Dragon of Icespire Peak DM Guide | How to Run Dragon of Icespire Peak

[@JNJTabletop]

Thanks for watching! We've got many other DM Tips to help you get the most out of your games! Check them out on our channel and in this playlist... kzbin.info/aero/PL6dmrZg4pm2qOzacuy1icbfxTvjj-PKf6 For more tips on running the Dragon of Icespire Peak adventure, check out our growing playlist here: kzbin.info/aero/PL6dmrZg4pm2phOB99W_qDcTHfRO_ipO-i

[@BDenery]

I did something similar to your “malnourished orcs” after the Dwarven Excavation. I had my player with the highest passive investigation notice that they seemed to have a few odd patches of skin. They did a subsequent Medicine check to discover that several of them had patches of frostbite, but not on their ears, nose, fingers, or any place it would naturally start.

[@JNJTabletop]

Absolutely brilliant!!

[@craven1927]

New DM here. We've run the first three quests from this kit so far, I've learned a lot already from my short time with it. I am glad I've read ahead and started prepping in advance, it's helped me with some of those unbalanced encounters... For the manticore, I had him visibly injured, dropped him to half HP and had most of his tail spikes already used up from an encounter with Cryovain, which is the reason why he has fled from his nest. I didn't think a manticore would have much use for gold, so I had him asking for food, or to be healed instead. This made the encounter more believable, tied in the threat of the white dragon, and made it a more manageable fight if it came to blows. My players negotiated and gave him a healing potion and some rations, so he flew off and they avoided the fight. But I was ready to stop the encounter, and have the manticore pause to make another demand if one of the players had fallen unconscious or even have Adabra come out to heal one if things went south, just in case. I didn't want a complete party wipe out with two brand new players this early into their first time gaming. They'll be plenty of chances for that at higher levels. Since the manticore was spared, I'm thinking of adding in a conversation that they can eventually overhear, of a farmer talking about how he's lost several sheep and goats to a manticore recently. Still driven from his nest by the dragon he's looking for easy meals and has started to prey on the farmer's flock. Could turn into another encounter once they've leveled up a bit. I have to say, I'm not crazy about the 5e rules on the lycanthropes being completely immune to non-magical weapons, especially considering vampires are only resistant. It seems unbalanced, they should either both be immune, or both be resistant in my opinion. But dropping silvered weapons ahead of time for the players is a good idea, it's one of the flaws of the book that they don't give the players anything leading up to that encounter. My plan is to just make the wererats resistant to non-magical weapons, while silver and magical weapons do full damage. This keeps with the overall theme of the creatures, but still gives the players a chance to actually do something if a fight breaks out. Lastly, if you also have the Starter Kit with the Lost Mines of Phandelver (which I have NOT run yet), you could easily pull a few select pieces from there and intertwine them into this narrative to make the story even broader, since they both take place in the same town. For example, I've introduced the Redbrand ruffians into the village, nothing significant yet just that the players have noticed them hanging around town, looking like they are up to no good. There's a couple of other locations from the Starter Kit that are not mentioned/listed in the Essentials Kit that could easily be woven into your story, so you wouldn't have to run the full Starter Kit story per se, but just pick and choose a few key things that fit into what you want to do with it. It will certainly add more depth, and could always be a teaser thread for something that might pop up in a later campaign after you've completed Icespire Peak. At the very least it will give you plenty of sidequest options that will make the game feel even more like a sandbox environment for the players.

[@havindatadhd]

I replaced the Manticore with a Ophinix from Kobold press' Tome of beasts i think? Might be creature codex. But! This makes him unitelligent and easier to kill, but still a challenge cause he has electric abilities. Really like your idea for it tho, way better storytelling with your setup

[@09Hudre]

😊😊+

[@lukas5683]

Hey, I'm starting out as a new DM, and got this adventure, I really enjoyed watching trough your playtrough, and see how you changed some things up and added some details. I'm absolutely going to use some of the things you said in this video (and the playtrough) to make the game as fun as possible for everyone involved!

[@JNJTabletop]

We’re so glad to hear this!! We enjoyed DoIP so much and think it’s a FANTASTIC way to begin your journey into D&D. Jake is making more DM Guides for each specific adventure as he finds the time but we’d love hear how your adventure works out.

[@jsepho]

How did it go? Any tips?

[@Dragon-Slay3r]

@@jsepho fish line

[@TheDylls]

I'm a new DM as well. Just in the middle of prepping this for my wife as her first ever game! 1 player, with an NPC adventurer that I'll originally control but have her slowly take control of as she learns the game

[@JamesNino]

Just curious how did it go? Still running it?

[@philadelephia]

I ended up completely rewriting the opening to this module. I ran it last week and it went really well. I just really strive to make things narratively driven rather than mechanically driven. I also have a group of players who are keen for an RP heavy experience so the whole "you're a preexisting party, oh look! A job board" wasnt quite going to cut it! Happy to share what I did if anyone is interested.

[@JNJTabletop]

We can’t speak for everyone but we certainly are! Plus, maybe someday someone reads what you did and it helps make their game better.

[@philadelephia]

@@JNJTabletop awesome! Well... *inhales*... I have players who have written substantial backstories (I play with a group of Actors, being one myself) so I ran session 0s with everyone and determined how and why they were all in Phandelin. I decided Phandelin was throwing a festival of celebration. It's been going through rough times and there is fear in the air what with orc attacks happening relatively recently. The players are all in town for various reasons and are engaging in the festivities. A small stage where locals can show off their party tricks, stalls of baked goods, games, ale (a fun way to introduce the locals of the town). I gave the players time to enjoy and engage in the festivities before screams are heard and townsfolk flee as malnurished orcs attack. They raid the stalls, desperately smash things to bits and devour anything edible they can find (6 orcs, 4 preoccupied with stalls so my 4pcs weren't overwhelmed). Gradually, the orcs raiding the stalls become frustrated and turn their attentions to the players. It's now way imbalanced and the players are scared... luckily(!?) the orcs see something which spooks them and begin to flee. The players turn to see Cryovain descending on Phandelin. Everyone flees and the players are urgently summoned inside the Townmasters Hall. I gave Harbin an assistant as Harbin is cowering behind his locked and barricaded office door. The dragon attacks and flies off and the players come out to find the centre of Phandelin is a sheet of ice with frozen orc corpses, locals with injuries and destroyed stalls from the festival. This gave them reason to band together, go retrieve Adabra to help heal the townsfolk, win favour with them and who then alert the players of other concerns and weird happenings nearby. It also established the threat of Cryovain immediately and made the players feel up against it from the off and gave them plenty to RP about.

[@JNJTabletop]

Phil that is nothing short of brilliant. You took the time to really get to know what your players were trying to accomplish with their characters and provided a deep emotional reason for both them as people and them as characters to really care about what happens to Phandalin and its people. Thank you so much for sharing this with us 💙

[@philadelephia]

@@JNJTabletop Ah thank you so much. And thank you for all of your videos - I've found them all really useful even just in getting my own cogs turning and coming up with creative ideas!

