Dangerous Designs - Wildemount: Dangerous Designs

Dangerous Designs. A war criminal is broken out of prison by well-armed kobolds working for a mysterious mastermind who threatens the gnomish city of Hupperdook. "Dangerous Designs" is an adventure that takes characters from 1st to 3rd level, and which introduces them to the Western Wynandir region of the continent under the rule of the Dwendalian Empire. This region is geared toward adventures that involve monster hunting, political intrigue, and the war with Xhorhas. If your players are using the heroic chronicle to create their characters (see chapter 4), they might wish to create characters who grew up in the Zemni Fields or Marrow Valley, giving them a closer connection to this region and to the Dwendalian Empire. For characters not from Western Wynandir, the players should consider what has drawn those characters to Hupperdook. Because this adventure ties directly to the Kryn Dynasty's conflict with the Dwendalian Empire, you can also ask each player to consider their character's stance on the war and how the war might tie into their background. Story Overview The characters are drawn into this adventure in the lower regions of the city of Hupperdook, an industrious gnomish enclave where long days of hard work in the forges and scrapyards end with evenings of extensive celebration and debauchery. A brilliant human engineer named Huron Stahlmast was assigned to Hupperdook by the Dwendalian Empire, where he led the development of weapons for the war against the Kryn Dynasty. After years of rising disapproval of his ideas and methods, Stahlmast was ousted by the folk of the city due to his eccentric experimentation and brutal means of testing his weapon designs. Shamed and without funds, the inventor allowed his dark hatred to push him to meet with agents of the Kryn Dynasty, seeking aid that would let him complete his work and enact his revenge. With the Kryn resources now funneled to him, Stahlmast has amassed and trained a force of kobold minions to help hi...