Skip to main content

Fall 2025: The Darkness over Drakamyre

 

Welcome Thainites our Autumn update – The Darkness over Drakamyre! Concluding our recent series of events in game, the ancient Iron City seems to have fallen – and in its place, something at once ancient and new has arisen: the revived second age city of Karistad. What was the cause of this change? The answers lie in the mists of this new Gothic Horror-adjacent portion of our module. Read on to learn more!

 

Faction Update:

  • Karistad
  • The Eisenhold
  • The Draznovi

Drakamyre Expansion:

  • Karzlinde Valley
  • The Miellup Woods
  • The Dragonsveil
  • Draznovi Lands

Lore Update: Dragonblood on Thain

  • Draconic Types
  • Draconic Catalysts
  • Draconic Emergence

Class Updates:

  • Dragon Disciple –> Draconic Bloodlines
  • Draconic Bloodline: Might
  • Draconic Bloodline: Power
  • Draconic Bloodline: Nature
  • Draconic Bloodline: Magic
  • Rogue Updated: New Bonus Feats
  • Spellthief: Full Prestige Class Release

Other Update Features:

  •  
  • Updated Bounties
  • Bugfixes
  • Don’t Miss It: Our Must-see Release Trailer!

 

 

Faction Update: Iron City -> Karistad

 

The Iron City has long been on the dev-team radar as being one of the last parts of the Pre-Sundering Thain that was struggling to find footing: the city was originally a very Cheliax inspired location with heavy planar elements that lost a lot of their Thain-tie-ins when the planes closed at the end of the final Riftwar. During that time, we’ve watched a good number of events emerge around Karishma – the patron deity of Justice and Judgment on Thain that features prevalently in the storyline for Bevolkere. Karishma and the settlement of Karistad that once stood where the Iron City has been for much of the module’s history were the focal points of a great deal of character and global storytelling, and it became clear that Karishma’s return could afford both a compelling in-game storyline opportunity and a great rebuild of the Drakamyre area into a more low-planar Gothic-horror setpiece.

 

The settlement of Karistad is not without connections in the build to the events that led to it – the culmination of those events are present in cutscenes that any character who has completed Bevolkere can watch and enjoy – gaining the in-character knowledge of what became of the Iron City and how the Queen of Blades made her return.

 

The settlement’s arrival comes with new Prestige Classes for our Thain Faction system. While Iron City points will carry over to Karistad points, characters who already took an Iron City faction class will be allowed to retain it as a Legacy class. Characters who want to join Karistad should visit the city’s Inquisition, where they can become members.

 

Karistad

An ancient city in the Second Age of Thain, Karistad famously conquered almost all of the island’s human lands save for the most remote Northlands and the city of Vongottstein. Today’s Karistad has been rebuilt not from the past, but by an echo from it: whispers abound across the island that the risen deity Karishma returned to her city to find her former “angels” – servants she had created to judge and punish the sins of men – had taken the city for themselves, decaying over many years into a city ruled by frivolous and often self-serving laws, and weak selfish creatures. Those devils and people who did not immediately swear allegiance to her were slain or banished to the city’s dark Undercity. 

 

Now Karishma’s church and the emergent military of Karistad share custody of the city, as the purported goddess has vanished once more. The secrets, some say, to her return and her fate can be found in the Swordscars around the city: great blades jutting out of the Mountainside and cityscape that those who have felt Karishma’s judgment in the past might enter and watch in the form of cutscenes detailing the city’s changes.

 

Karistad now replaces the Iron City in Thain’s Faction System, with the rainy gothic city offering the positions of Karistad Kavaler and Karistad Inquisitor respectively to those enterprising Karistadians who would join the city’s Military and Church.

 

The Eisenhold

Long an area that was more the subject of player and DM events than an in-game location, the Eisenhold was the Iron City’s ancient jail that kept prisoners from across Thain’s history. Today the so-called Angels of Karishma who rejoined her largely operate the Eisenhold in a more public way: in a great prison called the Eisenhold, built atop an island that has appeared at the end of the Drakamyre Valley called The Dragonsveil. Within the Eisenhold, both mundane sinners and ancient prisoners are kept in various degrees of security, with their minders ever “devoted” to their “cure”. 