[@JNJTabletop]

@@philadelephia Good! That's exactly what we hope to accomplish!

[@GreyJeremy]

I really like how you break this down in a practical approach.

[@JNJTabletop]

Thank you! I/we hope it helps!

[@Rudsterman]

This is all very great. I am going to make this my 1st DM campaign and you all, through the video and comments, have made me feel much more confident. I just think I need to learn more about putting in random encounters and how to execute combat with the players in believable way as I haven’t played much DND myself.

[@JNJTabletop]

So happy to help! A couple of quick recommendations… -Don’t worry about random encounters just yet. Learn the basics of how to run combat so you don’t overwhelm yourself. You can always do that after the group does a quest or two and, even then, random encounters aren’t even necessary! -Check out our DM Tips playlist! We have so many things that can help you in this channel. If random encounters is something you really do want to do, our video on tables will probably be a nice spot to learn a thing or two there 😉

[@ginorvdw]

11 more days! 11 days until I DM this adventure for 5 of my closest friends. We have never played any D&D, but I just bit the bullet to DM, so we could all enjoy this amazing game. Your guide and playthroughs are so helpful, I am taking notes!

[@JNJTabletop]

YES!! Congratulations! You're about to take your first steps into a larger world ;-) Jake will be continuing this series as he finds time to make solo videos. We LOVE to hear that our games are helpful! And please let us know how your games go 🙂

[@jimwalker1837]

How did it go? Are you still playing and DMing? I'm about to start DMing myself for my 4 sons. We are all new to D&D.

[@ginorvdw]

@@jimwalker1837 I'm now DM'ing for 2 more groups. The one from this comment is still in this adventure, though it's been expanded upon to the high heavens and back😂 So far it's gone well, The enviroment they started in is still basically their "home base" from which they embark on other campaigns and oneshots. The biggest issue I've run into is managing a group of 6 adults, schedule wise. There's dads, students and folks with other reasons to be hella busy in life. Nowadays I'm happy if we play once a month😅

[@JNJTabletop]

The scheduling monster is the most powerful of all

[@epyonkiller3195]

My 8 year old son and I are just starting out, both of us first time players and myself a first time DM. I appreciate the advice on where to put the focus. It’s been hard for me to keep a narrative as I am trying to get him engaged in helping with the story, and have missed a few opportunities. Thank you for putting this together, I think it’s going to help me out in the long run!

[@JNJTabletop]

So happy to help!! If you find anything useful in DMing for kids, please share those tips with us! It seems to be quite common to run a preset adventure like this for new players as well as kids 😊

[@doms.6701]

@@JNJTabletop one of my groups is my wife and 2 kids (8 & 11). The rule of cool is law lol. And some simplified mechanics, like health potions giving a flat 10 hp. Already felt that rolling for a potion was kinda dumb. My 8 son is a dragon born storm sorcerer. He got a surprise round (which I run different than most). When it was the next round he wanted to turn around and run back but also wanted to swing his staff behind him for an attack. Obviously this isn't allowed in normal rules but I allowed it. But he had disadvantage on his attack, could only move half his speed and not provoke an opportunity attack if he hit. If he missed then they got an opportunity attack and couldn't move at all. It's amazing how imaginative kids are and you really need to fuel that instead of being tied to the rules so much. They have come up with the most creative ways of doing things than any player I've had before.

[@SuouEtsumi]

A tip for anyone who doesn’t want to prep 3 quests at once: have your party see the board with any (new) quests on it at the END of your sessions and let them decide what they want to do next! For my party I didn’t even use umbrage hill as a quest, but I just let them encounter it on their way to phandalin, (bonus: didn’t need to prep the entire town) It was kind of a travel trough dangerous land, escort caravan, orc ambush, oneshot deal haha (oh and they met Cryovain!) I had an npc not so subtly suggest they might want to try a non-violent solution, so the manticore encounter was over in 15 minutes after succesfull negotiation :p They found the jobboard and are now really excited about Gnomengarde, to get some stuff to fight that pesky dragon with!

[@Haydar_isinsane]

That’s a great twist

[@catdragon1313]

As a new DM getting ready to run this, really appreciated the insights! Thank you!

[@JNJTabletop]

We’re happy to help! Jake plans to put together a guide for each adventure piece as soon as he finds the time. Let us know how your adventure goes!

[@ishi91]

Thanks for this! I just ran this yesterday for 2 completely new players and they had a blast. I went with the flow, added flavor to the NPCs. I made Toblen skeptical of the dragon arrival and weirded out by the party deciding...to flirt with him? My players headed for the manticore first...ouch, they both rolled absolute terrible numbers and had no clue what type of creature it was. After offering the beast food because 'It's like a big cat, it must be hungry' they didn't even bother to ask Adabra what was that. So know they're headed back to Phandalin thinking they defeated a dragon...and Toblen will probably be "Ah yea... it all makes sense, sounds like the folks here can't distinguish a manticore for a dragon' And I won't tell my players if that was actually it or if there's a dragon still...

[@JNJTabletop]

Every part of this comment is gold! Please keep us in the loop for the rest of your play through!

[@xkr3atiOnx]

Such a good guide. I cant wait to start. My friends and i are starting our first go and i decided id find it fun to DM and this really makes me feel a little more comfortable!

[@JNJTabletop]

Happy to hear it! Please let us know how it goes and how we can help!

[@brendan5910]

Thanks for this! Super excited to play this adventure as a first-time DM for friends who have never played before!

[@JNJTabletop]

Love to hear that! Please let us know how it goes!!

[@ManMang0]

You sir, just gave me a tonne of tips to help make my Son and Daughters first dnd experience a successful one. We will have fun regardless but I want to make sure they get as much as they can out of their first experience. 👍 Cheers.

[@JNJTabletop]

LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear this!! Please let us know how it goes! Not sure if you use discord or not, but we have one and the link is in the linktree in the description

[@bboyer1987]

Brand new to DM and even the game and running this one this weekend. Thanks for this!

[@JNJTabletop]

You’re welcome! If you get the chance, we’d love to hear all about how it goes!

[@only2comment98]

Favorite Icespire Peak guide I've listened to so far, out of a half dozen or so. Will be listening to more!

[@JNJTabletop]

Wow!! So happy to hear this, thank you!

[@bulliarousdafrog7170]

I know this video is possibly over 2 years old, but id like to say this has greatly helped me build the courage to dm for the 1st time as someone who has played only 1 session of dnd ever in their lifetime. I certainly don't like the idea of railroading and and sand boxing, so giving the absolute feeling of freedom for pc decisions is most important to me, its how id like to play if i could find a competent DM. Thank you so very much for the tips and video i hope this continues to help new dm's. The intrest from my friends to want to try playing is a direct result of the new dnd movie (honor amongst thieves). Critical role got me into dnd but isnt appealing to the common folk that id hope itd have when showing my common folk friends, unlike the movie.. go figure!?

