Oh my gosh. I literally just started DMing the Curse of Strahd for a group of my friends and this video could not have been more perfectly timed. Thank you so much, Kelly and Monty. For all the tips and tricks, as well as the many hours of entertainment from your campaign. (Still waiting for a Drakkenheim module)
@@javahikage I can understand killing Lady Wachter and the guards to a degree but the Burgomasters wife? Although yeah my druid did kill her with an Allosaur that then ate most of the house staff.
I came to DND from a background of several years of modding Skyrim. I had downloaded hundreds of mods to make role-playing a character in the game something unique of my design. Coming into 5e and finding all the the different classes, races, sub-classes multi-classes source books, modules - it was like discovering an addiction to crack cocaine. I was instantly hooked. At some point I was persuaded to DM ("You'd be good at it", they said) and devised a one-shot on a ship asailed by undead pirates and the boat flounders in a storm and is sunk by a Tempest Elemental. But my players wanted to continue, so I started devising a desert island adventure - lost ruins, forgotten civilisations, cults...and in the course of which realised I had no economy, no way to get or sell items they needed or found. So I began looking for inspiration - and fell into Tomb of Anihilation - Port Nyanzaru was exactly what I was looking for - and as I read the story of The Death Curse and Acererak I was drawn in, decdining I couldn't possibly pinch this bit or that I needed the whole thing. By session 3 the party found themselves arriving in Chult. So when it came to planning this campaign it was to me completly second nature to mix'n'match and download resources from DM's Guild and other Published books and 'Mod' my game with the content I wanted. For the last few sessions I've had the players running around an adenture league module I really liked that had a solid maguffin and made use of the factions and introduced the yuan-ti early, which i liked as antagnoists to take the heat of the Arch-lich and the Sewn sisters who will appear later. I'm currently wrapping up that Adenturer's league module with them and have given them a few other side quests (save a priest, re-open the silver mines and stop the smugglers - two from the AL missions and 1 from a DMs guild series of adventures set in mines, my ranger was silvered weapons, i told him re-open the silver mine and you may...) basic idea is to bolster them with xp and practice teamwork and get a few magic items and next plan to send them off to a TOA Entry-level module I downloaded from the DM's Guild (Cellar of Death) which will be their first real dungeon crawl with traps designed to kill, and curses and and I've suped it up some of the monsters (first out the gate is a undead ogre, and out goes the spectre in the final room in comes an creature I spotted in Volo's - an Allip - but of a plot relevant dead Harper Rogue, who's secret that binds them still to this world is the location of the soulmonger) which I hope will make it challengeing and narratively rich for my level 4 group just as The Death Curse starts to be spelt out. What they will find there is going to be the impetus for the TOA main plot: "Find this forbidden city, locate this soulmonger, and destroy it!" At that point I'll point them towards the jungle and start the Hex crawl. So far I've teased the death curse as a meaningless rumour. I've had an NPC have a resurrect spell mysteriously fail. In two weeks they are going to be briefed by a merchant prince and a head harper on the Cellar of Death Mission, in which I am also going to have Wakanga give them a sending stone for teasing some locations on the other side of the map - which relates to some PC's backstories, and traversed first by another dead party of other adventurers the module introduces mostly in the last chapter, as you start tripping over their dead bodies. I'm thinking as well I'll devise a maguffin to activate a bunch of stargate-like teleporters I'm going to stick over the map (a bit like Halaster's gates in Mad Mage) to make coming back to Nyanzaru easier, which I want them to have the option to do. I'm in a group of TOA DM's on Facebook too and I get a metric f-tonne of inspiration from those guys, on how to run a dungeon or a way of approaching a tricky plot point or a novel way of running an NPC or creature. One of the members recently wrote an DMs Guild module from M'bala, and published it in the forum with a discount on the DMs guild. Seeing as M'bala is pretty underdeveloped in the module (See also Mezro, Hisari, Ishau) - that's definitely going in! I'm scrapping the hippy halucinations of the climb to Orolunga to see the sage, and pinching the entire tomb from Shrine of Tamochan from Yawning Portal - and turning it into the monster inhabit ruins of The Eschadow (lore dump...) the tribe pre-emptive villain Ras Nsi was exiled for exterminating. I might even have a yuan-ti spy pretend to be kidnapped by her bodyguards and pleased to be rescued by the party as a way to ingratiate herself with them so she can betray them later. Stick to the book? Where's the fun in that?
This was so helpful! I've never DMed before and I wanted to start with a module book (tomb of annihilation) for my friends, to keep the training wheels on and all that. I originally planned to read cover to cover, and make notes. I got partway through chapter two in the book and I felt overwhelmed, but this had a lot of helpful advice and I feel like I can breathe a little easier. Thank you!
Great video! Let's see if I can summarize... Skim the module, here is what you are looking for: 1. Cast of characters. Names, descriptions, motivations, where they appear in the story. If the module doesn't give you an explicit cast, create it. 2. For each section/chapter, create or find an outline of the plot: who is involved, what are they trying to do, what conflict will that have with the players, and what is likely to happen if the players do (or do not) get involved. 3. Print out the detailed maps, and perhaps make your own. Use them to write in notes as to who is there, what is happening, what's to find (loot, etc) and so forth. Now that you know who, why, what, and where, you have the skeleton needed to build your adventure as you see fit. Realize that all the rest of the material (lore, side quests, etc) is totally optional. If you don't see it as relevant to the adventure (and/or you and your players would find it boring), ignore it. Pick out what you want. Also, feel free to add additional foreshadowing/events to help explain the plot, and know that you will continually be making these changes as the module is played. And last, feel free to search online resources for other DMs and players who have played this module to get ideas and help.
DungeonFog has been a game changer for myself as a DM and for my groups experience as players. Having the fog of war map displayed on my TV for the group has been invaluable in dungeon crawls. It mitigates my need to flip back and forth, it visualizes doors and directions much easier for them. And it opens up so much creative play that theatre of the mind doesn't quite enable. Seeing the setting physically has been absolutely wonderful.
