Streamlining SKT: Kraken's Gamble
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ก.ย. 2024
- Kraken's Gamble: www.dmsguild.c...
Enter The Dungeon: • Better Damage Calculat...
Twitch: / gammarayz
I had some issues with the audio and the quality overall but I had to finish uploading this sooner or later.
I'll try to get the increase the Quality for future videos while reducing the overall time on them. This one was way too long for my tastes.
Aiming for 10 mins and less.
Next up, Zephyros' Tower.
Please ask me any other questions you have regarding the campaign and I'll try to help you asap.
entertaining to watch and also inspiring. love your style. nonchalant dry but seriously funny.
and then the actual content is brillant too. 10/10
Thank you so much friend! It means the world to hear this. Hope you enjoy the rest as I work on what comes next
Great Video. Was a ton of good insight that I think will help others in running this adventure! You have a lot of great ideas that add depth, which I feel this campaign book lacks. So keep them coming.
While I have personally already ran this adventure for my party, I have 100% agree, we had a lot of fun running this and its worth the purchase. I made terrain for major portions of the adventure and it allowed me to bring it to life a bit. I gotta say, your flavor and style of using foreshadowing via the slime to help tell a story is pretty damn genius. I wish I had used this on a mind controlled person as well, would have been nice to give them a chance to add a deeper story while the character was attempting to slaughter their own party. I also wish I had really amped up the Kraken society a bit more in this adventure, also perhaps a transferring memory to play for being controlled or strangled.
I do highly suggest using the Aboleths regional effect, where Oosyth can create a duplicate (illusion) of its self during the battle, it can eat up some actions to see if it is real or not. In addition, the Illusion can continue to taunt and watch the party long after the fight ends (Because as of course it has to escape).
I too had Zephros appear soon after the adventures left Yartar. As a follow up on this encounter, as it had a chance to flick through a characters memories, it knows they were hunting for ways to end the giants incursions. I figured Slarkrethel would want to stop the nosey party, so it contacted Lymrth to get aid in hunting down the party afterwards. As a encounter I used Gargoyle Blue Dragons who carried the Kraken Society cultists to attack Zephs tower, to replace the Vulture encounter.
Thanks man. I really appreciate that. I've watched so many videos on aboleth lore to prepare for the Kraken's Gamble. Which eventually lead me to make the underlying battle of SKT a struggle for power between the great old one and the current pantheon of gods.
I reeeealy loved the idea of having a mind controlled character take on the role of leaking some rid bits of lore. I think I'll be using that for my star spawn one shot lol.
Yeah I realize the regional effect of appearing to the players is actually a really creepy way to add to oosith's role play but again, I wasn't sure of my ability to make illusions feel right while describing them to my players so I left that part out. But the way you describe oosith using it is actually brilliant.
Thanks again for the kind words, I may not have much more in depth ideas for this campaign but I do intend to show you the twists I've added to it in hopes of helping newer DM's who want to run this campaign.
Great content man thank you so much
Thank you for the kind words!
Instructions unclear
Died and got a sweet ice arm
Best vid so far my man
Hhhh thanks man, I appreciate it
Great video! One thing Im wondering, whats the deal you had Oosith offer them? Also how do you reveal to them that hes an illusion?
Heres the Yartar Im prepping for. Its close to the waterbaron election and the two candidates are Drylund and incumbent Nestra. The Kraken Society wants Drylund to win so they are blackmailing the nobles supporting Nestra. One of these are Lady Rossalio and when the adventures resuce her son (Goldenfields plot hook) Oosith kills and replaces her butler Khmed with a shapeshifter whose ultimate goal is to kill and replace Lady Rossalio to change her vote.
Im hoping my group will accept the help of 'Khmed' as their guide for Yartar as this gives Oosith an informant to spy on them. For instance, if they talk to Scimitar Sally while Khmed is guiding them or close by, then Ill have them discover the next morning that she has been found salughtered on portrayed on a public square. Behind the scenes, this is the Kraken Society telling the citys lowlife "dont tell these guys [the adventureres] anything".
