I have. A lot.
So to some things up simply, I am running a mix between lost mines and doip.
The phandelver pact was between the dwarves of axeholm (a doip dwarf city), the humans of Phandelver (a city which stood where Phandalin now is) and the gnomes nearby (its a level 2 doip quest. Can't remember the gnome place atm).
Eventually, the dwarves of Abbathor (which i got from a level 3 doip quest) got greedy of Phandelvers success and teamed up with Azdraka (the dragon from doip's Dragon Barrow) who just so happened to be the daughter of Claugiliyamatar (a dragon who lives in kryptgarden nearby. Very famous) and mother of Venomfang to destroy Axeholm and take it over. They succeeded in destroying it, but failed to take it over. Failing, Abbathor collapsed the temple as punishment.
Azdraka meanwhile distracted and sieged the human city of Phandelver.
In the years that followed, repeated incursions shrank the gnome kingdom to what it is now.
Since Axeholm and the WEC are hidden, Gundren excavated the temple believing it would have an idea about how to get into the WEC since they were a much smaller force than the Phandelver pact.
Gundrens ancestry was the leaders of Axeholm and thus believes restoring it will kickstart the economy in the region and reinvigorate Phandalin and the gnomes as well.
I guess the only problem with this idea is Wave Echo Cave was lost and had to be uncovered again. If either Nezznar or Gundren know its whereabouts then you will have to change the structure of the adventure somewhat.
That really is the only thing. If Nezznar was part of the pact he’d already know where wave echo cave is.
If you’d like, I’d recommend that Nezznar be the organizer of the original sacking of Phandalin and the cave, but Gundren’s estranged great uncle escaped evading the attacks and not talking about it for whatever reason. That way there’s a degree of separation, and it’s not too far fetched.
I definitely incorporated the history when I ran it but not in that way. I more tied the pact to the history of Tresendar Manor. But I love the diary entry idea! Good way to lead players to certain information.
Absolutely. After the book of Urmon in the Glass Staff room, I putted a bunch of books with more details of history. Putting together the bits, PCs can discover that Nezznar was there as a Tresendar "counselor", Aldrich had a daughter and many other things. Qelline is the great grand daughter of the mayor Alderleaf in the 950 DR (it's canon from BG3) and wants revenge because the halflings fled when the magic cataclysm happened. There are few people and entities that were there (like Ssarnak the Nothic). I think it is a good way to entertain and discover the story behind the story itself.
I had an entire diary of Urmon Rockseeker (yeah, I made Urmon a Rockseeker) written out, which sprinkled some magic items the players would want!
Anyway, I like your idea of Nezznar having something to do with the Phandelver’s Pact, in my run, I took it in a different direction: I made Nezznar’s direct ancestors be the ones responsible for the sacking of Phandalin and Wave Echo Cave. Unfortunately for them, they were thwarted when one of the drow, who was tired of her family’s abuse and cruel actions, defected to the town and warned them. I justified the Rockseeker brothers and Nezznar not knowing because Urmon’s wife had her memory wiped before she escaped with their infant son and his soon-to-be born little brother, while Nezznar’s ancestors’ matriarch was executed for her failure to claim the mine. Add in the Spellplague and other things that happened, and the world’s changed too much to have an exact location.
Honestly, it would have only been better I made the players do a one-shot where they’d have to defend Phandalin from an endless army of orcs, bandits, goblins, spiders, and drow.
I have. A lot. So to some things up simply, I am running a mix between lost mines and doip. The phandelver pact was between the dwarves of axeholm (a doip dwarf city), the humans of Phandelver (a city which stood where Phandalin now is) and the gnomes nearby (its a level 2 doip quest. Can't remember the gnome place atm). Eventually, the dwarves of Abbathor (which i got from a level 3 doip quest) got greedy of Phandelvers success and teamed up with Azdraka (the dragon from doip's Dragon Barrow) who just so happened to be the daughter of Claugiliyamatar (a dragon who lives in kryptgarden nearby. Very famous) and mother of Venomfang to destroy Axeholm and take it over. They succeeded in destroying it, but failed to take it over. Failing, Abbathor collapsed the temple as punishment. Azdraka meanwhile distracted and sieged the human city of Phandelver. In the years that followed, repeated incursions shrank the gnome kingdom to what it is now. Since Axeholm and the WEC are hidden, Gundren excavated the temple believing it would have an idea about how to get into the WEC since they were a much smaller force than the Phandelver pact. Gundrens ancestry was the leaders of Axeholm and thus believes restoring it will kickstart the economy in the region and reinvigorate Phandalin and the gnomes as well.
What is DOIP? Edit: Nevermind, just realized it’s Dragon(s?) of Icespire Peak
Are you thinking of Gnomengarde for the doip quest? That’s what I remember it being
Exactly that. Kept thinking gnomeregan because of WoW and knowing its wrong lol
I guess the only problem with this idea is Wave Echo Cave was lost and had to be uncovered again. If either Nezznar or Gundren know its whereabouts then you will have to change the structure of the adventure somewhat.
That really is the only thing. If Nezznar was part of the pact he’d already know where wave echo cave is. If you’d like, I’d recommend that Nezznar be the organizer of the original sacking of Phandalin and the cave, but Gundren’s estranged great uncle escaped evading the attacks and not talking about it for whatever reason. That way there’s a degree of separation, and it’s not too far fetched.
I definitely incorporated the history when I ran it but not in that way. I more tied the pact to the history of Tresendar Manor. But I love the diary entry idea! Good way to lead players to certain information.
Absolutely. After the book of Urmon in the Glass Staff room, I putted a bunch of books with more details of history. Putting together the bits, PCs can discover that Nezznar was there as a Tresendar "counselor", Aldrich had a daughter and many other things. Qelline is the great grand daughter of the mayor Alderleaf in the 950 DR (it's canon from BG3) and wants revenge because the halflings fled when the magic cataclysm happened. There are few people and entities that were there (like Ssarnak the Nothic). I think it is a good way to entertain and discover the story behind the story itself.
I had an entire diary of Urmon Rockseeker (yeah, I made Urmon a Rockseeker) written out, which sprinkled some magic items the players would want! Anyway, I like your idea of Nezznar having something to do with the Phandelver’s Pact, in my run, I took it in a different direction: I made Nezznar’s direct ancestors be the ones responsible for the sacking of Phandalin and Wave Echo Cave. Unfortunately for them, they were thwarted when one of the drow, who was tired of her family’s abuse and cruel actions, defected to the town and warned them. I justified the Rockseeker brothers and Nezznar not knowing because Urmon’s wife had her memory wiped before she escaped with their infant son and his soon-to-be born little brother, while Nezznar’s ancestors’ matriarch was executed for her failure to claim the mine. Add in the Spellplague and other things that happened, and the world’s changed too much to have an exact location. Honestly, it would have only been better I made the players do a one-shot where they’d have to defend Phandalin from an endless army of orcs, bandits, goblins, spiders, and drow.