Lessons Learned: Running Call of the Netherdeep
As I come to terms with saying goodbye to my players’ excellent cast of characters and the NPCs that they met along the way, it’s a good time for me to look back at the lessons I learned that I plan to take forwards into our next game (which we’ve decided will be Shadow of the Dragon Queen!).
When deciding to run Call of the Netherdeep originally, one fact was very clear - the world was not the Forgotten Realms. All of the worldbuilding, lore, and history that I’d built up knowledge of over the years was tossed to the side and now I’d have to learn it all again from scratch (I’ve not watched Critical Role so the world was entirely new to me). Something that my CR-loving players made very clear from the start, which is part of the first lesson that I’ll be taking forwards, is that they wanted to see my interpretation of Exandria. That when running Forgotten Realms it’s easy to overlook how much each DM adds to the world in their own campaigns, and that there are an infinite number of interpretations of the setting out there in the wild. Just because Exandria isn’t FR doesn’t mean it isn’t as malleable. It’s more than okay to change things around, as long as you’re sticking to the core of the setting and showcasing just what it is that makes it unique.
That right there is the main point that I’m taking forwards. When running a setting module (a non-FR official module), showcase the world just as much as the campaign, if not more. In my first read-through of Netherdeep, I felt that it was hugely lacking in that department. It showed off a linear campaign which eventually opened up into a contained sandbox, and didn’t offer much opportunity to explore the more unique areas or themes of its world. The main brunt of the changes that I made in my own campaign opened it up using the previously released setting book Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount (an excellent setting book by all accounts), and letting the players loose on the entire continent of Xhorhas to gather information themselves where the book might’ve railroaded and spoon-fed. None of this I would consider bad in an FR book, but why run another setting if you’re not getting to see it?
One of the main marketing points of Call of the Netherdeep was the inclusion of the Rival Party - a group of adventurers effectively running their own campaign in the background, interacting with and perhaps hindering the PCs along the way in a race for glory. Now, in my opinion, the weakest part of the entire module was that rival party. The NPCs themselves were decently robust and fleshed out (with some exceptions), but the number of times the module ‘forces’ a scripted event on the characters which includes the rivals regardless of their varied motivations and interactions with the PCs, is simply disappointing. That said, having another group of adventurers, rivals, or friends in a module is incredibly difficult - every group will interact differently, and so those variables are impossible to pre-determine and plan around. Going forwards, I plan to continue to use ‘rival’ parties where relevant, having them interweave with the PCs adventures without necessarily directly opposing it (which would usually lead to a swift NPC death) or being critical in any way.
An example of this would be the Sidekicks in Shadow of the Dragon Queen. They’re a selection of premade GMPCs to slot into a party to increase numbers for smaller sized groups, each with their own backgrounds, motivations, and personalities. They’re absolutely perfect in that campaign to change into a friendly/rival squadron of the Kalaman military, performing different missions to the PCs and having other motivations which occasionally overlap. Perhaps the PCs get some intel which they know will help the others out with their tasks, or vice versa?
A few other points which I’ll definitely be taking forwards:
Interactive travel! I wrote about it previously here, but I just can’t stress enough how excited it makes me as a GM to finally feel like I’ve got the hang of how to handle those large stretches of downtime travel.
Even for roleplay-heavy groups, having an entire level pass without combat can feel bad. Even if there’s none in the module, try and figure out a way for players to show off their new abilities before they get thrown to the side for even newer toys.
Read. The. Whole. Book. While I learned how important this was way back when I ran Descent into Avernus, it became even more apparent here, as I was able to slowly drip information (which the book forgets to give until the end) throughout the entire campaign.
Call of the Netherdeep’s linear campaign was a big shift from the beautiful sandbox of Rime of the Frostmaiden, but I think that was a good thing overall. It gave me a better idea of the difference between being linear and being a railroad, and the ability to judge when a railroad moves into scripted territory. Every campaign we learn a little more about ourselves and our styles, and about each other as a part in our group. One day we might even get to play our perfect game (or maybe we’ve already had it?).
With Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen on the horizon, I cannot express my excitement to jump into Krynn - a setting built on restrictions which I’ll be keeping true to the original. I’ve finished my first full read-through already (months in advance this time!) and I’ve got pages and pages of changes that I plan to make, but we’ll go over that another time…