Also, I would really like for Oosith to give them a tempting offer at the final confrontation. My idea is that he tells them he has important information about one of giant lords (which pertains to their backstories) and is willing to share it with them along with a large sum of money if they agree to return to Rossalio manor and silently kill the real Lady Rossalio. Alternatively they'll refuse, fight him, and not learn as much or get as rich.
Thanks!
Well I never really got to the deal because my players decided to bum rush him after he invited them to talk and turned around. Which meant that when they attacked him in the first round the first attacks just went through the illusion revealing it. That's when I tell them that a huge shadow begins to move in the murky waters below them.
I've found that my players will almost never take a deal with an enemy even if a character's life is on the line. The battle against oosith and 2 skum (instead of kuo toas because they were level 8 or 9 at that point in the story) was absolutely brutal due to the fact that I had used a beefed up aboleth for the fight and about 4 rounds in 2 of the 3 were down and oosith presented the paladin with a choice to take one and flee. Both players who had dying characters told the paladin to just go for the kill and 2 turns later oosith died to a nat20 4th level smite. one of the characters died as a result due to a nat1 death save while the other survived.
I like what you're setting up but i'd be careful in killing off NPC's the players like because it's going to happen in this campaign at least twice between Harshnag and Hekaton sacrificing himself to the kraken if you run it as is. It'll make it feel like every person they get introduced to will die and they can't do anything about it.
In my case I had my player make a new character who was a relative to Rosollio and had the plot of votes come in that way.
As long as you give your players active pieces of information that they can use (not hints cuz players never get hints) then it should be fine.
Also, make sure to state that when their attacks miss Oosith it's because it was an illusion so they immediately switch and stop wasting time trying to figure out how to hit a none existent target. When Aboleth Oosith appears have him say "you can't even notice an Illusion when it's right in front of you?" and goad them when he attacks, keeps his distance from the melee characters and he will focus his might on spellcasters first because he knows how powerful they can be.
Hope this helps and good luck!
Just "completed" krakens gamble, my party of 5 lvl 6 characters TPKd on Oosith. We had a ton of fun though, and my players really felt that it was a close call. I tried to make the Aboleth really scary and dangerous per your instructions, and man it was a fun fight. Thanks for the tips, now my table is going to "start over" in Goldenfields with new characters, will be interesting. Love the Goblin Chuckers, will start the session with a goblin flying through a window at the inn or something like that. You rock, thanks for the videos.
Glad to hear that friend!
Please ask any questions you have whenever they come up and I'll do my best to answer them
Also its a safe bet to use the advice for running Triboar when you run Golden as they both have the same problems almost.
How do you let the party know the aboleth is with the kraken society? Ran this and my party didn’t figure out the aboleth was Oosith
First off, I'm so sorry for replying this late, youtube didn't give me a notification for this comment and some others.
Secondly, they don't need to know Oosith was the aboleth per say, if they were in the ship and got the goose coins that's enough for when they reach Serrisa.
As soon as she shows them the coin they'll remember the ship and that's when everything will click.
You could have Lord Drylund mention Oosith being killed by adventurers as part of his rant when they inevitably interrogate him when searching for Hekaton.
If you need any more ideas just hit me up, hopefully the notifications will work this time
Thanks for a great series! Can I ask why you suggest changing the adventure hook, when travelling to Yartar from Triboar? I couldn't see what was wrong with the existing hook, but I'd love to know more.
Thanks friend!
The reason to change the hook, is because there's no river flowing from Yartar to Triboar.
The only conceivable way to have the players find a cocoon at the edge of the river is when they can literally see the gates of Yartar. And if they can see the gates of Yartar and the cocoon, then literally anyone who walks that path should see it as well.
Especially the guards at the gates.
That's why I recommend to change the hook if your party are coming from Triboar.
