Dungeons of Drakkenheim Eldritch Contamination - Red Curse for 5e?
by GavinRunebladePopping in as a fan of both the savage coast and Drakkenheim to share some information from the alpha stage of the kickstarter fulfillment. We have access to a first complete text in PDF. This shouldn’t have any big spoilers. Trying to keep this only to facts without interpretation or opinion so you can make up your own mind on the product.
Similarities of Setting to Savage Coast:
Technology level for both includes early guns.
Magic for both include very high-powered items and spells and individuals (maximum tier for the published rulesets (as opposed to if one was limited to expert level or the other was tier-2 adventures).
Government politics are mostly a conflict among peers (baronies in Red Steel vs lower noble houses in Drakkenheim) with looming outside threat (Hule / Caspia & silver fire).
Both have a magical group (inheritors / falling fire & Amethyst Academy) that exploit the substance/curse to get powers no one else has then leverage that for political power.
Both have the area effected recently spreading.
Delerium as Red Curse:
Both have an area covered by haze (same word in both products even) that impacts how magic works and has harmful effects on biology, with other internal/core areas that are more dangerous than the haze itself.
Both have a tiered mechanic where exposure to the toxic substance/curse leads to more bad things piling up/stacking.
Both have mechanics that are painful or costly to undo the effects of this exposure on PCs with potential permanent lingering effects.
Both have technology and magic that are based around exploiting the curse/substance.
Both have an economy based on people harvesting key resource related to the substance/curse and exporting it for profit.
Both have monsters, plants and animals adapting to the area and effects.
Both have a way of making the substance safe and even more valuable: Sanctified delerium is no longer corrupting and can protect the souls of the dead / Cinnabryl used up becomes red steel which is great for weapons and armor.
Differences:
Campaign focus is on exploiting an unchangeable curse vs destroying or limiting the spread of a wholly contaminating substance.
Delerium’s contamination is almost entirely negative, it doesn’t have the powers/innate spells until you tip over the fatal point and become a monstrosity entirely
Delerium is Purple/Octarine vs Cinnabryl/Vermeil/Red Steel is Red
Delerium the substance (apart from contamination) is always harmful vs Cinnabryl being both toxic and protective
Delerium Crystal vs Cinnabryl soft metal
Delerium shows up everywhere vs Cinnabryl growing in clay
All mutations use the same table vs region-based legacies
Contamination from physical locations (swimming in contaminated water is more dangerous that walking down a street at the edge of the haze) can be instantaneous vs curse effects are based on time without protection
Only one group can sanctify delerium and only upon a person's death vs Cinnabryl slowly becomes red steel over time everywhere and in the hands of every person.
Best Guess on Needed houserules to make it work:
Tweak the tiers of contamination to align with increasing mutations rather than all at once at a tipping point.
Decide if you want to lean into Drakkenheim with more warped inheritors that lean into the mutations and corruption for power (several such NPCs appeared in the youtube/twitch streamed campaigns and a couple new ones are in the book) or lean into Red Steel with inheritors being more like the falling fire and immune to corruption’s physical effects and just stacking up the boons without being mutated at all.
Decide if you want to lean into Dakkenheim's delerium is bad and you need non-delerium stuff to protect against it or Red Steel's Cinnabryl is protective and you need to wear it to be safe. Then adjust corruption mechanics appropriately.
Decide if you want to keep Drakkenheim's "extreme exposure leads to instant mutation" or stick to Red Steel's you have days or weeks before anything changes.
If a first-time poster's thoughts are useful/helpful: For myself, I lean to having both mutated inheritors and default unmutated ones, I think it has a creep factor that I like and the unmutated ones become all the more intimidating. And I lean toward cinnabryl being protective and adding a "new red crystal that appeared post the week of no magic in all the areas the haze and curse spread into plus the original areas". I also like the adventure potential of spells/powers and certain heavily contaminated areas having a faster effect than others. Haven't entirely decided yet.