The Prof’s DM advice is among the finest on TH-cam. This is a great example. Continuing my delve into the Prof’s back catalog and commenting to boost in the algorithm.
I've gone back to watch your earliest videos and have to say that I was drawn in by the adventure. The name Black Angus made me chuckle and the Rowena twist was a nice pivot of the story. I was drawn into it hook, line, and sinker. Great example of how to run a session!
Thanks. This one remains a classic. To me, much of my old stuff is cringy, but this one is good. Check out my "Real Kobolds Look Like Dogs!" video in a few weeks. You'll dig it.
I like twist endings as much as anyone, and in a one shot, they provide a memorable ending. But IME you need to use them a bit sparingly if you're running for the same group of players regularly. I like to run, and I like players who want to play in, heroic adventures. One of the good things about that is the feeling of doing good by doing well at the end of the adventure. As a GM, I like to reinforce that feeling by having the beneficiaries of previous aid be conspicuously grateful: "Them's the folk that rescued me from the sprite! If it weren't for them, I'd be a deader." "No, no. The meal is on the house. I'd never accept money from the heroes that killed that ogre." This has no effect on game balance but it gives players the idea that they're having a good effect on the world around them, which makes for more fun roleplaying, IMO. If the two of the first three (say) episodes/adventures for the group end up with ungrateful or treacherous beneficiaries, you're likely to build a cynical response from your players. This is fine if you like to design for that, but it likely means that every proposed adventure will be met first with skepticism, then strenuous negotiation, then a very slow and careful advance through the storyline. In many ways, this is similar to what happens if you put traps into your dungeons regularly. After the first few, the players will probably start searching everything carefully. And if you make them more dangerous and difficult to find, the searching will get more and more meticulous. I find that tedious, both as a player and a GM. Reward the behavior that you want more of; if you want heroism, make heroism a good choice most of the time. Plus, when you eventually betray your characters after mostly rewarding them, the impact will be much greater. 8-)
So I just have to share I developed a story hook whereby the players found a good mine. Well it would have been one had it been mined. The dwarven player determined that is was a worthwhile vein of gold to mine but then my players decided that going back to town buying all the equipment to mine the vein and then actually doing all the work themselves would be long arduous and not fun. They ended up selling their claim on the site to a local miner known to pay for info on good finds. They had a few nuggets on them from the caves to show the value of the claim. Little did the players know that I had a surprise in store for them had they returned. The miner ended up losing half his workers and they are forever wary of rocks of gold found in caves. Good lesson to be wary
Ofc, if the players are always expecting a twist, the trick doesnt work. Its exactly why I leave webs, skeletons, gargoyles statues and empty chests around in dungeons, players can spend all the time they want checking to make sure theres no monsters hiding, no spiders hiding in webs, no skeletons waiting to rise, no mimics or gargoyles hiding about to attack... but if you use enough of these clues but no monsters, the players will drop their guards eventually
I think Rowena makes for a more believable and interesting character if instead of giving herself away by an act of probably-futile violence, she bides her time, and tries to get others to do her work for her - such as the second group of bandits about to arrive.
@Cliven Longsight True! But he's probably also imagining the way certain players might handle it. Giving medical attention in the middle of a fight is very risky, since it wastes your action and will likely be undone the next round. Given I usually play the off tank role, if I were one of the players, I'd probably be the person holding up the rear to gaurd the damsel and face off with the bandit reinforcements we know are coming. (Unless we murderhoboed our way through the whole base... In which case bandits ouside the base can still reinforce.) So if I were playing a Paladin, bard, or cleric, and this urchin suddenly knifes our rouge or our wizard, I'd probably prioritize disbatching the broad with knife over healing my buddy's knife wound. (Or my own since the hypothetical positioning of my character would greatly increase the odds of my guy being shanked) The logic here being, "we'll hold on a round or two, but this b*tch is gonna die now." Then of course, I'll get mean looks from across the table as my well timed nat 20 and 8 on the damage die has me describing how I deftly separate her head from her shoulders. And the DM of course berates me for it. "Seriously! Why are you ALWAYS killing the person you're supposed to rescue." And of course I'll respond. "I dunno! Why do you ALWAYS have the person we're trying to try to KILL us?!" And things at the table just deteriorate from there. Long story short; Lindybeige is anticipating what a typical adventuring group, ran by one of us inferior DM's might do, and how a bandit leader's girlfriend with any sense of self-preservation might be a bit more careful about how she deals with a potentially neurotic group of adventurers. "Cause I dunno! That paranoid looking bard that keeps giving me the side-eye looks like he's seen some shit."
Angus rolled a nat 1 in the final battle and shot rewina right in the chest. She died and Angus was so distraught he gave up the dowry and his evil ways. The PCs kept the entire dowry and didn't return to the merchant. Solid gold.
Ok I ran this encounter it was epic. Quick summary Limerick style. Munchburger skewered, cried with great anguish, ‘Save my daughter from the devil Black Angus!’ Axyl bandaged his wound and said ‘Sleep’, Whilst Franklin the Rogue picked his pockets deep. The Bastard Jonah tracked them to their lair, aware there was no time to spare. The lads scoped it out, three roving guards they saw, quickly dispatched in no time at all. The front door a’barred, time to be sneaky. Franklin climbed up and went for a peaky. Sakuraba hung back, far from harm, wondering what he was to do with a mummified wizards arm. The ranger and thief snuck in, rolls were tight, unbarred the door and turned to fight. McGregor and Hotspur burst through the door, Axyl and the wizard answered the call. Four brigands murdered, bodies looted as habit, all you could smell was whiskey and rabbit. The DM Jim checked his phone, it was 12:02. Time for a beer, a wee or a Poo. The next room, a nursemaid tied to her bedding. What happened next was like ‘The Red Wedding’. Bolts and arrows and magic missiles flew, ‘More AC and HPs next encounter’, Jim knew. Victory came quick, two surrendered afeared, atop the steps Angus and Rowena appeared. Knife to her throat, he said ‘Let me pass.’ But you guys were like ‘Hangabout??’, and saw through the farce. Rowena and Angus had staged the whole sting, for true love it seems as the heralds sing. They begged ‘Let us be!’ And keep the dowry ta’ boot.’ ‘Sounds good’ said McGregor already walking out with the loot.
Ran this adventure last night and we had a blast. We used No Initiative, Magic Is Dangerous from DCC, and the Escalation Die from ICRPG. Used goblins AND bandits -goblins were to kidnap the daughter to make it seem like she was taken and eaten (they did eat the handmaid) in exchange for a Dwarven Cleric who had been terrorizing the local gobs. Black Angus had captured him. The dwarf was good for explaining a few plot details and healing a couple PCs before the final fight with Angus -they needed it, as they rolled badly and often on the escalation die. The initial encounter with Munchburger began with 3 goblins and a weak bugbear. 4 rounds of goblin reinforcements later the gob body count was 19. The Wizard rolled 3 spell failures. She put herself and the druid to sleep during the first combat. Turned herself into a squirrel by accident -worked out for recon on the tower tho! And exploded like a grenade trying to cast magic missile damaging the entire party. We have never laughed so hard or had so much fun playing D&D.
The Professor Dungeon Master is incredible. I have been binge watching the videos all day my desire to play in one of his dark gritty campaigns growing with each video. The Professor is incredible and any PC playing in his world is truely blessed. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas.