@@gammarayz1 Aha! That makes perfect sense. I may need to make up a river on that route now ("It's not on the map? How odd..."), as I love the comedy/tragedy potential of the encounter laid out in the adventure. Thank you!
@@bencarter1646 "it's not on the map?" ROFL wait, that's such a simple solution I never would've thought of haha.
Bro! Perfect timing! We just had our fire giant attack today and it was phenomenal. They barely were able to defeat the fire giants and now I’m prepping Kraken’s Gamble. They already have ties to Yartar, so it’ll be easy.
I had an idea to have an encounter on the way to Yartar where an aboleth carrying The Dreamheart casts Mass Charm on the whole party. The aboleth is in the form of a silver dragonborn and is in the process of placing a tattoo on Artan Rossolio. Artan is covered in that acid stuff and the aboleth has convinced him that the only way to be healed of it is to join the kraken society with this tattoo. If he ever mentions the kraken or his name, he will be killed, but he must obey the kraken society members and be the kraken’s eyes and ears and mouthpiece for the rest of his life in Yartar. The party witnesses him receiving this tattoo and are charmed so as not to stop this “friend” who has charmed them. Whether they are able to stop the process from happening doesn’t matter.
I am so ready for this encounter and have them determined to stop the plots of the evil kraken society. Your videos give me so many great ideas!
I'm glad to hear that man! I like your idea but just keep in mind, if things go south quickly with an insight check and then saving against the mass charm, then the players might just get to fight an aboleth on open land with no minions and when that happens it's night night.
If you're okay with that happening then by all means to ahead! It's your table and your adventuring party. 💐
Keep up the good work! Oh, don't forget about harshnag rumours about him being near everlund to make your players head there along with the quest they have from darathra.
Thanks for watching and I hope it helps you on the way.
Ooh, good thought. I want them to be terrified of the aboleth when they meet him for the first time. I was just thinking about what kind of encounter to have along the way from Triboar to Yartar. I am totally using your suggestions on here. (I’ll be watching this episode again and again just like the last one :)) I love the narrative and the characters already have Harshnag and the Kraken society in their backstories. (I had a “prologue” session with my characters after we did LMOP which took place before the events of LMOP. I’m having the forge of spells be the “heart” of the Vonindod which controls the fire primordial.) Thanks for your videos! By far the best storytelling and awesome ideas!
I am prepping Kraken’s gamble now and I’m using EVERYTHING you put in here. I love it! I gotta ask, what’s so good about Everlund? I’m sure I’ll learn about it in one of your other videos, but I can’t see what’s so good about it. Love what you’re putting up here. It’s really helpful since this is my first time DMing. Thanks! Oh, and I have 8 players. It’s pretty wild. I set up my battles on Notion and I have this tracker I use that helps things run smoothly.
@@kevinagar1412 I'm so glad to hear this video had been of use my friend! I really hope they enjoy this part of the adventure.
As for everlund, they should have a quest from Darathra to speak with Dral to meet with the harpers and gain access to the Moongleam tower and it's teleportation network. That's the main thing for everlund and it comes as a boon to the party.
Access to their information that gives them the last sighting of Harshnag, access to shops to restock and even a quest giver if you want to add side quests to the campaign.
So it's kind of a cool place to stop at on their way to Silverymoon and Zymorven Hall.
Edit: hold on just a sec, 8 players?! God damn dude hhhhh good luck with that cuz I ain't got a clue how to keep that number of people quite long enough for a suspenseful moment.
One thought. If they go down to the sewers from the Grand Dame, they will be dressed to the nines and not have any of their weapons on them. Is it fair to send them into the sewers without their weapons? If so, then should I scale down how many enemies they face?
Hey man, I like your videos. Found this one because my party is running Kraken's Gamble (after visiting Maelstrom, in order to find Hekaton) and I was looking for suggestions on how to beef up the Hekaton Rescue mikssion. The party followed Drylund from The Grand Dame into the sewers, where he was meeting Oosith. They'll be able to interrogate him after concluding the battle with Oosith in our next session (this week, woo).