You guys are so informative about DND. Glad I found you guys. Wish I could play in one of your guy's games. I loved Dungeons of Drakkenheim and cannot wait until Shadows of Drakkenheim continues!
Glad to have the confirmation that I'm doing it right. Just started running the Lost Mine of Phandelver for my wife and son. They've never played before. It's first time DMing. And I haven't played since 2nd & 3rd editions.
The recommendation of a list of characters is such an important idea. It feels to me like modules are often written like the writer doesn't want to spoil the ending for the reader, which might make it a little more fun to read the first time, but it's a pain when you're trying to look back for reference.
hey Dudes, I really love your work it is not only helping me a loooooot but also amusing and enjoyable to watch! I already listened to all your Campaigns as a Podcast and wanted to ask if you ever considered putting your technical content into a podcast, too I bet a lot of folk would listen to it
I think this is one the best video they made, that I've seen. Honestly I've RP over 20 years and only just recently started to run my first ever published module. I'm running Dragon Heist, which I really like, but the frustration I had in putting all the required information together leaves a lot to be desired. The information is scattered ALL OVER THE PLACE. Sometimes major plot points are in people's backstory in the Appendex. A lot of the frustrations they are expressing I feel too. I think Ghost of Saltmarsh does the adventure organization pretty well.
Just DM’d for the first time and ran session I of the Lost Mine of Phandelver. This video is going to help me prepare to start running them through the town of Phandalin.
Holy moly you guys really are something else. That Dungoen Fog Side is exacly what I need, to finish my Maps. First Time DMing Online so I really needed some Visual help cause I cant use a Whiteboard. You Guys are just amazing
This is a great video. I needed this advise. I love how Monty is currently running a published module for Shadows of Drakkenheim and he pulls out the map from that module at 12:03. I am getting ready to run this module myself and love the changes that Monty has made to it so far. I can't wait to see the changes that he is going to make for the rest of the adventure. Monty is my favorite DM on the internet. Please continue the Shadows of Drakkenheim adventure. I love it!
I would recommend also adding a roster per chapter of each campaign. I often have to spend 15 or so minutes to find all minis i need for the chapter and i think a quick spreadsheet as a side or footnote would be emmensly helpful. It also makes ot easier for new dms who are still building out mini collection
Previously ran Strahd, and currently halfway through running a Dark Sun set Princes of the Apocalypse; A lot of folks hate this adventure for being too rigid, but I've made it more fluid by making the villains active participants in the workings of the game world and keeping a record of time passed, lessons I learned from Strahd. When you read your adventure, note what your villains want, and how they go about getting it. Send strike teams and spies and assassins to make that happen. Let the events of the game shift what the world looks like and how it operates. Now, once friendly trade outposts are turtling up in fear, and spreading environmental calamities are turning parts of the sandbox overworld into extreme danger zones filled with extra nasty beasties and survival challenges. The overthrow of the corrupt families of Vallaki allowed the democratization and renewal of the town, leading to an assault by Strahd himself and a strike force of undead soldiers to teach the town a lesson! Keeping a sense of time and the progress of the villains' plans make adventures, especially sandboxes like those two, come ALIVE.
I just started running WD:DH and this is really helpful! Your videos have been very important in improving my DM skills because this is my first time running more than a oneshot.
Was just planning to run Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat and was feeling a bit overwhelmed with a lot of the details in the books. Great video, really helpful!
Great show again as always, Dudes! Around 9:55 Kelly points out that you can still steer the party back to the plotline even if they come up with some off-script scheme. It's a real artform to pull the party back on track without railroading them with some contrived scheme of your own. I wondered if you could do an episode on some cool DM tricks and devices on how to get things back on track without LOOKING like that's what you're doing. Maybe you have already? *rushes to the video archives to find out*
To be honest, ive never used a module as far as a campaign because its always seemed so daunting to me. But i might actually try it sometime soon and use your tips and tricks. It sounds like itll be fun...thats if i pull it off right lol
I am doing something similar with a DriveThru RPG mod I picked up for a paltry sum. Actually weaving in some of our own homebrew lore into it. MacGuyver the modules, gang. :)
Wonderful video as always! 100% agree with needing rosters. Small thing - the audio is a bit inconsistent. Probably the fault of the microphone, but it's going back and forth between conversation tone and sudden yelling, causing earaches (if using headphones) or sudden yelling from my laptop (startling people in the room with me).
Hey one thing I would add to this great advice is something I got from I think a DMDave video. Make quick notes for each room on a 4x6 card or smaller piece of paper. Treasure, monsters, features etc... I am running Dungeon of the mad mage so I have notes on each room including the monsters as we do each level. For example... room 21. Full of webs, 3 giant spiders, list xx HP for each on the page and keep track there as they fight them. Also include any special tactics etc...
Guys, this piece of advice really helped me. Just write in your books! It is your book! I know that getting past the stigma of writing in a book is tough, but once you do, it is very liberating and very helpful. I use a notebook, Keep and Docs to set up games and being able to make comments directly on a page just makes sense.
The ”new” Tyranny of Dragons module does a good job in summarizing the key characters, factions and plots of both hoard of the dragon queen and rise of tiamat. So wotc are really stepping up on how they wanna present their modules. It’s great that they are even going back and ”remastering” their earlier modules.
I found this video to be very helpful as I prepare Curse of Strahd. I'm learning all kinds of tips and tricks and have a few ideas to make it my own. Such as, I'm using the Werewolves in the Mist hook for my group, but also letting it be known other groups have gone to investigate the other hooks. The idea being that I can use them to help bring in new characters if (more likely when) their characters die, or sneak the PC's some loot/supplies if they're in a particularly bad spot, etc...
Make a list "bullet points" of the story, one for villains, and one for loot keep it simple like one page so you just glance at it for a second or two and keep the adventure going.