I ran this as an introductry adventure for new players, after years of wanting to run this! It went great, the only thing i regret doing is that I changed the ending a bit and tried to make Black Angus a more complex and ambiguous character, kind of morally grey. Maybe this works with more experienced players, but with these new players I should have left everything just as simple as you did it, I sensed that they wanted a 100% evil villain that they could fight without moral problems. I've never run an adventure for completely new players that have never heard of D&D before, so this was an experience for sure. Simpler is definitly better! But all in all it went great and I think they're going to want more in the future.
You are one of the most useful content creators on youtube for D&D knowledge. A group of friends and I started playing last year and we are all in experienced. We finished our first campaign and now I'm taking the mantel of DM. I've been watching basically all your videos. Thank you for making such great content and give me ideas on what to do in my campaign!
I love those "all included" scenario videos. Gives lot of good ideas and inspiration PLUS puts in perspective the initial subject (here 3 acts narration). I'm all good for more of these!
Thanks for responding. Glad you said so, because these videos are a HUGE paint in the ass to make and your comments are encouraging. Check the monthly campaign updates. Episode #68 was a really good one.
Hey Professor! I can't remember if I posted this or not. I searched through the comments and couldnt find it, so apologies if I'm repeating myself. I ran this story as an opening for a campaign I ran for some kids a couple years ago. It was all going pretty much as you set it up. Rowena"s heel turn went as expected, and the party was all down to fight her and Angus... until they learned that Rowena and Angus were in love and that her dad was forcing her to marry someone else. That immediately turned their opinion of her. Suddenly she was a sympathetic figure and an ally, as the party just wanted to punish her merchant father for forcing her to marry someone she didn't love. Suddenly her dad is the big bad of the campaign, looking to strengthen his political power by marrying off his daughter to a vile vampire prince. Hell of a turn. Figured you would appreciate the player's narrative twist. Thanks for all your videos!
This is my favorite type of content on this channel. Seeing how well built your adventures are sets my mind into a creative tizzy. And all of it uses everyday tropes/themes/character types!
Not only would I roll for dramatic tension during the tracking phase, I would also make it that if the players roll badly, they would take more time finding the bandit fort. Why would it matter? If the players are fast enough, some of the bandits they injured in the opening battle sequence could still be receiving treatment. That could mean no guards at the front door for the first hour, or the patrols consisting of only one guy instead of two. And there would be a room full of injured bandits, unarmed and not in fighting shape, who will surrender if threatened.
So about half way through the vid I'm saying to myself, "When I steal this little adventure, I'll have the lady be in on it..." And then we get to the twist, and I go, "Damn! There was no excuse for me to not see that one coming..."
I ran this last night with my wife and daughters. It was my first time DMing in over 30 years and none of them had ever played. It was a lot of craziness. I used no initiative per Dungeon Craft 12 and lots of R.A.F. rulings. My daughters are so type A; they were all shouting at the same time. I gave black Angus a dimension door cape that he used to escape just before the girl had a chance to stab one of the characters in the back. I had a lot of fun and I think they did too. Thanks for a great adventure, hopefully I will get them to play again.
Watching through the back catalogue in an absolutely haphazard order makes me learn about the progression of your channel style in an interesting way. Almost forgot about the +1 vest from back in the day!
I have to say, you are the best source of advice for DMs of anyone on the internet. Most other "DM advice" channels/ videos/ articles are just regurgitated, not particularly well thought out platitudes. So kudos man, you are fantastic at this! I'm a forever DM and I've learned so much in just a handful of your videos. Much appreciated, I really hope your channel continues to blossom! On behalf of of my current and future players.... thank you!
Just want to say thanks, although I do not agree with all the changes you make for you’re games, I find your channel the most useful when it comes to creating adventures for my players. I know this is an old video but I keep going back and rewatching a lot of them, haha so thanks again and keep it up.
Hey Dan, I ran your "Black Angus and Rowena" adventure last night.. It went really well. On of my female Players (my girlfriend who is a wizard who always rolls terrible casting checks but perfect search checks) first question to Rowena's Father was "Are you sure she wants to marry this guy?". (she pegged the plot right out of the gate) In the end they raided Angus' compound and demanded to confirm her safety and happiness. They avoided a huge combat and negotiated safe passage through Black Angus territory in trade for telling Rowena's father she was dead and to not bother looking for her. On the way out they realized they had forgotten all about the dowry and left black angus with the girl and all the money.
I just absolutely love this channel. I pull so much creativity and inspiration from these videos that I'm going have to start giving you a writing credit. Thank you for these awesome ideas.
This may be my favorite one of your videos. Not only is it presented wonderfully with your beautiful minis and terrain, but it presents an interesting adventure that well demonstrates the 3 act structure design. I may have to run your adventure myself!
I pause the video just to tell you how amazing is the scene where the kidnaped girl is taken. It's so visually engaging. And if I'm not wrong there are some of your previous works. Like the sewer tiles for example.
Question for you, hopefully you see this. At the 3:03 mark there is a carriage and driver mini can I ask where you got this from, it is awesome? Or any info you have on it.
This one is another gem! If you're a DM or THINKING about becoming a DM, you should find some cool stuff in here. Great ideas and game prep are contained within!
My gaming group disbanded when our key organizer moved. So I'm keeping my gaming creativity fresh with videos & books. Just stumbled on yours, & as another noted, I'm enjoying the quick format. I'm a storyteller, as well, so this video really made me smile. I'll have to try this adventure when I find a new group.
This is how I plan my adventures. I do not have villains; I have antagonists with virtues and flows with which PCs can relate. The only thing I do not do, is force outcomes like preventing the players to catch the bandits if they are clever enough to realize their situation or not let the main villain be hurt before the final confrontation. As a GM, I like to be surprised as well as the players and unlike books or movies, the thing I love of RPGs is that you can embrace the unexpected and create completely unconventional story arcs, like the PCs befriending the bandits or even convincing Rowena that his father wants the best for her. I have learned that the beauty of RPGs is that the antagonist can be killed in the first minutes of the adventure and that is not a bad thing, it must be seen as a curve ball and a challenge to the GM to take the story to the unexpected. If you learn to read the energy of your table, the climax will grow organically, you will know when the time comes to pull it out and when to change from a kind of scene to another. Even if it happens that the PCs are more interested in chasing a random dog instead of the bandits, then the climax will be the dog adventure and that’s okay, you are not writing a blockbuster flick, you are guiding what your players find amusing, surprising and thrilling.