 

The Draznovi

At the end of the Drakamyre valley, past the Dragonsveil lake, through a valley called Dragonsrest, the Draznovi lands sprawl – some of the most feared, mysterious, and dangerous of the island’s inhabitants dwelling at the foot of the mysterious Castel Draznovi. Some whispers say the keeper of the castle, an enigmatic master who has not been seen for an age, is a devil – other tales say a vampire, or a dragon. The only thing that is certain are the equally frightful stories of his servants: the Draznovi who ride about the countryside in caravans and bring the unwary and unwitting back to their village to be unwilling parties to strange and often grizzly experiments.

 

Drakamyre Expansion:

“Across all the Drakamyre, where the moon falls, the dead will never rest.”

-Ancient Drakamyre Proverb

Karzlinde Valley

Karzlinde Valley stretches out across the easternmost portion of the Drakamyre range – a lush and verdant valley filled with huge trees and great sprawling mossy mountainsides. In it, the small Karistad-protected Karzlinde Village has sprung up around the renewed Mourning Knight Inn, in which frequent travelers might find a useful compass. Some whispers tell of the ancient Modara family’s tombs and the hauntings within it. As an especially rural location, almost all of the inhabitants of Karzlinde speak Karvik – a language unique to the region that characters can gradually learn by speaking to those who speak it.

 The Miellup Woods

At the end of the Karzlinde valley, the vast Miellup woods have grown thick and wild. Dark rumors have collected across the land around the forest, and many ancient Karvik proverbs tell of those who travel too far into the northern portions of the wood. Waystones can be found there, but those who dwell for too long outside of the lamplight in the Northern woods will find themselves hunted by the many great beasts that dwell in the wood – if you are hunted, hurry to the safety of a lamp, or try to light one of the many darkened ones around the wood! Far beyond the northern wood, even greater dangers than these are rumored to abound, accompanied often by rumors of a strange music not of this world. 

The Dragonsveil

A great lake at the western end of the Drakamyre Gorge, the Dragonsveil serves as a central nexus from which Karistad, the Wastes, the Eisenhold and the Draznovi lands can be reached – navigating from its eastern side into the cliffs outside of Karistad and crossing a great and ancient rope bridge, one can find themselves on the western shore of the lake and adjacent to some of the island’s most dangerous areas.

Draznovi Lands

The Draznovi lands are some of the most ancient and untouched of the Drakamyre mountains – having re-emerged after the return of Karistad flooded the end of the valley and made it accessible once more around the rim of the Dragonsveil. Long lost from the world, the Draznovi people have taken little time to spread across the Drakamyre in search of willing or unwilling victims in their strange experiments.

Lore Update: Dragonkin on Thain

For some time, the lore of Dragonkin on Thain has been diverging from the mechanical representations of the class (Dragon Disciple). While in many places, Dragon Disciple is an actual discipline, on Thain it has mostly come to mean someone who has Draconic blood and becomes part-dragon themselves. Further, the general representation of Draconic traits as simply being Neverwinter’s default bruiser-type class felt prohibitive to many who ended up having to run-around the class itself through a variety of metaclassing options.

 

Equally difficult was grasping the narrative profile of Dragonkin on Thain. As an MPC-allowed class, the position of Dragonkin was difficult for new and old players alike to adjust their role play toward – especially in the position of playing a more antagonistic dragonkin. Lastly, the gradual shift of Thain toward a place in which monsters are always dangerous felt at-odds with the Forgotten Realms representation of Metallic Dragonkin, and left us with a lot of narrative questions around who and what they were on Thain.

 

The updates to Dragon Disciple: The creation of an entire Dragonblood class line, and the writing of Draconic emergence and catalysts, serve as attempts to help bridge these gaps.

Draconic Types:

In core D&D, we have two Draconic types that are still present on Thain: Chromatic and Metallic Dragonkin – however on Thain we have the addition of Colorless and Blighted Dragonkin as options for the character. These draconic types can be awakened by an Alchemist, Warlock, Sorcerer, Bard, or Blightwalker who has 8 or more base ranks in lore and who uses a Draconic Catalyst (See below).