[@JNJTabletop]

So happy to hear that this helped you, especially when it comes to building up the courage to sit in the DM chair for the first time! We have guides for each adventure in this module so we hope we can continue to be helpful in that way. Just don’t worry about things being perfect, they never are. Your games will be special because it has you and your friends playing and growing together in them no matter how many mistakes you make 😉

[@bulliarousdafrog7170]

@@JNJTabletop ya made my day getting a reply thanks heaps! I will most certainly be going through the rest of the video's related to this content and all of the comments looking for any and all tips. As I'm sure anyone dm'ing knows the single hardest thing when it comes to dnd is getting people to sit down at the table consistently. Hopefully videos and comments like those here will help me provide an experience for my players far greater than that of Matt Mercer and Brendan Lee Mulligan for example. I already played some games of 'Forgotten waters' with them and the immersion of voice actors, background music and the ability to make group decisions or individual ones has already given them a taste of what might be available for exploration through the forgotten realms. For those not familiar 'Forgotten Waters' is a fully narrated cooperative pirate game that plays out similarly to a choose your ending goosebumps novel for example. If ya can get ppl to enjoy this type of boardgame for 4-5 hours in a single sitting then your likely to get em to play DnD. At least that was my catalyst. Honestly I cannot wait!!! Long live JNJTabletop xx

[@joethecounselor]

Fantastic ideas! Great advice here. My only comment is 100% give sidekick control to the players. Assign sidekicks their own turn in combat, and allow the players to decide how they will manage the sidekick.

[@bulliarousdafrog7170]

So let them control combat? As a narrative stand point I'd imagine it's best to control the reactions of the sidekick just like any other npc?

[@dominicnorton2099]

Awesome video. Me and my friends are all new to dnd, i currently have a campaign im in as an aarocockra druid. We are maybe 10 sessions in and im loving it. This helped me a lot with setting up my first time dming

[@JNJTabletop]

So good to hear! Let us know if there’s anything else we can do to help!!

[@OldMovieRob]

I like your suggestions here. I'm about to DM this adventure with some new players so looking forward to this.

[@JNJTabletop]

Awesome! We’re very close to completing this series too. Please let us know how it goes!

[@MyFireVideos]

I'll be DMing my first game for my son with this Essentials Kit. Thanks for the video

[@JNJTabletop]

That’s awesome! Happy to be of some help!

[@thomasschultz9721]

Im on 3rd session on phandalin. This content is gold for me.

[@rubymasta]

Reading the comments and hearing your thoughts about the „imbalanced encounters“ in the early Game I have to strongly disagree: I love the encounters and for me it makes for a very memorable campaign. Here are some tips and tricks regarding manticore and lycantropes: Manticore: Dont run the stat block as written! I never do that :) My manticore was wounded by the dragon (foreshadowing the bbeg) and down almost all tailspikes by the combat against the dragon and by trying to tear down the door of umbridge Tower. Make it a roleplay encounter! The manticore wants healing potions or something to eat. Let the PCs go hunt some deer. Even if combat breaks out the wounded manticore is likely to flee after a few hits, it does not want to die! And even if a few PCs get downed, make adabra rush out and stabilize them with healing potions, she is the only supplier of healing potions and the PCs come to rescue her after all. Regarding the wererats. Give the PCs some hints and clues that something aint right. Let the wererats change shape. Let the PCs learn during combat that only silver and magic weapons damage them. Let the PCs flee and come back later. Hell, even make one of the PCs get infected, how fkn awesome is that?! If they dont like it make it a sidequest to cure the condition! Adabra might know how to do it :) When the PCs finally manage to beat the wererats it will make the victory sweet and the adventure memorable. Hope these tips help out some new DMs. Apart from that good video ;)

[@JNJTabletop]

Excellent tips! It’s been a bit since I remember exactly what I said but my complaints about those encounters are largely with how they’re presented and your solutions here can easily address them! Thank you, Sergoroth!

[@JNJTabletop]

And of course, as a very transparent shameless plug, we made videos for both of those quests specifically to help share more details and ideas about handling them! 😊 How to Run Dragon of Icespire Peak kzbin.info/aero/PL6dmrZg4pm2phOB99W_qDcTHfRO_ipO-i

[@roguenelson-mb7ko]

I know I am a year late however, great video. I just started playing D&D again after 20+ years being away. My 13 year old son wanted to play so I got this set. I did a sample play of the Umbridge quest and ended up killing the “PC” at level one. I didn’t want to have this happen to my son but really wanted to have him fight a Manticore. I really wanted to trash talk him to be honest! So I decided to have him encounter an Orc and some goblins on the way to the quest. This encounter got him to explore his spells and also level up, allowing him to be level 2 before going toe to toe with the Manticore. I also made the Manticore a little easier to fight by reducing the tail spikes and HP. The Manticore had used many of its spikes when attacking the windmill and the HP reduction was due to a wound it took from fighting Cryovain. All and all it was a good fight. He still almost died, having only 3 HP at the end. I can not wait to continue through this adventure.

[@JNJTabletop]

You're never too late! So happy you were able to tinker with things to make them work for you and your son! If you figure out any tips/suggestions you want to share with us (maybe specifically about running this for kids), please don't be shy!

[@skuggikuwa8989]

Just wanted to come back and let you know that your advice was great. I used a few of the tips you gave here like the malnourished orcs and describing the effects of the land because of the dragon.

[@JNJTabletop]

So glad to hear it helped!!

[@reeseconner4630]

Thank you for all of these videos! I am DMing for the first time, and I am doing it through Roll20. I have prepped quite a bit already, but these videos have been incredibly helpful for ideas, tips, and tricks. I especially like the little additions you suggest (such as new magical items, weapons, etc...).

[@JNJTabletop]

So happy to hear that it helped! You’re gonna do great!

[@reeseconner4630]

@@JNJTabletop Thank you! Just had my first session and it went pretty well. I was worried the players would be finished super quickly, but it was a four hour session and all they did was explore Phandalin and complete the Umbrage Hill quest. My players like roleplay and making my life interesting!

[@JNJTabletop]

@@reeseconner4630 that sounds about right! Enjoy this journey. You and your friends are embarking on a great adventure together. Enjoy the high stakes, crazy antics, and laugh at your mistakes. It truly is something to cherish!