So an adventure plan might go something like this... Set up: The characters are travelling to somewhere else and plan to stop in a village to partake of the ale the village is known for. The village reeve says he has been tasked with finding the brewer who has been kidnapped by a group of bandits. The highly talented brewer makes a particularly good ale that is prized in the region and the recipe is a secret held closely by the brewer's clan. Losing the brewer would cut into the overall well being of not only the Lord but all of the villagers as well. The Lord and the serfs under him would lose the benefit of status and importance the brewer brings to the village. The serfs would also lose easy access to some of the best ale in the region, something that would affect village morale. The reeve has a contingent of militia that he could use to find the brewer but he knows these militia are not really soldiers and would probably not be successful in confronting the bandits. He hires the characters to find the brewer and subdue the bandits. He offers a reward of a small cache of jewels worth about 200gp along with another 10gp bounty for bringing each bandit back alive. The bounty is only 5gp for a dead bandit. The characters are given use of a wagon pulled by a run down team of horses and chains to subdue and transport the bandits. Conflict: Finding the bandits and rescuing the brewer. The region the characters are in is riddled with many hiding places for bandits and the like, most of them underground. There are three such places in this area and the characters have no idea which of the three areas the bandits are in. The other two areas can contain whatever the dungeon master might choose to put there. Perhaps goblins inhabit one of the areas and have heard something of the bandits and might be willing to spill the beans on the location if the price is right. The other area might turn out be an abandoned cave concealing the entrance to before undiscovered ruins of an ancient temple dedicated to a dark goddess, or maybe the characters track the bandits to the right place the first time. Once the bandits are found they will have to be confronted and defeated somehow and the brewer will have to be convinced to go with the characters. The brewer is actually voluntarily going with the bandits because he is in love with the beautiful and manipulative bandit leader and under his or her romantic control. The bandit leader was actually hired by a rival Lord to get the recipe out of the brewer and then kill said brewer to prevent that brewer from brewing anywhere else, but the bandit leader has decided to keep the brewer under their control in order to start their own brewing franchise and keep all the money for themselves. Resolution: The characters somehow rescue the brewer and must decide on how they want to deal with the bandits once any conflict is resolved. Do they bring the brewer back to the original Lord by force with the bandits in chains behind them? Do they make a deal with the bandit leader and allow them to follow through on their plans? Do they dispose of the bandits and bring the brewer to the rival Lord behind the whole scheme and try to make a bigger score with that Lord or do they take the recipe for themselves and auction it off to the highest bidder or do they simply steal the wagon and move on to their original destination? Also what will the consequences to the characters be from any of these actions? Am I misunderstanding set up, conflict or resolution as stated in the Professor's video here?
Maybe someone asked this already but how do you time events? Do you use a timer? Since each round of combat is only like 6 seconds, does “combat time” change? Does time change when you’re rolling for skill checks?
I love your videos, and I liked this one. Sadly, I cannot use this one. My son, who is one of my players, was watching it with me.... Lol. Good stuff though.
I wish I could have an experience like this when I joined a group at my school during lunch. Instead everyone took a few weeks to make characters and get settled. Then when we actually started everyone was on their phones or a laptop and their was no clear objectives. That’s when my rouge turned into a murder hobo 😂
This is brilliant. I'm waiting for Fantasy Grounds Unity to go live and when it does I'm planning to run a 4e D&D game with a few friends of mine that have scattered around the country. They have already thought up their characters and one of them is going to be the son of a minor noble. I think said son is about to become betrothed to the daughter of a rising merchant house, a daughter named Rowena, haha. (Sadly it might be a few months before this can happen, but I think it'll really be a great opening act to the campaign and give this character some gravitas!)
@@AstralMarmot Sadly not yet, FG Unity is still in beta so I'm still waiting there, but we have been able to do other gaming online to sort of 'keep the band together'. ;-) And wow, it's hard to believe it's already been six months since I posted that!
@@mandodelorian4668 I can definitely recommend the beta! I've been running games in person for over a decade and only recently made the switch to online (for obvious reasons). The module I wanted to run was only available on FG, so that's what I picked up. I struggled with the original version (it's like switching from Windows to Linux: definitely a step up but a LOT to learn). Then someone bought me FGU and I have to say I'm in love with it. I haven't encountered a single bug yet. If that's your main reason for waiting, honestly, you should just go for it. You'll be glad you did.
I ran this for DnD 4e in a oneshot throughout the night. It was a blast. She tried to flee in horseback, but the archer stood up in the window and shot the horse. They got to her unharmed. One guy almost died, but the cleric in the party saved him curing his body, but he demanded that the character worshiped his god before receiving the cure, If he ever had carnal relations after that the wound would open and he would die. Thing is, this was the most charismatic character. He died months after while consuming carnal relations with two women.
I DM'ed this adventure to an all-1st time group. They loved it. I added a goblin encounter between the coach attach and the bandit hideout. ( The party were druged and awoke naked and shaved ready for eating, in a cell) Could make other videos with some storylines which are good for beginners like this one? Thanks for a great channel.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 thank you for the permission. I rarely use other peoples stories or campaign settings, but I love borrowing specific encounters. Do you have a email for fans? You're one of like, two youtubers I wish to send something to.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 good to know. I've already used one of your encounters with my current group. (The pit trap where they're ambushed while trying to get out) I think I'll do the whole adventure with this as a side quest; my previous comment did mention how i assume itll end. Thanks for your help, i did email you last night
Lol. I was just thinking yesterday about making a video about dirt roads. It's so easy the video would only be 2-3 minutes long. Look for it in a month or so.
I used sand on that one. However, for an even BETER road, Vallejo thick mud paint/texture. You can see it in the Bandit Lair video at 1:20 (although it helps the algorithm if you watch the entire thing): th-cam.com/video/LvmiUBj0WpI/w-d-xo.html
I ended up making my own roads! For the base I used free vinyl floor samples sliced in half. The backs had a pockmarked texture that let itself well to being a road and it was thin enough that it didn't stand up too far from the table. I used a pencil to draw lines for the wheel ruts, then painted the whole thing beige. I made sure the wheel ruts always lined up by placing pieces end to end as I stenciled. Then I painted a darker brown line for over the wheel ruts to look like mud. After that. I sponged over it all with layers of different brown. After that, I applied sand and flock (I found a very large container of flock for only 5 dollars). They came out looking really well.
A bunch of murder hobos for adventurers would probably kill Rowena after her backstab and say the bandit leader did it just as he was making his final escape with the dowry which of course the party actually kept for themselves. Then they can take a contract paid for by Rowena's father and the fiancé to track down Black Angus, naturally he can't be taken alive otherwise it may come out that the adventurers actually killed Rowena, after all no one would believe she would rather be with a bandit leader or her capable of thrusting a knife in someone's back. Wow, the story practically writes itself.
Maybe Rowena instead of stabbing a player, tackles one to the ground as they are about to attack, screaming "Stop!" causing a missed action for that player. I think this would also greatly reduce the likeliness of the players immediately turning violent against her, without needing to intervene as the DM and remind the players of the reward if she is returned alive. Or, she could be crouching behind a chair in the corner when they walk in, and if the fight is going poorly for Agnus she dashes forward and puts herself in between them and Black Agnus, shouting at them to not kill him, confusing the players and making them pause, and then turning and telling him to flee, giving him time to jump out the window and escape.