 

  • Chromatic Dragonkin: On Thain, all Dragons would be chromatic naturally – the five colors of dragon, often present in many legendary draconic stories from across the island’s history – are always chaotic, very often evil, and driven primarily by impulses invariably present in their blood. Chromatic dragonblood can be awakened through Bloodshrines around the island, which can also supply users once per reset with a vial of Dragon’s Blood. See Chromatic emergence below for more details.  
  • Blighted Dragonkin: Many who have been affected by the Witchblight in The Watch have been blighted – those with Blighted Blood can awaken something similar to chromatic dragonblood forcibly through the experimentation of Clawtangle’s strange and often bizarre District Lord, Zilliterrix. See Blighted emergence below for more details.
  • Metallic Dragonkin: On Thain, Metallic dragonkin are Chromatic kin or Dragons who have striven to resist their Chromatic blood through the rituals of Karishma. Karistadians alone can become Metallic dragonkin by speaking to The Platina – a great Dragonkin leader of Karistad’s Ironscale Dragonkin who will teach the would-be-metallic in the art of The Polishing. Central to this act is the legend of Felkhorn the Fallen: Once red, Once-gold, now fallen – and the dangers of eventually succumbing to the blood’s chaotic allure. See metallic emergence below for more details.
  • Colorless Dragonkin: The Colorless Dragonkin are those Kreisian citizens who have undergone a ritual that the city keeps from ancient Andarian times – in exchange for a measure of the user’s freedom, the blood is forcibly constrained and the user’s personality unaffected by draconic emergence. The ritual and those who keep it can be found on the island of the colossus. See Colorless emergence below for more details. 

 

Awakening Your Draconic Blood

Draconic Catalysts:

Dragonblood Classes are no longer free to take without any lore guidance – the character must find a catalyst that suits their playstyle and explains some measure of their emergent blood’s connection to Thain’s narrative world. Dragonblood catalysts are:

  • Chromatic: Draconic Bloodshrines
  • Metallic: The Platina and the Polishing Rituals she keeps
  • Colorless: Amber the Colorless on the Island of the Colossus
  • Blighted: Zilliterrix in Clawtangle in The Watch.

 

A Draconic Catalyst does not strictly have to be role played in the exact process that the “trainers” offer it. There can be a variety of ways that the character identifies with them – however the guidelines of where these catalysts are found should be loosely followed: All metallic dragonkin are Karishman on Thain, and to abandon Karishma would be to fall to chromatic chaos. All Blighted Dragonkin come from The Watch, and all Colorless Dragonkin are Kreisian citizens who work for the city.

This is not to limit the character’s means of finding these catalysts however: The character might come by the rites and rituals and the specifics of their catalyst in ways the player writes on their own. In your Role Play, someone other than Amber in Steinkreis might hold the Colorless ritual (a Kreisian noble, a Kreisian Magistrate who is also a player or an NPC of your creation); a Karistadian Military member of member of the Inquisition might “Sponsor” a Metallic Karistadian and teach them; any number of causes in the Watch might lead to one’s blighted blood emerging aside from experiments with Zilliterixx.

 

Draconic Emergence:

Another large change to the Draconic Bloodline classes is the arrival of a time-gate for taking levels in Draconic classes. Because role playing a Draconic character is meant to be a journey, and because for newer players a draconic character often carries with it a variety of unfamiliar lore, Draconic Emergence for non-colorless Dragonkin is limited to one level-up per three days, and comes as part of a narrative journey: both Blighted / Chromatic; and Metallic dragonkin have separate cutscenes for those whose blood is actively growing or being resisted that they get to watch before they can take new levels, and these cutscenes have been chosen from a variety of Thain’s historical dragon stories as guidance on what having Draconic blood on Thain might be like – the sorts of impulses, demands, and dangers it presents. Colorless dragonkin alone are exempt from this mandate – however Colorless dragonkin are also limited to only taking the Dragon Bloodline: Might classline.

 

If you wish to reroll an older Dragonkin into one of the newer types of Draconic Bloodline and you have already completed the time-gated journey once, a DM may allow you to bypass that time-gate based on your role play or special request – it will be assumed however that the character is aware of the very real “presence” within their blood that the draconic emergence process represents and has undergone it in their own time.

 

The “presence” of your Draconic Blood via emergence is implied to be a very real force acting upon the will of all Dragonkin on Thain in some manner.

Class Updates:

This class is the familiar standard Neverwinter Nights Red Dragon Disciple - unchanged save for the removal of the Breath Attack feature (which now features heavily in another class).

The bloodline of Power gives those who further it many of the awesome powers of a dragon that make it mighty: their claws, teeth, wings and breath are fearsome weapons on the battlefield that inspire shock and awe in those they fight.

Hit Die: D6

Skill Points: Int +4

 

ABILITIES:

 

1: Breath like Death - Gain a breath weapon that gains in power as you level up and whose cooldown is reduced by other abilities tied to this bloodline.

2: Bonus Feat: Mobility

3: Claws like Spears - On a short cooldown, lunge a short distance in the direction you click, dealing damage along the way and healing for a small amount from enemies struck that you have also hit recently with your breath.