Previous editions (in my case, I'm thinking specifically of AD&D), many modules had sections listing NPCs, new monsters, and magic items, some being actual pull-out booklets. Very handy, instead of having to reference multiple books, or flipping through the module booklet itself.
Excellent stuff guys. Lots here I found on my own, and agree 100%. Got a few new tips as well. :) Thought I'd toss in one more tip I started doing, and has made DMing much easier... Get a stack of basic 3x5 note cards, and copy the basic stat block info for the NPCs onto it. Because these stat blocks are NEVER in the same part of the book as the encounter description, it saves a lot of flipping back n forth. Additionally, it helps if you need to adjust dynamically to the players' actions, and move or modify an encounter.
As a first time DM I have found dungeon in a box to be super helpful. They give you most everything you need and point you to the stuff they don't give. Each box it about 2 sessions long and the digital content works great with roll 20.
Not going to lie, I picked up some 5e adventure module when getting back into DMing and felt like an idiot. In my 2e days, a good skim and a few hours of prep was good enough. This time, I was constantly having to bounce around, reread and remind myself what was going on. So much so, that I just started making everything. I found it much easier and quicker to adapt to the chaos that is an adventuring party. Good to know other people also felt like they are a bit disorganized and could use some work to make them easier to use. Great video, as always.
Me: "I'm gonna flirt with this NPC - all the other players are getting love interests, after all, so I should work on getting one, too!" DM: "Uh... quick question, how old do you think this NPC is?" Me: "I dunno, 18 or 19? About my character's age, right?" DM: *scribbles furiously* "No no, you're absolutely right, he is in fact 19." *years later* Me: *reading module so I can run it for some friends myself* "Oh, hey, it's the NPC my old character married, retired, and opened a magic shop with! Man, that brings back nostalgia." Me: "..." Me: *"FOUR YEARS OLD?!?!?!?!!?"* --- Anyway, I support the right of DMs to change the module on the fly without telling you. Sometimes it helps correct course when one of you bypasses or forgets to mention crucial info. And sometimes your player's pride depends on it. 😭
in one of the modules we’re playing, my DM specifically left out a necklace of fireballs from a treasure horde. i’m one of the players who reads chapters after they’re ran, and i asked him about it. his response was “that was an accidental TPK waiting to happen.”
Thanks a lot, this is really useful! Ironically, I have chosen Out of the Abyss as the first module for my home campaign since I love the Underdark setting so much. If only I have known that it's such a mess of a module... But now with your advice I feel much more confident! Kelly, care to share some of your notes? :)
Thank you for this video. I had a DM melt down at my session last night. This video has great information!!!! I feel like I want to keep going with DMing!!
R.I.P., I literally finished reading the Waterdeep Dragonheist book front to back, in depth, on the day this video came out. Oh well, there's still a bunch of good tips to integrate into my DMing style. Thanks Dungeon Dudes, you've really helped me with all the tips you give out.
Het guys just wanted to let you know that you put a period at the end of your Dungeonfog link so it doesn't show as easily. Loved the video, keep posting and stay safe guys! Love from Sweden
I just started Out of the Abyss and proceeded to panic at the sheer size of the module. I was getting overwhelmed at all the detail. Then I realized I can skip a lot of detail and follow each plot point to its completion. So drawing out a flowchart really helped. Thanks for the solid video guys, this was very helpful in helping to organize the whole campaign. 7 sessions in woohoo! P.S. Hope you are staying safe and healthy!
I like your videos. I wish you guys also did the new Pathfinder 2e material. You're better than a lot of people out there with how clear and how well it's put together.
Similar to the Roster, list out all of the locations, include page numbers like an Index, and then also write those page numbers on a printed/drawn map. This one saved me on Princes of the Apocalypse.
Excellent Video Dungeon Dudes! I cannot get enough of your work. I currently DM a campaign with my real-life friends as my characters. I find my players to be a much more casual group of D&D players than I am as a DM. How can I find players outside of my circle of friends who have a similar level of dedication to dungeons and dragons as I do, or at least players who I can depend on to show up consistently to our campaign sessions?
Dndbeyond has been my friend since 2018/19. Started as a player with a free account and now use it, paid account, to run a campaign and sharing my sourcebooks with players so they have more character options and can use items from the modules.
Notecards, notecards have saved me so much time readying for combat as a DM that one of the things I do when I read through is write up stats for npcs and monsters.
Could you guys do a video on helping adversarial DMs become more flexible and able to adjust around crazy player choices, rather than getting defensive and adversarial?
Covid 19 has given me so much time and now after 1 Year of Fangirling over DnD and the Shadows of Drakkenheim I am running Dragon of Icepire Peak for 3 Friends and I have introduced Traveling Merchants so my Players could buy stuff. They have Build Tower Mounted Ballista to defend Phandalin against the Dragon, which the Gnomes at Gnomegarde have built after they killed the Mimics there. Just today I changed Mountain's toe Gold mine so one Wererat was a Warlock of Orcus. The module itself is written quite Boring in my Opinion or at least it can feel that way when the most exciting Thing happening is rolling to see for how many hours they get lost in the woods on their way to the loggers camp. So changing the Adventure to make it more engaging, or fun or challengin has been so great for me and my Group. And thanks to you two for presenting me a Hobby i have already fallen in love with and thank you for creating this awesome and helpful videos ^^
Excellent tips! And for examples of a great DM applying those tips, I highly recommend watching Seth Skorkowsky's adventure module reviews. He goes over existing modules from D&D, Call of Cthulhu, Traveller, etc. in amazing details, explaining the changes he made and why, adding new adventure options and flavours, and giving great feedback on how it impacted his game table. I highly recommend!
Invariably, with any pre-made adventure module that I choose to run, I end up making it my own. I edit, take certain bits, change antagonists, add antagonists, and generally just treat them as skeletal frameworks from which I can mold into whatever I want it to be. This also helps if anyone has read or played the module before - when I run it, it will not be as-written, verbatim, or run in the way it has been run before. DM's Guild is a God-send for finding helpful supplemental information for adventures.