As a further twist: Black Angus & gang are actually more like a Robin-hood & Merry men, while Rowena's father & other ranking nobility are despots. The PC's being non-locals, are only aware of the the official propaganda that says the gang are evil outlaws. Depending on how morally grey you want your story, the Black Arrow gang could be bona fide good-guys, or simply trying to survive/strive for justice via questionable tactics against a somewhat corrupt nobility. Many possible outcomes... if the players realize the gang are "good guys" too late, after killing Black Angus then to redeem themselves, they might have to take up the cause themselves. Or if they realize soon enough, then they ally themselves with Black Angus. An interesting scene(s): they players are rewarded for killing Black Angus by the local Lord in a public ceremony where they are cheered... then later, when the Lord & his men are not around, the PC's are reviled & spat upon by the same common folk who were cheering the day before, this is how the PC's finally learn Black Angus is a good guy (or at least that he has good PR among the common folk). As long as the people see the PC's as working for the evil lord, they will fear & mistrust them. Further twist: Black Angus barely survived (magic maybe involved)... perhaps he needs "love's kiss" to be healed... the PC's have a new mission: rescue Esmerelda from her own father (or her fiance...) & bring her back to Black Angus. Or couse, the last time she saw them, they apparently killed her lover... so won't that meeting be interesting... Many twists & conflicting motivations possible: Perhaps Esmerelda's finance is the truly evil one, and her father is a lesser lord (or merchant or whatever) who sees no choice but to give her hand to the powerful evil lord who demands it. Perhaps the whole mess is really the work of an evil demon or dark sorcerer in the region, preying on everyones' fear & mistrust, greed & lust, sowing chaos, all leading up to a far more sinister plan...
This is the angle i will often run. "Are the bad guys really bad?" kinda deal - the first story they hear isn't always the general consensus, only the opinion of one or two quest-givers. Of course, as per a previous comment, when over-done it gets stale quickly and my players are starting to get wise to it; but i do like to explore morally grey areas. I find the "evil lord with black spikey-armour vs the golden-haired shining-armoured prince" too plain and boring - of course the players will always choose to destroy "evil" every time. But what if it's not so clear cut? What if the "blonde prince" is a rapist, and the spikey-armoured lord harasses his borders to revenge his daughter's honour? The heroes are commissioned to save the borders from the region's foes, only to find out the full story when they have "spikey-armour" at sword-point, about to deliver the final stroke. Which do they choose....? I find those kind of decisions far more interesting. Though, of course, not overdone either.
@@theophrastusbombastus1359 there's probably an optimal ratio... things should not be what they seem X% of the time... generally things should be what they seem often enough that that is the default assumption. This applies to "important" things, and things being more or less the opposite of what they at first seemed ("the misunderstood monster", etc.). That said, nothing should be *exactly* what it seems. You don't have to have it all worked out -- but whatever NPC, location, or situations the player choose to delve in deeper, reveal something that was not "obvious" from the start -- even if you make it up on the spot and even if it is innocuous. In a medieval world where most people rarely travel more than a few miles from where they were born, there is going to be a "history" of relationships & feuds.
Every time this video comes up on autoplay, I watch it again. And every time he says "there's a coach up ahead," I imagine Craig T. Nelson lying in the road, under attack by bandits.
How would we make a villain waiting on a pile of treasure waiting to die interesting. A villain who was cursed to live forever so he could never reunite with his one true love who died long ago has now amassed a large horde. He can only be killed by someone with a pure heart. So he uses his vast resources to make enemies of the most noble paladins, and the most pious of priests. I'm thinking an high level elf dude with a big purple sword hulked up on negative energies.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 well your going to have to roll to see if your Spell doesn't fizzle (5+ on a d20). Failure (2-4), and a Critical Failure (1 of course), because if it does or worse crit fails.....well my luck ran out 41 years ago.
to have a campaign story-line that makes sense, you have to spend a long time preparing the world. You need to set up the basic civilization(s), maps, historic conflicts, "problem children" that the PCs will have to deal with. Simple "protect the merchant caravan" is a simple event that can happen in any realm. Explaining what the caravan was carrying and why its important enough to hire the EXPENSIVE PC party (minimum 10 times the cost of basic NPC low level guards) requires a complex background... if its not a one-shot adventure.
I dunno about that. I mean, the characters in this scenario really didn't know the area. So you can kind of "spiral out" design the world as needed. There's woods, bandits, merchants, some sort of kingdom you might just know the name of at this point...and probably a lot more ideas floating around your head from the players' back stories at this point. More than enough to get them through a few levels.
The Prof’s DM advice is among the finest on TH-cam. This is a great example.
Continuing my delve into the Prof’s back catalog and commenting to boost in the algorithm.
Thank you so much. What a great start to my day!
I've gone back to watch your earliest videos and have to say that I was drawn in by the adventure. The name Black Angus made me chuckle and the Rowena twist was a nice pivot of the story. I was drawn into it hook, line, and sinker. Great example of how to run a session!
Thanks. This one remains a classic. To me, much of my old stuff is cringy, but this one is good. Check out my "Real Kobolds Look Like Dogs!" video in a few weeks. You'll dig it.
Such a great example of a one shot using classic storytelling concepts!
You're the only person who's videos are so good I watch them over and over to gain different perspectives on your ideas.
Same here
I rewatch him and Seth Skorkowsky.
I like twist endings as much as anyone, and in a one shot, they provide a memorable ending.
But IME you need to use them a bit sparingly if you're running for the same group of players regularly. I like to run, and I like players who want to play in, heroic adventures. One of the good things about that is the feeling of doing good by doing well at the end of the adventure. As a GM, I like to reinforce that feeling by having the beneficiaries of previous aid be conspicuously grateful: "Them's the folk that rescued me from the sprite! If it weren't for them, I'd be a deader." "No, no. The meal is on the house. I'd never accept money from the heroes that killed that ogre." This has no effect on game balance but it gives players the idea that they're having a good effect on the world around them, which makes for more fun roleplaying, IMO.
If the two of the first three (say) episodes/adventures for the group end up with ungrateful or treacherous beneficiaries, you're likely to build a cynical response from your players. This is fine if you like to design for that, but it likely means that every proposed adventure will be met first with skepticism, then strenuous negotiation, then a very slow and careful advance through the storyline.
In many ways, this is similar to what happens if you put traps into your dungeons regularly. After the first few, the players will probably start searching everything carefully. And if you make them more dangerous and difficult to find, the searching will get more and more meticulous. I find that tedious, both as a player and a GM.
Reward the behavior that you want more of; if you want heroism, make heroism a good choice most of the time.
Plus, when you eventually betray your characters after mostly rewarding them, the impact will be much greater. 8-)
You are wise, Doug. I hope people read your excellent advice. I may steal it for a future episode!
So I just have to share
I developed a story hook whereby the players found a good mine. Well it would have been one had it been mined. The dwarven player determined that is was a worthwhile vein of gold to mine but then my players decided that going back to town buying all the equipment to mine the vein and then actually doing all the work themselves would be long arduous and not fun. They ended up selling their claim on the site to a local miner known to pay for info on good finds. They had a few nuggets on them from the caves to show the value of the claim. Little did the players know that I had a surprise in store for them had they returned. The miner ended up losing half his workers and they are forever wary of rocks of gold found in caves.
Good lesson to be wary
Thanks for sharing!@@erikmartin4996
Ofc, if the players are always expecting a twist, the trick doesnt work. Its exactly why I leave webs, skeletons, gargoyles statues and empty chests around in dungeons, players can spend all the time they want checking to make sure theres no monsters hiding, no spiders hiding in webs, no skeletons waiting to rise, no mimics or gargoyles hiding about to attack... but if you use enough of these clues but no monsters, the players will drop their guards eventually
This is grimdark bro
No free meals for ogre slayers here
I think Rowena makes for a more believable and interesting character if instead of giving herself away by an act of probably-futile violence, she bides her time, and tries to get others to do her work for her - such as the second group of bandits about to arrive.
