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Adventure Walkthrough: Watchers in the Dark
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ส.ค. 2024
- A walkthrough for The Arcane Library's newest 4th-level one-shot for 5E Dungeons & Dragons, Watchers in the Dark. Get your copy here: www.thearcanel...
A meteorite has crashed into the countryside, and now vicious enemies prowl the night. Can the players put a stop to the sinister force that is causing savage animal attacks and a growing list of missing people?
I imagine some of the shard would have pierced the surrounding trees too. I think an encounter against possessed trees as they get to the point of the impact would be fun :-)
Picked this up today to run tomorrow as a one shot in the middle of a campaign... sounds like a blast!
It's always very nice to have your useful videos to help prepare the sessions! Thank you so much 😊
I bought this bundled when I had first sorted 5e, now I’m mainly run shadowdark but wanted to run a 5e oneshot and I look forward to running this tomorrow night!
This is wonderful. I've been looking for a really good, dark, fun one shot to run and I've found it. My thanks to you, Jake Martin, and whomever else worked on this!
Your system of presenting content and thoughtful adventure design continues to impress.
The diary Torvaine maintains is a great example of this; where, should he (as a pivotal NPC) be killed accidentally, it's a means of making sure his message can still be delivered. Others have mentioned having meteor-based adventure ideas of their own (I can't lie; I have one, too!), but I never considered having shards from the meteorite impact playing such a large role in spreading the chaos -- it was a very clever idea! Speaking of clever; the timer you introduced! While it's sometimes tricky to manage a timer at the table, I agree in their importance for tension and excitement so it's worth it for the DM to plan out in advance how they want to track that passage of time.
Even if I never end up playing or running this one (I hope to!), it was an excellent sample to study and analyze.
Keep up the great work!
Thank you so much, David! This was wonderful and very motivational to hear. I'm so glad you appreciated those design nuances, and I'm grateful you took the time out to say so! :D
I know, once upon a time I said Bruce Cordell was my favorite adventure writer -- no longer You are. Your style is really revolutionary.
All aspects of it.
* A single page per encounter;
* The transitions you provide at the end of each encounter;
* The thoughtful way you provide appeals to reward and heroism and discovery to hook the widest variety of players;
* Lists of details instead of a wall of words;
* Bolded keywords
* How you detail every NPC with a unique appearance, something they do, and a secret.
It's all real, next-level design. Truly.
It's not all perfect (for instance, there is no mention of the second story or how to access it in 'Masque of the Worms,' but the picture on the cover clearly shows one), but it is very close. ;)
You can safely count on me to purchase every adventure you ever produce.
@@dmwagner71 Aw dang! I'm so honored that I don't even know what to say. Bruce Cordell is one of my biggest inspirations and someone I look up to immensely -- the fact that you'd put some of my ideas on par with his own is absolutely humbling and so appreciated. I'm not sure I'm deserving, but I'm thankful all the same of your high praise. The quest for perfection is impossible, but worthy, as you suggested, and feedback of all sorts makes me better with each iteration. Thank you so much for your truly kind praise and insight, and for your support!!
Well met! Just got this adventure from DriveThruRPG! I'm running a campaign in my fantasy world, that is also a livestream at twitch, and at this point of the timeline, the world is really dark and harsh. The purpose of the campaign is to have a survival feeling everytime. Combats are hard because enemies are usually stronger than the PC's.
When I saw the content of your adventure, it was really funny to me, because I could easily blend your elements with the first arc of the campaing. A meteor crashed, and the land apperars to be infested with some kind of pest... but is way worst than they think, because the meteor brought a new queen (alien instectoid that I kindly entitled as Queen), that in her endless hunger, is ready to consume the whole land.
So im excited because your content will enrich the first arc of the campaing. I need to homebrew some monsters and elements, but I loved your creatures. Anyways, loved your video aswell. Thank you so much! I will come back at the end of the first arc to tell you if someone died during it!
Well again!
That is fantastic, I'm so glad to hear this fit so well with your campaign! A dark, challenging, survival-style game sounds super cool. And I love that there was already a meteor. Fits perfectly! :)
Came her for warhammer lore, left with a new DnD channel to follow and an adventure my player wont soon forget thank you.
Thank you so much, that makes me so happy to hear! :)
This might make a perfect tie-in/intro to an updated 'Tale of the Comet' campaign I am considering using Warforged, Artificers, etc
Awesome! I'm glad that worked out so well! :D
So I got your email, and purchased 'The Watchers In the Dark'. After listening to this I feel I could run pretty well. Good job.
