DM Prep: Call of the Netherdeep - Frozen Sick Intro Adventure through Chapter 1

[@Gambit2172]

Please make more of these, this was super helpful and helped reassure me that I'm prepared for session one. Hearing someone talk over their prep ideas while ON the map (getting that visual) is really helpful as well.

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

More are on the way. Ch. 2 has a lot less 'on the map' stuff due to the nature of the chapter, but I hear you and will try to have more of that in Chapter 3. Good luck, you've got this Gambit!

[@CyleFabrie]

Great video! Would love to see more chapters. My party is starting in the Greying Wildlands too so this was perfect for me! I’m planning on having them meet Durmot before making it to Jigow and having him invite them to the festival.

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

Nice idea! Currently writing something to record for Ch 2 and 3, so there should be more coming.

[@Perfectcrime87]

I ran the wildemount adventure that was suggested in the past for a different campaign and I am currently running frozen sick for my current campaign as a pre-adventure so I can't thank you enough for this video.

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

You're welcome!

[@gelatinouscube2342]

I'm about to run unwelcome Spirits as a prelude to call of the netherdeep. Anything to watch out for?

[@3KLIPSE]

I’ve been running Call of the Netherdeep since early Feb. of 2023 Printed off “Frozen Sick” as a one shot module too give my players a break from our regularly scheduled adventure through said book. Never considered using it as an introductory module too Call of the Netherdeep🙌😆 Will certainly be doing so when a new group of adventurers come my way.

[@onat7697]

There is limited amount of content for the module and I was kinda expecting this video to waste my time when I got into it due to other underwhelming guides about it but you proved me wrong. Really insightgful and good visual aid. I'll check out the other chapters. Thanks for the video.

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

You're welcome, glad it was helpful!

[@KB-er3ii]

OMG, thank you SO much for this video series. plus the helpful links and maps, YOU ARE A DREAM COME TRUE!

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

Hey glad it could help! Hope you're enjoying the module. It definitely has some flaws, but we had a blast with it.

[@tinnahalls236]

This was amazing! Subscribed immediately! :)

[@minine6508]

Beginning is very helpful, especially with getting to Jigow. I wanted to start off on one of the adventures from EGtW just so we could get our bearings as a group before launching into the campaign proper, and this was a great for the beginning of the campaign

[@markschreuder3498]

Great video! I am pretty new to D&D and am (perhaps foolishly) considering offering to DM a CoTND campaign at my local gaming shop. I know it will be a challenge, but this video really helped me wrap my head around how I might want to start this.

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

It probably isn't the simplest module to start with, but if it excites you more than others and sounds fun, that's a great reason to go for it. You'll learn things to improve as you go and honestly most of the time, even when I've made mistakes, I've usually still had fun anyway and forget about them.

[@3KLIPSE]

I would love to hear how this has gone for you! As a new DM who only had ran a handful of modules prior to starting a full Campaign Playthrough of CotND

[@theokogod6711]

Glad to see Netherdeep getting such great content

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

Thank you! I'm doing my best to contribute.

[@derykschudy837]

Ha, I thought I was 'forcing it' to use Frozen Sick to get to the Netherdeep adventure. Some good tips. Thanks for the content.

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

You're welcome. They're pretty geographically far apart but there's usually a way to write a solution to a lot of things. I've definitely heard of a least a handful of folks using The Frozen Sick and also not being super enthralled by the suggested lead-in adventure in the module.

[@theredhex7671]

Great stuff, running this soon and these videos are very helpful! Keep making content 💪

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

Appreciate that, good luck with your campaign.

[@New2DM2]

"I don't think they'll try to kill Maggie, this is just a contest". That's optimistic with 100gp and title on the line. I started a new ND session last week. One player tried (and failed) to cast vicious mockery on Irving in the PIE EATING CONTEST. While he was being admonished for cheating he created a large scene where a way of mercy monk tried to use a poisoner kit to mess with Irving's pie. Both attempts failed and one of the PCs won fair and square, but after session we had a convo about transitioning out of high level play (level 14 PotA) and starting new characters in a non-adversarial situation and potential ramifications to continued attacks against peaceful townsfolk.

