapter of this adventure you could be forgiven for thinking it has any relevance whatsoever to the overall plot. Like much else in this first chapter, it does not.

A rough start.

The real beginning of the adventure isn’t terrible, with one exception, and I won’t talk about it much here. However, that exception is significant.

In the first proper encounter of the adventure, our fresh-faced, level one PC’s, quite possibly the first PC’s ever lovingly handcrafted by their players, fight some bandits in a tavern. Typical adventuring fare. You would expect this encounter to be relatively easy for our new PC’s, and you would be mistaken. To an inexperienced DM, not used to balancing encounters against a group of equally inexperienced players, this could well be a game-ending tragedy.

My players are not inexperienced, and neither am I, but one of my players still died in this, the first encounter of the game (A subsequent pact with a devil ‘saved’ his soul, but the point stands).

Nevertheless, the setting of the first encounter is very evocative and interesting, even if it is (as I will discuss later), another attempt to hamfistedly put a location from the ‘Baldur’s gate’ CRPG into the module.

Why are we fighting the Cult of the Dead three?

The cult of the dead three are an interesting concept. The followers of three dark gods, working together for a common agenda- murder, power and death, not a terrible fare for your typical dark cult. Certainly fodder enough for an interesting standalone adventure, or even deserving of their own book, and during the first chapter, the PC’s are charged with finding and eliminating a cell of these cultists in Baldur’s Gate. They are certainly tied into the history of Baldur’s Gate via the popular video-games and other established lore relating to the city.

That is, however, not a good reason to put them in this book.

This is a book that deals strongly with the affairs of fiends and their mortal servants. The inclusion of the Dead Three simply contrasts with the tone and enemies that are included in the rest of the adventure. Furthermore, these cultists and their gods are not mentioned again after the PC’s cull their ranks, beyond the paltry reward the players receive for their murder.

It seems to me that these murdering bastards were included for two conceivable reasons, neither of the adequate;

1. The designers needed to provide a road-bump that gave them an excuse to level up the players rapidly so they could put them in hell straight away.

2. The designers wanted to put in some call-backs to the computer RPG set in the eponymous city.

The first reason is fair enough. The dungeon of the dead three is a genuinely adequate gauntlet for your players. Interesting and challenging enough to fill any hack-n-slash focused player’s heart with joy, and keep more exploration and rpg focused player’s satisfied for the duration. It’s certainly worth a level up.

But that has nothing to do with the enemy types present there, and in terms of the overall narrative of the module, they’re incredibly discordant- a red-herring to any players trying to work out the actual plot of the adventure. Replacing these with cultists of Zariel and/or other Archdevils would have been far more thematic and actually given the players an indication of what sort of foe would be present in this module, with incredibly few modifications to the plot necessary. Hell, even followers of a demon lord would have been more appropriate.

I love call-backs to old pieces of d&d lore as much as the next person, but, as I’ve already said, this module isn’t about Baldur’s gate. Sure, this piece of the adventure is set in Baldur’s gate, but the game is about Elturel. This dungeon crawl, as it is, serves no meaningful narrative purpose.

The Vanthampurs, and villainy.

The Vanthampur family, Thalmara Vanthampur, and her three sons Thurstwell, Amrik and Mortlock, make excellent villains. These four are the masterminds (well, except for Mortlock, who can most charitably be called a mind, no mastery involved) behind the sinister goings-on in Baldur’s gate. They arranged for the Cult of the Dead three to appear, they are in touch with those responsible for Elturel’s dissapearance. Thalmara actually worships Zariel, and has a bearded devil serving her! A devil in my game about devils! At last!

The only, issue is, well, they’re not very good at the entire villainy thing. Sure, they say all the right words, and have ‘grand plans’. But there is no sense of ‘impending doom’ given out by them. They’re not even directly doing anything that wrong- Amrik runs a gamblin den, Mortlock helps the players fight the Cult of the Dead Three, Thurstwell sits in his room all day and Thalmara’s ‘master plan’ is to use the cultists to try and win an election! An election that is given no time-frame or stakes in the book, for that matter.

Essentially, though they have all the right pieces to be villains, they completely lack the right ‘stuff’ that would motivate the players to go and try to bring them down. Immediate stakes, character traits and diabolical plots just... aren’t there. I found it very difficult to get myself inspired to have them as antagonists, and so did my players.

Because they’re not the Antagonists. The real antagonist of the first is the High Overseer of Elturel, Thavius Kreeg. Who is hidden from the players, barely mentioned, until they stumble across him in the Dungeon of the Dead three, entirely without context for them. Even he is done dirty- none of his planning, none of his scheming, none of his lies are ever made apparent to the players- they’re explained later, in a way that would make any devotee of the ‘show, don’t tell’ philosophy of storytelling want to tear their hair out.

Whether they let Thavius, or Thalmara, or any of the Vanthampur’s live or die doesn’t seem to matter, according to the book. No choices here have any consequences, and the entire thrust of the final section of chapter 1 seems to be to give them the information that will send them to Candlekeep. Which it doesn’t even do that well.

What a fucking piece of shit adventure.

Candlekeep- an Archmage too many

So, the adventure has clumsily navigated you and your players to Candlekeep. You might imagine that such an auspicious location as this citadel of scholars would receive lavish attention, or at least some helpful guidance on how to run it, should your players go exploring, or even, *gasp* doing some research into what the shit might have happened to Elturel. You won’t be surprised, though, to learn that your imagination has mislead you on this issue once again.

Candlekeep receives perhaps just over half a page dedicated to it, and precisely one location- an Inn where the characters stay. The rest of the module involves a friendly local Archmage doing all the legwork and opening a puzzlebox for the players, which handily dumps exposition in their laps. The Archmage is then free to spout yet more exposition as you see fit, before, for some reason, sending them to another Archmage (who is also an Otter), a fair distance from Candlekeep, because the adventure assumes they will now want to go to Avernus to save Elturel. Why the adventure assumes that the players will want to save Elturel is... unclear.

Indeed, a lot of things about this section of the adventure are unclear. One of the main, and most loveable NPC’s, Lulu the Hollyphaunt is introduced in this section. She is a Celestial suffering from bad memory loss, but definitely escaped from Avernus, knew Zariel (its unclear whether Zariel is commonly known to be an Archdevil) and knows where her Sword is. It is unclear why the PC’s should care about this sword, either, but the Adventure will later assume that they do, so we’re meant to just roll with it.

Long story short- well, short story short, the PC’s are then meant to be plane-shifted to Avernus (unclear why they’d agree to go), by an Archmage (Unclear why none of the Candlekeep archmages went, or got anyone more qualified for the job to join) directly to Elturel, which is now in the Nine Hells.

The chapter ends.

An uncertain start

As a DM, preparing to run this game left me with far more questions than answers, questions that I did not have the time to answer myself. The design choices in many places of the first chapter of this adventure are baffling, but they do follow a certain pattern, one that I will attempt to explain in my next post. In the post after that I will then attempt to provide a framework to fix the issues with this chapter, and will recommend some great resources to use if you plan on running this adventure.

#d&d 5e #d&d #dnd #dnd campaign #dnd 5e #baldurs gate: descent into avernus #descent into avernus #baldurs gate #rpg #rpg review #rpg resource #dnd resources #dnd review

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