Thanks so much, I'm really glad to hear this video was helpful! :)
This looks cool! I'm trying to DM my first one-shot for Halloween and I'm loving this one
Love the cosmic horror vibe, please make more of these!
I had a crazy idea. I haven't seen it anywhere in the comment section so far, so I'll just share.
How about when the Mind Shard uses Reverse Gravity, probably when near death, reverses also the gravity for the meteor?
This would give the PCs the following problems and solutions:
Problems :
If they have removed the crystal splinters, they cannnot re - enter the meteor as the mind shard can, to protect itself, when the meteor falls again deeper in the warrens.
The meteor is going to crash almost on top of them, and even it doesn't hit anyone the warrens could crumble and a landslide could bury them beneath with the Mind Shard and its Ankhegs, so they must think of an exit strategy first and fast! Mind Shard later!
Solutions:
The reverse gravity will lift the meteor so it will expose the 40ft center as hole in the ceiling for the PCs to escape, or force them to hide in the meteor, until the spell ends and the meteor crashes again back in the warrens.
Maybe one of the wizards or another useful Ally or NPC of DM's choice, can intervene and help the PCs rescuing them from certain death!
What do you think?
Looks awesome! I've been writing my own meteor-based adventure, so I love the premise. I'll be picking this up today. I've already got my Halloween adventure prepped but I'll look forward to running this one in the future. Gamehole Con is in about a week and a half. Too bad you're not running this there.
Thank you so much! There's so much potential in meteors. Good luck writing your adventure! And I wish I could be at Gamehole Con this year, but it's not to be this time around. I'm definitely planning on being there next year! :)
Heck yeah. Picking it up today!
One of my favourite adventures ever. 💙
Love these walkthroughs and it really does add value to the adventures. Today I will run this with your minimalist method™ hehe. Wish me luck! Congrats on the news btw.
Fantastic! Good luck, and have lots of fun! :D
This video was so helpful, can’t wait to play later this week. We’re incorporating costumes and as GM I’m dressing up as the Mind Shard but shhhh don’t tell!
Hahahahahaha yesssss, amazing! :D
Ooh! In media res opening! That's my favorite! 😁
And I think an hour and one minute in with the mind shards still on board would be hilarious with a barbarian, warlock, or rogue in the group. Serious potential for pvp to erupt. Worse if the warlock tries to befriend the thing.
I'm waiting with held breath for a group to report back that they all got taken over by mind shard! It would be both terrifying and awesome.
Hey this looks really great. I think I'll check out your website and pick up a few of your products. Cheers!
Thanks so much, Brad! Cheers and happy gaming! :)
Darkest Dungeon DLC Color of Madness in 5E essentially. Huzzah!
Nicholas Squires I’ve never actually played Darkest Dungeon! But I’m glad to hear you’re into the idea of the adventure! :)
The Arcane Library the last expansion of Darkest Dungeon, called Color of Madness is basically a retelling of the Lovecraft story Color Out of Space, meteorite crashes into the countryside (specifically a farm) and an alien Intelligence takes control of the Miller and his laborers. They have meteorite crystals imbedded into their flesh and warp time/space with their insanity
@@Audiotrocious OMG hahahaha!!! I guess the saying is true that everything has already been done. xD But I will say that Color Out of Space did inspire some of this adventure!
My party handled themselves well right up until the subwarren. They never figured out to concentrate on the mind shard despite it using it’s legendary actions on them repeatedly. They gave it a couple of cracks but spread out most of their attacks against the ankhegs. In the end I had to pull back to prevent a tpk. Going in I feared it would be a cake walk. Never underestimate your players ability to ignore the obvious!
Dang! Yep, that's a tough fight if the characters try to hold back the unending flood of ankhegs. I'm glad you pulled back from a TPK over it, I bet they learned some new battle strategies from the whole thing! :)
Ran this last night, and my party was the same -- didn't figure out it was the shard until too late. I'm not a pull punches DM, so it did end up in a TPK. One in a pool of acid, the other three to ankhegs. But it was great! It was a one-off, outside of a campaign, so players were fine with dying. I ended up playing it a bit like Call of Cthulhu -- all atmosphere and theater of the mind -- until the sub-crater, when I set up a map. I think, in hindsight, especially as the PCs became more worried about tactics with the grid set up, that I might have been better off with staying ToTM the whole time, and players might have pulled it off. In any case, my players LOVED the Alien homage, and I had a fantastic time running it! Wil definitely be running more of your adventures, @TheArcaneLibrary, and am looking forward to my Shadowdark hardcover to arrive!