Are you still making content? Hope you're still gaming. You'd be a fun person to run a session with, I bet you're a terrific DM.
@@OkuBeansidhe Hey there, glad to hear you enjoy my content 😊
I want to make more videos but currently I don't have much free time to be able to do so.
Let me know if you need any help with prepping the adventure and I'll try my best with what I know
Thanks for the compliments man and I hope your adventures are amazing
@@gammarayz1 I understand, sir. I do a fair amount of video editing myself and it can be very time-consuming. And, you obviously put a lot of effort and care into your scripts,
as well.
I do, in fact, have a question for you: What level were your players when they faced Iymrith in the final battle? I'm torn between keeping them at lvl 10 and letting them level up to 11 after the Morkoth encounter (which will happen very soon).
I want the fight to feel satisfyingly epic, but I'm always worried that I'm overdoing things. Iymrith is trying to ascend to a Greatwyrm, and I intend on buffing her considerably*.
My players (party of 5) are smart, experienced and are pretty powerful. Still...
*I'm borrowing heavily from the Tot's Guide to Slaying Iymrith: homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/tGQUOG6BbTj0
I'm not using the guide verbatim, but I will incorporate the skill challenges to get to her lair, the stone golem adds, and some of the special powers, such as Force Burn and Arcane Feedback.
@@OkuBeansidhe so I checked out the link you sent and at first glance it seems like so much fun!
I would say let your players reach level 11, it's not going to make much of a difference tbh.
I made some changes on my own during my campaigns and the big thing was that i left most of the storm giants on the sidelines during the final fight as they were "keeping the gargoyle swarms away from the party"
While Hekaton, Serissa and Uthor went with the party to fight Iymrith.
Both of Iymrith's children joined the fight, one preoccupied Uthor, the other Serissa, and Hekaton was left as the only giant helping the party until the other 2 broke away from their combatants or managed to kill them. The party was 5 level 10 players and it was chaotic, hard and most importantly, their win was deserved.
I think you have a great book helping you to finalize this amazing adventure and you can count on it being as epic as can be.
Oh yeah, I made Iymrith a level 20 sorcerer, gave her 2 level 9 spells, Power word Kill and Meteor swarm. The party did have a wizard so I did this so he had reason to make some cluthc counterspells.
The players lost 2 characters in the process but they were all fulfilled when the campaign ended.
@@gammarayz1 Thanks for your advice, and your prompt relies! You da best.
Yes, I intend on having NPCs; probably Hekaton and Harshnag (who the party thinks was murdered/almost murdered by Iymrith earlier in the campaign. Maybe another storm giant, maybe even the return of Felgolos, who the party made friends with prior rescuing him at Lyn Armaal). Either way they'll serve in support roles only, maybe even as potential NPC deaths to heighten the sense of risk.
Iymrith will have escaped Maelstrom once the party rescues (assuming they're successful) Hekaton, kidnapping Serissa and taking the Wyrmskull Throne in the process. She'll already be in the beginning stages of her ritual to ascend to Greatwyrm status when the party catches up with her desert lair.
Sounds like your campaign was a lot of fun!
@@OkuBeansidhe no worries man, I really hope you guys have a climactic finale! Good luck and let me know how it goes!
Awesome, thanks!
Np m8!
CHOCK
Which Goldenfield plot hook are you referencing?
The Golden Fields plot hook in The Kraken's Gamble, which lets your players find a cocoon being feasted on by seagulls on the banks of the River that leads up to Yartar. They find a noble who's been transformed by the aboleth and he begs them to take him back to his mother who'll pay any price to get him back.
@@gammarayz1 ok, I acquired that on the DM Guild to play with it
This is the best dm guide video i have ever seen 🤌
Thanks for the kind words friend.
If I could ask what you saw that warranted this nice comment 😊