How to Run Published Adventure Modules for Dungeons and Dragons 5e
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- čas přidán 7. 06. 2024
- MONSTERS OF DRAKKENHEIM is 300+ pages of eldritch horror inspired monsters for 5e by the Dungeon Dudes! Coming to Kickstarter March 26th, 2024: www.kickstarter.com/projects/... We take a look at our top tips and tricks for running published modules in Dungeons & Dragons 5e. Whether you are running Rise of Tiamat, Curse of Strahd, Tomb of Annihilation, or any other 5e published adventure, we'll show you how to save time, smooth out problems, and be prepared for game night!
This weeks episode is sponsored by Dungeon Fog! Try out this amazing digital map-drawing tool at bit.ly/dd-dgnfog
TIME STAMPS
2:50 - Read the Module
4:34 - Create a Roster
8:16 - Summarize The Adventure
11:03 - Print The Maps
15:08 - Skip The Boring Bits
18:08 - Make It Your Own
20:03 - Use Your Resources
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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
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.
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
Help. Bugbears from WotC are at my door. They want a word.
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
2 days after buying Out of the Abyss, you post this. I'm so glad I subscribed
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 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!
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
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
👍 for „skipping the boring bits“ a very good advice I had to learn by myself. 👨🎓
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
Excellent tips as always. I've been really enjoying your channel. You guys have great chemistry and flow.
Keep it up!
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.
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.
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. :)
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.
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
Thanks for posting guys! Stay safe, stay healthy!
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
I got recommended this video while preparing to run the waterdeep dragon heist for the first time, incredibly helpful as always!
Another very useful episode - keep up the great work, guys!
You guys really helped me become a Dungeon Master. Your advice has been invaluable and absolutely helpful :D!!!!
Guys, thanks for this helpful info. Your experience is a great benefit to new and veteran DMs alike.
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.
Great suggestions, tools, and techniques! Thanks dudes!
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!
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!
Oh, this is really useful! Thanks for the advice!
Gonna start curse of strahd next week, wish me luck...
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.
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….
Thank you for making these guides, Dudes, they are fun, informative and well made :D
Your comments about a roster is spot on.
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!
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!
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!!
i'm a new DM running a module, so this is a godsend. thanks for being awesome
Im trying to run descent into avernus rn, and this video just came out, wow perfect timing.
upvote for the call for a roster!
Better indexes would be nice as well.
This is super helpful, gentlemen. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
this is REALLY helpful. thank you!!!
As someone who was just getting ready to run Curse of Strahd next week, this was amazing!
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...
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.
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!
What you say about an npc cast list is spot on!
Fantastic video! Very helpful. Thanks Dudes!
Kelly, love
The past participle of run is run.
After I’ve run them
Modules I’ve run
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
Thanks guys! Can’t wait for more shadows of drakkenheim!
Monthly membership 👀 you guys r still cool and remind me of games my players/party have used thanks cheers 🍻
Great info, guys! Thanks!
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
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
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.
Great Episode! Good Advice!
Superb idea about the cast of characters.
Well played fellas - great points - cheers 🍻
Ive wondered the exact same thing! Great topic!
Glad it was helpful!
this is a great video to get people playing the hobby!
16:42 while they may not use bugbears, they do use Pinkertons
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.
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...
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*
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.
I would love to hear your take on the three clue rule!
The roster idea is great.
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? :)
Great video Dudes, thanks!
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 ^^
Been loving Kelly's hair recently
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.
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.
I'm going to apply these tips when we run Drakkenheim next year :)
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.
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).
Talking about resources, downloading Sean McGovern's guides in the DMs Guild for each module is kind of a must.
I'm prepping into ch 4 of OotA for tomorrow's session.. I'm dreading it lol
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.
I’ve done side bar summary notes for eac eventful room
Including mobsters traps and relevant numbers of each
Regarding maps and "no one has figured out how to do this" . Reminds me of playing in the 1980s. The modules were semi-soft cover books. The adventure text 'slipped' out of the cover. The inside cover was the map!. You could have the map on one side of the desk and the contents/details on the other. A perfect solution......but....not a hardy or long lasting one.
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.
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 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!
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
This'll definitely help when I man up and DM tomb of annihilation
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.
Reinforces a key life learning: Good ideas exist everywhere, do not be afraid to borrow them. We are better by working together and using ideas from others (as appropriate and allowed by law). Also, give credit to those creators you borrow from.
Fantasy Grounds.. awesome for D&D in quarantine!
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
You guys should be putting out all our modules.
And/or addons to published material, if that's legal.