Fifteen years ago, a meteor struck the great city of Drakkenheim, releasing a corrupting magical contamination called Delerium. Now the once-proud capital is a monster-haunted ruin where factions war over salvage and power. Your party ventures into the contaminated city to pursue their own goals — but Drakkenheim changes everyone who enters, and the deeper you go, the harder it becomes to leave unchanged.
Story Arcs
The Outer Ward
The party arrives at the refugee camps outside Drakkenheim and makes their first forays into the contaminated outer districts. They learn the dangers of Delerium, meet the competing factions, and establish themselves as capable delvers.
The Inner City
Deeper into Drakkenheim, the contamination intensifies. The party must navigate faction politics, deal with their own growing Delerium exposure, and uncover the truth about what the meteor really was.
The Crater
The meteor crater at the heart of Drakkenheim holds the source of all contamination — and the key to either purifying or controlling the Delerium. Every faction wants what lies at the center, and the party must choose whose vision for Drakkenheim's future they support.
The Heart of Corruption
The entity within the meteor awakens. The party confronts the alien intelligence that has been transforming Drakkenheim, making a final choice that determines the city's fate — and possibly the world's.
Session Outlines
These outlines are for planning reference only. Actual sessions are not created by the template.
Camp Dawn
The party arrives at Camp Dawn, the largest refugee settlement outside Drakkenheim. They meet faction representatives, learn about Delerium (a crystalline substance that grants power but corrupts flesh and mind), and are hired for their first salvage run into the outer ward. Introduction to contamination mechanics.
First Delve
The party enters the outer ward of Drakkenheim. Ruined buildings, overgrown streets, and an eerie silence broken by inhuman sounds. They encounter their first contaminated creatures — warped animals and former citizens twisted by Delerium exposure. The salvage is valuable but the danger is real.
Faction Introductions
Three major factions approach the party: the Hooded Lanterns (military restoration), the Followers of the Falling Fire (religious Delerium worshippers), and the Queen's Men (profit and control). Each offers missions, resources, and protection in exchange for loyalty. The party must begin choosing sides — or try to play all three.
The Ratcatchers' Guild
A guild of veteran salvagers offers to share their knowledge of Drakkenheim's safe routes and caches — for a price. Their headquarters in a fortified tavern serves as a hub of information and trade. A rival salvage crew has gone missing in the Market District, and the guild offers a bounty for their rescue or recovery.
The Contamination Grows
The party ventures deeper into Drakkenheim. The contamination is worse here — buildings are coated in crystalline growths, the air shimmers with purple haze, and mutations in local creatures are more extreme. They discover a pocket of survivors who have been living in the ruins, slowly transforming but maintaining their sanity through sheer will.
The Cathedral
The Followers of the Falling Fire have established a stronghold in Drakkenheim's grand cathedral. They worship the Delerium as a divine gift and actively seek greater contamination. Their leader has been transformed by Delerium into something more than human — and less. The party must decide: ally with fanatics or oppose them.
The Military Quarter
The Hooded Lanterns maintain a fortified position in the old military quarter. Their commander is a veteran determined to reclaim Drakkenheim for the rightful government. She offers the party official sanction and military support but demands they follow orders and avoid dealing with other factions.
The Undercroft
Beneath Drakkenheim, the sewer system has become a nightmare of contaminated water, mutated vermin, and worse. The party must navigate the undercroft to bypass a heavily contaminated surface district. Down here, they discover that the Delerium is growing — spreading through the water table toward the settlements outside.
Betrayal and Consequence
The faction the party has been working with asks them to betray another faction. The consequences of their choice ripple through the city's power dynamics. Meanwhile, one party member's Delerium exposure manifests as a mutation — useful but disturbing.
The Crater's Edge
The party reaches the crater's edge. The contamination here is overwhelming — pure Delerium crystals jut from the ground like trees, reality bends, and the creatures are barely recognizable as anything that was once natural. At the edge, they can see the meteor at the center: it pulses with light.
The Descent
Descending into the crater is a dungeon crawl through layers of crystallized contamination. Each level is more warped than the last. The party encounters entities that seem to be made entirely of Delerium — intelligent, alien, and disturbingly curious about the intruders.
