Let's make HAR'AKIR in 5e!
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- "In the darkness of a sepulcher / beneath the shifting sands, / the mummy stirs within its sheath / of rotten linen bands...." ~Jack Preleutsky
It's time to visit Har'Akir, the desert-themed Ravenloft Domain of Dread! We'll talk about some cultural touchstones to get an imaginative grip on the domain and its themes, as well as sketch out an adventure for D&D PCs of Levels 9 to 14!
Been loving these videos! Very creative way of implementing bits and pieces from previously published adventures, and I especially love the emphasis on embracing the body horror aspect of mummies.
Thank you! Yes, it's strange that mummies aren't popularly conceived of as body horror, in the way that, say, Frankenstein is thought of as body horror. Glad to know I'm not alone in thinking this! Please feel free to let me know what I should cover in the future! Cheers!
dude I love these small campaign ideas. I was *just* wondering how I want to run a campaign in this world. Thank you for this!
Thank you so much! I try to present something that's usable, fun, and which puts old materials to new use. Please feel free to let me know what you think of other videos, and what I should cover in the future! Cheers!
Love this idea! I am running it tonight with 2 differences: #1 - Alessia is a 5th NPC found with them. She does not disappear, but rather is with them the whole way. #2 - Anktepot will be waiting for them outside with an army of undead. If they killed Senmet and his descendant Alessia, Anktepot thanks them and allows them to leave, sending in a sandstorm to wash over them, sending them away as payment for their service. If not, then his forces descend on the players, trying to kill all of them until they either do, or they are killed.
Would definitely wan a continuation to this domain idea
Thanks very much! This request is noted! We might just return to Har'Akir for another desert adventure. :-) Cheers!
Me too!
I found it interesting that you had senmet as the main focus of the adventure, rather than Ankhtepot. A few good resources for the adventure, if you can get ahold of them, are the old DOS game Stone Prophet and Touch of Death, the old Ravenloft adventure that Har'Akir comes from in the first place. Also for river encounters, an interesting idea would be to possibly simply use hippos as a possible enemy for the PCs to encounter, considering how often people were attacked and killed by hippos in ancient Egypt.
Oh absolutely! Hippos are terrifying, too, even without doing anything to them, thematically. And yeah, both Stone Prophet and Touch of Death are excellent sources of inspiration; I should have mentioned them! Thanks for doing so in this comment. And also thanks for watching! Cheers!
Great concepts! I like the idea of using “red shirt” NPCs to simulate the “dwindling party” trope.
For future domains, I’ve been really into folk horror lately, so I’d like to see a video on Tepest. I also wouldn’t mind seeing how you’d run a good-old-fashioned Lamordia campaign, or maybe Richemulot.
Thanks! Yes, I'll add Tepest to the queue, now that you requested it. Cheers!
@@phdnd-drbowers Thank you so much! I’m looking forward to it!
@@electricfroge5841 Tepest is in the works! By the way, have you ever played any of the "King's Quest" games by Sierra On-Line? 😉
@@phdnd-drbowers Never, but I’m looking into them right now. Point-and-click puzzle games are always fun, and the 3D animated version looks great!
Omg! Jason this is amazing!!!
Thank you so much, Sanjeev! It's nice to see your comment. Your recent isometric map looks amazing! Best wishes!
This was fantastic. I'm really liking these Ravenloft domain videos. I especially enjoyed the idea of reskinning a T-rex zombie as a giant crocodile that vomits mummies. Har'akir is one of my favorite domains in the book and I hope you'll consider revisiting it with an adventure that focuses more on Ankhtepot himself :)
Oh, absolutely! I love reskinning monsters to fit a specific setting or theme, and Har'Akir is a wonderful setting for that.
Fantasy-based mummies like Ankhtepot are fascinating, and there's more than one adventure in "Candlekeep Mysteries," which makes use of them! Plus, I wonder what might lie in the upcoming Radiant Citadel book!
Thanks so much for your glowing praise and suggestions, and for watching as well! Cheers!
I like the concept of this thanks for you work
My pleasure! Thank you very much for watching, and welcome to the channel! I'll be uploading more adventure videos in the future, so be sure to check back. Cheers!
Great job! Thank you for coming up with this and making a thorough video breaking it down.
My pleasure, and thank you so much for watching! I'll continue to release adventure ideas like this. Keep a lookout for more videos, and please do offer suggestions about what I should cover! Thanks for watching, and cheers!
Currently running har'akir
I have detailed all the markers on the map and currently have senmet hiding deep underground. Easiest way is to just jump down the mouth of oru and land in the deep underground via a large pool of water.... regardless I like senmet but I'm gonna have him be the unlikely aid to help them kill anktehpot. Oh an its all more about the pharaohs soul. Regardless its kinda a wild goose chase around har'akir to try an find help an clues as to Senmets location
Oh that sounds really fun! How did it go, or how is it going! That's a neat Lord Soth avatar, btw. Thanks for watching, and cheers!
To start, the mummy is great and I just adore it. Not sure what you think of the other various mummy movies, be it the original or remakes or foreign movies. I do like the bury alive and having to kill the NPCs that the PCs grown attached, on the other hand the PCs might see that coming.
probably the biggest thing I would change is I would remove the amnesia aspect. Not a big fan of it. However the PCs don't know each other but they are escaping from being buried alive, so it is a simple and fun hook to get people to work together and also doesn't feel like invalidating the work the player did in writing their backstory. I imagine that if I am doing such an adventure a PC would have stuff for a desert / egyptian themed land to use, so I can use that for plot hooks.
