"Way of the Wicked: Knot of Thorns" in D&D 5E

In this month's post, I'd like to try something a little bit different. Usually I talk about D&D Fifth Edition material, but this time I'm going to discuss a set of adventures for the Pathfinder roleplaying game - the Way of the Wicked adventure path. In this article, I'll explain why you might want to consider running those adventures in Fifth Edition. I'll include a full set of conversion notes for the first adventure in the path, Knot of Thorns, as well as my thoughts on how to best present that adventure to your players.

A quick note before we begin: I have no connection with the creators of this adventure path. It's just that Way of the Wicked is really awesome, and I want to let you all know about it. I just finished running the first adventure in the path, Knot of Thorns, and it was the most fun I've ever had with a prewritten adventure - and I've run a lot of them.

So what is Way of the Wicked?

In Knot of Thorns, the PCs are lawfully convicted criminals
sentenced to death. In three days' time, they must escape from
the maximum-security Branderscar Prison with nothing but
their wits and a few items from a mysterious benefactor.
All Artwork: Michael Clark

Way of the Wicked is a series of adventures for evil player characters. That doesn't just mean morally ambiguous characters - if you run this adventure, your PCs will, necessarily, be evil. In fact, they will be the villains. They will have opportunities aplenty for betrayal, vengeance, conspiracies, ritual sacrifices, warmongering, backstabbing allies, conquering a kingdom, and ruling it with an iron fist.

So is it good? Absolutely!