The Factions Converge
All three factions send forces into the crater simultaneously. A three-way battle erupts around the party as each faction tries to reach the meteor first. The party must fight, negotiate, or outmaneuver all sides while continuing their own descent.
The Meteor's Truth
At the meteor's heart, the party discovers the truth: it is not a natural phenomenon but a vessel. An alien intelligence has been using the Delerium to transform the city into a new environment for itself. It offers the party a choice: help it complete its transformation, or try to destroy it.
The Awakening
The entity begins to fully awaken. Drakkenheim convulses as contamination surges outward, threatening to engulf Camp Dawn and beyond. The party must fight through the entity's defenses — or broker a deal — while the city literally transforms around them.
Drakkenheim's Fate
The final confrontation with the entity at the meteor's core. The party's choices throughout the campaign determine the options available: purify the Delerium (destroying the entity and the power it provides), contain it (imprisoning the entity but allowing controlled Delerium use), or embrace it (merging with the entity to become something new). Each ending has profound consequences.
NPCs
Commander Elara Voss
Human · Leader of the Hooded Lanterns
A hardened military commander determined to reclaim Drakkenheim for the crown. She has lost friends and soldiers to the contamination and takes every casualty personally. Her rigid discipline and refusal to compromise make her both a strong ally and a difficult one. She will not tolerate the party working with the Followers.
High Flamekeeper Lucretia
Human · Leader of the Followers of the Falling Fire
Once a respected scholar, Lucretia was transformed by deliberate Delerium exposure into something between human and crystal. Her skin glows with internal light, and she claims to hear the voice of the entity within the meteor. She is either a prophet or dangerously insane — possibly both.
Sebastian Crowe
Human · Leader of the Queen's Men
A former merchant lord who sees Drakkenheim as the greatest business opportunity in history. He controls the Delerium trade and profits enormously from the chaos. Charming and pragmatic, he cares nothing for ideology — only results. He views the party as a tool and will discard them when no longer useful.
Petra "Ratcatcher" Venn
Halfling · Guild Master of the Ratcatchers
A veteran salvager who has survived more trips into deep Drakkenheim than anyone alive. She runs the Ratcatchers' Guild from a fortified tavern, providing gear, information, and sanctuary. She has seen too many people consumed by greed or Delerium and tries to keep the party grounded.
The Amalgamation
Unknown · Contaminated Survivor Colony Leader
The spokesperson for a community of partially-transformed survivors living in the inner city. They are a patchwork of human and Delerium crystal, maintaining their humanity through community and purpose. They represent the middle path — living with contamination rather than fighting or worshipping it.
Aldric Madden
Human · Former Royal Cartographer
A mapmaker who was in the city when the meteor struck and has been charting its changes ever since. His maps of Drakkenheim's constantly shifting interior are invaluable. He has mild Delerium mutation — his eyes see in the dark — but his mind remains sharp. Obsessively detailed.
Brother Caspian
Human · Healer and Delerium Researcher
A monk-physician who studies Delerium contamination and tries to develop treatments for the affected. He operates a makeshift hospital at Camp Dawn and is deeply opposed to both the Followers' worship and the Queen's Men's exploitation. He can slow contamination progression but cannot cure it.
Locations
Camp Dawn
The largest settlement outside Drakkenheim's walls, a tent city of refugees, salvagers, and faction operatives. Markets sell Delerium-tainted goods, healers treat contamination sickness, and the three factions maintain recruiting stations. It is chaotic, desperate, and the closest thing to civilization near the city.
The Outer Ward
The outermost districts of Drakkenheim, mildly contaminated. Buildings are intact but overgrown with Delerium crystals. Creatures here are warped but recognizable. This is where new delvers learn the ropes — or die trying.
The Grand Cathedral
Drakkenheim's largest church, now the stronghold of the Followers of the Falling Fire. The Delerium contamination here is intense but controlled — the Followers have learned to channel it. Crystals grow in patterns that suggest intelligence, and the air hums with energy.
The Military Quarter
The old garrison district where the Hooded Lanterns have established their base. Fortified with barricades and decontamination stations, it is the most orderly area in Drakkenheim. Soldiers patrol regularly and the contamination is actively suppressed.