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

Right, that's what I would've done. I don't think murder hoboing is super sustainable in a longterm campaign. If you wanna be chaotic in a one shot or your first couple times playing, sure. But ultimately this is about getting to know your group and establishing a tone for the campaign with them beforehand so you're all on the same page and while I'm sure there's a lot of that out there, it's not the tone that I tend to set. The rivals could do plenty to piss the party off and bring hostility, but in the middle of a town festival would definitely have consequences.

[@cosmic_clownfish]

This is the first module I've ever run I've done Homebrew campaigns before but I have a lot more freedom there so this is going to be really helpful I really hope you do more chapters

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

Good news, I have done more chapters and I only have the final chapter left to cover.

[@MrHamr]

Really appreciate this series! I'll be using it as I guide my table through the adventure, thank you

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

You're welcome! Good luck. It might be awhile yet, but I do think that when my group finishes the campaign, I will re-watch these and make a 'final' video about other things I missed/pitfalls/etc.

[@MrHamr]

@@TheEssentialGameMaster I look forward to the follow up, then. The before and after perspective is always interesting to dive into.

[@donnyrokk]

I'd love to see you do more chapters. Great job!

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

Definitely in progress!

[@iambecomejeff]

Session 1 is in 6 hours, super excited and a little nervous to juggle all the rivals personalities but I'm looking forward to it!

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

Awesome! There are a lot of rivals, but just remember even professional TV writers don't fully know what every supporting character will become or everything about them first time they appear in an episode. They continue to figure them out and flesh them out over time. Lean on your strongest ones and continue to try and give some thought to whoever felt like the weakest link between sessions. Have fun!

[@iambecomejeff]

@@TheEssentialGameMaster that was exactly what I needed to hear, 30min till session start now - thank you so much for the reply and for the amazing breakdown videos! They're incredibly helpful and in perfect time for my campaign!

[@pat7895great]

Very helpful!! Please if you can, I would love to see you cover the rest of the book!

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

That's the plan! I have three more videos on CotN already released after this one, another releasing this week and plans for 2-4 more (really depends on how long each topic breaks down into).

[@CCMoto]

Thank you for this. I have a group that's finishing up lost mine of phandelver and it's the 1st campaign for everyone including myself as dm or pc. I've chosen this as our next campaign as I'm a longtime fan of critical role and they all wanted a new campaign with new character's they get to create. Needless to say it's a lot lol

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

There's definitely a lot going on, but you got this!

[@StGallahad]

This was so helpful and really well done, thank you!

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

you're welcome! The guide for the final chapter is almost done, so very soon there will be a complete set going through the whole adventure. Glad to hear it helps!

[@Meelord95]

Super helpful video! Thanks a lot for making these🙌🙌

[@CozySchmozy]

I'd love to see more like this for the other chapters too

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

Well I have good news then, I've done a video for ever chapter, plus a video about the rivals.

[@rollersoffatednd5280]

Really helpful thanks, planning on running this campaign on my channel once we finish Curse of Strahd, awesome tips 🥰💙

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

Nice! I've heard great things about CoS but never run it because folks in my groups had sections spoiled. It sounds fantastic and good luck with CotN

[@rollersoffatednd5280]

@@TheEssentialGameMaster you can always change things, add remove and improvise, it’s a really awesome module 💙

[@rappy442]

definitely keep making these please!

[@matdupont4603]

Awesome video, looking around for some one shots to bring some veriety to some players and myself (new DM). Currently running LMoP as a first time DM with a small group and looking to try more 🤘

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

Welcome to DMing! A Wild Sheep Chase is a fairly popular 5E oneshot. I've never read it, but I played in it. There are also great one-shots in other systems (with less combat rules and complexities) if you have any interest in other settings or genres. Delta Green's 'Need To Know' is one I came across and ran recently that is one the simplest to run things I've seen.

