D&D: Arcanum World’s James Ohlen Talks ‘Odyssey Of The Dragonlords’ Remaster

James Ohlen, of KOTOR and Mass Effect fame, sat down to talk with us about the ongoing Odyssey of the Dragonlords revamp Kickstarter.

Odyssey of the Dragonlords is hands-down one of my favorite 5E campaigns out there. It routinely shows up on lists of “best campaigns” and for good reason. The campaign takes some big swings and plays a little risky with encounter design. It layers in mechanics to try and make player characters not just feel like heroes, but heroes of their own epic tale. Complete with potential backstories and epic paths that create a sense of a “personal story.”

It had a lot of “BioWare protagonist” energy – and with good reason. The designers of Odyssey were a trio of ex-BioWare folks: James Ohlen, Jesse Sky, and Drew Karpyshyn. You’ll recognize their names from some of BioWare’s best-loved games like Knights of the Old Republic and Dragon Age: Origins.

And now, Odyssey of the Dragonlords is on Kickstarter with a Remastered Edition. This is not only an update for the campaign that brings it in line with the 5.5E/2024 ruleset, but it’s also a remaster of the campaign, with hundreds of pages of new content, revised subclasses, expanded world, and more. Which made it extra exciting when Arcanum Worlds reached out with the opportunity to talk to Ohlen about the surprisingly robust remaster. Here’s what we learned!

Odyssey of the Dragonlords Remaster

“It’s too big,” says Arcanum Worlds and Archetype Entertainment head James Ohlen in the first minutes of our call. “My wife will tell you – I’m out of control. [Odyssey of the Dragonlords Remaster] is huge. We’re already adding 200 pages of new content, and that’s not counting stretch goals.”

Ohlen has an infectious energy when talking about the Remastered edition of Odyssey of the Dragonlords. And to be fair, there’s a lot to be excited about. At the heart of the new Kickstarter is a fresh coat of paint for the campaign, and not just bringing it up to date with the new 2024 rules. This is a chance to fill out more of the world.

As Ohlen puts it, “I really wanted it to cook once you get through the battle of Mitras. We’ve redone all the islands in the gulf, there’s multiple places to go on each island, not just the critical path. We want to expand exploration.”

Here, Ohlen is referencing the older version of the campaign, where one of the critiques was that some of the islands players could visit had little info beyond the main quest objective. But in the new version, Arcanum Worlds’ emphasis on exploration is a love letter to the players. Ohlen tells me that the team has been listening very carefully to the Dragonlords Discord server, a development that has led to the whole Kickstarter feeling like a labor of love.

Great Labors And Reavers Of Oath And Ruin

For the Odyssey of the Dragolords Remaster, Ohlen and Arcanum Worlds have split the campaign in two, to make room for more stuff. The first part could be considered the prologue to the main campaign, and it’s actually two books. On the one hand, you have The Great Labors, a 1-6 adventure that introduces the Greek mythology-inspired world of Thylea, with new species like the Thylean Centaur and the newly unlocked six-armed Gygans.

The other is Reavers of Oath and Ruin, which connects the world of Thylea to the world of Grimnir, Arcanum World’s Norse-inspired campaign setting. I wouldn’t be surprised if that gets a remaster before too long. At any rate, both Reavers of Oath and Ruin and The Great Labors come with new playable species, new subclasses, new backgrounds – a ton of stuff to play with.

“I wanted an excuse to tell a Beowulf story,” says Ohlen of the decision to bring in the world of Grimnir. In fact, the Beowulf movie from 2007 served as inspiration for one of the new mechanics in the campaign, the Glory System, which is designed to encourage roleplay and immersion while also rewarding players with power boosts.

Ohlen says of the Glory System, “This is a different system than the [Raiders of the Serpent Sea] glory system. I want people to feel cinematic – and to have to actually do them to gain the benefit. As you gain glory, you earn a name – we give you suggestions – and you can make boasts with those names. But we tell the DM, your players have to actually make the boasts.”

There are sample quotes from movies and other inspirational sources to help players get at the heart of boasts, including the one from Beowulf (2007), “I am Ripper… Tearer… Slasher… Gouger. I am the Teeth in the Darkness, the Talons in the Night. Mine is Strength… and Lust… and Power! I AM BEOWULF!” Which is associated with the new “coup de gras” boast.

Odyssey of the Dragonlords Remastered Is Only The Beginning

And if all this sounds like a lot to put on top of a D&D campaign, you’re right. It is a lot of extra stuff. But its rules and systems are designed to pull you deeper into the story. Story is important to Ohlen and the Arcanum Worlds team. But as it’s expressed through the mechanics of the game. Which is why Ohlen talks about the importance of Dungeons and NPCs:

“Dungeons are always important. And a dungeon doesn’t always mean a literal dungeon – it’s a set area that you explore with encounters. That’s what a DM needs – something to sit down and have an adventure area to play with. It’s our job to describe the ‘preferred path’ and then to build out all the side areas for when things inevitably go off the rails. That way the world feels like it’s responding to you.

It’s the same with NPCs – you have these recurring characters that show up as sign posts through the story and you learn about the world from them. The Reavers have recurring rival/enemy raiders. We hadto make them real mean so you can be a raider and still be a good character, but that means each has their own flavor, their own execution style and goals.”

Advertisement

It’s all there to serve the story, which is there to serve the game. It’s a recursive loop that leads to all sorts of fun surprises. Like figuring out how to incentivize players to use certain kinds of weapons when riding dragons (which is definitely a thing you can do in this campaign). Ohlen points out that the lance is the only weapon with reach that lets you carry a shield (while mounted), making a dragon/lance combo (pun intended) a potent option in this campaign.

But that’s Ohlen’s ethos here. The whole team at Arcanum worlds has taken the lessons from video game development and turned them back on the TTRPG world. And the great thing about coming back to Odyssey is that, as Ohlen puts it, “you get to make more stuff – you get to focus on expanding out areas that felt too linear; I guess the lesson is ‘overscope everything’ and then pare it back to what makes the most fun.”

Odyssey of the Dragonlords: Remastered is live on Kickstarter and runs for the next 14 days!

Bell of Lost Souls Staff Writer and DM, J.R. covers RPGs of all stripes and on occasion eats sandwiches. You can ask him about either at [email protected]

Read the Comments (0)

Read more at this site