Giant rats with poisoned bites. Giant kind rats with intelligence and language and a secret civilization inside the walls. Giant meat eating intelligent rats with bibs and forks. Giant vampire rats. Giant invisible rats. Giant flying rats. Giant illusionary rats.
my favourite version of this, a rat infestation has frightened the tavern cat so the innkeep decides to ask the party to help her tame a bigger cat ( a giant lynx or some other terrain appropriate "bigger cat to deal with the rat problem, the party then needs to subdue the big cat in som appropriate way, rangers and druids can show offf their animal handling skills, while that speak with animals spell can be utilised in multiple ways
@@knotkool1 probably not promoted much or subscribed to because there is no content really. But on the other hand three of us have commented on the video that's a year-old within the last 24 hours.
This video was so great, thank you so much for the ideas! I specially like how you created nice background ideas while explaining why this challenge is good for new players. Hope you get tons of subscribers!
I would probably use a mix of giant rats and normal rats. Two giant rats might seem kinda scary but a fighter would take them on, but high roll could take him down in one turn. More intimidating would feel 6 rats attacking him every turn and missing because of feeling of being overwhelmed, but with less rng because they only deal 1 damage. You could also attack other characters without fear of a one shot. Remeber to use 1 damage npc and 1d4-1 npc for fights, it's a godsent for those lvl 1-2 fights.
Best dming instruction on youtube. I needed this video, and up untill I found it I had to watch stupid videos of random dm's who think they're comedians. They were not funny and their videos were not useful at all. this. this is the video that people should watch.
My players: oh the place is on fire? That'll kill the rats. Our job is done here. Show me the money. Not burning the tavern down was not in the agreement.
This is such a good idea for a video! I think the goals section should be at the front of the video and having some kind of twist always makes things a bit more interesting.
Thank you very much for this. I plan a level 1 session with rats and cellars. So very similar, but you provided some very good ideas to round my session.
I think the brief quest with a simple monster integrated with conditions and rules (stealth, darkvision, etc.) for the sake of introduction to players has been very helpful to me. I tried something similar with the exhaustion condition, and my players were not fans. This was a very interesting encounter, it being dynamic and three dimensional so to speak. There's a lot of information and play style wrapped into one short adventure, that I think most players would be receptive to. I wish I would have found this channel much earlier. Please do more like with with other conditions and rules....I would love to see how you would introduce exhaustion. ;-) Thanks.
That is the point. At five rats (on the map) we have a 'simple' 50xp encounter. This is a medium encounter. Being in favorable terrain I would even up their difficulty by one (hard, 75xp). To quote hard encounters from DMG; "a hard encounter could go badly for the adventures. Weaker characters might get taken out of the fight, and there's a slim chance that one or more die" End quote. If the players are unwilling to make lighting and fight in the dark that is their problem. If a simple cantrip, such as light, could turn the battle but goes unused the battle should definitely be harder; like an ice mage not casting ice magic at a red dragon. You want fights like this; you want to force the party to think. Use insight checks to provide hints. This is not encounter 1 on the way to level 2; this is a fully grounded encounter with stakes that the PCs will remember.
Good video, nice format. I think rats would probably have gnawed the leather satchel & armour to a point of making it useless. And the corpse/ skeleton would probably not be in one piece
You are welcome! Thank you for letting me know that the link is dead, there is a new one up. I changed the name recently and have been making maps, each one has a free release too, so no need to sub!
Keep doing more 1st level encounters and more encounters (2,3,4, lvl etc.. ) this is interesting instead of you see 4 goblins.. fight. 1st level should be more then an introduction to new players.. experienced players are often lower level. When they start a new campaign.. its a good niche to explore.
