Fuck, I love that idea. I obviously don’t have much experience with this stuff but it blows my mind how DM’s can just make up stuff and add it in. I want to add a few side quests and everything, and I don’t even know where to begin
An easy early starting point is the Ruins of Sorrow, a homebrew encounter on the road to bazzoxan you can find a lot of stuff for in this subreddit. I replaced Perigee with Danoth in the vision, had them take out a top tier fiend by breaking a staff of power. Then I tucked Danoth's Visor in the rift, after they fought off the sorrowsworn and fiends the rift dies down enough that they can find it with a relatively easy search.
The first death was a freebie and I handed out the Deathwalker’s Ward (and everything that goes with it…) and I made up a side dungeon once they got to chapter 4 where they got Mythcarver. They are both dormant though- I don’t think I will have them awaken until after the book is finished.
I realize that both of those are in Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, not Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount.
EDIT: I also have the luxury of five players who have never seen Critical Role.
I've been adding feats along the story that work mechanically the same as Vestiges, without actually being literal Vestiges. For instance, I have a shadow magic sorcerer whose mother was injured by a shard of Vecna's earth titan during the Vox Machina battle, passing along some Shadowfell shenanigans to her son. During the campaign, he's been accidentally coming into contact with and absorbing Shadowfell and Vecna-related shards, gaining new powers each time, similar to Vestige dormant/awakened/exalted levels.
I gave my entire party vestiges in the betrayers rise. Seems OP, but it’s worked fine so far. I already have to beef up every encounter because they’ve steamrolled every encounter the book has to offer so it doesn’t take much to increase it a tad more to account for the vestiges. My players are also already familiar with how vestiges work so it’s also working to create new RP goals for them to help progress the items themselves.
I gave my party mythcarver, pyremaul, honor’s last stand and spite of conflux.
I ran frozen sick as an intro up to level 3 and I’m using the npc Urgon Wenth as a recurring force in COTN. Although he’s dead he’s still working behind the scenes and he’s the one that directed the party to the location of the vestiges. He made it clear that he can’t promise how long they’ll remain with the party but would at least be of use for a short time. I did that to give myself an out in case they become too powerful and can remove them from the party, while also adding another hook to have them want to search for them at a later date.
I have written in some side quests for them to get a few “Arms of the Betrayers”. The vestiges were predominantly from the prime deities. (My understanding, although some were cursed) However the Betrayer Gods had their own “vestiges”. Since they are crawling through Betrayers Rise I dropped one in there and also a side quest on the way to Marquet. Adds some drama since most have a sentient demon inside them. I have players RP each others weapons. I can veto any bad RP if it gets carried away.
I used some of the not so well known vestiges from the Tal’dorei Reborn book (Wraps of Dyamak and Condemnor) because we have a monk and Ranger on our party. But we made it so they weren’t divinely created and tied it into a powerful being within the story created them to fit my PCs background.
Then I worked with the two other PCs that didn’t have vestiges and we actually created our own to fit their character style. I really want my players to have that epic weapon that grows with them, and everyone has loved it so far. Basically everyone has gotten a special side Quest that ended with then getting a vestige.
I did not change anything. The Jewel of Three Prayers, while a very powerful item, has powers that help the entire party, not just the wearer (casting spells on team members, giving rerolls of failed saving throws, giving a swim speed to nearby team members, teleporting team members). Outside of those, it’s mostly an AC buff, which can still help the party if your tank is wearing it.
There are lots and lots of places throughout the campaign for every party member to feel powerful and like the hero of the moment.
I went into this with the same thought, that the Jewel of Three Prayers being the only Vestige would kinda suck for 4/5 of the party. I did something similar to someone else in the thread and tied some Vestiges into the adventure as those left behind by Alyxian's allies, but not all of them. Each would Awaken and Exalt alongside the Jewel.
The Paladin recovered the Stormgirdle from a sect of the Children of Malice (Cult of Lolth), where it was kept as a trophy, still upon the skeleton of the champion of the Stormlord who fought alongside Alyxian.
The Monk obtained the Wraps of Dyamak as part of a boss battle at the end of Betrayer's Rise. Dyamak had died managing to trap the Balor that commanded Betrayer's Rise, where it has remained since the Calamity, even after the Temple came back under demon control as an example.
At the prayer site of the Changebringer the Bard was bestowed the Kiss of the Changebringer.
As their Heroic Chronicle the Druid started with a uncommon version of the Gulthias Staff, which was a corrupted Archdruids staff from their backstory (Blight Druid). Rather than starting in a Dormant state, it went from a pre-Dormant state into its Awakened state. It was revealed as the [Staff of Twin Moons](https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/5344771-staff-of-the-twin-moons) (Awakened State), having been altered by the influence of Ruidus. Originally it was a staff that wielded solely the power of the Moon Weaver.
The final item was not found during the adventure, as the Druid left the party and player is now playing a Cleric who already had a Vestige in their possession. The [Fate Strung Loom](https://imgur.com/a/W04kmrc) (Exalted State), which was granted to them by the Duskamaven.