Great point!
@Cliven Longsight True! But he's probably also imagining the way certain players might handle it. Giving medical attention in the middle of a fight is very risky, since it wastes your action and will likely be undone the next round. Given I usually play the off tank role, if I were one of the players, I'd probably be the person holding up the rear to gaurd the damsel and face off with the bandit reinforcements we know are coming. (Unless we murderhoboed our way through the whole base... In which case bandits ouside the base can still reinforce.) So if I were playing a Paladin, bard, or cleric, and this urchin suddenly knifes our rouge or our wizard, I'd probably prioritize disbatching the broad with knife over healing my buddy's knife wound. (Or my own since the hypothetical positioning of my character would greatly increase the odds of my guy being shanked) The logic here being, "we'll hold on a round or two, but this b*tch is gonna die now." Then of course, I'll get mean looks from across the table as my well timed nat 20 and 8 on the damage die has me describing how I deftly separate her head from her shoulders. And the DM of course berates me for it. "Seriously! Why are you ALWAYS killing the person you're supposed to rescue." And of course I'll respond. "I dunno! Why do you ALWAYS have the person we're trying to try to KILL us?!" And things at the table just deteriorate from there.
Long story short; Lindybeige is anticipating what a typical adventuring group, ran by one of us inferior DM's might do, and how a bandit leader's girlfriend with any sense of self-preservation might be a bit more careful about how she deals with a potentially neurotic group of adventurers. "Cause I dunno! That paranoid looking bard that keeps giving me the side-eye looks like he's seen some shit."
Both of the people i listen to while I drive know eachother??
Haha I can't wait to say to someone, "Dungeons aren't just zoos where the players kill the animals!"
Came here for this comment! 😂😂😂
Yeah, they’ve usually got treasure too. That’s why you have to kill all the animals.
Angus rolled a nat 1 in the final battle and shot rewina right in the chest. She died and Angus was so distraught he gave up the dowry and his evil ways. The PCs kept the entire dowry and didn't return to the merchant.
Solid gold.
Ok I ran this encounter it was epic.
Quick summary Limerick style.
Munchburger skewered, cried with great anguish,
‘Save my daughter from the devil Black Angus!’
Axyl bandaged his wound and said ‘Sleep’,
Whilst Franklin the Rogue picked his pockets deep.
The Bastard Jonah tracked them to their lair,
aware there was no time to spare.
The lads scoped it out, three roving guards they saw,
quickly dispatched in no time at all.
The front door a’barred, time to be sneaky.
Franklin climbed up and went for a peaky.
Sakuraba hung back, far from harm, wondering what he was to do with a mummified wizards arm.
The ranger and thief snuck in, rolls were tight, unbarred the door and turned to fight.
McGregor and Hotspur burst through the door, Axyl and the wizard answered the call.
Four brigands murdered, bodies looted as habit, all you could smell was whiskey and rabbit.
The DM Jim checked his phone, it was 12:02.
Time for a beer, a wee or a Poo.
The next room, a nursemaid tied to her bedding.
What happened next was like ‘The Red Wedding’.
Bolts and arrows and magic missiles flew,
‘More AC and HPs next encounter’, Jim knew.
Victory came quick, two surrendered afeared, atop the steps Angus and Rowena appeared.
Knife to her throat, he said ‘Let me pass.’ But you guys were like ‘Hangabout??’, and saw through the farce.
Rowena and Angus had staged the whole sting, for true love it seems as the heralds sing.
They begged ‘Let us be!’ And keep the dowry ta’ boot.’
‘Sounds good’ said McGregor already walking out with the loot.
Plus 300xp for making my day. Cheers!
Ran this adventure last night and we had a blast. We used No Initiative, Magic Is Dangerous from DCC, and the Escalation Die from ICRPG. Used goblins AND bandits -goblins were to kidnap the daughter to make it seem like she was taken and eaten (they did eat the handmaid) in exchange for a Dwarven Cleric who had been terrorizing the local gobs. Black Angus had captured him. The dwarf was good for explaining a few plot details and healing a couple PCs before the final fight with Angus -they needed it, as they rolled badly and often on the escalation die. The initial encounter with Munchburger began with 3 goblins and a weak bugbear. 4 rounds of goblin reinforcements later the gob body count was 19.
The Wizard rolled 3 spell failures. She put herself and the druid to sleep during the first combat. Turned herself into a squirrel by accident -worked out for recon on the tower tho! And exploded like a grenade trying to cast magic missile damaging the entire party.
We have never laughed so hard or had so much fun playing D&D.
The Professor Dungeon Master is incredible. I have been binge watching the videos all day my desire to play in one of his dark gritty campaigns growing with each video. The Professor is incredible and any PC playing in his world is truely blessed. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas.
If I had the resources, I would pay this man a lot of money to fly to my hometown and run a campaign for me and my friends.
I ran this as an introductry adventure for new players, after years of wanting to run this! It went great, the only thing i regret doing is that I changed the ending a bit and tried to make Black Angus a more complex and ambiguous character, kind of morally grey. Maybe this works with more experienced players, but with these new players I should have left everything just as simple as you did it, I sensed that they wanted a 100% evil villain that they could fight without moral problems.
I've never run an adventure for completely new players that have never heard of D&D before, so this was an experience for sure. Simpler is definitly better! But all in all it went great and I think they're going to want more in the future.
You are one of the most useful content creators on youtube for D&D knowledge. A group of friends and I started playing last year and we are all in experienced. We finished our first campaign and now I'm taking the mantel of DM. I've been watching basically all your videos. Thank you for making such great content and give me ideas on what to do in my campaign!
I love those "all included" scenario videos. Gives lot of good ideas and inspiration PLUS puts in perspective the initial subject (here 3 acts narration). I'm all good for more of these!
Thanks for responding. Glad you said so, because these videos are a HUGE paint in the ass to make and your comments are encouraging. Check the monthly campaign updates. Episode #68 was a really good one.
Hey Professor! I can't remember if I posted this or not. I searched through the comments and couldnt find it, so apologies if I'm repeating myself.
I ran this story as an opening for a campaign I ran for some kids a couple years ago. It was all going pretty much as you set it up. Rowena"s heel turn went as expected, and the party was all down to fight her and Angus... until they learned that Rowena and Angus were in love and that her dad was forcing her to marry someone else. That immediately turned their opinion of her. Suddenly she was a sympathetic figure and an ally, as the party just wanted to punish her merchant father for forcing her to marry someone she didn't love. Suddenly her dad is the big bad of the campaign, looking to strengthen his political power by marrying off his daughter to a vile vampire prince. Hell of a turn. Figured you would appreciate the player's narrative twist. Thanks for all your videos!
This is my favorite type of content on this channel. Seeing how well built your adventures are sets my mind into a creative tizzy. And all of it uses everyday tropes/themes/character types!
Glad you enjoy it! Check out the Reviled Society Supercut in 2 weeks. You'll love it.
That was fun just listening to it. I'm definitely going to take some notes and probably run this exact scenario too!
Not only would I roll for dramatic tension during the tracking phase, I would also make it that if the players roll badly, they would take more time finding the bandit fort.
Why would it matter? If the players are fast enough, some of the bandits they injured in the opening battle sequence could still be receiving treatment. That could mean no guards at the front door for the first hour, or the patrols consisting of only one guy instead of two.