4: Bonus Feat: HD Increase (d8). This change is not retroactive.

5: Teeth like Swords- Passive: Briefly empower your auto attacks after any use of your DBP Abilities, and activate to deal damage and potentially slow nearby foes on a medium cooldown.

6: Bonus Feat: Cleave

7: Wings like a Hurricane- On a Long Cooldown, cleanse negative effects and briefly gain freedom as you fly to a target location.

8: Bonus Feat: Blind Fight

9: Scales like Shields- Passively Gain your Charisma Modifier (Up to +5) as a Shield Enchantment AC Bonus

10: Chiefest and Greatest Calamity- Passive: Empower your other abilities. Active: On a long cooldown, strike a nearby target for large damage and force them to save or be knocked back.

The bloodline of Magic gives those who further it a semblance of the wondrous magic inherent to the blood of a dragon. Armed with their blood, they are never alone or powerless, gradually regaining their spells and gaining in magical potency.

 

Hit Die: D6

Skill Points: Int +4

 

ABILITIES:

 

1: Magic of Dragons I Gradually and randomly regain spell uses / day of a maximum spell level up to ½ your DBM level. 

All arcane spells that you cast gain ½ DBM when determining damage dice.

2: Draconic Bloodrites - The next spell you cast is empowered, maximized, and extended.

3: Magic of Dragons II

4: Draconic Bloodrites 2x / day

5: Magic of Dragons III

6: Draconic Bloodrites 3x / day

7: Magic of Dragons IV

8: Draconic Uprising - Briefly float in the air, unable to be struck by melee attacks. 2 Minute CD.

9: Magic of Dragons V

10: Draconic Emergence: Transform into a dragon shape of your color, gaining infinite arcane spellcasts, haste, and increased stats for a short time. 1x / Day.

 

The bloodline of Nature gives those who further it the most raw exposure to a dragon's nature of any bloodline - fierce in temperament, covetous in practice, with keen senses for plunder and wealth that the practitioner both hoards and loses in equal measure.

 

Hit Die: D6

Skill Points: Int +4

 

ABILITIES:

 

1: Plunder of Tyrants - Gain the Plunder resource that you harvest by damaging and killing enemies that only you can see carrying it. Stored plunder on your bar gives you passive bonuses that scale as your maximum pool increases with levels. You may spend plunder to use abilities this class grants you.

2: Thick Hide - Gain +3/10 DR up to DBN x 10 for DBN / rounds. Cost: 15 Plunder

3: Imminent Wealth - When you spend plunder, a random nearby enemy gains it who you can then attempt to take it from.

4: Draconic Mind: Temporarily gain DBN x 2 bonus to Discipline, Concentration, Listen, Taunt and Spot. Cost: 10 Plunder

5: Draconic Slumber: Regain maximum plunder when you finish a rest.

6: 6: Draconic Legacy: Become fully immune to your Draconic Element of damage and gain a modest amount of Spell Resistance for Rounds x DBN level. Cost: 30 Plunder

7: Draconic Hardiness: Gain DBN / 2 to all saving throws for a short duration. Cost: 25 Plunder

8: Rest of Ages: Regain 2d10x DBN hit points over 18s. Cost: 40 Plunder

9: Hot Blooded: Gain DBN/2 Divine Damage to your attacks for 2 rounds after spending Plunder.

10: Unguarded Fury: Activate to gain a temporary aura of terror that demoralizes most enemies and makes vulnerable those who hold Plunder. Cost: 40 Plunder

For some time, mainline rogue has been a fairly suboptimal build - excellent in small class splashes, high amounts of Rogue were not particularly useful. The addition of six new Rogue Bonus Feats seeks to add to the lategame Rogue’s options, increasing what they can do uniquely in combat without needing to constantly supplement them with other (Shadowdancer) levels as often.

 

Ambush: If you have been stealthed for 12s or longer, your next sneak attack attempts to daze your enemy for 3s. (DC: Rogue Level + Dex Mod, Fortitude Negates)

 

Patient Study:

Gain +1 Temporary Base AB per round that you remain in stealth (to a maximum of your Rogue level) that is lost after your first combat round.