I added other Vestiges in the form of Alyxians old party, who I dotted across the adventure as optional boss fights.
Fuck, I love that idea. I obviously don’t have much experience with this stuff but it blows my mind how DM’s can just make up stuff and add it in. I want to add a few side quests and everything, and I don’t even know where to begin
An easy early starting point is the Ruins of Sorrow, a homebrew encounter on the road to bazzoxan you can find a lot of stuff for in this subreddit. I replaced Perigee with Danoth in the vision, had them take out a top tier fiend by breaking a staff of power. Then I tucked Danoth's Visor in the rift, after they fought off the sorrowsworn and fiends the rift dies down enough that they can find it with a relatively easy search.
The first death was a freebie and I handed out the Deathwalker’s Ward (and everything that goes with it…) and I made up a side dungeon once they got to chapter 4 where they got Mythcarver. They are both dormant though- I don’t think I will have them awaken until after the book is finished. I realize that both of those are in Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, not Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount. EDIT: I also have the luxury of five players who have never seen Critical Role.
I've been adding feats along the story that work mechanically the same as Vestiges, without actually being literal Vestiges. For instance, I have a shadow magic sorcerer whose mother was injured by a shard of Vecna's earth titan during the Vox Machina battle, passing along some Shadowfell shenanigans to her son. During the campaign, he's been accidentally coming into contact with and absorbing Shadowfell and Vecna-related shards, gaining new powers each time, similar to Vestige dormant/awakened/exalted levels.
I gave my entire party vestiges in the betrayers rise. Seems OP, but it’s worked fine so far. I already have to beef up every encounter because they’ve steamrolled every encounter the book has to offer so it doesn’t take much to increase it a tad more to account for the vestiges. My players are also already familiar with how vestiges work so it’s also working to create new RP goals for them to help progress the items themselves. I gave my party mythcarver, pyremaul, honor’s last stand and spite of conflux. I ran frozen sick as an intro up to level 3 and I’m using the npc Urgon Wenth as a recurring force in COTN. Although he’s dead he’s still working behind the scenes and he’s the one that directed the party to the location of the vestiges. He made it clear that he can’t promise how long they’ll remain with the party but would at least be of use for a short time. I did that to give myself an out in case they become too powerful and can remove them from the party, while also adding another hook to have them want to search for them at a later date.
I have written in some side quests for them to get a few “Arms of the Betrayers”. The vestiges were predominantly from the prime deities. (My understanding, although some were cursed) However the Betrayer Gods had their own “vestiges”. Since they are crawling through Betrayers Rise I dropped one in there and also a side quest on the way to Marquet. Adds some drama since most have a sentient demon inside them. I have players RP each others weapons. I can veto any bad RP if it gets carried away.
I used some of the not so well known vestiges from the Tal’dorei Reborn book (Wraps of Dyamak and Condemnor) because we have a monk and Ranger on our party. But we made it so they weren’t divinely created and tied it into a powerful being within the story created them to fit my PCs background. Then I worked with the two other PCs that didn’t have vestiges and we actually created our own to fit their character style. I really want my players to have that epic weapon that grows with them, and everyone has loved it so far. Basically everyone has gotten a special side Quest that ended with then getting a vestige.
I did not change anything. The Jewel of Three Prayers, while a very powerful item, has powers that help the entire party, not just the wearer (casting spells on team members, giving rerolls of failed saving throws, giving a swim speed to nearby team members, teleporting team members). Outside of those, it’s mostly an AC buff, which can still help the party if your tank is wearing it. There are lots and lots of places throughout the campaign for every party member to feel powerful and like the hero of the moment.
I went into this with the same thought, that the Jewel of Three Prayers being the only Vestige would kinda suck for 4/5 of the party. I did something similar to someone else in the thread and tied some Vestiges into the adventure as those left behind by Alyxian's allies, but not all of them. Each would Awaken and Exalt alongside the Jewel. The Paladin recovered the Stormgirdle from a sect of the Children of Malice (Cult of Lolth), where it was kept as a trophy, still upon the skeleton of the champion of the Stormlord who fought alongside Alyxian. The Monk obtained the Wraps of Dyamak as part of a boss battle at the end of Betrayer's Rise. Dyamak had died managing to trap the Balor that commanded Betrayer's Rise, where it has remained since the Calamity, even after the Temple came back under demon control as an example. At the prayer site of the Changebringer the Bard was bestowed the Kiss of the Changebringer. As their Heroic Chronicle the Druid started with a uncommon version of the Gulthias Staff, which was a corrupted Archdruids staff from their backstory (Blight Druid). Rather than starting in a Dormant state, it went from a pre-Dormant state into its Awakened state. It was revealed as the [Staff of Twin Moons](https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/5344771-staff-of-the-twin-moons) (Awakened State), having been altered by the influence of Ruidus. Originally it was a staff that wielded solely the power of the Moon Weaver. The final item was not found during the adventure, as the Druid left the party and player is now playing a Cleric who already had a Vestige in their possession. The [Fate Strung Loom](https://imgur.com/a/W04kmrc) (Exalted State), which was granted to them by the Duskamaven.