And there would be a room full of injured bandits, unarmed and not in fighting shape, who will surrender if threatened.
It was a great first adventure with a new group (actually some of my oldest friends' first d&d experience), They loved it!
Cool! Check out my campaign prep sessions and steal those!
So about half way through the vid I'm saying to myself, "When I steal this little adventure, I'll have the lady be in on it..." And then we get to the twist, and I go, "Damn! There was no excuse for me to not see that one coming..."
Thanks for comment, Mog. Here's the new video: th-cam.com/video/XfAKW5mNrTI/w-d-xo.html
I ran this last night with my wife and daughters. It was my first time DMing in over 30 years and none of them had ever played. It was a lot of craziness. I used no initiative per Dungeon Craft 12 and lots of R.A.F. rulings. My daughters are so type A; they were all shouting at the same time. I gave black Angus a dimension door cape that he used to escape just before the girl had a chance to stab one of the characters in the back. I had a lot of fun and I think they did too. Thanks for a great adventure, hopefully I will get them to play again.
That's great to hear!
Your videos are exceptional. I can't wait to see more. I really appreciate the brevity and clarity, especially on the crafting videos.
Thanks! I appreciate the comment, because I strive to make every video as concise as possible.
Watching through the back catalogue in an absolutely haphazard order makes me learn about the progression of your channel style in an interesting way. Almost forgot about the +1 vest from back in the day!
I have to say, you are the best source of advice for DMs of anyone on the internet. Most other "DM advice" channels/ videos/ articles are just regurgitated, not particularly well thought out platitudes. So kudos man, you are fantastic at this! I'm a forever DM and I've learned so much in just a handful of your videos. Much appreciated, I really hope your channel continues to blossom! On behalf of of my current and future players.... thank you!
THIS JUST CAME TO ME--If my PCs rescue ROWINA she will replace Dagmar in the Veiled Society as the young, neglected wife of the villain.
Just want to say thanks, although I do not agree with all the changes you make for you’re games, I find your channel the most useful when it comes to creating adventures for my players. I know this is an old video but I keep going back and rewatching a lot of them, haha so thanks again and keep it up.
Hey Dan, I ran your "Black Angus and Rowena" adventure last night.. It went really well.
On of my female Players (my girlfriend who is a wizard who always rolls terrible casting checks but perfect search checks) first question to Rowena's Father was "Are you sure she wants to marry this guy?". (she pegged the plot right out of the gate)
In the end they raided Angus' compound and demanded to confirm her safety and happiness. They avoided a huge combat and negotiated safe passage through Black Angus territory in trade for telling Rowena's father she was dead and to not bother looking for her.
On the way out they realized they had forgotten all about the dowry and left black angus with the girl and all the money.
Glad you had fun!
I do like when parties choose out-side-the-box ways to meet challenges versus leap straight to murder hobo-ing the NPCs/ Villains.
I just absolutely love this channel. I pull so much creativity and inspiration from these videos that I'm going have to start giving you a writing credit. Thank you for these awesome ideas.
You are welcome, Steve. Check out the new "Building Tension" video and keep sharing these. It REALLY helps me grow the channel. Cheer!
This may be my favorite one of your videos. Not only is it presented wonderfully with your beautiful minis and terrain, but it presents an interesting adventure that well demonstrates the 3 act structure design. I may have to run your adventure myself!
Great advice this is way I use to watch DungeonCraft, he understands storytelling
You don't need to play a wizard in your campaign to live dangerously with hostages like these!
Well done, sir! I'm taking notes! Thank you!
This video just changed up and improved my next adventure
Tyvm
Thanks. There's more material like this in my monthly campaign updates. Keep watching!
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 they still monthly?
Very informative, every dm should watch it
This is what I needed! Had no real idea of where to start. All I get are compmaints.
J'adore le retournement de situation à la fin. Je pense que je vais faire jouer ce scénario. Merci!
Merci d'avoir pris le temps de regarder. J'apprécie votre audience. Veuillez pardonner mon français.
Man this was really good. Keeping this in the back of my head for future games. I especially like dropping all the different plot hooks.
Check out the campaign playlist. I do this on the first Thursday of every month!
I pause the video just to tell you how amazing is the scene where the kidnaped girl is taken. It's so visually engaging. And if I'm not wrong there are some of your previous works. Like the sewer tiles for example.
Question for you, hopefully you see this. At the 3:03 mark there is a carriage and driver mini can I ask where you got this from, it is awesome? Or any info you have on it.
Games Workshop Imperial coach. It’s 20 years old & rare. Try eBay. It will be expensive but I’ve found no cheaper alternative.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 Thanks for the info, you were right rare and expensive.
I'm playing The Dark Eye, not D&D, but if I were to play this adventure, I could totally see my players switch sides at the moment of the reveal.
This one is another gem! If you're a DM or THINKING about becoming a DM, you should find some cool stuff in here. Great ideas and game prep are contained within!
This is absolutely gold! The big question is: why the heck the DMG do not standardly have this so crucial info???
I have no idea. Tracy Hickman's XDM does this, though.
I am running this for my players tonight! Thank you!
My gaming group disbanded when our key organizer moved. So I'm keeping my gaming creativity fresh with videos & books. Just stumbled on yours, & as another noted, I'm enjoying the quick format. I'm a storyteller, as well, so this video really made me smile. I'll have to try this adventure when I find a new group.
Thanks and please share this video!
I love all Dungeoncraft videos. No monsters were harmed in the writing of this comment.
These Campaign episodes are my favourite
Your videos are pure gold!
Thanx muchly!
Outstanding advice.
Glad it was helpful! If you like this video you'll like the Demon Tailor, coming this February.
Excellent advice and example - thanks!
This is the best thing I ever saw.
This is how I plan my adventures. I do not have villains; I have antagonists with virtues and flows with which PCs can relate.
The only thing I do not do, is force outcomes like preventing the players to catch the bandits if they are clever enough to realize their situation or not let the main villain be hurt before the final confrontation. As a GM, I like to be surprised as well as the players and unlike books or movies, the thing I love of RPGs is that you can embrace the unexpected and create completely unconventional story arcs, like the PCs befriending the bandits or even convincing Rowena that his father wants the best for her.
I have learned that the beauty of RPGs is that the antagonist can be killed in the first minutes of the adventure and that is not a bad thing, it must be seen as a curve ball and a challenge to the GM to take the story to the unexpected. If you learn to read the energy of your table, the climax will grow organically, you will know when the time comes to pull it out and when to change from a kind of scene to another. Even if it happens that the PCs are more interested in chasing a random dog instead of the bandits, then the climax will be the dog adventure and that’s okay, you are not writing a blockbuster flick, you are guiding what your players find amusing, surprising and thrilling.
I thought this was really well presented-- regardless of the visuals, you did well laying out the structure of a story
Black Angus eat there much. I have ran similar scenarios. This is a great story hook for new players.
Thankk a lot for your help!
Happy to be of service!
A great learning moment.
Thanks for watching!
So an adventure plan might go something like this...