First of all - great adventure! Loved the concept and the vibe throughout. I had a "horror soundtrack" playlist going throughout the session - which really freaked out a couple of the players as time went on. Like some of the others commenting here, my players did alright until the sub-warren. Of course, when I say "alright," I should mention that at least one PC had been rendered unconscious in the "egg cave" and all PCs were *very low on HP by the time they figured out the sacrifice that had to be made to get into the meteor's core. Once there, only the wizard concentrated on the mind shard (luckily), but even then he was knocked unconscious during the battle. The druid had stayed in the warrens to protect Roslin, but of course they had to face the ongoing onslaught of Ankheg minions that were passing through (or tunneling around) the main cavern. They both wound up unconscious and would have completely perished had timing not worked out in the main battle below. Very fortunately for the party, the Teifling wizard made a huge sacrifice and re-embedded a shard of crystal in his arm to enter the sub-warren and help the party. It was his area spell that finished off the mind shard - and another two PCs were unconscious below. It was quite frantic getting the cleric around to everyone (along with some very lucky death saving throws) - followed by a bivouac exercise getting everyone out of the crater and to a place were rests could happen. As mentioned by others, the legendary actions were stunning when used judiciously. The reverse gravity as a follow up to the mind shard's first "damage taking" (shatter spell by the wizard), was epic. I also was able to use both ray of enfeeblement and darkness to good effect. Hideous laughter was in there as well - which wound up keeping the rogue prone for the entire encounter (just couldn't make the wisdom saving throw).
A couple of things I did differently - every time someone pulled out a shard from a creature, prisoner, etc., I had them take 1 hp of "slicing" damage from the crystals edges. I would have mitigated that had the PCs told me a way in which they used metal gauntlets or metal implements to lever the piece out, but they didn't come up with that strategy. I wasn't completely sure how the "underwater breathing thing" was supposed to work either - once the PCs embedded a shard into their body and passed into the meteor, I just allowed them to hold their breath and "arrive" at the underground sub-warren. That was probably not what was intended, but I had a hard time understanding how to handle that bit. I didn't let Torvaine help the party other than guiding them to the crater - as I made the duty of watching/feeding/guarding the Glabrezu something that had to happen while the adventure was happening.
Anyway - it was a blast. It took us right at 3 hours (maybe just a bit more) to play through the entire thing. That including pre-provisioning and a bit of a time hiking/etc. to the site of the meteor strike. Thanks for the great work, and I'll be watching for what you write in the future. Cheers!
Thank you for this fantastic recap! Wow, sounds like it was an EXTREMELY close call -- I'm glad all the PCs made it through! The mind-shard is such a deceptive and strange foe... but the ankhegs are really what put the major hurt on. And good call on the water breathing bit, I initially wrote that in simply so characters couldn't "camp" inside the meteor, but it's just as well hand-waved if the PCs seem like they're moving through without lingering! :)
@@TheArcaneLibrary :-) You are awesome! Agreed on the ankhegs...playing them with "unusual intelligence" was definitely a challenge for the PCs. The surprise "round" when the stalactites release acid spray and drop to the floor was quite shocking both descriptively and (in game) with respect to the way the combat went. Just a note for others planning to run this - I *absolutely* needed to follow Kelsey's instructions on that encounter and have the insects disengage towards the meteor once below 15 HPs. Having them fight to the death would have resulted in several more unconscious PCs (or worse) - and Roslin (apart from a miracle) would have been gone completely. That's really a master stroke of planning (on Kelsey's part) for DM balancing *and* playing the insects intelligently. For some other stuff I did/lessons learned:
- I allowed the wizard to retrieve the potion in the acid pool with Mage Hand (using a blended intelligence/dexterity ability check that I kind of Zen'd) - BUT, I had the vial be some kind of "acid infused" transparent glass, so the identify spell used later has only given them the information that it is some kind of a "strength modifying" liquid. Once they decant it/change containers, they'll be able to figure it out more specifically. What was funny was when the wizard, on starting the final battle, said, "I think I'll try this thing out." The rest of the party, almost in unison said, "and do what?" It was hilarious - but it kept him from using it in a way that probably wouldn't have helped anything.
