Linking together a series of published DCC Lankhmar adventures to take your characters from Level 1–6!
This article is the third in my series putting together a zero-to-hero campaign using published Goodman Games modules. If you haven’t yet, check out the introduction to this series to get context, tips and to see the other 4 Adventure Paths!
This Adventure Path requires the DCC Lankhmar Box Set (in physical or PDF form).
A quick note: unlike the other Adventure Paths, Lankhmar does not use a Level 0/funnel system, so this path starts at Level 1.
I haven’t had a chance to run a full Lankhmar campaign yet, but I have played and run many of these modules. That said, there aren’t a lot of choices at most of the levels. I’ve added notes wherever I can about my experience with a given module.
On to level 1…
Level 1: Masks of Lankhmar
Which is the right module to start your Lankhmar campaign?
I’ve played Cheating Death with Jen Brinkman as Judge at an online con, and I quite enjoyed it. That said, it feels like an adventure that fits better after your group has been together a while longer. It might be a good second or third adventure if you are doing more than one at Level 1.
Both The Madhouse Meet and Masks of Lankhmar really try and go for an introductory feel, and I chose Masks because it’s a longer, more complete adventure than Madhouse.
More Level 1 Adventure: The Madhouse Meet, Gang Lords of Lankhmar, Cheating Death. Since you will be spending a lot of time in cities in this campaign, you might take a look at 101 City Encounters to add flavor and some mini-adventures between the main stories.
Level 2: The Fence’s Fortuitous Folly
The intro scene of this adventure continues to tickle me, long after first playing it in an online con with Trevor Russ. A pair of gilded hands takes on a life of their own, and you chase them across town and into the crypt of the owner of the hands.
I chose this one as the ‘main’ adventure for Level 2, since it’s the most serious, and a full adventure. Grave Matters is two shorter adventures, and Acting Up in Lankhmar is more of a fun role-playing and problem-solving challenge than a typical heist or dungeon crawl. Unholy Nights is a holiday adventure. I really enjoyed running Mercy on the Day of the Eel. It has a great setup, and a beautiful and surreal second chapter that is very much in the spirit of Lankhmar, and will surprise and delight most players. I recommend checking that one out!
More Level 2 Adventure: Grave Matters, Acting Up in Lankhmar, Unholy Nights in Lankhmar, Mercy on the Day of the Eel
Level 3: The Rats of Ilthmar
This is a very fun adventure to run, and one of my overall favorites. It also plays very well online. I’ve run it a number of times now, and it never fails to amuse and terrify players.
The ending can leave them wanted by the Cult of the Rat God, who can be chasing them throughout the rest of the campaign.
More Level 3 Adventure: The Land of the Eight Cities, The Greatest Thieves in Lankhmar Greatest Thieves is ostensibly set up as a competitive adventure between teams. But it also makes a great adventure for campaign play, and I highly recommend you give it a try after Rats of Ilthmar.
Level 4: Violence for Vortishal
There aren’t any other Level 4 Lankhmar published adventures, so not a hard choice to slot this one in here.
More Level 4 Adventure: None
Level 5: Blasphemy and Larceny in Lankhmar
This is a truly great adventure from Bob Brinkman, and I had the pleasure of playing it with him at an online con. A great heist, that turns into saving the city!
This is honestly a great adventure to end your campaign on, as you will likely end up with the Overlord quite in debt to your group, and you can live a long time on that notoriety.
More Level 5 Adventure: None.
Conclusion
I hope they come out with more, higher-level modules for Lankhmar, as my experience with Blasphemy and Larceny showed that Level 5 Lankhmar characters are quite fun to play. I can only imagine that it can get even more fun at higher levels.
That said, I think most of the adventures could be scaled quite easily, and can slot in at various levels. A Dozen Lankhmar Locations has adventure ideas baked into it that you can use at any level. Through Ningauble’s Cave also has some interesting adventure ideas.
You can, of course, do what happened to Fafrd and the Grey Mouser, and have your characters switch over to the ‘regular’ world, and play any of the main line DCC Level 6 adventures, or the Level 8 adventure. 998th Conclave of Wizards can easily be tweaked to have Ningauble behind their summons. The monastery in Imprisoned in the God Skull can easily be made to feel more Lankhmar-y. Just make the imprisoned creature a straight-up demon, and perhaps make the god skull feel a little less outer space, and a little more ‘other dimension’. The Level 8 Adventure, Colossus Arise, can likely be run pretty much as-is, although I feel like you’d definitely want to level your Lankhmar Characters up to Level 10 to take it on.
I hope this helps you set up for your Lankhmar campaign!
Cheers,
Tim
Check out Adventure Path #4: The Purple Planet for more ideas!