Dear DD, I love your content and how well you always present your topics. Very professional and yet informal. Question, which modules (WOTC) include a roster and summary? Which ones are the best, in your opinions. Thank you.
Modules can be thorny...Stick too close to it and it can be boring or poorly balanced, go too far off and the module becomes a paper weight. Personally I don't think I'll run a pre-written module ever again but running them did give me a good road map for campaigns going forward. Also the wonderful boon to my play group that has been Jimjar and Bafomet two characters I never would have thought of that ended up being incredibly fun for my play group. Ultimately this video is a really great resource because often times modules can hamstring a group trying to stick to the book itself, but they're still full of cool ideas scenes and characters. A DM building off a module can really create something special by having that backbone in place but it is a lot of work to build out from the words on the page. I think this video does a good job of illustrating that.
A great ressource for many of those is checking for example reddit. I found alot of helpful stuff there from people who have already run it and can give you an overview of the module or even help out with things that dont make sense.
Was hopping there was some advice on what you could do to up the difficulty for fights if you have more players than the adventure would have wanted. But I'll make sure to look up some advice for upping the difficulty from people that have ran the adventure.
This can also be a suggestion to writers and designers for future modules. - a list of characters sorted by importance/then sorted by location for static minor characters like shopkeeps (statblocks can also be here for characters who might end up in encounters) - tldr of the story and also maybe factions involved. - Maybe either include detatchable pages for maps so instead of going back and forth on pages for info on dungeons, you just remove the page with the map.
All good points :) A list of NPCs/roster with basic info,and the pages you can find their info/stats in the books would be nice. (and including stat on all the important NPCs... Doing Curse of Strahd the book had most of the NPC's stats, but our cards said we'd get help from the old raven...and he didn't have a stat block so the DM had to make it up between sessions). Zany scheme? Like tricking a rat prince? Yeah...room numbers and descriptions all over the place is annoying. In a 3.5 one I'm doing, I didn't think that one room in the module (was a 3rd party one) made much sense, so I made it into something else. I like visuals. I tend to print/draw maps to be used with player tokens...even hallways. The DM running Curse of Strahd has the world map out, but we don't get maps of any locations. He just lists all doors and stuff and then I'm like..."How many doors are there again?" and get confused by the 5 choices and just take whatever is closest. Theatre of the mind is great, but sometimes visuals are better so the players don't have to keep asking what they options for doors/hallways are 100 times (I'm not the only one in the group that asks often). I'm still not sure of what the raven inn looks like or the room full of vampire spawns... I've always cut out boring bits for 3.5 modules... most of the intro stuff. I change things to fit into where we were at the time and such. Sorry for rambling.
I use a module as guideline and then modify it as needed. That includes statblocks and events. I also always include the PCs' backgrounds into the story so it has a more "personal" feel
My favorite module moment was in Dragon Heist. The Party captured a goblin and they asked him what the room ahead was named. According to the book, it was called.... "Q7. Boss Fight" we rolled with it.
You mentioned at the beginning that you consider some modules to be really tight in narration, but others very open-ended. Can we get your opinions ranking them all from most flexible to most cohesive, so we can find one that fits our style and players' preferences?
I would love if you guys continue on this thread and do an episode about how to run One Shots.
Check out Matt Mercer's GM Tips video on one shots, I found it really useful. Would love these guys' take on it too.
Oh my gosh. I literally just started DMing the Curse of Strahd for a group of my friends and this video could not have been more perfectly timed. Thank you so much, Kelly and Monty. For all the tips and tricks, as well as the many hours of entertainment from your campaign. (Still waiting for a Drakkenheim module)
It's a fun module, my players just used an Allosaurus to kill Vallaki's Burgomaster for Lady Wachters coup.
You should also look up Lunch Break Hero (it is it Heroes?) he has a lot of awesome stuff for CoS
@@joeofdoom My party killed all the city guards, killed Lady Watcher and the burgomaster's wife xD
I was doing the same with Lost mine of Phandelver and this video helped me so much. The dungeon dudes are the best
@@javahikage I can understand killing Lady Wachter and the guards to a degree but the Burgomasters wife? Although yeah my druid did kill her with an Allosaur that then ate most of the house staff.
As legal counsel for an unnamed company, we no longer use Bugbears. We've found Umber Hulks to be far better with people skills.
Pinkerton agents are scarier than bugbears anyways
Pinkertons are the bomb!
Also, it would be interesting to see your personal ratings of best (and possibly worst) official modules to date. Thanks again)
YES PLEASE!
@@cmexrayu you mean, yes yes yes? :)
ToA is my number 1
Yes pleeeeease!!!
Agreed
I'll be honest your channel is my go-to for tips on 5e. I just started getting back into the game and you guys have been extremely helpful
I came to DND from a background of several years of modding Skyrim. I had downloaded hundreds of mods to make role-playing a character in the game something unique of my design.
Coming into 5e and finding all the the different classes, races, sub-classes multi-classes source books, modules - it was like discovering an addiction to crack cocaine. I was instantly hooked.
At some point I was persuaded to DM ("You'd be good at it", they said) and devised a one-shot on a ship asailed by undead pirates and the boat flounders in a storm and is sunk by a Tempest Elemental.
But my players wanted to continue, so I started devising a desert island adventure - lost ruins, forgotten civilisations, cults...and in the course of which realised I had no economy, no way to get or sell items they needed or found. So I began looking for inspiration - and fell into Tomb of Anihilation - Port Nyanzaru was exactly what I was looking for - and as I read the story of The Death Curse and Acererak I was drawn in, decdining I couldn't possibly pinch this bit or that I needed the whole thing. By session 3 the party found themselves arriving in Chult.