- I had the initial encounter (Torvaine and boars) leave Torvaine almost unconscious. This was because there was at least a 2-round delay before my anguished screams and squeals (trying to encourage the PCs to rush in and engage - or at least transmit a sense of urgency) were rewarded by the PCs dashing into the dusty mess and attacking the boars. They were much more interested in making nature checks at the beginning to figure out what the squeals were (insert wry grin here). I gave the Rogue inspiration as a result of his dumbfounded response to this and saying - "I'm running toward the noise to try to save whoever's screaming." And he's of a neutral alignment - go figure. The delay resulted in extra damage to Torvaine - and this resulted in a spell of healing being "lost" for the party's use later. More below...
- The sight inhibiting dust and the "weirdness" of the crater resulted in a very cautious approach by the PCs to investigating (completely understandable). Which means that they took several rounds just trying to figure out what it was and how it looked - which means that the odds of having an ankheg acid shower happening from multiple directions out of the dusty cloud are almost overwhelming. This is a GREAT motivator for them to get into one of the tunnels. I chose, as Kelsey suggested, to have the insects not melee - just shoot acid from beyond 30 feet. This, combined with horror music, is a great scene.
- So all this sound fun, right? The lesson here is that the party was almost drained of healing/potions/etc. between the two rescued wizards, Roslin, trying to be in reasonable health once entering the warrens, and the egg room surprise. All of their healing potions but one were consumed, and they might have had 1 spell (maybe two at the most) for buffing the characters still available. AND they were all fairly low on HPs by the time entering the meteor happened. The warrens just really don't allow for things like hour-long short rests (without combat), etc. I decided to allow a prayer of healing (10 minute ritual) to occur at some point - which probably prevented a TPK. If you play the monsters intelligently (which you probably should, given the shard's influence), then trying to just run from the warrens isn't really a recourse for the players once inside. A few acid showers on the surface, followed by boars/wolves/whatever near the crater's radius probably means that combat is a certainty even while attempting to run... I mention this just to prepare anyone getting ready to send their party through this (i.e., make sure their buffing capacity is up to snuff). For context, my party consists of 6 fourth-level PCs (druid, cleric, fighter (ranged), paladin, wizard, rogue) - and they flirted with disaster just a bit in this run. Of course, dice rolls, strategy, etc. all played a part. Had all of them said, "damn the torpedoes," and charged the mind shard as a group (opportunity attacks from the ankhegs notwithstanding), that battle would have been over sooner (and probably would have allowed the druid and Roslin up in the warrens a fighting shot at staying on their feet until the shard's influence was broken).
Anyway - great adventure - strongly recommended. I'm going to be looking at the newly released horror series for follow-ups :-)
@@jayburkette8977 Aw shucks, I am super grateful to hear some of those combat tips for the ankhegs worked out as planned! They can be an overwhelming force if they fight to the death. It sounds like your players were very heroic and confronted (and took damage from) pretty much every source of damage in the module! I'm glad they were able to squeak by even without much resting. Real danger is what makes D&D memorable and fun (IMO), but it's always a thin line to walk. I think I tend to write harder baseline combats than other designers because of that, but hopefully with a few levers and dials (and NPCs) in place to help salvage a disastrous situation. I'm glad you were able to put all those things into play to give your group a really harrowing run through this one without it leading to a TPK! :D
@@TheArcaneLibrary So another quick update. I was able to use the relationships forged between the party and Iskoval/Torvaine to good use in the very next session of LMOP (this party is getting close to finishing that campaign). It's way too long to completely summarize here - but while in Wave Echo Cave (I use the improved version done by some folks on Reddit), two of the characters decided to explore on their own (apart from the rest of the party) and just waltzed into the Temple room with Nezznar and all the baddies (to include Glasstaff and the dopplegangers). They were completely overwhelmed immediately, and then the rest of the party was "invited" (personally, by Nezznar) into the room to be stripped of all their stuff and shackled. It looked worse than bad for the campaign, until finally one of the characters remembered that they knew where a nice mass of star metal was just sitting. (Of course, that character doesn't know that the rogue has already let his faction, the Zhentarim, know about the star metal - it will be disappearing shortly :-) ). Bargaining with this information and wealth, they were marched in shackles in the middle of the night to the crater site, accompanied by a host of bugbears, spiders, foxes, and shape-shifters (and Nezznar, of course). On the way, the two elves (cleric and druid) whispered to each other and reminded the druid of his animal messenger skill. He sent a message to the wizard's tower - advising them of their impending arrival and situation. Once at the crater, Nezznar had the characters lead him to the meteor shaft. Having sized up the wealth there, Nezznar announced that he would let the characters live - but they would be sold into slavery by his minions. About a mile away from the crater, all hell broke loose - as Iskoval and Torvaine unleashed the Glabrezu on Nezznar's expedition. The druid wildshaped (releasing him from his bonds) and the rogue rolled nicely to escape his knots as well. This led to the party escaping (Nezznar misty stepped as well - and the dopplegangers survived - everyone else died). What an epic session - and a sweet connection to Kelsey's adventure.
