Magical meteors, cosmic horror, and factions vying for control over a city contaminated with an eldritch haze. That’s what awaits in Dungeons of Drakkenheim, the result of a collaboration between the Dungeon Dudes and Ghostfire Gaming, coming soon to D&D Beyond!

To get to know the post-apocalyptic city of Drakkenheim, we sat down with Martin and Kelly from Dungeon Dudes! Read on to learn more about this city-based adventure for characters 1st-13th level.

• What Is Dungeons of Drakkenheim?
• A Player-Centric Campaign With Rich Character Options
• A Horror-Ridden City Filled With Riches and Danger
• Navigate Complex Politics Between the Five Factions

Third-Party Content

Dungeons of Drakkenheim is third-party content from Ghostfire Gaming. As always, your Dungeon Master has the final say on which aspects of the adventures will be included during gameplay.

What Is Dungeons of Drakkenheim?

“Dungeons of Drakkenheim is a dark fantasy adventure set in a ruined city that shares both cosmic horror elements and faction intrigue,” said Monty, who DM'd the original actual play campaign that Dungeons of Drakkehnehim is based on.

“It’s a complete adventure that takes players from 1st to 13th level and is set entirely inside Drakkenheim,” continued Monty, “which was the capital city of the nation of Westemär. The city was struck by a meteor 15 years ago, which created an eldritch contamination that now emanates from the heart of the city.”

Content Warning

Dungeons of Drakkenheim contains mature themes. Before playing, it’s essential to sit down with your players and have a session 0 to discuss the adventure’s content, each player’s hard and soft limits, and how players can flag issues during play.

A Player-Centric Campaign With Rich Character Options

In Dungeons of Drakkenheim, the players drive the adventure's plot in several ways, most prominently through personal quests and faction involvement.

“Drakkenheim really encourages the players and the Dungeon Masters to work closely together to come up with a personal arc and a personal quest for your character,” said Kelly. “The design of the campaign revolves around your character coming to the city for personal reasons, but to get what you want, you're going to get involved in something way bigger than just you.”

The results of the campaign are wholly up to the players to decide. However, their options to deal with the city’s warring factions are usually shrouded in shades of gray.

“Good luck trying to be the good guys,” Kelly warned.

New Player Options

Inside Dungeons of Drakkenheim, players will find a wealth of new options that will connect their characters more closely to the setting, including:

• 5 character backgrounds that tie into a character’s reason for adventuring, like the mageborn, treasure seeker, and devoted missionary.
• 14 spells that can harness the contamination emanating from the city at the cost of furthering its mutating and debilitating effects on the caster.
• Personal quests, a mechanic that provides a feat or Ability Score Improvement when you complete the goal your character has set when coming to Drakkenheim.

A Horror-Ridden City Filled With Riches and Danger

When asked to describe the city, Monty said, “People who aren't willing to risk their lives for something don't come to Drakkenheim.”

Whether you’re adventuring to the city for the promise of untold riches or to rescue a loved one, everyone knows that inside its walls, Drakkenheim is crawling with dangers. The meteor that struck the city 15 years ago spread an eldritch contamination called delerium, which has warped both the city's architecture and its inhabitants. What’s resulted is a landscape filled with horrifying anomalies and dangerous creatures.

Anyone who ventures to the city must navigate a treacherous environment and contend with the ever-present threat of contamination and the creatures it spawns.

Delerium and Contamination

“Drakkenheim is a bit of an inversion of a normal urban campaign because the city is an apocalyptic wasteland,” said Monty. “It's contaminated with what’s basically magical radiation, and one of the rules that we developed for the Haze that covers the city means it is impossible for characters to take a long rest in the ruins of the city.”

On top of not allowing players to long rest in the city, the delerium and the Haze it emits can contaminate and mutate any material, being, or energy. When contaminated, creatures will undergo debilitating effects similar to exhaustion and can begin to mutate into horrific abominations. And, unfortunately for those infected, even greater restoration can’t negate its effects.

But, with risk comes reward. Delerium is a potent magical component that can be used to cast powerful spells and craft magical artifacts. Even if your player has no use for such power, there’s always a buyer who does.