So when it came to planning this campaign it was to me completly second nature to mix'n'match and download resources from DM's Guild and other Published books and 'Mod' my game with the content I wanted. For the last few sessions I've had the players running around an adenture league module I really liked that had a solid maguffin and made use of the factions and introduced the yuan-ti early, which i liked as antagnoists to take the heat of the Arch-lich and the Sewn sisters who will appear later.
I'm currently wrapping up that Adenturer's league module with them and have given them a few other side quests (save a priest, re-open the silver mines and stop the smugglers - two from the AL missions and 1 from a DMs guild series of adventures set in mines, my ranger was silvered weapons, i told him re-open the silver mine and you may...) basic idea is to bolster them with xp and practice teamwork and get a few magic items and next plan to send them off to a TOA Entry-level module I downloaded from the DM's Guild (Cellar of Death) which will be their first real dungeon crawl with traps designed to kill, and curses and and I've suped it up some of the monsters (first out the gate is a undead ogre, and out goes the spectre in the final room in comes an creature I spotted in Volo's - an Allip - but of a plot relevant dead Harper Rogue, who's secret that binds them still to this world is the location of the soulmonger) which I hope will make it challengeing and narratively rich for my level 4 group just as The Death Curse starts to be spelt out. What they will find there is going to be the impetus for the TOA main plot:
"Find this forbidden city, locate this soulmonger, and destroy it!"
At that point I'll point them towards the jungle and start the Hex crawl.
So far I've teased the death curse as a meaningless rumour. I've had an NPC have a resurrect spell mysteriously fail. In two weeks they are going to be briefed by a merchant prince and a head harper on the Cellar of Death Mission, in which I am also going to have Wakanga give them a sending stone for teasing some locations on the other side of the map - which relates to some PC's backstories, and traversed first by another dead party of other adventurers the module introduces mostly in the last chapter, as you start tripping over their dead bodies.
I'm thinking as well I'll devise a maguffin to activate a bunch of stargate-like teleporters I'm going to stick over the map (a bit like Halaster's gates in Mad Mage) to make coming back to Nyanzaru easier, which I want them to have the option to do.
I'm in a group of TOA DM's on Facebook too and I get a metric f-tonne of inspiration from those guys, on how to run a dungeon or a way of approaching a tricky plot point or a novel way of running an NPC or creature. One of the members recently wrote an DMs Guild module from M'bala, and published it in the forum with a discount on the DMs guild. Seeing as M'bala is pretty underdeveloped in the module (See also Mezro, Hisari, Ishau) - that's definitely going in!
I'm scrapping the hippy halucinations of the climb to Orolunga to see the sage, and pinching the entire tomb from Shrine of Tamochan from Yawning Portal - and turning it into the monster inhabit ruins of The Eschadow (lore dump...) the tribe pre-emptive villain Ras Nsi was exiled for exterminating. I might even have a yuan-ti spy pretend to be kidnapped by her bodyguards and pleased to be rescued by the party as a way to ingratiate herself with them so she can betray them later.
Stick to the book? Where's the fun in that?
That is some good shit man. I would love to play at your table
I don't have time right now to watch this, but from the title alone, this is exactly what I've wanted.
This was so helpful! I've never DMed before and I wanted to start with a module book (tomb of annihilation) for my friends, to keep the training wheels on and all that.
I originally planned to read cover to cover, and make notes. I got partway through chapter two in the book and I felt overwhelmed, but this had a lot of helpful advice and I feel like I can breathe a little easier. Thank you!
2 days after buying Out of the Abyss, you post this. I'm so glad I subscribed
Thanks for great tips. As a DM who's using adventure modules a lot, this will be very helpful
Glad to hear!
Hey Dudes! I'm about to start running my first game as DM, and the timing of this video was perfect to help me prep
Great video! Let's see if I can summarize...
Skim the module, here is what you are looking for:
1. Cast of characters. Names, descriptions, motivations, where they appear in the story. If the module doesn't give you an explicit cast, create it.
2. For each section/chapter, create or find an outline of the plot: who is involved, what are they trying to do, what conflict will that have with the players, and what is likely to happen if the players do (or do not) get involved.
3. Print out the detailed maps, and perhaps make your own. Use them to write in notes as to who is there, what is happening, what's to find (loot, etc) and so forth.
Now that you know who, why, what, and where, you have the skeleton needed to build your adventure as you see fit. Realize that all the rest of the material (lore, side quests, etc) is totally optional. If you don't see it as relevant to the adventure (and/or you and your players would find it boring), ignore it. Pick out what you want. Also, feel free to add additional foreshadowing/events to help explain the plot, and know that you will continually be making these changes as the module is played.
And last, feel free to search online resources for other DMs and players who have played this module to get ideas and help.
DungeonFog has been a game changer for myself as a DM and for my groups experience as players. Having the fog of war map displayed on my TV for the group has been invaluable in dungeon crawls. It mitigates my need to flip back and forth, it visualizes doors and directions much easier for them. And it opens up so much creative play that theatre of the mind doesn't quite enable. Seeing the setting physically has been absolutely wonderful.
You guys are so informative about DND. Glad I found you guys. Wish I could play in one of your guy's games. I loved Dungeons of Drakkenheim and cannot wait until Shadows of Drakkenheim continues!
Glad to have the confirmation that I'm doing it right. Just started running the Lost Mine of Phandelver for my wife and son. They've never played before. It's first time DMing. And I haven't played since 2nd & 3rd editions.
The recommendation of a list of characters is such an important idea. It feels to me like modules are often written like the writer doesn't want to spoil the ending for the reader, which might make it a little more fun to read the first time, but it's a pain when you're trying to look back for reference.
hey Dudes,
I really love your work it is not only helping me a loooooot but also amusing and enjoyable to watch! I already listened to all your Campaigns as a Podcast and wanted to ask if you ever considered putting your technical content into a podcast, too
I bet a lot of folk would listen to it
16:42 while they may not use bugbears, they do use Pinkertons
I think this is one the best video they made, that I've seen. Honestly I've RP over 20 years and only just recently started to run my first ever published module.
