You Died. Now What?
Welcome to the Black Ballad
“My vengeance upon you will leave none left to tell the tale. History will not remember you by dawn. I will not stop until your very existence—every last one of you—is naught but ash and blood in my hands.” – Dorian the Accursed King
A partnership forged in fire and blood between musicians, artists, writers, editors, and more awaits the chance to rest in your hands. This epic tome, The Black Ballad, is a 10-chapter campaign for Dungeons & Dragons inspired by DiAmorte’s second album, a savage metal opera of cosmic proportions brought to you by Storytellers Forge Studios.
This saga for the ages follows the fate of the afterlife itself in your campaign world; decisions must be made whose repercussions will be felt for all time, and it is your table that shall make them! All done in the stylish themes found in musical works focused on the loss, acceptance, and epic nature of determination in the face of one’s own death or the gall to challenge the will of divinity.
The Black Ballad is a full adventuring campaign in the styles of Elden Ring, Shakespeare, and the morbid beauty of metal. Tales of tragedy, sacrifice, and the acceptance of mortality await your players within the realm of the Sunless Crossing. A realm designed to serve the gods is thrust into a savage war between two factions that ignites from the lands of the living into the land of the dead itself. The players’ choices throughout will determine not only their own fates, but that of the Sunless Crossing, the countless souls trapped in purgatory, and the cosmos itself! Each iteration features a different ending, allowing you to run this campaign multiple times with vastly different outcomes.
A Realm Ruled By Clerics... Yet threatened by all.
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A Realm Ruled By Clerics... Yet threatened by all. ~
Clerics are the minders of the divine.
Each prays to a god and serves as a flag bearer, enacting the will of their deity upon the mortal realm. Yet no matter which adventuring party, society, or dogma one belongs to, clerics form the spiritual backbone of those who surround them—influencing culture for better or worse. For when tragedy strikes, it is clerics who summon forth the power of gods to restore injuries and revive the dead.
But where do the dead go when they rest? The images of warm hearths and a familial embrace are conjured for some while screaming in eternal torment at the hands of a demon for others. And yet, clerics have the power to pluck the dead back from these planes, thrusting them into their mortal coils or even raising them into a state of eternal undeath—seemingly at their whim. Surely the gods would grow weary of their clerics pinching souls that rightfully belonged in their afterlife. Wouldn’t they?
Whichever god invented resurrection was a trickster at heart. Even in our own legends and mythologies, freeing your soul from Hades often required a bit of deception and cunning. The promise of eternal paradise or condemnation of eternal torture are very real promises from gods with active hands in lands of magic.
Within our book, you’ll find that very home for the dead detailed and the catastrophe that strikes it. A calamity that threatens not only this once stable realm of the dead but also the fate of the greatest of all divine loopholes, resurrection.
The only catch is… it occurs in the afterlife.
Our adventure begins where your last adventure ends. The Black Ballad is a perfect campaign to run after your party has fallen into the afterlife through a sword or dragon’s fire. Of course, there are many ways one could find themselves here—and that’s surely an interesting story. As a Game Master, you’ll find the cleric-focused city of Nox Valar to be a perfect hub to launch this campaign and plug into any world like Ravenloft, The Red Opera, or even a homebrew world of your own creation—regardless of your players’ character levels.
Each chapter is keyed to a full orchestral song from the Black Ballad, which serves as the perfect background music while your players explore and weigh their choices. Are you willing to walk away from the safety of healing and cradled magics that restore life? Would you willingly take this power from the gods in order to save the world? Or even change the very rules that death itself must abide by?
The fate of the Sunless Crossing, the armies in play, and the afterlife are yours to weave within the Black Ballad.
Find out more at www.storytellersforge.com and support our studio directly with our crowdfunding efforts! It is only with your help that we can bring the world of the Black Ballad to life…
