My current DM is running Curse of Strahd and we both agreed that I would DM the next campaign in order to give him a break and let him play. Our group is very much a hack and slash/murder hobo-ish type of group so I was hoping to transition to Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage after Curse of Strahd concludes. An immense exploration/combat dungeon delve would keep the group entertained the most. I am having trouble thinking of ideas on how to make this transition and tie the two adventures together in away that is fluid and not choppy. Ive been thinking of ways to incorporate the adventure hooks listed in the source books into Curse of Strahd.
Also, looking for ideas on a away to modify the lower level difficulty of the dungeons in order to fit higher level characters accordingly. I am aware I can just start them one one of the more level appropriate dungeon levels but I don't want to miss out on all that awesome adventuring.
My DM and I have also talked about running a couple of one shots during his campaign to assist in this transition. Does anyone have any ideas for this?
So I guess I have three questions:
1. Ideas on how to transition from Curse of Strahd to Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage?
2. Ideas for a few one shots during Curse of Strahd ?
3. How to modify the levels for higher level players?
1) Transition throug hthe Mists surrounding Barovia through to a Rift or Portal on one of the levels of DotMM.
2) Check on Dungeon Master's Guild for 1-shots for CoS. That's what I did.
3) Since DotMM is designed for 1st to 20thj level characters, yoou could just have them enter through the appropriate level of the Dungeon. If they decide to go upwards, they can either get a free ri8de or Increase the Levels/hit points and/or numbers of creatures as they go upwards.
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Watch your back, conserve your ammo, and NEVER cut a deal with a dragon!
After leaving Barovia they return to whichever town/city they started in. While they are celebrating their survival in the tavern, the floor explodes and a cloud of XX flies out.
Do not modify the levels. Let the players blow through the easy stuff and establish connections. They will run into the hard bits soon enough.
The reason I would suggest putting the portal in a town or city is because having it in the middle of nowhere doesn't give them a safe place to recover, resupply, or sell loot. I placed an assortment of "ticket masters" at the entrance charging a fee to go into the portal. They can be a source of rumors and reports about other groups rummaging about in the dungeon.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
Thanks for the ideas! I am leaning toward having the mists lead onto a gate in one of the lower levels. I want them to go up first back to the yawning portal then have a reason to go back. Need to hash out the details.
@DocAllanonThere are enough Portals throughout DotMM that interconnect the various levels that shouldn't be an issue. My group have started on the 1st level having completed Dragon Heist, but they are a bunch of murder hobo's trying to clear each level as they go. After 8 sessions they have only just got to level 2 . . .
@Mergon Highlight of the entire DMM run was finding a way to keep 140 barrels of Dwarven Ale. Without a tavern, in Waterdeep, as a base the ale would have been forgotten (after a couple mugs). Also, through their adventures the party acquired a few bags of holding. This allowed them to keep several items that they then used to decorate Troll Skull manor. One room on the upper floor became a library, and (at higher levels) the party had a safe place to teleport to safety. Having that fail safe did allow them to be more daring ... and it paid off.
Nooooo . . . doon't do this incredibly dagerous thing.
Halaster is powerful enough, and insane enough, to bind a part of the mists into HIS dungeon and possibly even bind Strahd himself to a level of the Undermountain. Strahd is also smart enough to play along with this as a way of gaining his freedom from his prison in the Mists. :)
Just a few words to think on before a ?plesant? night's sleep.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Watch your back, conserve your ammo, and NEVER cut a deal with a dragon!
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My current DM is running Curse of Strahd and we both agreed that I would DM the next campaign in order to give him a break and let him play. Our group is very much a hack and slash/murder hobo-ish type of group so I was hoping to transition to Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage after Curse of Strahd concludes. An immense exploration/combat dungeon delve would keep the group entertained the most. I am having trouble thinking of ideas on how to make this transition and tie the two adventures together in away that is fluid and not choppy. Ive been thinking of ways to incorporate the adventure hooks listed in the source books into Curse of Strahd.
Also, looking for ideas on a away to modify the lower level difficulty of the dungeons in order to fit higher level characters accordingly. I am aware I can just start them one one of the more level appropriate dungeon levels but I don't want to miss out on all that awesome adventuring.
My DM and I have also talked about running a couple of one shots during his campaign to assist in this transition. Does anyone have any ideas for this?
So I guess I have three questions:
1. Ideas on how to transition from Curse of Strahd to Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage?
2. Ideas for a few one shots during Curse of Strahd ?
3. How to modify the levels for higher level players?
1) Transition throug hthe Mists surrounding Barovia through to a Rift or Portal on one of the levels of DotMM.
2) Check on Dungeon Master's Guild for 1-shots for CoS. That's what I did.
3) Since DotMM is designed for 1st to 20thj level characters, yoou could just have them enter through the appropriate level of the Dungeon. If they decide to go upwards, they can either get a free ri8de or Increase the Levels/hit points and/or numbers of creatures as they go upwards.
Watch your back, conserve your ammo,
and NEVER cut a deal with a dragon!
After leaving Barovia they return to whichever town/city they started in. While they are celebrating their survival in the tavern, the floor explodes and a cloud of XX flies out.
Do not modify the levels. Let the players blow through the easy stuff and establish connections. They will run into the hard bits soon enough.
The reason I would suggest putting the portal in a town or city is because having it in the middle of nowhere doesn't give them a safe place to recover, resupply, or sell loot. I placed an assortment of "ticket masters" at the entrance charging a fee to go into the portal. They can be a source of rumors and reports about other groups rummaging about in the dungeon.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Thanks for the ideas! I am leaning toward having the mists lead onto a gate in one of the lower levels. I want them to go up first back to the yawning portal then have a reason to go back. Need to hash out the details.
I took a group through Heist, then DMM. Having Troll Skull Manor as a base was most useful. May want to look into something like that for them.
@DocAllanon There are enough Portals throughout DotMM that interconnect the various levels that shouldn't be an issue. My group have started on the 1st level having completed Dragon Heist, but they are a bunch of murder hobo's trying to clear each level as they go. After 8 sessions they have only just got to level 2 . . .
@Shalrath42 I wish I'd thought of that at the time. Oh well, missed opportunities. :)
Watch your back, conserve your ammo,
and NEVER cut a deal with a dragon!
@Mergon Highlight of the entire DMM run was finding a way to keep 140 barrels of Dwarven Ale. Without a tavern, in Waterdeep, as a base the ale would have been forgotten (after a couple mugs). Also, through their adventures the party acquired a few bags of holding. This allowed them to keep several items that they then used to decorate Troll Skull manor. One room on the upper floor became a library, and (at higher levels) the party had a safe place to teleport to safety. Having that fail safe did allow them to be more daring ... and it paid off.
Make Mordenkainen the Mad Mage instead of Halaster Blackcloak?
Or replace Modenkainen with Halaster Blackcloak as the Mad Mage of Mount Baratok?
...from there concoct a convoluted backstory. ;)
Nooooo . . . doon't do this incredibly dagerous thing.
Halaster is powerful enough, and insane enough, to bind a part of the mists into HIS dungeon and possibly even bind Strahd himself to a level of the Undermountain. Strahd is also smart enough to play along with this as a way of gaining his freedom from his prison in the Mists. :)
Just a few words to think on before a ?plesant? night's sleep.
Watch your back, conserve your ammo,
and NEVER cut a deal with a dragon!