I'm running Dragon Heist, which I really like, but the frustration I had in putting all the required information together leaves a lot to be desired. The information is scattered ALL OVER THE PLACE. Sometimes major plot points are in people's backstory in the Appendex. A lot of the frustrations they are expressing I feel too. I think Ghost of Saltmarsh does the adventure organization pretty well.
I takes a lot of work to get WDDH into shape, but worth it in my opinion. I've run it three times now.
Just DM’d for the first time and ran session I of the Lost Mine of Phandelver. This video is going to help me prepare to start running them through the town of Phandalin.
Holy moly you guys really are something else. That Dungoen Fog Side is exacly what I need, to finish my Maps. First Time DMing Online so I really needed some Visual help cause I cant use a Whiteboard. You Guys are just amazing
This is a great video. I needed this advise. I love how Monty is currently running a published module for Shadows of Drakkenheim and he pulls out the map from that module at 12:03. I am getting ready to run this module myself and love the changes that Monty has made to it so far. I can't wait to see the changes that he is going to make for the rest of the adventure. Monty is my favorite DM on the internet.
Please continue the Shadows of Drakkenheim adventure. I love it!
I would recommend also adding a roster per chapter of each campaign. I often have to spend 15 or so minutes to find all minis i need for the chapter and i think a quick spreadsheet as a side or footnote would be emmensly helpful. It also makes ot easier for new dms who are still building out mini collection
Previously ran Strahd, and currently halfway through running a Dark Sun set Princes of the Apocalypse; A lot of folks hate this adventure for being too rigid, but I've made it more fluid by making the villains active participants in the workings of the game world and keeping a record of time passed, lessons I learned from Strahd. When you read your adventure, note what your villains want, and how they go about getting it. Send strike teams and spies and assassins to make that happen. Let the events of the game shift what the world looks like and how it operates. Now, once friendly trade outposts are turtling up in fear, and spreading environmental calamities are turning parts of the sandbox overworld into extreme danger zones filled with extra nasty beasties and survival challenges. The overthrow of the corrupt families of Vallaki allowed the democratization and renewal of the town, leading to an assault by Strahd himself and a strike force of undead soldiers to teach the town a lesson! Keeping a sense of time and the progress of the villains' plans make adventures, especially sandboxes like those two, come ALIVE.
I just started running WD:DH and this is really helpful! Your videos have been very important in improving my DM skills because this is my first time running more than a oneshot.
Help. Bugbears from WotC are at my door. They want a word.
Was just planning to run Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat and was feeling a bit overwhelmed with a lot of the details in the books. Great video, really helpful!
Great show again as always, Dudes!
Around 9:55 Kelly points out that you can still steer the party back to the plotline even if they come up with some off-script scheme. It's a real artform to pull the party back on track without railroading them with some contrived scheme of your own. I wondered if you could do an episode on some cool DM tricks and devices on how to get things back on track without LOOKING like that's what you're doing.
Maybe you have already? *rushes to the video archives to find out*
I got recommended this video while preparing to run the waterdeep dragon heist for the first time, incredibly helpful as always!
To be honest, ive never used a module as far as a campaign because its always seemed so daunting to me. But i might actually try it sometime soon and use your tips and tricks. It sounds like itll be fun...thats if i pull it off right lol
I'm trying to figure out how to run Out of the Abyss, thank you so much for this. I'm already more confident in my ability to provide for my players!
Guys, thanks for this helpful info. Your experience is a great benefit to new and veteran DMs alike.
Im running dragon of icespire from the essential kit and its becoming a huge story. I ve combine and add a lot of stuff to make it more intense. 😀
I am doing something similar with a DriveThru RPG mod I picked up for a paltry sum. Actually weaving in some of our own homebrew lore into it. MacGuyver the modules, gang. :)
Thanks for posting guys! Stay safe, stay healthy!
👍 for „skipping the boring bits“ a very good advice I had to learn by myself. 👨🎓
Wonderful video as always! 100% agree with needing rosters.
Small thing - the audio is a bit inconsistent. Probably the fault of the microphone, but it's going back and forth between conversation tone and sudden yelling, causing earaches (if using headphones) or sudden yelling from my laptop (startling people in the room with me).
Hey one thing I would add to this great advice is something I got from I think a DMDave video. Make quick notes for each room on a 4x6 card or smaller piece of paper. Treasure, monsters, features etc... I am running Dungeon of the mad mage so I have notes on each room including the monsters as we do each level. For example... room 21. Full of webs, 3 giant spiders, list xx HP for each on the page and keep track there as they fight them. Also include any special tactics etc...
Guys, this piece of advice really helped me. Just write in your books! It is your book! I know that getting past the stigma of writing in a book is tough, but once you do, it is very liberating and very helpful. I use a notebook, Keep and Docs to set up games and being able to make comments directly on a page just makes sense.
All these tips are great. I've been running Avernus for a while, and we wouldn't have gotten this far without cutting the boring bits!
The ”new” Tyranny of Dragons module does a good job in summarizing the key characters, factions and plots of both hoard of the dragon queen and rise of tiamat. So wotc are really stepping up on how they wanna present their modules. It’s great that they are even going back and ”remastering” their earlier modules.
You guys really helped me become a Dungeon Master. Your advice has been invaluable and absolutely helpful :D!!!!
I found this video to be very helpful as I prepare Curse of Strahd. I'm learning all kinds of tips and tricks and have a few ideas to make it my own. Such as, I'm using the Werewolves in the Mist hook for my group, but also letting it be known other groups have gone to investigate the other hooks. The idea being that I can use them to help bring in new characters if (more likely when) their characters die, or sneak the PC's some loot/supplies if they're in a particularly bad spot, etc...