One thing I would probably use is the Green Hand of Osiris, which are basically the Medjay from the mummy movies, and again I adore the mummy movies. Perhaps instead of working with Senment, the priest is a member and helps the PCs and advises them on what to do. or maybe both, or maybe there is another member that helps the PCs.
One thing I am curious what your thoughts are on the fact that in previous editions they just used the Egyptian Pantheon for the deities that are worshiped by the native Akiri?
Ah, that's a clever idea to borrow from the Mummy franchise. Thanks very much for mentioning it, and for watching and commenting again!
Since pantheons are fun to make up, and since a campaign is best served by a pantheon that is designed around it, I prefer to leave real-world religions out of my fantasy games, including religions of the past. (This purely game-theoretic reason is separate, I think, from concerns about objectifying or denigrating a religion, which is part of another culture, etc.) I don't think there's anything wrong with taking inspiration from real-world religions, of course; the very idea of mummification has religious connotations, as do ideas about zombies, etc.
That being said, I have not sketched out a detailed pantheon for Har'Akir; instead, I just let the denizens worship certain elements by name, e.g. calling the sun "The Great Sun," etc. and deifying it.
How about yourself?
Thanks very much, once again, for your comments and for watching. Cheers!
@PhD&D Like with many things; it probably depends on the player group. Some might not care to use any Real world religious tradition be it a polytheistic one or not. another group might love drawing from Egyptian mythology for Har'akir(or any other religious tradition for a place that worships them). I myself tend towards the second. Though if you do draw from real world traditions, one should be respectful even if they are not their own. Pretty much every real world pantheon in dnd has some people venerating those deities including the egyptian ones.
Surprised I don't see anyone mention that there is a videogame Ravenloft Stone Prophet. It takes place harakir and is worth checking out for inspiration. I especially like the intro with a npc succumbing to what looks like mummy rot
Oh, I *loved* playing Stone Prophet as a kid on PC! I still recall being able to find that desert troll who can join your party, as well as the clunky but lovable '90s-era mechanics from the SSI line. Did you ever play any of the Eye of the Beholder games, speaking of which? Best wishes, and cheers!
My tiny suggestion: switch out "mummy" for an etymological alternative, like mumiya. Instantly moves away from cheesy jokes and silly associations (the opposite of horror). Much like how a djinn is a terrifying spirit while a genie is, well, Robin Williams.
Ah, good point! I whole-heartedly agree! It's kind of like how zombies are scarier when nobody says "zombie," no? The "genie"-"djinn" analogy is well-appreciated, too! Cheers!
Where can one find the book Treacherous Traps???
Great adventure idea. As for future domains perhaps Vecna's domain the burning peaks.
I am currently running a CoS campaign and will be followed up with the die vecna die module. I am trying to think which domain would be interesting stepping stone for my players to visit before they move on to the burning peaks. Want the domain to have the hand and eye artifacts and Tovag Baruga any thoughts or ideas?
I believe it's published by Nord Games! Thanks very much for asking, and for watching! Cheers!
How do you handle starting equipment and gear when starting above let's say level 3. In this adventure what do we give them if this is the start of our ravenloft adventures.
Ah, that's an excellent question! When the PCs first emerge from their own premature burials, before they are attacked, they might find some equipment on Ankhtepot's dispatched henchmen. Either that, or make the monsters weak enough to defeat with improvised weapons, and then let the monsters have equipment that the PCs can take. Or is there another approach you'd favor? Let me know!
Thanks very much for watching, and for commenting, too. Best wishes, and cheers!
I really like the structure of your campaign idea, but I doubt the PCs will let the four NPCs disappear. My players will have found out I'm taking the NPCs one night after another after the second one disappeared, so they will investigate the other two to see if they are special or if they have something that someone else wants. Or even worse, they might kill the NPCs, put them out somewhere and wait for them to be taken.
I think this campaign idea is a bit too railroady for my take. Any suggestions on how to give the PCs a bit more options?
Thanks for the suggestions and feedback! These videos are only intended as a groundwork; there are, of course, elements which should be fleshed out further.
I actually agree with you that most PCs wouldn't let their NPC buddies disappear. I expect that most PCs will try to protect their friends! You, of course, are the DM, and can find ways to take them away regardless. There are ways to do this elegantly, I think, and ways to do it indelicately.
This adventure is linear, for sure. I don't think it needs to be a railroaded adventure, however, since railroading is a style of play, which a bad DM can employ even in a sandbox campaign. To be clear, these ideas I pitch aren't finished campaigns but rather groundworks. Hopefully they're fun and give you ideas, even if you don't run exactly what I suggest!
Thanks again for your insightful comments, and for watching. Cheers!
@@phdnd-drbowers They are definitely fun ideas, thanks for making the videos. I really appreciate your way of using other media as inspiration!!
PCs with mandatory amnesia? 4 mandatory NPC allies (for a full party of EIGHT characters) that also HAVE to disappear later? an unwinnable, unescapable fight against yuan-ti in Act IV? Too many red flags... This adventure sounds incredibly tedious, boring, and railroaded. Thank you but I'll pass.