The Paragon Protocol is a 5e Dungeons and Dragons campaign set in the outer planes of Quelmar. It started in the spring of 2025.
Campaign Hook
The River Styx has vanished.
Without warning, its dark waters dried up, severing the vital ties between the Lower Planes and beyond. At the same time without warning, all connection to The Abyss was lost—every demon, every lord of chaos, gone.
Panic grips the realms. The infernal hierarchy has been thrown into turmoil as devils scramble to claim dominion in the new status quo while Fey and Angels take advantage of new opportunities. Mortal scholars and warlocks search in vain for answers, fearing what this imbalance could mean. Is this the prelude to something far worse?
Amidst the uncertainty, the Archangel Gabriel has summoned you and tasked you to get to the bottom of this mystery. Your journey will take you across the planes of Quelmar, into realms ruled by desperate tyrants, forsaken gods, and ancient grudges long held in check by the very forces that have now disappeared.
But power abhors a vacuum. With the demons gone, who will rise to take their place? And what horrors wait to return?
Player Characters
| Player Name | Character | Race | Class | Corruption Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Ryan | Aivan Factorovich | Modron Warforged | Clockwork Soul Sorcerer 13 | Level 4 |
| Jennifer Gau | Aliria Servine | Abyssal Tiefling | Pact of the Tome Fiend Warlock 13 | Level 5 |
| Cody | Nyrgoth | Tiefling | Order Domain Cleric 13 | Level 3 |
| Sarah | Sylphine Nightfall | Wood Elf | Inquisitive Rogue 13 | Level 1 |
| Geoffrey | Balaam | Cursed Goat-Man | Ancestral Guardian Barbarian 13 | Level 4 |
| Matt | Endine di Valpadana | Aasimar | Circle of the Moon Druid 13 | Level 2 |
NPCs
Virgil
A young, male, blue Tiefling, Virgil is a former Orator from the 9th Circle of The Ten Hells. Now without work, Virgil was hired by the party to guide them through the many horrors of the hells.
Koh Tam
An eccentric priestess, Koh Tam is a seer and prophet whose musings are more baffling then clarifying. She was hired by the party to serve as their guide through the Ten Hells, using her predictions to protect them from danger.
The Archangel Gabriel
One of the 12 Commandments and great solars of Mt. Celestia, Gabriel serves as the grand representative for truth. He hired the party to investigate why the River Styx dried up and to locate the last demon in the realms.
The Story So Far
Paragon Protocol Arc 1: From Heavens to Hells
Overview: The Party are pulled from their lives by the Archangel Gabriel and sent on a mission to find The Last Demon, rumored to be on the first layer of The Ten Hells, Duumal. To get there, the party travels through the fey planar port of The Cerulean City.
Paragon Protocol Arc 2: The Dunes of Duumal
Overview: The Party enters the desolate wastes of the First Layer of the Hells, Duumal in search of information that could lead them to The Last Demon. After a saloon scuffle at an infernal saloon, the party travels to The Bronze Citadel, learning along the way that the styxian boatman, Charon, had been murdered. At the Bronze Citadel, they meet many new faces, including an avatar of the greedy Archduke Mammon and the ambitious Pit Fiend Bel. The party must now contend with Bel's schemes as his plans for hellish domination could halt their quest in its tracks.
Paragon Protocol Arc 3: Damnation in Dis
Overview: The party arrive on the second layer of the Ten Hells, the Iron City of Dis. The party learn that the Last Demon is being held captive by the Lord of the Second Layer, Dispater in the impenetrable Ironfell Prison. The party seeks refuge in the relaxing halls of the Garden of Pleasures under the watch of the garden's proprietor, the noble Efreeti Dalia Embervale. The longer they remain in Dis though, the more they begin to discover a cultist conspiracy of giants whose reach stretches across all the planes of Quelmar. Here in Dis, the party must navigate infernal galas, packed city streets, and hellish jails in order to find their quarry and survive, as long as they can avoid the ire of the Iron Tower...
Paragon Protocol Arc 4: Aboard the Golden Galleon
Overview: The party learns the truth behind the murder of Charon and race to restart the River Styx by hunting down those responsible for destroying it, the Ordained, a band of fanatical giants who seek to resurrect their ancient god, the Shattered Mountain. Along the way they will travel the planes of Phlegethos, Stygia, and Malbolge atop Mammon's personal airship, the Golden Gallion, and combat the evils of the dragon Barroth the Unredeemable, and the returning villainy of the Pit Fiend Bel.
Paragon Protocol Arc 5: Evils Converge
Overview: As the many enemies of the party converge in the Hells, the party continues on their quest to recover all six runes of the Shattered Mountain and to restart the Styx. But the Ordained will not let the party's actions go unpunished, and the scheming archdevil Glasya may have her own plans in mind for both the Giants and Ratatrosk. But when the party uncovers a secret that could tear the whole realm apart, all Hell breaks loose.
Paragon Protocol Arc 6: An Inevitable Confrontation
House Rules
- Silvery Barbs
- A creature can only be Silvery Barbed once per round
- Character creation must be with Point Buy or Standard Array
- Scrolls
- If your class can cast the spell, no roll required, the spell can be cast as normal.
- If your class cannot cast the spell, casting the spell scroll requires a DC 10+ the level of the spell arcana roll.
- Your number of attunement slots equals your proficiency bonus
- PVP must be agreed upon by all parties (All involved players and DM)
- Giving Help
- You can only give the help action if you are proficient in the skill
- Familiars can help their casters
- All players get a starting feat
- Thrown Potions
- As an attack action you can throw a potion on another character within 30 feet of you to give them the effect of the potion.
- Bonus Action Healing Potions
- You can use a bonus action to drink a potion. If you use a full action to drink one yourself, you can regain the max amount of hit points
- Cleave Rule
- When you kill an enemy, if there is another creature within 5ft of them and in range of your attack, you can have any excess damage applied to that creature.
- Infernal Corruption
- Demonic Corruption