Like the fresh haircuts guys! thank you for your videos.. it has helped immensely getting me prepared to take my game into DnD. Thanks a ton!
Make a list "bullet points" of the story, one for villains, and one for loot keep it simple like one page so you just glance at it for a second or two and keep the adventure going.
Previous editions (in my case, I'm thinking specifically of AD&D), many modules had sections listing NPCs, new monsters, and magic items, some being actual pull-out booklets. Very handy, instead of having to reference multiple books, or flipping through the module booklet itself.
i'm a new DM running a module, so this is a godsend. thanks for being awesome
Oh, this is really useful! Thanks for the advice!
Gonna start curse of strahd next week, wish me luck...
Excellent stuff guys. Lots here I found on my own, and agree 100%. Got a few new tips as well. :)
Thought I'd toss in one more tip I started doing, and has made DMing much easier... Get a stack of basic 3x5 note cards, and copy the basic stat block info for the NPCs onto it. Because these stat blocks are NEVER in the same part of the book as the encounter description, it saves a lot of flipping back n forth. Additionally, it helps if you need to adjust dynamically to the players' actions, and move or modify an encounter.
Excellent tips as always. I've been really enjoying your channel. You guys have great chemistry and flow.
Keep it up!
Your comments about a roster is spot on.
As a first time DM I have found dungeon in a box to be super helpful. They give you most everything you need and point you to the stuff they don't give. Each box it about 2 sessions long and the digital content works great with roll 20.
Not going to lie, I picked up some 5e adventure module when getting back into DMing and felt like an idiot. In my 2e days, a good skim and a few hours of prep was good enough. This time, I was constantly having to bounce around, reread and remind myself what was going on. So much so, that I just started making everything. I found it much easier and quicker to adapt to the chaos that is an adventuring party. Good to know other people also felt like they are a bit disorganized and could use some work to make them easier to use.
Great video, as always.
As someone who was just getting ready to run Curse of Strahd next week, this was amazing!
Im trying to run descent into avernus rn, and this video just came out, wow perfect timing.
Me: "I'm gonna flirt with this NPC - all the other players are getting love interests, after all, so I should work on getting one, too!"
DM: "Uh... quick question, how old do you think this NPC is?"
Me: "I dunno, 18 or 19? About my character's age, right?"
DM: *scribbles furiously* "No no, you're absolutely right, he is in fact 19."
*years later*
Me: *reading module so I can run it for some friends myself* "Oh, hey, it's the NPC my old character married, retired, and opened a magic shop with! Man, that brings back nostalgia."
Me: "..."
Me: *"FOUR YEARS OLD?!?!?!?!!?"*
---
Anyway, I support the right of DMs to change the module on the fly without telling you. Sometimes it helps correct course when one of you bypasses or forgets to mention crucial info. And sometimes your player's pride depends on it. 😭
*FBI entered chat*
How did you confuse a 4 year old for a 19 year old? HOW?
@@caca95cb Poor description by the DM?
I wish I had these tips when I ran a 5e version of Cult of the Reptile God last year. I'll try to keep this stuff in mind
in one of the modules we’re playing, my DM specifically left out a necklace of fireballs from a treasure horde. i’m one of the players who reads chapters after they’re ran, and i asked him about it. his response was “that was an accidental TPK waiting to happen.”
Why would you do that? Chapters in the books can give spoilers for future chapters….
Thanks a lot, this is really useful!
Ironically, I have chosen Out of the Abyss as the first module for my home campaign since I love the Underdark setting so much. If only I have known that it's such a mess of a module...
But now with your advice I feel much more confident!
Kelly, care to share some of your notes? :)
Thank you for this video. I had a DM melt down at my session last night. This video has great information!!!! I feel like I want to keep going with DMing!!
Another very useful episode - keep up the great work, guys!
This is super helpful, gentlemen. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
R.I.P., I literally finished reading the Waterdeep Dragonheist book front to back, in depth, on the day this video came out. Oh well, there's still a bunch of good tips to integrate into my DMing style. Thanks Dungeon Dudes, you've really helped me with all the tips you give out.
upvote for the call for a roster!
Better indexes would be nice as well.
Het guys just wanted to let you know that you put a period at the end of your Dungeonfog link so it doesn't show as easily.
Loved the video, keep posting and stay safe guys!
Love from Sweden
I just started Out of the Abyss and proceeded to panic at the sheer size of the module. I was getting overwhelmed at all the detail. Then I realized I can skip a lot of detail and follow each plot point to its completion. So drawing out a flowchart really helped.
Thanks for the solid video guys, this was very helpful in helping to organize the whole campaign. 7 sessions in woohoo!
P.S. Hope you are staying safe and healthy!
Thank you for making these guides, Dudes, they are fun, informative and well made :D
I like your videos. I wish you guys also did the new Pathfinder 2e material. You're better than a lot of people out there with how clear and how well it's put together.
Perfect timing. I executed my lvl 1 party in session 1 last week trying to run out of the Wildmount book. 6 lizardfolk + shaman is a lot
Thanks guys! Can’t wait for more shadows of drakkenheim!
What you say about an npc cast list is spot on!
Similar to the Roster, list out all of the locations, include page numbers like an Index, and then also write those page numbers on a printed/drawn map. This one saved me on Princes of the Apocalypse.
Excellent Video Dungeon Dudes! I cannot get enough of your work. I currently DM a campaign with my real-life friends as my characters. I find my players to be a much more casual group of D&D players than I am as a DM. How can I find players outside of my circle of friends who have a similar level of dedication to dungeons and dragons as I do, or at least players who I can depend on to show up consistently to our campaign sessions?
Dndbeyond has been my friend since 2018/19. Started as a player with a free account and now use it, paid account, to run a campaign and sharing my sourcebooks with players so they have more character options and can use items from the modules.
Kelly, love
The past participle of run is run.
After I’ve run them
Modules I’ve run
Notecards, notecards have saved me so much time readying for combat as a DM that one of the things I do when I read through is write up stats for npcs and monsters.
