The Pitch
The Catacombs of Saint Martens is a dramatic reinterpretation of one of Dungeons & Dragons' most common set pieces: the evil necromancer's ritual. To emotionally engage players and create a player-driven, cinematic adventure, Catacombs takes the following approach:
Character-First Drama. Catacombs of Saint Martens is not a story about stopping an evil necromancer. Instead, Catacombs—which takes the position that war is merely politics by other means, and that combat is merely what happens when negotiations fail—asks three simple questions: what would drive a person to become an evil necromancer, what kinds of motivations would drive the players to stop him on an urgent timeline, and what supporting cast creates the richest potential for emergent narrative and drama?
Self-Balancing Combat. Catacombs creates tension not through a balanced adventuring day, but by juxtaposing swarms of low-threat fodder with intermittent threats and a solitary "near-peer" boss fight. Catacombs also provides DMs tools for easy live re-balancing, such as by empowering weak enemies with military-grade tactics and strategy (which the DM can downgrade at any time) and providing strong enemies with suboptimal theatrical "trap" options (which jack up the feeling of danger while lowering the real risk of a TPK).
Open-Ended Locations. Catacombs of Saint Martens provides players with a "jacquaysed"—nonlinear and looping—dungeon, thereby maximizing player freedom to achieve their goals in any way possible. With that said, players aren't the only ones capable of circumnavigating the dungeon around them; if they're not careful, they might draw the attention of one or more clusters of enemy forces, who stand ready to crash down on them like a wave.
Emergent Storytelling. Catacombs has no "load-bearing pillars": players are free to attempt to persuade, deceive, and intimidate any intelligent character, no matter how villainous or antagonistic. (Indeed, NPCs who haven't already prepared an ambush may be more than willing to talk before hostilities erupt—especially if they think the players might have something they want.) However, attempts are no guarantee of success, and few enemies (especially those with real convictions) can be swayed by something as trite or patronizing as an inspiring speech or unenforceable promise.