[@LlethanderDrae]

I'm using Dangerous Designs from Wildemount. Gonna use the tunnel to guide the party into Xorhas and have it spit out near Jigow. :3

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

Nice idea, thanks for sharing another hook.

[@rantdmc]

I simplified unwelcome spirits so my party didn't spend too long trudging through the swamp. some of the random encounters worked well, others required adjusting as they were scary deadly. my party has just found an owlbear egg as an connecting adventure to jigow, the druid took another egg and wants to hatch the egg and raise the baby owlbear!! the session ended with them arriving at the festival of merit at jigow

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

Level 1 in particular is pretty deadly, a few bad rolls and things can go south pretty quickly. Glad they made it through that alive and found some fun things to interact with.

[@DirtyBertie]

Almost 100 subs let’s go here before 100k

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

Thank you! Let's go!

[@LuckDragonLair]

I'm toying with the idea of having BOTH parties recieve the vision... perhaps trying to finnagle it so they both touch it at the same time? Not sure... I'm still digging into this so once I actually read more into the vision I have just skimmed the VERY basics... thoughts? Ideas? Reasons I wouldn't want to do that? :)

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

It will definitely help motivate the rivals for them to have some information. Maybe they have the vision too if they're nearby (presumably your whole PC party has the vision and only one of them touched it, so all the Rivals having it too sounds logical), maybe the elder lets details slip to them. Whether or not that's all the details or not, it should really spark their curiosity, especially Ayo.

[@LuckDragonLair]

@@TheEssentialGameMaster As I'm reading more into it I'm leaning towards giving them both the vision as the god basically hedging its bets... but then I realized they're probably all gonna want to travel together if that's the case which could lead to a whole different problem LOL

[@kappascrolls6495]

How would you run the change of mood from coming from the icy village with the sickness and the long travel to immediatly shift to a celebration? I was thinking about having my party arrive in a hot air balloon and maybe having a little combat in the balloon while something is attacking the balloon, not the party itself. But overall start very light hearted and have them make a bit of an entrance in the middle of town. The adventure does mention I believe that the party all know each other and starting with frozen sick does sound like a really good approach to get those ties, I just found that the sudden shift in urgency and mood could be hard to make feel natural. I could see the cleric just ignoring things trying to seek out his temple and even when they tell him to relax for the time being and partake in the festivities, this sort of gloomy mood lingering and making things perhaps a bit of a drag because of that.

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

Great question! Here's a few thoughts: 1. Try to put some closure on the Frozen Sick. A finished mission, a job well-done. Even if you use a hook like one someone mentioned in the comments about having one last dose of antidote to deliver to Jigow, get it taken care of before moving into this new part. 2. If you have a side task going on like a cleric checking out a temple or whatever hook you have them looking for, that NPC/Location is closed for the day for the festival so they might as well kill time until the next morning. 3. Try to control the pacing to separate these parts into different sessions. Nothing like a week or two break in real time to make that a less jarring switch. 4. Use the journey over to help transition the mood. Maybe some roleplay between PCs as the travel time will probably be much longer in the game world than we'll make it in real-time. Every group of players will be different, but I did recently have in my Star Wars game, a few sessions that went from serious mission finish to festival to extremely sudden and serious. Most groups I've played with people like a mix of serious stuff and levity and humor, but you'll have to try to get a read on your players feelings and adjust.

[@davidheaston3844]

PLEASE MAKE MORE!!

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

Definitely on the way. I was scripting Ch 2 and 3 together as one, but Ch3 is just real beefy so I'm probably going to separate those out into two videos.

[@baludlad2173]

Super helpful thanks 🙏

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

You're welcome!

[@aizo111]

Cool concept for video, but your suggestions get pretty railroad like at times.