I personally have a few things to say about this. 1:Rats as a first encounter are a bit... overused in my opinion. in movies rats and rodents are a gimmick, in video games rats are a gimmick, in MMOs killing critters is a plague, in real life dealing with rodents is a common and constant issue. in a world of make-believe, where anything can be possible, killing rodents is really not what i expect to be even moderately interesting for a new player. tutorial fight vibes and all that. i'd rather go for skeletons, kobolds or goblins, even if some slight stat adjustments have to be made. to make the fight just a bit more dynamic than just killing or getting killed by rodents. 2: 8 rats for 1d4+2 damage with pack tactics and keen sense for a group of 4 people, unless you're playing with two clerics, and two martials, it's either going to be a slog to get through, or a critical situation really fast. also, due to keen sense, trying to sneak is absolutely pointless. they'll lose initiative. if the idea is "they could choose this option if they so wished" they can't, roll initiative and engage combat. spare everybody a headache and spare the new player his utter confusion when getting sniffed out by a single rat and dying alone out of position because he chose wrong. 3: For a wizard to have 5 hp at lvl 1, it means they have a -1 modifier, because they get their maximum amount of hp at first level, meaning either 8 or 9 CON, or you, as a DM, homebrewed a rule stating that he had to roll for his first lvl and got the saddest lvl 1 healthpool in the world. (in which case i'm sorry for your players) at lvl 2, even with their best roll, they can be one-shot with the most common weapons the game have to offer (great axe, greatswords, longswords, warhammer, rapiers, morning stars, spears, quarter staffs, mauls, every natural weapon in the entire game, common damaging cantrips, magic missile...) some of them without even counting any modifier, also, they won't be able to hold concentration. like ever. so either they are doing very wrong and the DM or anyone on the table need to help them, or everyone is letting them throw themselves into the grave, which is a great way to *not* introduce someone to DND, and leave them sad and frustrated, or, worst case scenario, very pissed at you, dm, for deciding to kill him. that's how you create a min-maxer who tries to cheese every fight. (i should know, i've been one for a year for this exact reason.) 4: i personally love the idea of having environmental things put on the table. new players tend to love playing with their environment, and allowing, or encouraging this is very cool and very wholesome, the players will love it. 5: the loot is very hit or miss. giving a healing potion is great. money's always good, and a bit of lore goes a long way for immersion. however the *gear* is really not great. giving a longsword and the baseline armor for martial classes is a weird choice. the longsword is the most common weapon in the game. it's a sword, it deals good damage, can be wielded two-handed. but the issue with it is that most martial classes will choose their optimal weapon anyway. why not give an alternate weapon, like a scimitar, which can be dual wielded, an oil or acid flask, which, among other uses, can be thrown as projectiles, a bow or javelins for ranged options, or a hand axe which can be thrown and dual wielded? although, the longsword is sold at a fair price, so at least it's a generous offer. if a bit odd. as for the leather armor... completely pointless imo. rogues start with leather armor, all martial classes start with better alternatives, even the cleric can have better gear. why not introduce studded leather here? the best light armor, which costs almost nothing to buy anyway, the rogue or hexblade will get a nice +1, and you teach your players about the importance of looting and gear upgrades. 6: the plot hooks are very very good, although i really don't enjoy the first quest, i like the start and the end of it. the start can have the party build their network and have a safe place to stay during the first session. and the fact that the rats are an omen for a vermintide style campaign, while boring as soon as the first session, it can lead to an extremely enjoying campaign. for the purpose of playing with first timers i'd say... 5/10 killing 6-8 rats in a cellar is not what players think when they think "adventure". the narrative will be really cool to play through if it's managed correctly, it's just gonna be as interesting as a sugar sandwich for the most part of the first session. the loot is decent. the map creation is excellent. the punishing aspect of DnD has to be tuned down. pack tactics is not to be trifled with when first starting. you don't punish new players for being out of position in the first session, nor should you give them an option which is, or can be, an obvious bad strategic choice. it's gonna be confusing, it's gonna be frustrating, and new player won't want to play anymore if they die to rats like that. also, help your players, for god's sake. a wizard has to have CON, everybody should have CON for that matter. dumping CON as a first timer should be *HIGHLY* discouraged, and you, as DM or experienced player, or well-balanced individual and friend, should help them build their ideal character instead to avoid them dying to a rat nibbling their toe. as a regular combat and story campaign however, i'd say 9/10 i'd love to play that game, it seems like it is very enjoyable, with dynamic fights, cool mechanics and an interesting story behind it. loot's not great, but no campaign has good loot until at least lvl 3 or 4 so, it still feels like home.
Thing is about darkvision, it’s not as good as you think, in the end the players if you play darkvision right, will still want a torch cause of color vision, you take for granted the ability to deceern between colors until everything looks gray like rock. If it stands still, you might not see it even if your looking. And darkvision only reaches 60ft if there’s a torch, so naturally there’s too many benefits to having a torch which make my players take one just so that they don’t have to make perception checks on every rock that looks suspiciously like an animal. 3:26 since you brought it up. Darkvision has made it easy to make my players paranoid over simple things.
Appreciate the feedback, haven't made a video in a long time but i did pick up a new mic a few days ago. Hopefully when I get around to it the audio will be louder and clearer!