Mutated Creatures

As one can expect from a book centering around cosmic and body horror, there are a lot of new, terrifying monsters to behold. Dungeons of Drakkenheim contains over 20 monsters, ranging from Humanoids mutated by delerium to malfeasant mages. Some stat blocks also contain variants that depict creatures who have undergone different mutations at the hands of delerium.

When asked about the mutations, Monty said, “In the book, there's a whole bunch of different mutations that you can give the poor souls who were left behind in the city and mutated into eldritch horrors.

“There's a big body horror element to it, so you'll find lots of tentacled beasties and creatures with too many eyes, too many mouths, too many limbs.”

“A lot of tentacles,” Kelly added.

Navigate Complex Politics Between 5 Factions

To contend with the dangers of the city, the players will need to seek the help of one of the five factions. Each of these organizations has its own goal within Drakkenheim, so it’s up to the players to choose who to ally themselves with.

But, Kelly stressed, “One thing to note about this campaign is this is not a ‘unite the factions’ campaign. The factions have opposing ideas on who should control the city and what is to be done with delerium.”

1. Hooded Lanterns

The Hooded Lanterns are the closest thing Drakkenheim has to a formalized militia. Kelly described them as “the remnants of the city guard and soldiers that are hoping to reclaim the city.”

They mainly concern themselves with bringing a sense of order back to the city and restoring a rightful ruler to its throne.

2. Queen’s Men

Opposing the Hooded Lanterns is a faction that seeks to thrive off the lawlessness of Drakkenheim.

“The Queen's Men are a loose affiliation of all the scavengers, bandits, scoundrels, and other ne’er-do-wells who have flocked to the city to claim a piece of the pie, and they all answer to an enigmatic figure called the Queen of Thieves,” explained Monty.

3. Knights of the Silver Order

There are also some who see the city as too corrupt to be saved. The Silver Order is a group of zealous knights that have come from a neighboring nation hoping to end the corruption.

When discussing their motives, Kelly said, “They do not think delerium is good, and they want to destroy it. So they are journeying to Drakkenheim in hopes of getting to the heart of the crater to destroy a delerium at its core.”

Monty added “The only reason why the Silver Order simply hasn't tried to burn down the city completely is because there are holy relics to their faith that are left behind in the city that they wish to recover.”

4. Amethyst Academy

To understand the Amethyst Academy, it’s important to note that all arcane casters in Dungeons of Drakkenheim are born with the innate ability to use magic. Those without the gene cannot use arcane magic in any form.

To drive this point home, Monty said, “In the world of Drakkenheim, all wizards are just sorcerers who went to school.”

The Amethyst Academy is the only organization in this part of the world that finds people with these abilities and trains them in the use of their magic. And, seeing as delerium is a potent magical force, they’ve come to research the alien material and understand how it can be used to craft magic items and create new spells.

5. The Followers of the Falling Fire

For the last faction, Kelly explained, “The Followers of the Falling Fire are a religious group who formed after the meteor crashed into Drakkenheim. They saw a sign in the crashing down of the meteor and now see divine purpose in delerium.”

Not only are they embracing the dangers of delerium, but they are actually a renegade faction that has split from the Silver Order, meaning they are at war with their brethren over the idea of what should be done with the magical contaminate.

Delve Into Dungeons of Drakkenheim in Maps

Upon release, the maps and tokens from Dungeons of Drakkenheim will be available in Maps, allowing DMs with a Master-tier subscription to quickly and easily prepare their adventures and invite their players!

What Story Will You Tell in Drakkenheim?

The story of Dungeons of Drakkenheim is up to your table. Will the characters rise as heroes and bring a new dawn to Drakkenheim? Or will their actions lead to the destruction of the city and maybe even the realm? The choices made by the players will shape the future of Drakkenheim, for better or worse.

Monty warned, “From the Dungeon Masters we’ve talked to, their characters have done everything from saving the world to utterly dooming it.”

Preorder your copy of Dungeons of Drakkenheim today and prepare for the dangers and epic stories that await in the city of Drakkenheim!

Mike Bernier (@arcane_eye) is the founder of Arcane Eye, a site focused on providing useful tips and tricks to all those involved in the world of D&D. Outside of writing for Arcane Eye, Mike spends most of his time playing games, hiking with his girlfriend, and tending the veritable jungle of houseplants that have invaded his house.