[@Sagethe7th]

I'm DM'ing this, and have been for a bit, between just me and my Fiance. She wants to try out DND together so she can learn the rules / mechanics before we join another group, so I just rolled up a quick DMPC who is just a archer that later cross-classes into cleric to fill a gap in the party. I just basically made her a companion that lives in the area, a wood elf who left her home in the Neverwinter Wood to find information about the dragon and search for an ancient weapon Cryovain may have stolen for his hoard. (I let her control the character in most situations and just use it to give her info on teh area when she needs it.) She decided to start as a warlock based on the fact that she wanted to play a tiny halfling wielding a huge warhammer that she could summon and dismiss at will. She kept trying to play as a fighter type character, and was really frustrated at her armor class and lack of armor options, so I let her re-do her character to be a eldritch knight subclass fighter for the weapon bond ability and then take levels in wizard to give her more toolbox options. She just hit level 5 and is starting into the tier 3 quests. She ended up being cursed with Lycanthropy in the mine (she rolled really terrible on the saving throw from the bosses last attack during the fight after crushing all the other rats in a tough fight, as she was still a warlock at that point and had improved pact weapon making it a +1 weapon, so I ruled it a magic effect weapon.) I threw together a simple skill challenge for her to travel to Neverwinter and get it removed. (she didn't want to be a wererat at all, and was dreading it the entire fight, so the boss wererat got a particularly gruesome death after biting her.) From there, we travelled into the woods and she just met falcon last session. A few tips for those of you just starting: - FLESH OUT NEVERWINTER / LEILON. Either find a map of some sort online or generate your own. The game as written provides fuck all about neverwinter, even though it's basically a huge hub of commerce and port trade in the forgotten realms, so if your characters want to go there, find something for them. (When they first see the map, there are only a few places labeled, and neverwinter is the most prominent, even being more centrally located to the map given than Phandalin. (when I first opened the map, she asked if we started in Neverwinter). The other city, Leilon, plays into events if you do the follow up campaign to this one (a trilogy of Storm Lord's Wrath, Sleeping Dragon's Wake, and Divine Contention, which I believe you get for free if you purchase DoIP on D&D Beyond or activate a code that comes with a physical version) but make sure you have something ready, as they'll surprise you when you least expect it - My Fiance really loved Halia Thornton, and immediately loved this older woman running the center of commerce in this town, to the point where I made it seem like she was actually running things in this town, and just let Wester be the face of the town, sort of a "power behind the throne" thing and leaned into her connections with Neverwinter. - Fudge rolls for the dragon's location. I have rolled every time we leave / arrive, and the dragon has yet to arrive anywhere where she is or will be. He's mostly been flying between Gnomengarde and Ice-spire Hold, with one stop over at the hunting lodge very early on where I had her spot him flying high above. Trying to be fair, I haven't actually had her encounter him yet, and I regret it. My plan is to have her be ambushed on the way out of the wood and have a group of orcs come at her only to have Cryovain land amongst them and wreck shop. - SHRINE OF SAVRAS IS BULLSHIT. If players go early, it's a really tough fight with lots of semi-competent enemies, and if they go late, it just scales horribly. My Fiance played really well but just got overwhelmed really badly. We ended up doing that fight over again since I didn't realize that it was so hard as written. As written, they are outnumbered 3 or 4 to 1 and action economy screws them hard. The bell they find there is also listed as being worth 2500 gold, which is a STUPID amount of gold to give a low level party, even for such a hard fight. This area isn't connected to any other quests (aside from a mention in the Gold Toe Mine as the old nesting ground for the wererats and a mention from townspeople meant to guide them there.) My Fiance had been playing a good, friendly halfling so when I mentioned a guard on the tower, as the game tells you to (unbeknownst to her, it's an orc.) she decided to just wave and say "HI" really loudly, which made him throw a spear at her. I hadn't expected her to travel that way, so hadn't read ahead at that point and just started the fight, and she got ran over hard. She got really upset, and I felt like it punished her for exploring and being nice, so we stopped the fight and re-started the encounter with 1 less ogre. This is when she decided she wanted to re-tune her character. Tune that area down a touch if you have your party go there, especially for low level parties or small groups, and you may want to have that bell only be sell-able for a fraction of it's cost. I fixed it by letting her buy a bag of holding in Never-winter, since she wanted one after reading stuff online and it really doesn't affect game balance in any way if you aren't using encumbrance, which we aren't, but her character got a nice bag of holding that she got to customize. (it has a little d20 on the leather tie and she can use a command word to switch between two internal storages, which she uses as a security measure to keep people from stealing things from it.) - Give your players what they want to an extent. My fiance wanted a pet, so I had puppies available to buy in Phandalin, but she didn't buy one because she was worried about it dying. I had her spend some time carving a wooden statue of a dog, with some quick and dirty rules for item crafting I found online (something she wanted her character to be good at anyway, she chose woodcarving tools as a proficiency in her backstory) and then had the gnomes enchant it at Gnomengarde for her to allow her to summon a pet in exchange for helping them. It doesn't help in combat (it's actually a blink dog in the form of a Corgi that teleports back into her backpack when it gets scared) and functionally can't die, since the statue lets her re-summon it, but she used it as part of her backstory when she re-made herself as an eldritch knight. She now has her wizard familiar (an owl named Indigo) and the two of them are competing for her affection. She's not super into role play, and is quite shy in social situations in real life, but she loves her dog and owl, so it's bonding her to the character a bit more. I also had her find a dagger of whittling in , a home-brew item I found online that allows her to make simple wooden carvings once a day (she rolls a d10 to determine the value of them in gold). I plan on letting her magically infuse those into her wooden statue of her dog to give it more abilities over time if she chooses to do that instead of selling it.

[@Matt_Matthews]

Just found the channel and I'm really enjoying this Icespire Peak series! I hope you'll consider doing a similar series for the sequel trilogy to Icespire Peak, too. They are great adventures and a really great place to go next, but there's so little content for them out there :) I loved your advice about making the adventure fit to the characters. You asked us to share how we do the same, so here's one thing I'm doing: since I'm planning to have the players go into the sequels, I decided to make Harbin Wester be the investor responsible for getting Phandalin back up and running. But I am also making it that he invested in buying up Conyberry and Leilon, too, as long term rebuilding plans. Wester is a self made millionaire and he lacks a crucial thing: a title. One of my players has a noble background, but her family has no land. They lost everything due to disaster (using the premade background from Lost Mine of Phandelver as I combined the adventures). The hook provided for Storm Lord's Wrath is that Lord Neverember of Neverwinter is supposed to ask the PCs to go to Leilon to help build the new town. But I have decided that Wester is going to come under fire in a bit. Plans are already in motion, in part due to the PC's actions, and he is going to desperately need to be titled or risk having Phandalin taken from him by the Lords that control the realm. And so he will make an offer to my player. Knight him Sir Harbin Wester (they hate him, of course) and he will give her father Leilon to rule (her backstory is that she wants her father to be back as Lord of a town again), which should serve to get the players to go there and rebuild it, as the story requires!

[@JNJTabletop]

So happy to be of help and that you’re here with us! We absolutely want to continue this adventure and we really hope our schedules all align someday for that to happen. Love love love your way of incorporating your players backstories into the quest! It looks like that will add some magnificent tension and much higher stakes to the game!

[@buckiris]

Hey thanks for this! I'm about to DM my first ever campaign so this made me feel way more prepared.

[@JNJTabletop]

Happy to help and good luck! I'd love to hear how it goes!

[@snazzygagagigo524]

Hey, thanks for this video. I''m currently preparing to DM this campaign and this video has helped me gather my thoughts. Also a lot of excellent tips in this video too, like foreshadowing the dragon before the final fight to make the last fight more impactful. That was really good advice. Thanks!