@@darksigns3966 good good! I hope ya continue with vids like this. Just random cool little example encounters and tactics for monsters. Its a unique idea.
![ILLSLICK - WINTER IS COMING [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dwTMeM1zIhQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Giant rats with poisoned bites. Giant kind rats with intelligence and language and a secret civilization inside the walls. Giant meat eating intelligent rats with bibs and forks. Giant vampire rats. Giant invisible rats. Giant flying rats. Giant illusionary rats.
Get out of my head. Lol
"Rodents of unusual size? I doubt they exis-" "SKREEEEE!"
Rodents of unusual size? I don't think they actually exist..aaah!!!!
This sounds like a fantastic first encounter for getting people into the game
That sounds like a guaranteed party kill
Instructions aren't clear, now I have rats in my flat.
Why is this so good and why isn't it more popular?
my favourite version of this, a rat infestation has frightened the tavern cat so the innkeep decides to ask the party to help her tame a bigger cat ( a giant lynx or some other terrain appropriate "bigger cat to deal with the rat problem, the party then needs to subdue the big cat in som appropriate way, rangers and druids can show offf their animal handling skills, while that speak with animals spell can be utilised in multiple ways
What the hell is this?! Why so few subscribers? This is great!
because there only 280 of us total DnD geek nerds left in the world. we are a dying breed.
@@knotkool1 I mean yeah sure, but this video kinda predates the whole OGL-fiasco =P
@@knotkool1 probably not promoted much or subscribed to because there is no content really. But on the other hand three of us have commented on the video that's a year-old within the last 24 hours.
Please keep it this way, I like the idea of using the monsters to teach the players the mechanics of the game.
5:36 I'd imagine that as the rat leaping it's fangs into the wizard's neck, killer rabbit style
The format of this is so good and the editing is also great. Its a shame there aren't more of these!
We need more videos like this. This is too amazing not to share
This has been the best video I have seen so far. Love the way you detailed everything. Hope to see some more content!
This video was so great, thank you so much for the ideas! I specially like how you created nice background ideas while explaining why this challenge is good for new players. Hope you get tons of subscribers!
This is a phenomenal video! Great work man!
I would probably use a mix of giant rats and normal rats. Two giant rats might seem kinda scary but a fighter would take them on, but high roll could take him down in one turn. More intimidating would feel 6 rats attacking him every turn and missing because of feeling of being overwhelmed, but with less rng because they only deal 1 damage. You could also attack other characters without fear of a one shot. Remeber to use 1 damage npc and 1d4-1 npc for fights, it's a godsent for those lvl 1-2 fights.
Best dming instruction on youtube. I needed this video, and up untill I found it I had to watch stupid videos of random dm's who think they're comedians. They were not funny and their videos were not useful at all. this. this is the video that people should watch.
You should do more encounter builds like this, at common levels or common monster types. Great job!
This was a great intro to becoming a GM/ Referee/Judge
My players: oh the place is on fire? That'll kill the rats. Our job is done here. Show me the money. Not burning the tavern down was not in the agreement.
This is a really good quality video!
This is fantastic! Really well made, and talked through. Love it. Very well done.
Also what and where did you get those wipe clean boards? They look super useful
This is really well thought out and exactly what I was looking for! Thanks!
A D&D TH-camr who not only knows the rules of D&D, but wants to use them?
This is a rare find, indeed.
My man your vid is pure gold
This is such a good idea for a video! I think the goals section should be at the front of the video and having some kind of twist always makes things a bit more interesting.
Fantastic little guide, props to you. You should have more subs for this quality of content.
As someone who mains Wizards (usually scholarly Divination or Scroll types) 10:38 is 100% accurate.
Starting my first campaign ever next week and this has been invaluable, thank you so much!
You are a god send, wish I could see more
Thank you very much for this. I plan a level 1 session with rats and cellars. So very similar, but you provided some very good ideas to round my session.
I an going to watch every video you made
and watch this one 6 more times
Great advice. Keep making videos, please.
This is a great vid!
Love the Dragon Age sound bite at the beginning
I've needed this video for years.
Even RDR2 had a "Rat infestation in a bar" side quest XD
A good starter mission for players. Dms could use the moon rats if has been stuck as full moon for 5 nights. A questline starter piece.
This video is very high quality. I look forward to more if you choose to continue making videos.
Man, this was realy good
This is top tier content!
Excellent explanation and ideas for an encounter. Good job. I'm going to use many of these ideas for my giant rat encounter.