Lastly - I just purchased the Horror 2 Bundle....can't wait for our Halloween session :-)
I'm running this adventure for 6 pcs levels 4-6. we're just encountering the giant boars. 2 of the pcs rolled nat 1 on initiative, and one of the boars critted on the druid dropping him to 1 hp on the first attack of the first round
THIS IS GOING TO BE GREAT!!!
Hahahahaha OH NOOO! 😆
I'm planning to run this for two level 5 characters, both players have played a lot of D&D, but I'm very new at DMing. Would this be too challenging for only two level 5 PCs in your opinion? Just purchased your complete collection and am very excited to run some of these. I've also been playing Shadowdark with a different group and just discovered you wrote that as well. Awesome stuff!
Gonna run this for the first time with a group of friends in a "one-off" campaign we're doing where each session is a new adventure with the same heroes. Can't wait to try and scare the pants off of them with some mind control!
They are, however, all level 3 but I recently did an evil priest/possession style adventure with them so I'm going to hold off on Crypts for now. How likely is it that I accidentally TPK my party of 4 level 3s with this?
I'm glad you're gonna bust out Watchers in the Dark with them! :) Some of the combats are a bit tough, but I think if you hold back 1-2 enemies in the wings from the "swarms," you'll probably be okay in that case. You can always have those enemies come along if the fight seems like it's too easy.
That sounds really cool
This makes me think of Pandorym the elder evil
Anyone else?
I was unaware of Pandorym until now, but I'm glad you prompted me to check! Such a cool elder evil! :D
This looks fantastic, I'm going to run this for my lvl 6 party, any suggestions for scaling up the difficulty? I was thinking to add an owlbear to the 2 boars fight and maybe a Ankheg Queen in the inner crater area
Just noticed that the Mind Shard is only CR1 (200 xp)hmm.. Is that a little low?
It's a low CR becuase its damage output is very low. :) It actually can't deal any damage at all apart from falling damage due to levitate / reverse gravity -- weird, right? Was an interesting creature to calculate!
Meteor landing in the forest? I immediately thought of Color Out of Space from HP Lovecraft. I'd love to see your mind form a Lovecraftian one shot.
Very strong Lovecraft vibes on this one for sure! :D I also wrote The Horror Within, which is equally inspired by Lovecraft, but I don't know if I've ever done a full-out explicit tribute the way I have with Poe works. Maybe I should! :D
@@TheArcaneLibrary Pleeeeeeeeeease do. I believe you are the mind that'll do it the most justice :-)
Gah! I'm at work! I'll have to check this out on my break. But I can already make a pretty positive guess my bank account will be a few dollars lighter before the day is done.
Finally getting to watch this and this is a fantastic module! You've got a great mind for creating these. Love the horror themed adventures you've been pumping out.
Hi, Kelsey. Thanks for the great video...very informative. Just one question: It mentions a couple of lair 'flux' actions, but I can't find info on them anywhere. Can you assist?
Hi Terry! :) Sorry, I think I might have misspoken on that one -- it's supposed to be Legendary actions that the Mind Shard creature has in its statblock (Minor Flux, Flux Wave, Flux Storm), not lair actions. I often say one when I mean the other, too many Ls!
I still can’t see the descriptions of what those flux actions do. Are they in a supplement somewhere? Thanks again.
@@Tellius23 Oh, yes! Sorry, they should be on page 13 of the adventure on the top right column. Let me know if you’re not seeing that, maybe there’s a page missing from your download or some other mishap!
@@TheArcaneLibrary I do see them listed, but it just says the name and how many times per day but no description. Is there any way you could provide that info if possible? If not, I’ll adjust
@@Tellius23 Something must be weird! Yes, I’ll paste them below. They’re actually just ways for the mind shard to cast additional spells from its spell list! Here they are:
Minor Flux. The mind-shard casts an at-will spell.
Flux Wave (Costs 2 Actions). The mind-shard casts a 3/ day each spell.
Flux Storm (Costs 3 Actions). The mind-shard casts a 1/ day each spell.