Set up: The characters are travelling to somewhere else and plan to stop in a village to partake of the ale the village is known for. The village reeve says he has been tasked with finding the brewer who has been kidnapped by a group of bandits. The highly talented brewer makes a particularly good ale that is prized in the region and the recipe is a secret held closely by the brewer's clan. Losing the brewer would cut into the overall well being of not only the Lord but all of the villagers as well. The Lord and the serfs under him would lose the benefit of status and importance the brewer brings to the village. The serfs would also lose easy access to some of the best ale in the region, something that would affect village morale. The reeve has a contingent of militia that he could use to find the brewer but he knows these militia are not really soldiers and would probably not be successful in confronting the bandits. He hires the characters to find the brewer and subdue the bandits. He offers a reward of a small cache of jewels worth about 200gp along with another 10gp bounty for bringing each bandit back alive. The bounty is only 5gp for a dead bandit. The characters are given use of a wagon pulled by a run down team of horses and chains to subdue and transport the bandits.
Conflict: Finding the bandits and rescuing the brewer.
The region the characters are in is riddled with many hiding places for bandits and the like, most of them underground. There are three such places in this area and the characters have no idea which of the three areas the bandits are in. The other two areas can contain whatever the dungeon master might choose to put there. Perhaps goblins inhabit one of the areas and have heard something of the bandits and might be willing to spill the beans on the location if the price is right. The other area might turn out be an abandoned cave concealing the entrance to before undiscovered ruins of an ancient temple dedicated to a dark goddess, or maybe the characters track the bandits to the right place the first time. Once the bandits are found they will have to be confronted and defeated somehow and the brewer will have to be convinced to go with the characters. The brewer is actually voluntarily going with the bandits because he is in love with the beautiful and manipulative bandit leader and under his or her romantic control. The bandit leader was actually hired by a rival Lord to get the recipe out of the brewer and then kill said brewer to prevent that brewer from brewing anywhere else, but the bandit leader has decided to keep the brewer under their control in order to start their own brewing franchise and keep all the money for themselves.
Resolution: The characters somehow rescue the brewer and must decide on how they want to deal with the bandits once any conflict is resolved. Do they bring the brewer back to the original Lord by force with the bandits in chains behind them? Do they make a deal with the bandit leader and allow them to follow through on their plans? Do they dispose of the bandits and bring the brewer to the rival Lord behind the whole scheme and try to make a bigger score with that Lord or do they take the recipe for themselves and auction it off to the highest bidder or do they simply steal the wagon and move on to their original destination? Also what will the consequences to the characters be from any of these actions?
Am I misunderstanding set up, conflict or resolution as stated in the Professor's video here?
Sound like you got it to me.
I'm so thankfully for your videos. Keep up the good work
Maybe someone asked this already but how do you time events? Do you use a timer? Since each round of combat is only like 6 seconds, does “combat time” change? Does time change when you’re rolling for skill checks?
Does anyone know if PDM ever released the notes for this adventure?
I never saw him do it when I was o. His Patreon. Make your own notes, you'll remember them better. 💯.
Very informative! love the 3 part structure.
I love your videos, and I liked this one. Sadly, I cannot use this one. My son, who is one of my players, was watching it with me.... Lol. Good stuff though.
I wish I could have an experience like this when I joined a group at my school during lunch. Instead everyone took a few weeks to make characters and get settled. Then when we actually started everyone was on their phones or a laptop and their was no clear objectives. That’s when my rouge turned into a murder hobo 😂
This is brilliant. I'm waiting for Fantasy Grounds Unity to go live and when it does I'm planning to run a 4e D&D game with a few friends of mine that have scattered around the country.
They have already thought up their characters and one of them is going to be the son of a minor noble.
I think said son is about to become betrothed to the daughter of a rising merchant house,
a daughter named Rowena, haha.
(Sadly it might be a few months before this can happen, but I think it'll really be a great opening act to the campaign and give this character some gravitas!)
Did you get your game up and running yet? :)
@@AstralMarmot Sadly not yet, FG Unity is still in beta so I'm still waiting there,
but we have been able to do other gaming online to sort of 'keep the band together'. ;-)
And wow, it's hard to believe it's already been six months since I posted that!
@@mandodelorian4668 I can definitely recommend the beta! I've been running games in person for over a decade and only recently made the switch to online (for obvious reasons). The module I wanted to run was only available on FG, so that's what I picked up. I struggled with the original version (it's like switching from Windows to Linux: definitely a step up but a LOT to learn). Then someone bought me FGU and I have to say I'm in love with it. I haven't encountered a single bug yet. If that's your main reason for waiting, honestly, you should just go for it. You'll be glad you did.
I’ll see about running a version of this and tell you what’s up.
i think i run the exact opposite style of game as you
i love charts and rules
but i cant help but come back to watch your videos
I also love charts. They're coming.
Brilliant, I will run this.
Has anyone made a 2D map for the bandit lair? I'd love to get my hands on it...
Very great content.
Thanks, Dan. Glad you found us. Please binge watch and share with your friends!
I ran this for DnD 4e in a oneshot throughout the night. It was a blast. She tried to flee in horseback, but the archer stood up in the window and shot the horse. They got to her unharmed. One guy almost died, but the cleric in the party saved him curing his body, but he demanded that the character worshiped his god before receiving the cure, If he ever had carnal relations after that the wound would open and he would die. Thing is, this was the most charismatic character. He died months after while consuming carnal relations with two women.
I DM'ed this adventure to an all-1st time group. They loved it. I added a goblin encounter between the coach attach and the bandit hideout. ( The party were druged and awoke naked and shaved ready for eating, in a cell) Could make other videos with some storylines which are good for beginners like this one? Thanks for a great channel.
Loved that story :D I might use it
Steal away! Steal my entire campaign too!
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 thank you for the permission. I rarely use other peoples stories or campaign settings, but I love borrowing specific encounters.
Do you have a email for fans? You're one of like, two youtubers I wish to send something to.
Dungeoncraft@yahoo.com
@@ryanhouk3560 BTW--I stole THAT story from a movie called "Flesh & Blood" with Rutger Hauer! Just remembered.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 good to know. I've already used one of your encounters with my current group. (The pit trap where they're ambushed while trying to get out)
I think I'll do the whole adventure with this as a side quest; my previous comment did mention how i assume itll end.
Thanks for your help, i did email you last night
"She kidnapped herself, man."
PDM: Ah, there you are.
Me: Oh god, am I late?
where do you get that coach
One craft I would like to see you do for the show: how to make those dirt roads that the coach was on in the first scene.
Lol. I was just thinking yesterday about making a video about dirt roads. It's so easy the video would only be 2-3 minutes long. Look for it in a month or so.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 cool. I was going to try one soon. Would you recomend sand or sawdust for texture?
I used sand on that one. However, for an even BETER road, Vallejo thick mud paint/texture. You can see it in the Bandit Lair video at 1:20 (although it helps the algorithm if you watch the entire thing): th-cam.com/video/LvmiUBj0WpI/w-d-xo.html
I ended up making my own roads! For the base I used free vinyl floor samples sliced in half. The backs had a pockmarked texture that let itself well to being a road and it was thin enough that it didn't stand up too far from the table.
I used a pencil to draw lines for the wheel ruts, then painted the whole thing beige. I made sure the wheel ruts always lined up by placing pieces end to end as I stenciled. Then I painted a darker brown line for over the wheel ruts to look like mud. After that. I sponged over it all with layers of different brown. After that, I applied sand and flock (I found a very large container of flock for only 5 dollars). They came out looking really well.