Nice! I love it, come back and share how it went if you get the chance.
@@darksigns3966 will do, please make some more of these, e.g. how to use spellcasters to make good encounters etc
I think the brief quest with a simple monster integrated with conditions and rules (stealth, darkvision, etc.) for the sake of introduction to players has been very helpful to me. I tried something similar with the exhaustion condition, and my players were not fans. This was a very interesting encounter, it being dynamic and three dimensional so to speak. There's a lot of information and play style wrapped into one short adventure, that I think most players would be receptive to. I wish I would have found this channel much earlier. Please do more like with with other conditions and rules....I would love to see how you would introduce exhaustion. ;-) Thanks.
This is extremely helpful! Thanks :D I'm running my first dnd 5e campaign this Saturday.
Awesome! I'm sure it will go well and most importantly, have fun!
How did it go?
This is such a good video, it deserves way more views ):
Very useful, especially as a ready made adventure for me, as a new GM!
This is great you should do more videos
Great stuff thank you. I love giant rats (not as much as skeletons!). I loved the giant rats in sunless citadel!
wonderful video!
Hey! You're awesome! Give us more great content!
As a completely new dm, this sound like a deadly encounter to me. 2 attacks and you are dead and they have advantage most of the time.
That is the point. At five rats (on the map) we have a 'simple' 50xp encounter. This is a medium encounter. Being in favorable terrain I would even up their difficulty by one (hard, 75xp). To quote hard encounters from DMG; "a hard encounter could go badly for the adventures. Weaker characters might get taken out of the fight, and there's a slim chance that one or more die" End quote.
If the players are unwilling to make lighting and fight in the dark that is their problem. If a simple cantrip, such as light, could turn the battle but goes unused the battle should definitely be harder; like an ice mage not casting ice magic at a red dragon. You want fights like this; you want to force the party to think. Use insight checks to provide hints.
This is not encounter 1 on the way to level 2; this is a fully grounded encounter with stakes that the PCs will remember.
Good video, nice format. I think rats would probably have gnawed the leather satchel & armour to a point of making it useless. And the corpse/ skeleton would probably not be in one piece
nice video bro
Deserves more likes and comments. I'll help.
Thanks Jake! means a lot!!
Where'd you get those jigsaw battlemats?
They're fancy 😊
You are welcome! Thank you for letting me know that the link is dead, there is a new one up. I changed the name recently and have been making maps, each one has a free release too, so no need to sub!
It's way easier to watch and sounds better at 1.25 speed, maybe you should just speed up your audio after recording?
Great vid
This was helpfull. Thx. Pls Do more Videos like this
Could you provide a link for the modular dry-erase plates you're using?
worth a subscribe :) thanks
Keep doing more 1st level encounters and more encounters (2,3,4, lvl etc.. ) this is interesting instead of you see 4 goblins.. fight. 1st level should be more then an introduction to new players.. experienced players are often lower level. When they start a new campaign.. its a good niche to explore.
I personally have a few things to say about this.
1:Rats as a first encounter are a bit... overused in my opinion. in movies rats and rodents are a gimmick, in video games rats are a gimmick, in MMOs killing critters is a plague, in real life dealing with rodents is a common and constant issue. in a world of make-believe, where anything can be possible, killing rodents is really not what i expect to be even moderately interesting for a new player. tutorial fight vibes and all that. i'd rather go for skeletons, kobolds or goblins, even if some slight stat adjustments have to be made. to make the fight just a bit more dynamic than just killing or getting killed by rodents.
2: 8 rats for 1d4+2 damage with pack tactics and keen sense for a group of 4 people, unless you're playing with two clerics, and two martials, it's either going to be a slog to get through, or a critical situation really fast. also, due to keen sense, trying to sneak is absolutely pointless. they'll lose initiative. if the idea is "they could choose this option if they so wished" they can't, roll initiative and engage combat. spare everybody a headache and spare the new player his utter confusion when getting sniffed out by a single rat and dying alone out of position because he chose wrong.