The Undercroft
Drakkenheim's sewer system, now a nightmare labyrinth of contaminated water and mutated creatures. The Delerium has crystallized the water in places, creating bridges and barriers. The contamination is spreading through the underground water table toward settlements outside the walls.
The Meteor Crater
A massive crater at the heart of Drakkenheim where the meteor struck. Layers of crystallized contamination descend toward the meteor at the center, which pulses with alien energy. Reality itself bends here — gravity shifts, time hiccups, and the boundary between the material and alien world thins.
The Inner Ruins
The heavily contaminated districts between the outer ward and the crater. Buildings are partially transformed into crystal, and the streets are nearly impassable with growths. Fully mutated creatures — unrecognizable as anything natural — roam in territorial packs.
Quests
First Salvage Run
Complete a salvage mission in the outer ward to prove your worth. Retrieve specific items from a designated building while surviving the contaminated environment and its hostile inhabitants.
Choose Your Faction
The Hooded Lanterns, Followers of the Falling Fire, and Queen's Men all want your allegiance. Complete missions for each to evaluate them, then commit — or try to maintain independence.
Map the Undercroft
The contamination is spreading through the underground water system. Map the key junctions and find a way to slow the spread before Camp Dawn's water supply is compromised.
Rescue the Survivors
A community of partially-transformed survivors lives in the inner city. They need supplies, medical aid, and protection from both factions and monsters. Help them or relocate them.
Reach the Meteor
The ultimate goal: reach the meteor at the crater's heart and determine the truth about the Delerium's origin. Every faction wants to control the meteor, and the journey there is the most dangerous in Drakkenheim.
Encounters
Contaminated Wildlife
Animals warped by Delerium exposure attack the party. They are faster, stronger, and more aggressive than normal, with crystalline growths providing natural armor.
Rival Salvage Crew
A desperate salvage crew tries to steal the party's finds. They fight with improvised weapons and Delerium-enhanced abilities gained from reckless exposure.
Undercroft Horrors
In the contaminated sewers, creatures that were once human have been transformed into shambling amalgamations of flesh and crystal. They swarm in the darkness, drawn to living warmth.
Faction Skirmish
Forces from two rival factions clash, and the party is caught in the middle. Both sides try to recruit the party mid-battle, and the outcome affects faction standing.
The Meteor Guardian
A massive entity of pure Delerium crystal guards the approach to the meteor. It is both a creature and an extension of the meteor's intelligence, adapting to the party's tactics.
Factions
The Hooded Lanterns
Lawful Good
A military organization loyal to the exiled crown, determined to reclaim Drakkenheim and purge the Delerium contamination. They are disciplined, well-equipped, and principled — but their rigid approach often fails against Drakkenheim's chaotic nature.
The Followers of the Falling Fire
Chaotic Neutral
A religious movement that worships the Delerium as a divine gift. They embrace contamination and seek to spread its "blessings." Their leader has been physically transformed by Delerium. They are dangerous fanatics, but their understanding of the contamination is unmatched.
The Queen's Men
Neutral Evil
A mercantile faction that controls the Delerium trade. They see Drakkenheim as a business opportunity and everything — people included — as commodities. Well-funded and ruthless, they maintain order in their territory through economic control and hired muscle.
The Ratcatchers' Guild
True Neutral
An informal guild of veteran salvagers who navigate Drakkenheim's dangers for profit. They are neutral in faction politics but protect their own fiercely. Their knowledge of the city's interior is unmatched, and their tavern is the safest place near the walls.
Recommended Characters
Pre-built characters designed for this campaign setting. Create them separately from the character templates page.
Alistair Grimwell
Human · Warlock · Level 3
A warlock whose pact with a Great Old One was forged through exposure to delerium contamination in the ruins of Drakkenheim. The alien whispers in his mind offer terrible power, but Alistair is never certain whether he controls the contamination or it controls him.
Helga Ironwall
Dwarf · Fighter · Level 3
A dwarven veteran of the Drakkenheim garrison who survived the meteor impact and the horrors that followed. Helga has spent years fighting contaminated monsters in the ruins, and she knows the dead city's streets better than anyone still breathing.
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