[@JNJTabletop]

Thank you so much! We’re so happy to help out and it’s always great to hear that we do. If you get the chance, let us know how your game goes 😊

[@snazzygagagigo524]

@@JNJTabletop The game wen’t really well! Everyone had a great time, we’ve run two sessions so far, the first was the players entering the town talking to the NPCs and the characters challenging each other two arm wrestles and a drinking game at the local tavern, then they started the dwarven excavation quest. I took the opportunity for foreshadow Cryovain by having the players come across a half eaten bear surrounded by melting ice. Then the second session (which was a bit shorter since one of the guys had to leave early), was mostly the players warning the two dwarves and fighting the ochre jellies, which almost one-shotted one of the players 😅, so they decided to camp out in the ruins and take a long rest. Also the ochre jellies splitting ability took two of my players by surprise since they used both a slashing and electric attack against them. 😅

[@JNJTabletop]

@@snazzygagagigo524 that sounds like you're off to a GREAT start! Thank you for sharing!

[@mimmkey]

I really wish you could make a half hour video on every 5 mins you provided in this one. I will say this definitely helped but I've still got so much learning before I can even begin to DM. However to reenforce, this helped so much!! I just love how you explain things. Big issue here is my lack of understanding of the terminology. I'll be back to check it out again once I know a bit more. Thank you for all your contributions to the community. I'm new here but I can tell you're most definitely not :)

[@JNJTabletop]

Thank you so much for your kind words 😊 We have an entire playlist dedicated to running this adventure so your wish may have already been granted! Lol Also, we have so many videos for Dungeon Masters that are guaranteed to help anyone take their games to the next level. If you have any questions, ask away! We love to help out 😊

[@jadenpaber1952]

thank you so much for the insights as a new dm who never played dnd and goin to teach my nephew and niece how to play. ur vid helps

[@JNJTabletop]

So happy to hear this! Please let us know how it goes!

[@jadenpaber1952]

@@JNJTabletop tnx my niece is 10 and my nephew is 9 and hopefully i can teach em well. im still learnin how to play dnd hehehe :)

[@JNJTabletop]

That’s incredible. Enjoy the journey and don’t sweat making mistakes!

[@jadenpaber1952]

@@JNJTabletop well being a DM is really tough, you gotta be creative in making the world real, i made a few mistakes with the combat but i will fixed it up in the next session, was able to get them to choose one of the 3 quests in the essential kit (dwarven excavation) and led them to the temple area where they fought a powered down ochre jelly. they had to go home afterwards coz it was late, so we will finish the dwarven excavation on their next visit :) tnx much for listening :)

[@JNJTabletop]

Sounds like you’re doing a great job already 😉

[@bluedragonguild]

I have been wanting to run this adventure. Awesome video, Jake!

[@JNJTabletop]

Thank you! I highly recommend it! It took me maybe 3 sessions to feel comfortable as the DM. Like I mentioned in the video, running pre-made adventures isn’t something I normally do but this was truly special for me. It was an outstanding way to bring a new player into the fold as well. If you ever run it, please let us know how it goes!

[@bluedragonguild]

I am also not much for pre-made adventures. But i have heard nothing but good things about this module.

[@gasbulla8141]

Thank you, very helpful video. I’m going to start my adventure as a DM and the tips in these comments are great as well

[@JNJTabletop]

Happy to hear it!

[@speedstinger4043]

I am relatively new to dming but what I did with the first time the characters encountered cryovain was they saw them from afar kill twice as many orcs as they had just struggled to beat it really drove home the point of Oh this is an apex predator and it needs to be dealt with

[@doms.6701]

I know this is not everyone's thing but I added a respawn mechanic, especially because one group includes my kids. I've mentioned in another of your vids that my world is a complete sandbox. And how the warerats said it sucks to suck lol. But because of the nature of my world players can go anywhere but that doesn't mean they can survive anywhere. If a player does die then they respawn at the last town they rested at but the world continues. They come back but a week has passed (10 days based on the Faerun calendar). This can make death a whatever to some but there are consequences (they lose EXP and if their die enough then they can go down a level. Each death increases the amount of EXP lost). An example would be with the warerats. If a player died there and tried to return, the rats have gained a few followers and are on alert. Plus the player is now a warerat since they died. Main reason I made this mechanic is because in old games I would let my players add "Jr" to their character lol to keep things moving. I know some DMs will force their players to make a new one, and heard stories that some even make them start back at level 1 or they can't pick the same race/class/subclass.

[@MortimerCreative]

(Trying to get started on this adventure as my first time playing AND as a DM) Is the only thing we read or tell the players is the box text? Is it up to us how we open the scene or get them to go around the town? How do we let them know the background of the area? How much are we to read a head and plan stories? Sorry for so many questions up front…thank you for your time with this video explanation! Looking forward to learning.

[@JNJTabletop]

We LOVE questions so ask away!! Also, you asked a great one, especially for a new DM! Ultimately, you have the freedom to handle those things however it makes sense to you. The boxed text is there as an example/guideline and I usually just use that when I run a preset adventure like this. I think running things as intended is good for beginner DMs as well. I think it’s a very good idea to read ahead and get an overview of the entire adventure. That doesn’t mean you need to know details but I think it can help you feel confident in many ways when you’re running things. I know when I first ran this adventure, I would hesitate to change something because I wasn’t sure if I would accidentally change something important. As for how much info you give the players ahead of time, I tend to look for excuses to give them background and history but I also find out as much as I can about their characters first. If someone runs a scholarly wizard, I’d be more inclined to give historical information to them. If someone plays a soldier, I might tell them about military information instead. And if things get hazy for the players, having a local friend in town can help fill in the gaps as needed too. If you want an example of how I did this, we have our playthrough on the channel! We have a big library of DM and player tips as well 😊

[@animelemon1]

Love this video, hope to see more from you!

[@tmann986]

New DM here! Love the advice!

[@thegomez1147]

Well, what more can I say that hasn't already been said by other new DM's!? Great vid lotsa help. Hope one new humble subscriber helps!

[@JNJTabletop]

So glad to hear it and we’re so glad you subscribed! We just want to help you get the most out of your games 😊

[@dracolegend8523]

Sweet I’m usually a player and am still very new to the game but I want to start a solo campaign to practice being a Dm so I can play with my family

[@JNJTabletop]

We’ve got tons of content here to help you on your journey! Let us know if you have any questions!

[@killianobrien2007]

I'm starting this with 2 of my friends soon and one of them is starting with a level 1 character but the other is bringing in a level 3 character from a previous campaign so I'm hoping that makes the quests a bit more balanced.

[@JNJTabletop]

It most certainly will. I’m assuming both player know about the imbalance between their character levels, right? That could be awkward if they don’t

[@cliffford1980]

Very help I’m new to dm and and gonna be playing with a few friends who haven’t played before im really hoping to do it justice and get them interested I haven’t play in a very long time and don’t have a playing group yet

[@JNJTabletop]

You’ve got this!

[@TolgaXatalic]

This was a very informative video, thanks so much!

[@JNJTabletop]

Happy to help!

[@robh8441]

Great work!!