3: For a wizard to have 5 hp at lvl 1, it means they have a -1 modifier, because they get their maximum amount of hp at first level, meaning either 8 or 9 CON, or you, as a DM, homebrewed a rule stating that he had to roll for his first lvl and got the saddest lvl 1 healthpool in the world. (in which case i'm sorry for your players) at lvl 2, even with their best roll, they can be one-shot with the most common weapons the game have to offer (great axe, greatswords, longswords, warhammer, rapiers, morning stars, spears, quarter staffs, mauls, every natural weapon in the entire game, common damaging cantrips, magic missile...) some of them without even counting any modifier, also, they won't be able to hold concentration. like ever. so either they are doing very wrong and the DM or anyone on the table need to help them, or everyone is letting them throw themselves into the grave, which is a great way to *not* introduce someone to DND, and leave them sad and frustrated, or, worst case scenario, very pissed at you, dm, for deciding to kill him. that's how you create a min-maxer who tries to cheese every fight. (i should know, i've been one for a year for this exact reason.)
4: i personally love the idea of having environmental things put on the table. new players tend to love playing with their environment, and allowing, or encouraging this is very cool and very wholesome, the players will love it.
5: the loot is very hit or miss. giving a healing potion is great. money's always good, and a bit of lore goes a long way for immersion. however the *gear* is really not great. giving a longsword and the baseline armor for martial classes is a weird choice. the longsword is the most common weapon in the game. it's a sword, it deals good damage, can be wielded two-handed. but the issue with it is that most martial classes will choose their optimal weapon anyway. why not give an alternate weapon, like a scimitar, which can be dual wielded, an oil or acid flask, which, among other uses, can be thrown as projectiles, a bow or javelins for ranged options, or a hand axe which can be thrown and dual wielded? although, the longsword is sold at a fair price, so at least it's a generous offer. if a bit odd.
as for the leather armor... completely pointless imo. rogues start with leather armor, all martial classes start with better alternatives, even the cleric can have better gear. why not introduce studded leather here? the best light armor, which costs almost nothing to buy anyway, the rogue or hexblade will get a nice +1, and you teach your players about the importance of looting and gear upgrades.
6: the plot hooks are very very good, although i really don't enjoy the first quest, i like the start and the end of it. the start can have the party build their network and have a safe place to stay during the first session. and the fact that the rats are an omen for a vermintide style campaign, while boring as soon as the first session, it can lead to an extremely enjoying campaign.
for the purpose of playing with first timers i'd say... 5/10 killing 6-8 rats in a cellar is not what players think when they think "adventure". the narrative will be really cool to play through if it's managed correctly, it's just gonna be as interesting as a sugar sandwich for the most part of the first session. the loot is decent. the map creation is excellent. the punishing aspect of DnD has to be tuned down. pack tactics is not to be trifled with when first starting. you don't punish new players for being out of position in the first session, nor should you give them an option which is, or can be, an obvious bad strategic choice. it's gonna be confusing, it's gonna be frustrating, and new player won't want to play anymore if they die to rats like that. also, help your players, for god's sake. a wizard has to have CON, everybody should have CON for that matter. dumping CON as a first timer should be *HIGHLY* discouraged, and you, as DM or experienced player, or well-balanced individual and friend, should help them build their ideal character instead to avoid them dying to a rat nibbling their toe.
as a regular combat and story campaign however, i'd say 9/10 i'd love to play that game, it seems like it is very enjoyable, with dynamic fights, cool mechanics and an interesting story behind it. loot's not great, but no campaign has good loot until at least lvl 3 or 4 so, it still feels like home.
Liked this, give me MORE
Darkvision is also monochromatic.
Thing is about darkvision, it’s not as good as you think, in the end the players if you play darkvision right, will still want a torch cause of color vision, you take for granted the ability to deceern between colors until everything looks gray like rock. If it stands still, you might not see it even if your looking. And darkvision only reaches 60ft if there’s a torch, so naturally there’s too many benefits to having a torch which make my players take one just so that they don’t have to make perception checks on every rock that looks suspiciously like an animal.
3:26 since you brought it up.
Darkvision has made it easy to make my players paranoid over simple things.
which game are you playing in the background?
May I ask what microphone you use?
This video is so good, thats why it hurts less to be like #667
Hahaha, Fable Guildmaster!!!!
5:15 I'd also like to know the software used here
1:14 what software is that??
Isn't this a module? Swear I've played this like twice.
new sub. If i can though i recommend you speak louder in these vids. Keep this up though! the idea is great
Appreciate the feedback, haven't made a video in a long time but i did pick up a new mic a few days ago. Hopefully when I get around to it the audio will be louder and clearer!
@@darksigns3966 good good! I hope ya continue with vids like this. Just random cool little example encounters and tactics for monsters. Its a unique idea.
Pls make more videos
you told us what she's wearing but i can't play this encounter without knowing olga's pronouns
hey man keep it up, good ideas. Put a sock over your mic to soften those consonants though.