Could you guys do a video on helping adversarial DMs become more flexible and able to adjust around crazy player choices, rather than getting defensive and adversarial?
Covid 19 has given me so much time and now after 1 Year of Fangirling over DnD and the Shadows of Drakkenheim I am running Dragon of Icepire Peak for 3 Friends and I have introduced Traveling Merchants so my Players could buy stuff. They have Build Tower Mounted Ballista to defend Phandalin against the Dragon, which the Gnomes at Gnomegarde have built after they killed the Mimics there. Just today I changed Mountain's toe Gold mine so one Wererat was a Warlock of Orcus. The module itself is written quite Boring in my Opinion or at least it can feel that way when the most exciting Thing happening is rolling to see for how many hours they get lost in the woods on their way to the loggers camp. So changing the Adventure to make it more engaging, or fun or challengin has been so great for me and my Group. And thanks to you two for presenting me a Hobby i have already fallen in love with and thank you for creating this awesome and helpful videos ^^
Nailed it, as always. Great video guys. Stay safe, and let's get a little distance between you two!
LOL!
6 ft apart!! ☺️
Great suggestions, tools, and techniques! Thanks dudes!
If I ever did try and DM a pre-written campaign, the hardest part for me would have always been the maps, thanks for the tips guys
Excellent tips! And for examples of a great DM applying those tips, I highly recommend watching Seth Skorkowsky's adventure module reviews. He goes over existing modules from D&D, Call of Cthulhu, Traveller, etc. in amazing details, explaining the changes he made and why, adding new adventure options and flavours, and giving great feedback on how it impacted his game table. I highly recommend!
Invariably, with any pre-made adventure module that I choose to run, I end up making it my own. I edit, take certain bits, change antagonists, add antagonists, and generally just treat them as skeletal frameworks from which I can mold into whatever I want it to be. This also helps if anyone has read or played the module before - when I run it, it will not be as-written, verbatim, or run in the way it has been run before. DM's Guild is a God-send for finding helpful supplemental information for adventures.
Dear DD,
I love your content and how well you always present your topics. Very professional and yet informal.
Question, which modules (WOTC) include a roster and summary?
Which ones are the best, in your opinions.
Thank you.
Modules can be thorny...Stick too close to it and it can be boring or poorly balanced, go too far off and the module becomes a paper weight.
Personally I don't think I'll run a pre-written module ever again but running them did give me a good road map for campaigns going forward. Also the wonderful boon to my play group that has been Jimjar and Bafomet two characters I never would have thought of that ended up being incredibly fun for my play group.
Ultimately this video is a really great resource because often times modules can hamstring a group trying to stick to the book itself, but they're still full of cool ideas scenes and characters. A DM building off a module can really create something special by having that backbone in place but it is a lot of work to build out from the words on the page. I think this video does a good job of illustrating that.
Talking about resources, downloading Sean McGovern's guides in the DMs Guild for each module is kind of a must.
Monthly membership 👀 you guys r still cool and remind me of games my players/party have used thanks cheers 🍻
A great ressource for many of those is checking for example reddit. I found alot of helpful stuff there from people who have already run it and can give you an overview of the module or even help out with things that dont make sense.
Superb idea about the cast of characters.
Was hopping there was some advice on what you could do to up the difficulty for fights if you have more players than the adventure would have wanted. But I'll make sure to look up some advice for upping the difficulty from people that have ran the adventure.
I'm going to apply these tips when we run Drakkenheim next year :)
this is a great video to get people playing the hobby!
This can also be a suggestion to writers and designers for future modules.
- a list of characters sorted by importance/then sorted by location for static minor characters like shopkeeps (statblocks can also be here for characters who might end up in encounters)
- tldr of the story and also maybe factions involved.
- Maybe either include detatchable pages for maps so instead of going back and forth on pages for info on dungeons, you just remove the page with the map.
I'm prepping into ch 4 of OotA for tomorrow's session.. I'm dreading it lol
All good points :)
A list of NPCs/roster with basic info,and the pages you can find their info/stats in the books would be nice. (and including stat on all the important NPCs... Doing Curse of Strahd the book had most of the NPC's stats, but our cards said we'd get help from the old raven...and he didn't have a stat block so the DM had to make it up between sessions).
Zany scheme? Like tricking a rat prince?
Yeah...room numbers and descriptions all over the place is annoying. In a 3.5 one I'm doing, I didn't think that one room in the module (was a 3rd party one) made much sense, so I made it into something else. I like visuals. I tend to print/draw maps to be used with player tokens...even hallways. The DM running Curse of Strahd has the world map out, but we don't get maps of any locations. He just lists all doors and stuff and then I'm like..."How many doors are there again?" and get confused by the 5 choices and just take whatever is closest. Theatre of the mind is great, but sometimes visuals are better so the players don't have to keep asking what they options for doors/hallways are 100 times (I'm not the only one in the group that asks often). I'm still not sure of what the raven inn looks like or the room full of vampire spawns...
I've always cut out boring bits for 3.5 modules... most of the intro stuff. I change things to fit into where we were at the time and such. Sorry for rambling.
I use a module as guideline and then modify it as needed. That includes statblocks and events. I also always include the PCs' backgrounds into the story so it has a more "personal" feel
I would love to hear your take on the three clue rule!
My favorite module moment was in Dragon Heist. The Party captured a goblin and they asked him what the room ahead was named. According to the book, it was called.... "Q7. Boss Fight" we rolled with it.
You mentioned at the beginning that you consider some modules to be really tight in narration, but others very open-ended. Can we get your opinions ranking them all from most flexible to most cohesive, so we can find one that fits our style and players' preferences?
Well played fellas - great points - cheers 🍻
Ive wondered the exact same thing! Great topic!
Glad it was helpful!
I’ve done side bar summary notes for eac eventful room
Including mobsters traps and relevant numbers of each