[@fuzzydragon]

its a great structure if you want to build your own adventure off it. though I like the story a bit as well as it shows that domino effect of what happens when a dragon moves in and disrupts an ecosystem, it feels more natural than Lmop.

[@JNJTabletop]

We agree!! The world feels very alive to us!

[@joefishunboxing1389]

New dm here...starting with this b4 going home brew as the players are going to travel and serve as a group of hunters similar to the role witchers had also tonadd to imersion there characters will be created with ai and npcs will be ai generated with ai voices pretty excited to get started

[@Luzarioth]

I removed the choice on the first quest and had Harbin hand them the first quest of Umbridge Hill himself. They had the option to talk the Manticore down or fight her, in which case just not Multiattacking makes the fight rather easy for a group of 4 level 1 characters. Now with level 2, the other 2 quests aren't nearly that deadly anymore.

[@ErinBookNut]

I made the manticore more of a social encounter rather than combat. They had to figure out what he wanted and how to get it for him.

[@JNJTabletop]

How did you portray that to your players?

[@ErinBookNut]

@@JNJTabletop I had them roll a nature or academics (depending on class) check to discover that the Manticore was intelligent enough to reason with and described him as starving, which led them to realizing that they could feed him and he'd go away. They made the deal and were able to succeed at a skill challenge to bring back enough meat to satisfy him. Somehow my players actually managed to bargain for the safety for the midwife, making the manticore a temporary guard dog (sorta) to satisfy the the quest.

[@JNJTabletop]

You mean… your players didn’t try to murder everyone? 🤣 I think the way a DM presents the situation to their players here is extremely important. Sounds like you did a very good job!

[@ErinBookNut]

@@JNJTabletop I've got two newbies and a former forever DM as players so maybe that helps. Honestly I was surprised they didn't try to keep it as a pet for the party.

[@JNJTabletop]

Sounds like you’ve got a great group with you there. Our playthrough had a somewhat similar setup and we all had so much fun with it. Please keep us in the loop how everything goes with yours! We love to hear about it!

[@Overseer10192]

I was thinking about, to make the players fear Cryovain and be able to take in the manticore, cryovain and the manticore are fighting when the players arrive. It lowers the manticore’s health and shows the players how powerful the dragon truly is. Would this be a good idea?

[@JNJTabletop]

Now this is an interesting idea! Although I still think it’s just so much easier to start everyone at level 2, let’s explore this! Many players might try to join the fight. If that’s the case, you may have a very difficult situation to manage. For me, if I wanted to try and make this work, I would need to figure out how to prevent the players from interfering and why would Cryovain not just easily kill the manticore. These tasks might vary from party to party. Can any of the characters fly? Are there archers or long ranged spell options at their disposal? If you can reasonably do those things, this could be a really powerful scene.

[@Overseer10192]

The character went to Gnomengarde first, so they might be strong enough to survive until the dragon gets driven away. After all, the dragon disengages when it loses 10hp. However, I’ll be careful about my characters getting themselves killed in the battle. Thanks!

[@Overseer10192]

Also, I wish I had seen the start at level 2 tip earlier. I had to save my characters from the mimic. While I generally don’t like fishing rolls, it was all their first times playing and we just spent an hour creating characters. Also, the mimic never missed a single attack the whole battle and one of them rolled a nat 1 on death saves. I didn’t want them to hate the game, so I let them go. Define you start at level 2 if you run this campaign!

[@JNJTabletop]

This is the mechanic in the game. It just seems like if the purpose is to showcase Cryovain a little bit, I don’t know if running away after being down 10 hp will necessarily do that. Might be wise to change that to being down 40 or maybe even as low as half

[@derrickhaggard]

I'm actually going to be a player in this adventure with my character being a Water Genasi Ranger of the Archeologist Background. Subclass I'm going for is Horizon Walker Ranger.

[@SalazarArtNation]

I'm about to run this campaign with my kids, It's our first time playing any TTRPG and this seemed the way to start. Thanks for the video, It's going to come up in handy when we begin in a few days.

[@JNJTabletop]

Happy to help out! Let us know how your game goes!

[@maisteffcreations2826]

"Phandalin serves as a home base for the players." I am a brand new DM. My players robbed the Lionshield store in the first session and are now wanted in Phandalin. Well. For the second Session I created a custom map of Leilon. Maybe they don't fuck it up there as well :D

[@JNJTabletop]

🤣🤣🤣 players love to throw curveballs!!

[@searose6192]

I am going to do this one with my kids carrying over our characters after just having finished Dragons of Stormwreck isle (our first ever DND play)...is there any particular way to knit the two together that is already in the lore or other info? My plan is just to have them set sail from Stormwreck isle headed for Neverwinter (where they want to go) but have the ship make a few port stops south of Neverwinter first and then some big event happens that forces them off the ship (perhaps a kraken attacks and sinks the ship or something) and this leads them with the closest town being Phadalin. When they arrive they are asked for help or offered room and board in exchange for help and directed to the quest board. From there if they press on towards Neverwinter, I will put some of the quests from Icespire peak in their way along the way and give myself time to write a campaign focused on Neverwinter....unless there already is one? That's my plan...they will likely take the bait on at least a few quests in town before pressing on....

[@JNJTabletop]

I don’t know of any specific or direct way to tie them together but the levels are close enough so it shouldn’t be too difficult to work with. Sounds like you’ve got a decent idea going already. It’s admittedly been a few years since I’ve looked at the source material but I think there’s a hook where Lord Neverember hires the group to investigate things in Phandalin. Maybea chance meeting with him can be the perfect tie in for you?

[@DeathMetalDadReacts]

This is going to be my first DM campaign and i havent read the book yet, but as soon as you said "Barthen's goods" i heard "Not just good, they're GREAT!" in the most monotonous voice ever. I dont know who barthen is yet, but i know hes inherited the shop from a distant relative, didnt want it, and that his parents MADE him accept it so that they could have their basement back to make a study and enjoy their rerirement. 🤣

[@JNJTabletop]

I think you’re going to be a natural! 😉

[@DeathMetalDadReacts]

@@JNJTabletop im on episode 4 of this video series now and i really appreciate all of the things you break down. It really makes me more comfortable with changing things canonically, statistically, and mechanically. Instant sub!

[@scheids4444]

Great video!

[@JNJTabletop]

Thank you!

[@hans-christianbjerk9906]

great job! I love the ennergy you give! It's not to much.

[@JNJTabletop]

Thank you! It’s easy to try an manufacture something that’s inauthentic but that isn’t good for anyone!

[@rodolfocastro8]

I was planning on running this campaign for the manticore i was thinking of halting the health and giving it ice burn related wounds making it damn near blind maybe

[@JNJTabletop]

Sounds like a pretty good nerf to me!

[@darthbr3nnan]

Immaciated and aggressive orcs make sense in this context. Trying to survive they’ll be pushed to their limits for sustenance

[@felipegalaxy518]

Great video! I have a question If the grup dont pass in a hability check what they need to do, for exemple in the dragon barrow the only entrace need do make a cd test of 15 (atletcs) to open, If the grup dont pass what the grup need to do?