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

For sure, it's a pretty linear adventure and my DM style is very far from full sandbox, but I do think incorporating player backstories and responding to what they do during (including creating new content around it, and changing your plans) is important to let them influence the story and give them agency, which I think in practice makes it fun for the groups I've played with. Those parts are harder to know what they'll look like and talk about ahead of time in a video for sure. But as I like to say, as long as everyone is being respectful, there's no wrong way to play. What would you do differently in your game of this?

[@aizo111]

​ @The Essential Game Master So at the end trail with that 2 way thing I kind of dislike either of the paths being blocked off. I know the book basically has Maggie only block one off if the rivals win the race to get in, but seems like a choice removed. I might try to give hints about what is each way so the party has a reason to want to pick a way. Maybe they hear sounds from the next room or they heard a rumor about the challenge around town. I have to admit when I first read that the rivals could get the vision and the item instead my first thought was I need to make the players get this instead, but I think its the wrong call. There is opportunity for the vestige item to change hands as the module goes on and though it make take a little effort to push the party in the same direction I think they will get sucked in. If they are on good terms with allies maybe the allies ask the party to help out, or if bad terms maybe the party doesn't trust the rivals with the mission/item. In a choices matter type campaign I think failure is an important tool to show that a parties choices aren't protected by plot armor. Also if you want the players to have an item then by all means give them the item, but I think you should replace the item in the trail that you are making sure they get. For example maybe throw some gems or mystery potion under the octopus where the item you want to make sure to give them was originally. It likely wont matter to your player because they won't know if they missed it, but if that they were going to get an item no matter what then it takes some of the accomplishment out of finding the item through exploration and good rolls. Anyway, your openness to talk about it is appreciated. You won me over, I will go give the next video a try for chapter 2.

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

Lots of great insights! That's the cool thing about D&D (and TTRPGS) is it can go so off-script and there are a million different ways and it's still usually pretty fun. I'm definitely open to lots of ideas in terms of this game. There's not really a wrong way to have fun as long as it doesn't harm or disrespect anyone else. All my ideas are just ideas of one way to play it ... that the player's will find ways to completely turn upside-down once they start interacting with them. Lol. And thanks for the kind words!

[@billp6602]

Not trying to be rude. Most of this video could have been a different video about the module you ran first and session 0. Came here for a guide on actual chapter one.

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

No worries, I understand what you mean and how the title could perhaps be different. I do have a chapter index throughout the video though and I will continue to do that with the full series. Feel free to skip to the parts that are most helpful for you. I actually do look at what parts of the video people skip in the analytics and have actually adjusted from what I've seen in the data from the first video. Definitely noticed which sections here people skipped the most.

[@shotgunridersweden]

I will how tell you how to run call of the netherdeep, proceeds with telling you not to start with that module. Instant fail.

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

I did mention the Frozen Sick intro adventure in the title of the video in hopes of not misleading anyone about the content and included chapter markers in the video for folks who would like to skip to the content they'd like. The rest of the series also does not mention the intro adventure anymore. I had brand new DMs in mind as the audience and I would still recommend to them starting with some kind of pre-written intro before jumping into the first chapter of this module. However, as long as people are respectful of one another, I don't think there is a *wrong* way to play a tabletop RPG, it's merely a suggestion. Some people just want different things out of it and that's okay. Good luck with your campaign and even if this guide wasn't the one for you, I hope you find a guide that suits your vision for the campaign you're running.

[@shotgunridersweden]

@@TheEssentialGameMaster i dont think its wrong to do it, as you say there is no right or wrong here, just making a series about call of thennetherdeep and starting off by not doing call of the netherdeep seems like a poor start if i look for videos on cotnd i would exoect that and not something else. Now, i will not die from this, i can just skip it, in fact i cannskip all the content if i like . Im just giving you feedback, this channel is kinda new and this wasnt the best start.

[@TheEssentialGameMaster]

I see what you're saying. Leading into the module was actually the inspiration to start the series. I saw questions about it getting asked multiple times on the CotN subreddit at the time I made this. If I remade this video now with a few months more of knowledge, I certainly would've done some parts differently. And the analytics and feedback from people have influenced what I've done down the line for sure.