 

Dodge Roll: 

Roll out of harm's way, gaining 100% Temporary Concealment for 6s and entering Stealth at the end.  (Cooldown: 60s)

 

Vanishing Cloud: 

Create an area of smoke on the ground that lasts 10s. You and allies entering it are automatically entered into Stealth Mode, even in combat. (Cooldown: 60s)

 

Misdirect: Active: Your target makes a Spot vs your Bluff roll. If you succeed, the opponent becomes vulnerable to sneak attacks whether they can see you or not for the next 12s.

 

Slight of Hand: Active: Your target makes a Spot vs Pick Pocket roll. If you are successful, your opponent loses all forms of critical hit and sneak attack immunity. (Cannot target players).

With Rogue gaining some power in the late game, it became necessary to ship a much-requested feature: the addition of Spellthief as a full Prestige Class rather than a cheaper PrC style class add-on. While Spellthief’s spell list and the rate at which it gains them - as well as the treasure-hunting means - are unchanged from the wiki, some changes have come to the class:

 

- Hit Die: d6

- Proficiencies: A spellthief does not gain any additional weapon or armor proficiencies.

- Skill Points: 6+ Int Modifier.

- Spellcasting Stat: Intelligence

- Spellcasting: Arcane, spells are verbal (no somatic).

- Spellcasting SPECIAL: Spellthieves suffer from a 50% spell failure on their spells if they do not have a spellthief item equipped in their mainhand, with no combat or shield items in their offhand - this item is chosen when they first take their class levels. Equipping this item confers a +1 Shield AC Bonus per level of Spellthief. It is possible to make a new spellthief item at any Font of Lost Arcana (See: Special requirements).

- Spellcasting Learning: Aside from the first spell that a spellthief learns automatically at each level, the spellthief must find their magic and learn it around the world. Their Spellthief Item (See below) will often serve as a guide for where to find these powers. 

 

REQUIREMENTS:

 

Feats: EITHER Slippery Mind OR Spell Focus Illusion

Skills: Hide (4 Ranks), Search (4 Ranks)

SPECIAL: Spellthief Item: Around the island's places of magical research (most commonly libraries) the Spellthief finds an item that enables them to begin their journey and can help them divine where to find the arcana they have not yet learned. The "Font of Lost Arcana" serves as a place to create new Spellthief Weapons, and a place where you can learn clues to find some of your Lost Arcana spells.

 

ABILITIES:

 

1: Lost Arcana: A Spellthief gradually gains more spell slots to cast special Spellthief spells that they have found, looted, or discovered from around the world. There are 4 spells per level, and the character may learn all of them provided that they find them. The Spellthief automatically learns one spell of each level. Visit the Thain webpage at islandofthain.org to learn more about Spellthief and its spells.

 

Gain Lost Arcana Level (1)

Gain Level 1 Spell: Pilfer Magic -  Attempt to dispel the target and gain a short duration attack bonus after. 

2: Bonus Sneak Attack Dice: +1d6

3: Skill Increase: Spellcraft +3

4: Gain Lost Arcana Level (2) 

Gain Level 2 Spell: Divine Traps - Locate and mark all traps in the area.

5: Skill Increase: Spellcraft +6

6: Bonus Sneak Attack Dice: +2d6

7: Gain: Lost Arcana Level (3).

Gain Level 3 Spell: Arcane Sight: Gain a trueseeing buff that gradually tapers into weaker and weaker vision buffs, until it expires. You are blinded for 1 round after the expiration. 

8: Skill Increase: Spellcraft +9

9: Gain: Lost Arcana Level (4).

Gain Level 4 Spell: Magic Heist - Create a pair of short-linked magical openings that allow you and your party members to move briefly between them, at the cost of a debuff after.

10: Bonus Sneak Attack Dice: +3d6

The knightly society of Karistad’s Kavalers is present in the Kavaler of Karistad, the settlement’s new “Knight” class - while Iron City Hellknight moves to a legacy class (those who have taken it in the past still keep it).

 

Kavaler of Karistad’s capstone ability summons a faithful sword companion that fights at their side. If this companion is slain before it expires, the Kavaler gains a small heal.

The Karistadian inquisition is every part the religious order - seeking out ancient relics of the city’s goddess as well as monitoring its people for signs of sin and dissidence.

The Inquisitor of Karistad’s capstone ability creates a totem that allows them to hear speech on the map for a brief period and - when “used” - grants the user a bonus to their spot and listen skills for a brief time.

Other Updates:

Updated Bounties:

Bebelith → Blackmane Werewolf

Modara Vampire → Modara Tombs

 

Bugfixes:

Danglymesh Cloaks

 

Join Us In Game…

Close Menu
Direct Connect: thain.no-ip.org