[@JNJTabletop]

That’s a very good question! I don’t think locking the progress of the game behind a roll of the dice is good design. This particular situation could be looked at as unnecessary to progress the plot. However, if they fail the check here, it might be a good move to just see what they try next. In that case, the concept of “Saying Yes” is huge. If they get creative, roll with it! Maybe they come up with something awesome and even more fun!

[@felipegalaxy518]

@@JNJTabletop OK thank for the tips

[@JNJTabletop]

Always happy to help!!

[@Spid3rMan-draws]

My players killed the townmaster and looted the hall, along with doing a BnE on Halia's house, they also killed ms alderleaf in the lost mine of phandelver, my story might have to change a little

[@JNJTabletop]

Lol well if that’s not a group of murder hobos I don’t know what is! 🤣

[@Spid3rMan-draws]

@@JNJTabletop The funny thing is, the redbrand member is the one who doesn't just kill

[@JNJTabletop]

Hitting the curveball is definitely something us DMs have to know how to do! Have they setup some other point person for if/when they leave the town? Might make for a simple substitute for the townmaster in terms of learning about new quests and things like that.

[@Spid3rMan-draws]

@@JNJTabletop Well, I have made the townmaster Cassimar the Wizard, he is a wise exadventurer looking to make the world better, I'm thinking that because they helped with Redbrands and no one knows who exactly committed those crimes( don't even get me started on how) He would trust them. So all the quest are gonna come from Cassimar giving them town assignments and jobs assuming they would be willing to for good pay, Reidoth the Druid from The Lost Mine of Phandelver offering them information in trade for certain jobs I'll make up, like clearing out bandits or something. Hopefully they won't kill everyone again lol

[@JNJTabletop]

@@Spid3rMan-draws We'll keep our fingers crossed! Sounds like you're doing a wonderful job with some very strange circumstances!

[@AliciaQuality]

My husband and I are starting D&D with this adventure. He wants to play as a single player to get a handle on it before we have friends over to play together, they will all be level 1. If he progresses in his levels by doing pre-sessions, will that make it easier for everyone else to be level 1 for their first game. I.e. they can beat the manticore if they have a higher level player with them? Thanks!

[@JNJTabletop]

That would certainly make the fight easier for the group. The thing about level 1 characters is they’re very squishy (low hp). I go into more about the manticore in the Umbrage Hill video but there’s always multiple ways of doing things. Also, we love hearing about people getting started with D&D!! This is a great adventure to do that with!

[@AliciaQuality]

@@JNJTabletop thank you! There is a lot to learn but videos such as yours make it exciting instead of daunting! We figure as long as we have fun, the rest will follow :)

[@JNJTabletop]

So happy to help. If there’s anything you think we can help you with, just let us know 😊

[@demonfire6102]

Hey, I'm new to DnD and I want to DM this campaign. I made myself familiar with all of the places to go, but I am kinda confused what to tell them and what not to tell them. For example when they travel to the house in the woods. Do I tell them about the backstory? If not, how do they find out about it? I hope you can help me out there.

[@JNJTabletop]

Welcome to the hobby! That's a very good question and the answer is it depends, but I think it falls into 2 categories... 1) You can always make the group roll for that info with some kind of knowledge-based check (history, arcana, nature, etc...). Then based on the result you can evaluate the info you have/put together and make a decision as to what you want to tell them. If you want to know more about that we've got some videos on skill checks here on this channel! 2) If you feel like it would be more fun for the group to just know the info, then tell them! This can be especially useful for newer or younger players that might not think to do things like ask around town about something to do some proper research. The good news is, you're going to learn what fits best for you and your table as you try things out! Hopefully after reading this, you have a gut feeling as to where to start and then you can adjust from there as needed. Please let us know if there's anything else we can do to help you succeed 🙂

[@demonfire6102]

@@JNJTabletop That's very helpful, thank you very much! Actually my whole group is playing DnD for the first time too, so I guess I will end up with a mix of them asking npcs about it and me telling them about the backstory when arriving in a new place :D I actually have another small question. The campaign says that the Manticore is able to talk and may be persuaded to leave with some kind of exchange for the meal it would have by killing the adventurers. I know you said the mission isn't recommended to be the first one. But if they would take the quest, how could I make them notice the possibility of talking to it?

[@JNJTabletop]

@@demonfire6102 Maybe when the group gets there, he's banging on the door asking for food ;-) You might find the next video in this series helpful 🙂

[@demonfire6102]

@@JNJTabletop Thank you very much :D I guess I have no other choice then to subscribe haha

[@dago130]

What if I just let them do the dwarven expedition first? Like its urging so they dont have a choice? Then they are level two and I give them the choice between the other two starting quests? Could that work with three level 1 characters?

[@JNJTabletop]

Of course that can work! There are so many ways to go about handling things in D&D and the one that’s best is subjective. As long as everyone is enjoying themselves, you’re doing a great job! We basically just try to avoid removing choice from our players as much as possible though. We feel like ultimately TTRPGs are best when the games are player driven.

[@moustxche]

i may or may not have said to a large group of friends that i wanted to run this adventure, and only one of them ever played d&d before... so now I'm dming to 12 people... help...

[@JNJTabletop]

That's... a lot. Best advice we can give is to start by following the guidelines for encounter building given in the adventure and then adjust things as needed after you run 2-3 adventures for them. It's ok if it's too easy for them to start off because you're playing the long game you need to learn.

[@moustxche]

@@JNJTabletop i know some of them are really into this and learning it, others not so much, maybe there'll be less players soon, but your video was great to help me with it

[@JNJTabletop]

Very happy to be helpful! This playlist should help a whole bunch but (obvious youtuber plug) we have many other videos that talk about encounter building and DM topics. We Eve have a discord that you’re more than welcome to join as well (link in our linktree). You got this!

[@chhaicharters5675]

First time DM, played this with a couple other first timers and I didn’t know how to keep them alive lol we had three sessions, we had fun but the dwarven excavation quest ends with an Orc attack and those guys just seemed op to my level 1 noobs 😂 should I have leveled up my players? Idk where I went wrong to keep my players alive but I think I should have leveled them up or something

[@JNJTabletop]

Orcs can be tricky. They are not too difficult to kill but they can hit HARD with those d12 great axes. A few rough rolls of the dice and things can go south quickly. I very much recommend starting the game with everyone at level 2… as well as subscribing to our channel and watching the rest of this series 😉

[@chhaicharters5675]

@@JNJTabletop can I ask you specifically about the scenario? I put the encounter at the canyon outside the excavation, and the orcs bonus move to travel an additional 30’ allowed them to close the distance on the pair of rogues my players chose in the first move. Did I interpret the orcs bonus move wrong?