Cool! My video is still a ways away. It probably won't air until July.
Where do you get your dramatic horn music from? Is it a specific song you play on repeat?
That's "Volatile Reaction" by Kevin Macleod, available on iTunes.
A bunch of murder hobos for adventurers would probably kill Rowena after her backstab and say the bandit leader did it just as he was making his final escape with the dowry which of course the party actually kept for themselves. Then they can take a contract paid for by Rowena's father and the fiancé to track down Black Angus, naturally he can't be taken alive otherwise it may come out that the adventurers actually killed Rowena, after all no one would believe she would rather be with a bandit leader or her capable of thrusting a knife in someone's back. Wow, the story practically writes itself.
Maybe Rowena instead of stabbing a player, tackles one to the ground as they are about to attack, screaming "Stop!" causing a missed action for that player. I think this would also greatly reduce the likeliness of the players immediately turning violent against her, without needing to intervene as the DM and remind the players of the reward if she is returned alive.
Or, she could be crouching behind a chair in the corner when they walk in, and if the fight is going poorly for Agnus she dashes forward and puts herself in between them and Black Agnus, shouting at them to not kill him, confusing the players and making them pause, and then turning and telling him to flee, giving him time to jump out the window and escape.
Underated comment. Though not as grimdark, it is more plausible and tolerable for the players.
Do more like this. Like it
I have 60+ videos. See the campaign updates. The latest drops Thursday.
Did you sculpt all your miniatures? Or are they purchesed?
I'm not a sculptor; the minis are by Reaper and Games Workshop. I painted them all, though.
As a further twist: Black Angus & gang are actually more like a Robin-hood & Merry men, while Rowena's father & other ranking nobility are despots. The PC's being non-locals, are only aware of the the official propaganda that says the gang are evil outlaws. Depending on how morally grey you want your story, the Black Arrow gang could be bona fide good-guys, or simply trying to survive/strive for justice via questionable tactics against a somewhat corrupt nobility.
Many possible outcomes... if the players realize the gang are "good guys" too late, after killing Black Angus then to redeem themselves, they might have to take up the cause themselves. Or if they realize soon enough, then they ally themselves with Black Angus.
An interesting scene(s): they players are rewarded for killing Black Angus by the local Lord in a public ceremony where they are cheered... then later, when the Lord & his men are not around, the PC's are reviled & spat upon by the same common folk who were cheering the day before, this is how the PC's finally learn Black Angus is a good guy (or at least that he has good PR among the common folk). As long as the people see the PC's as working for the evil lord, they will fear & mistrust them.
Further twist: Black Angus barely survived (magic maybe involved)... perhaps he needs "love's kiss" to be healed... the PC's have a new mission: rescue Esmerelda from her own father (or her fiance...) & bring her back to Black Angus. Or couse, the last time she saw them, they apparently killed her lover... so won't that meeting be interesting...
Many twists & conflicting motivations possible: Perhaps Esmerelda's finance is the truly evil one, and her father is a lesser lord (or merchant or whatever) who sees no choice but to give her hand to the powerful evil lord who demands it.
Perhaps the whole mess is really the work of an evil demon or dark sorcerer in the region, preying on everyones' fear & mistrust, greed & lust, sowing chaos, all leading up to a far more sinister plan...
This is the angle i will often run. "Are the bad guys really bad?" kinda deal - the first story they hear isn't always the general consensus, only the opinion of one or two quest-givers.
Of course, as per a previous comment, when over-done it gets stale quickly and my players are starting to get wise to it; but i do like to explore morally grey areas. I find the "evil lord with black spikey-armour vs the golden-haired shining-armoured prince" too plain and boring - of course the players will always choose to destroy "evil" every time.
But what if it's not so clear cut? What if the "blonde prince" is a rapist, and the spikey-armoured lord harasses his borders to revenge his daughter's honour? The heroes are commissioned to save the borders from the region's foes, only to find out the full story when they have "spikey-armour" at sword-point, about to deliver the final stroke.
Which do they choose....?
I find those kind of decisions far more interesting. Though, of course, not overdone either.
@@theophrastusbombastus1359 there's probably an optimal ratio... things should not be what they seem X% of the time... generally things should be what they seem often enough that that is the default assumption. This applies to "important" things, and things being more or less the opposite of what they at first seemed ("the misunderstood monster", etc.).
That said, nothing should be *exactly* what it seems. You don't have to have it all worked out -- but whatever NPC, location, or situations the player choose to delve in deeper, reveal something that was not "obvious" from the start -- even if you make it up on the spot and even if it is innocuous. In a medieval world where most people rarely travel more than a few miles from where they were born, there is going to be a "history" of relationships & feuds.
For the Shire!
Knowing my party, if I run this adventure. the bandit and bride would be turned loose as some sort of higher ground greater good.
just wrote up a version of this for a starwars game churs mate.
Solid
i really like your vids
You look like Arthur Spiderwick.
Every time this video comes up on autoplay, I watch it again. And every time he says "there's a coach up ahead," I imagine Craig T. Nelson lying in the road, under attack by bandits.
Brilent
Rowena has a mustache?
Why not make the hu-mons the monsters and the monsters the civilized one?
Setup should take 20 min. Meanwhile my players have talked to a local bum about the state of the grass for 2 hours.
Lol. That’s players for ya.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 well dont worry the bum is now the kings long lost brother and a whole new adventure has begun!
How would we make a villain waiting on a pile of treasure waiting to die interesting. A villain who was cursed to live forever so he could never reunite with his one true love who died long ago has now amassed a large horde. He can only be killed by someone with a pure heart. So he uses his vast resources to make enemies of the most noble paladins, and the most pious of priests.
I'm thinking an high level elf dude with a big purple sword hulked up on negative energies.
Yes... here i am .... again.... bwahhahaha
I seem to be getting recommended all your old videos. Click bate works.😂
I would like this, but i cant since its on 666 likes.
I fixed that. Go nuts
As an ordained minister (I'm not kidding), I cast protection from evil on you.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 well your going to have to roll to see if your Spell doesn't fizzle (5+ on a d20). Failure (2-4), and a Critical Failure (1 of course), because if it does or worse crit fails.....well my luck ran out 41 years ago.
@@kevynhansyn2902 Lol. Maybe it will turn!
to have a campaign story-line that makes sense, you have to spend a long time preparing the world.
You need to set up the basic civilization(s), maps, historic conflicts, "problem children" that the PCs will have to deal with.
Simple "protect the merchant caravan" is a simple event that can happen in any realm.
Explaining what the caravan was carrying and why its important enough to hire the EXPENSIVE PC party (minimum 10 times the cost of basic NPC low level guards) requires a complex background... if its not a one-shot adventure.
I dunno about that. I mean, the characters in this scenario really didn't know the area. So you can kind of "spiral out" design the world as needed.
There's woods, bandits, merchants, some sort of kingdom you might just know the name of at this point...and probably a lot more ideas floating around your head from the players' back stories at this point.
More than enough to get them through a few levels.
Stealing this.
stealing good content!
Love your channel Dan. You're on my bucket list of DMs to play in a 1 off adventure. 🫡
Black Angus...lol...he should have been a minotaur.
Well said. I need you as a writer.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 lol... Anytime my friend, anytime.
My players would change his name from Angus to something else. They're assholes like that.