Halaster Dies at the End: At the Undermountain of Madness
He's dangerous and completely insane...but you swear that Halaster Blackcloak will be a dead man if you can reach him at the bottom of Undermountain.
$15.00
/ Session
Details
2 players following this game
Weekly / Saturday - 10:00 PM UTC
Session Duration / 4–4.5 hours
0 / 6 Seats Filled
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About the adventure
In the city of Waterdeep, there's many ways to make some coin--some of them even legal. For the braver folk, there's always a trip into the multi-layered dungeon known as Undermountain, home of vast riches...as well as the Mad Mage himself, Halaster Blackcloak, who has filled his lair with all manner of hazards and creatures from all over the Multiverse to keep the adventurer population down and slake his maniacal boredom. You and your group managed to avoid the perils of Undermountain when an easy heist falls in your lap: the former Open Lord of Waterdeep, Dagult Neverember, was banished before he had a chance to collect his ill-gotten gains of a million gold pieces from a hidden vault somewhere in the city. You knew where the vault was, you had the way in, and you had the perfect plan to grab the coins and set yourselves up as elite citizens of Waterdeep...until that crazy wizard beat you to it and emptied the vault before you could...and set you up so that every faction in the city wants a piece of your hide. Halaster left you a message in exchange for all the coins that he took: Come down to his lair at the bottom of Undermountain and reclaim your lost wealth. Your team plans to do a damn sight more than that, though. With everyone in Waterdeep out to get you, you don't have a choice but to escape down into Undermountain...but you'll be collecting the Mad Mage's head along with your stolen gold before you're done. That wizard is a dead man. It should also be noted, however, that the ancient wizard miles under the city who is--for lack of a better word--BANANAS is eagerly awaiting you. Though Halaster has no need for your stolen coins, he does require entertainment...and it could be he has found the perfect rubes to distract him from his ever-growing insanity for a while...as long as he can keep you appropriately distracted enough for you to keep trying to reach him on the 23rd level.... This is a campaign designed to take a character from 5th level to 20th. We have an idea of how it starts, we'll make up the middle as we go, but the ending is set in stone: HALASTER DIES AT THE END.
Game style
Combat Heavy
Dungeon Crawl
Roleplay Heavy
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
4.7
(16)
4 years on StartPlaying
152 games hosted
Highly rated for: Storytelling, Sets the Mood, Creativity
Average response time: 4 hours
Response rate: 75%
About me
Everyone has a story in them. Let me help you find yours. It can be hard for those who want to play TTRPGs, but either can’t find a group or just don’t know how to get started. Let me make that easier for you by offering my services as a professional Game Master for whatever game system you’re interested in playing. Let’s build a story together, while leaving you the freedom to explore and enjoy the world you’re creating without being bogged down by rules and multiple plotlines to keep track of. I've been doing this for over 30 years and have garnered a reputation for being a little outside the box but--at the same time--being 100% inclusive. The goal is for everyone to have fun and for nobody to feel left out. Also, if you see me advertising a game with no players yet, and the scheduled day and time doesn't work, message me with a day and time that would work and I can possibly move it to that schedule. Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions!
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
We'll discuss during Session 0 whether the group wants to use either 5.0e (2014) or 5.5e (2024) rules for this game. Character creation will take place during Session 0, but you are welcome to get a head start if you like. My basic guidelines are as follows: 1. Stats are determined by rolling 4d6 and dropping the lowest per stat. 2. Leveling up is milestone-based. 3. Encumbrance is enforced, but coin weight is ignored. 4. I allow all official content from both 5.0e and 5.5e (depending on which ruleset the group decides upon using, including Unearthed Arcana), as well as most 3rd-party content with prior approval.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Players will need access to a mic, as well as both Discord and D&D Beyond.
What Paul brings to the table
I'll set the scene, but remember that we're telling this story together as a group; feel free to exercise a little creative license, as I will be doing the same. At the same time, I will be respectful and inclusive of everyone at my table, and I expect all of you to be the same. All are welcome, so long as an individual's beliefs do not openly conflict with the beliefs of others. Having said that, I will be doing voices for NPCs (you are welcome to do the same for your PCs), and I will try to be as inoffensive as possible with those voices so please let me know if a particular accent makes you uncomfortable. I also utilize ambient music depending on the mood and the environment of the game, but I will try to keep it in the background as much as possible. I also embrace the Rule of Cool in most situations, so long as your arguement for a particular action is compelling enough. Not gonna lie, folks: This is going to be one of my weirder takes on an official D&D adventure. For those of you with familiarity with "Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage," you can take that familiarity, crumple it into a little ball, and shoot it for a three-pointer into the Ocean of Insanity...and what remains of that familiarity after spending some time in that salty wet mess will still not compare to what awaits you in my homebrewed version of Undermountain. This isn't just some dungeon crawl miles below the Yawning Portal tavern. This is a story of centuries-old insane wizard Halaster Blackcloak doing you dirty, and the lengths your group of adventurers will go to to not only reclaim what you believe is rightfully yours and clear your name in Waterdeep, but also to introduce said wizard to the very definition of pain and suffering he seems happy to inflict on anybody who looks at him funny. Picture a movie script written by film director Guy Ritchie (Snatch) having been stolen by writer Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl), who then calls up fellow writer Jason Pargin (Zoey Punches the Future in the D*ck) and film director John Waters (Cecil B. Demented) so their Power of Three can invoke enough juju to summon up the ghost of David Lynch (Twin Peaks)...and then all four of them rewrite the script together...occasionally calling Guy Ritchie in the middle of the night for clarification on some of the British slang while Guy desperately tries to keep them on the line long enough to figure out where these *ssholes who stole his script are calling from. This is a heist gone sideways, the BBEG is a crazy old wizard who can break the Fourth Wall and has a soundboard, and the party is going to have to make some real impossible choices if they want to stay true to the path of ending this damn wizard once and for all and taking back their stolen beer money.
Homebrew rules
I have two homebrew rules I personally use, and we can talk about including others during Session 0: 1. Healing potions can be used as bonus actions. The difference is that if you choose to use them as a regular action, you get the maximum effect of the potion without rolling dice. 2. Should a player need to roll a death save, only the player who rolled it and the DM are allowed to know the results for each roll. All other players will just have to guess how close or far away from death their comrade actually is.
Equipment needed to play
Computer
Internet
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Paul creates a safe table
Session 0 is used for character creation and to set expectations. Lines and veils are provided upon request, as well as debriefing.
Content warnings
Safety tools used