[@JNJTabletop]

@@chhaicharters5675 Sounds like you got it right to me. Unfortunately, low level D&D can be very deadly with one unlucky roll of the dice. Each orc attack has the potential to be a miss all the way to taking out a level 1 character in one shot... particularly a squishy rogue. Many people love the rogue fantasy and envision them being much more physically tough than they mechanically are 😞. We actually have a combat and action economy series that is helpful for both players and DMs... kzbin.info/aero/PL6dmrZg4pm2rvWWm49JOqqjWCSDv4sv1F

[@chhaicharters5675]

Tyvm! Working my way through your content, thanks for your time

[@darklordmathias9405]

Currently running this for my group on Tuesdays. It's... Well, it's going interestingly. Players teamed up with the Manticore and left IMMEDIATELY after meeting it to Icespire Hold, and then I rolled the Cryovain's location, and guess what? Icespire Hold. Then my friend's bard practically 1v1'd Cryovain, after climbing up the side of the hold onto the roof! Tue battle ended with Cryovain at 7 Hp left, and my bard unconscious, due to Cryo's breath attack recharging right before he was about to die. Had me scared and confused the ENTIRE time, how tf did level 2 bards get that strong???

[@JNJTabletop]

Wait… what??

[@darklordmathias9405]

@@JNJTabletop Ikr?? But it happened. Must be because of his Fallen Aasimar race?

[@JNJTabletop]

I mean, anything is technically possible but any level 2 character should die when going up against a solo young white dragon. Did you modify Cryovain at all? And side note, if a player is that determined to fight an overmatched battle, never feel bad about killing them dead! 🤣

[@darklordmathias9405]

@@JNJTabletop No, no modifications to Cryovain himself. Best guess I have is that the party bought some potions from Neverwinter, and he did use a couple. Idk tbh, since I've been Dming only for a year now, and the vast majority of my Player experience is 3.5e.

[@JNJTabletop]

Potions and other magic items can have a profound impact on how a fight plays out but I can’t help but think maybe some other things might not have been run properly. It definitely happens. In our playthrough I made plenty of mistakes as the DM!

[@vincepale]

My players have now kidnapped Halia (from the Miner's Exchange) and forced her to join them. XD

[@JNJTabletop]

Oh wow, what prompted them to go that route??

[@vincepale]

​@@JNJTabletop They were partying at Toblin's after picking off some of the last quests before they go for the Dragon, and were causing a bit of a ruckus. They're Lv 7 by now, both due to milestone, and when I checked by calculating XP. I've been throwing a few optional little homebrew 'Villian of the Week' type encounters in. It's some good practice as this is my first campaign. By now, My party has become the local town heros, and almost everyone loves them, so for some flavor I figured, maybe have Halia, someone they didn't really gel with, lurking around the Stonehill Tavern. My raised-by-giants, Dwarf Fighter noticed her slinking away, and chased her down, and got into a drunken brawl. The party regrouped with some sending stones, and took her down without killing her, tied her up, and brought her to the tavern. They rolled some killer checks, and 'convinced' her to go with them. Now Dragon Barrow got buffed a bit to compensate... or maybe she'll try to run off, again?

[@vincepale]

My fiancée says the issue was they didn't want to murder her, or leave her alive...

[@JNJTabletop]

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer…

[@JNJTabletop]

“didn’t really gel with” sounds like a loaded statement 😊

[@winged_rat]

IV never really dmed. Ik how to and I start tmmr lol

[@jaymiejohnson2641]

I’m completely new to DD and I still am not sure how to follow the story…do I just make it up as we go??

[@JNJTabletop]

Welcome to the hobby!! If you’re the DM, that’s pretty much how it goes! Having a pre-made adventure like Dragon of Icespire Peak can help make things easier by giving you a story to work with already. You still get to make judgment calls for the specific things that happen at your table though.

[@debo4jc]

10k view? Yah boiiiiiii

[@archlittle6067]

Here's a solid starting party: Four Wood Elves. Divination Wizard (DW), Fighter to Eldritch Knight (FEK), Rogue to Arcane Trickster (RAT) and Life Cleric (LC). So Darkvision, Keen senses, Fey ancestry, Trance, Fleet of foot, Mask of the wild, PW 15, Initiative +3, Background Criminal, proficient with thieves tools. Using standard ability scores at 1st level. DW-STR 10/0 DEX 16/+3 CON 12/+1 INT 13/+1 WIS 16/+3 CHA 8/-1 Arcana, Deception, Investigation, Perception, Stealth FEK-STR 13/+1 DEX 16/+3 CON 12/+1 INT 10/0 WIS 16/+3 CHA 8/-1 Deception, Insight, Perception, Stealth, Survival RAT-STR 8/-1 DEX 16/+3 CON 12/+1 INT 10/0 WIS 16/+3 CHA 13/+1 Deception, Investigation, Nature, Perception, Persuasion, Expert with Sleight of Hand and Stealth LC-STR 8/-1 DEX 16/+3 CON 12/+1 INT 10/0 WIS 16/+3 CHA 13/+1 Deception, Insight, Perception, Persuasion, Stealth The entire party has Mask of the Wild and Stealth with high dexterity and initiative, so they can hide almost anywhere. The entire party starts out To Hit +5 and Damage +3 with bow and short sword and AC +3 from DEX. The party is eligible for the Help action to grant Advantage in one third of all the skills: Deception, Insight, Investigation, Perception, Stealth and Persuasion. The LC can Help the RAT gain Advantage in Persuasion for negotiating and the DW can Help him gain Advantage with Investigation. Exploration is not a problem as the entire party is stealthy. The Wizard has a Familiar of a Flying Monkey that can pick up one of the party and fly with his weight. So the Flying Monkey can carry the party one at a time over any obstacle. Also, the DW can use Mage Hand to move a robe covered mannequin ahead of the party to trigger any ambush. The RAT is expert with Thieves tools and Sleight of Hand to detect and remove traps or open locks with Advantage. At level 3, the DW, FEK and RAT can all use Magic Missile to do a good amount of automatic damage every round. Good luck! P.S. Most players forget that they can subdue an enemy and capture them for questioning. Make a mini-quest that the mayor will pay a bounty for captives.

[@akhilldhilipkumarkalaiyara1601]

My players robbed a load of people and one of them got caught one of them also tried flirting with one of the shopkeepers

[@CorinShadowblayde]

My players just managed to distract the manticore even though it was their first job. Sometimes it is just how you present the challenge.

[@HelloWorld-up4of]

Ew, i wanted to start my campaign with the scene of the dragon killing the orch chief..

[@thetyrantofsyracuse]

great video!! 👍 on another note, I'm an old man, so I'm curious if you have ever heard of Greyhawk? in 5e it's the setting of Saltmarsh.

[@JNJTabletop]

I have heard of Greyhawk! Most of my D&D experience is in homebrew settings though. Do you recommend playing in it?

[@thetyrantofsyracuse]

@@JNJTabletop Yes, it doesn't have the amount of material published for it's lore so it's a big open canvas for DMs to run whatever they want. And specifically for 5e the Saltmarsh book is a good introduction to the setting. Sometimes with the forgotten realms I feel that the amount of content available can be stifling even though i love the lore, since there are not very many blank spots on the adventure map anymore.

[@JNJTabletop]

We completely agree on that. Too much lore is intimidating but just enough to get your imagination flowing is that beautiful sweet spot!