The 5 Room Dungeon is a Story Structure

[@henryhere]

This guy really just appeared out of nowhere with a 5 video burst and then started throwing out quality content immediately. I respect it

[@dragonmark92]

I was thinking the same... true gold piece of advice

[@wolfmanhcc]

You're supposed to have at least 5 videos ready by day one.

[@charlescarpenter9098]

He just popped up on my home page and yeah, already watched two and already hooked.

[@soulmoonempire]

And that voice is smooth as hell

[@kev_whatev]

If you’re actually seeing someone on KZbin, it’s *because* they started strong. There are infinite creators who have interesting things to say, who you will never see

[@mchammerrock6450]

I could listen to DnD-Librarian-Henry-Cavill all day! Great video my guy!

[@barttennekes544]

I agree he looks like henry cavill but also completely not

[@alrikster8377]

@@barttennekes544 This is so funny, I started watching this and immediately thought: "So this is what Henry Cavill would look like if he leaned harder into his geeky side" :D The similarity is uncanny!

[@KCBCollier]

I was getting HC vibes most from the voice, but glad it wasn’t just me.

[@klavczarkalafan4191]

@@barttennekes544 He kind of sounds and looks like Viktor (atleast the Arcane version)

[@lioco6124]

wait why are you right

[@GestaltKirin]

Fun fact: The Hero's Journey isn't meant as a structural foundation. It's an observed pattern in popular stories.

[@dracos24]

Norm --> Change --> Response --> Norm. Everything else is details.

[@GestaltKirin]

@@dracos24 Stormlight Archives has a great hyperbole about exactly what you're saying. I highly recommend.

[@zyrohnmng]

@@GestaltKirin see you in 5500 pages :)

[@GestaltKirin]

@zyrohnmng And may the Storm Father find us well when we get there.

[@jeffmann7604]

Man after watching this and the video on the five room dungeon, I was excited to have another KZbinr to start digging through all their backlog... and then I realize you just started. I'm really enjoying your content, and while I am a little disappointed there wasn't more to go through, I'm happy to be here at the beginning. as a new DM, this is exactly the content I am looking for

[@Mystic-Arts-DM]

We'll keep making them! There's more to come!

[@roboninja565]

"Cliche isn't trite [...], its why we're here" Thank you for this. I've been trying to express this sentiment for some time and that's the best way I've ever seen.

[@DudeThatPlaysGames]

That dark-vision comment in the intro had me scared for me life for a moment

[@processedsoy]

Easily my favorite new KZbin channel. Don’t get burnt out, but please keep blasting me with this high quality content. 😮‍💨

[@Mystic-Arts-DM]

Inside me there are two wolves.

[@LukeStrife]

​@@Mystic-Arts-DMImpressive that they managed to fit!

[@JimRFF]

@@LukeStrife *slaps roof of DM* this bad boy can fit so many wolves in it

[@tomsutton954]

@@JimRFF lol that's hilarious

[@cmykrgb1469]

I found this on accident because I was a new DM and simply looking for *_something_* to make the game enjoyable for my friends and I ran across the 8 Types of Encounters video. Sweet Lord this is good stuff. Thank you!

[@gusteinnfannar7019]

I like that you are encouraging DM's to make an adventure from scratch right after a "moduled" session. Personally, I feel like a module can get in the way of my creativity, and there is no way that a writer can please everyone's playstyles. The structure you described is excellent for someone like me that always needs to make their life more complicated. Great work!

[@emiliohorvath203]

Dude just appeared on my feed and is pumping out quality content like it’s easy

[@abelsampaio389]

I've applied the 5 room dungeon to multiple scenarios. Town scenarios with no rooms or combat. A toll and dork guards in the gate (the entrance), some vip to bribe or get information from (the puzzle), a random ambush, a chase or a trap, or even a whole dungeon thrown towards the players (the set back), the climax (the moment you uncover who's the mastermind behind it all) and the resolution, be it loot or a plot twist. There you are

[@ArgonZavious]

Man that Tetris analogy. 100%

[@zibbitybibbitybop]

It's such a good analogy, I never really thought of the idea of sticking a bit of cryptic information at the end of a quest that literally means nothing yet, even to me, and then assigning a meaning later once an appropriate tie-in presents itself. I love this so much.

[@joshhighburger8869]

The Tetris analogy was 100%. That's a great way of describing it and helping understand the set aside idea. A big issue I have is coming up with things my party encounters during a session and needing to fully flesh them out, detailed explanations and descriptions of everything. Really I just can build what the session needs, leave it for PC discovery or understanding later, and it'll have even more impact in two or three months when that weird object they picked up ties into the big bad they stumble across, love it. Excited to learn more from you on the channel.

[@Koshak87]

*Me, who just yesterday finished jotting down a 5-room dungeon, sees the title of this video: "Hello there...".

[@greystorm9974]

General Kenobi

[@JettSvart]

I have a playlist of what I consider really essential GM advice. Stuff that can apply to almost any TTRPG, and that a new GM should know before getting started. This just went right into the playlist!

[@BigMitchyD]

Imagine finding a channel 20 minutes before an upload

[@jobmeurkens7318]

We now truly have two rivers to the people. I'm here for it

[@wtchrol7864]

0:27 I have darkv... uh, has anyone already said you have a nice shirt, Mr. DM sir?

[@Mystic-Arts-DM]

You will be spared.

[@hjaltos]

I cannot escape the cleric beast! Good video!

[@Zebwak]

Succinct and useful, even for experienced DM's. I watched this once, took a bunch of notes after, then watched it again while pausing to add to those notes.

[@rickyetter]

Jesus, your definition of inspiration is exactly what I’ve been doing my over 3 years of DMing, thanks you for putting it in words

[@livingchivalry2561]

Here in the beginning and commenting for support. Keep putting out quality like this and you’re going places!

[@lpjdrummer12295]

I think it's your voice and your cadence, but my god, I love watching your content. It's been so inspirational. I'm just finishing up my 3-year campaign, and I'm already eager to start the next one. Gotta wait for the new Monster Manual, but the story beats are coming to mind already largely in part because of this channel. Thank you, and keep doing what you're doing!

[@Mystic-Arts-DM]

Yes! Keep at it!

[@ViktorTheMachineHerald]

A new channel with great content already? We will watch your career with great interest.

[@adastra3147]

Why are you so amazing? And how? Is it your voice? The clarity? How useful it is? I have no idea but I'm HOOKED!

[@DavlinViari]

Amazing advice, amazing channel. Please keep up the good work. That’s exactly what I, and I bet a lot of other people out there, are looking for!

[@paulreno8993]

Loving these videos! He gives just enough detail on things that you can take it as inspiration and run with it without telling you directly what to do. And the little nuggets of wisdom on stat blocks like just adding those actions rather than rewriting an entire stat block.

[@sirelfinjedi]

I've recently fallen in love with 5 room dugeons. I run a lot of old adventures from the 80s for new players. Massive dungeons seem to lose the interest of a lot of modern players. So I replaced some of them with 5-room dungeons, and those are usually the highlights of the campaign.

[@Wizard-jn1jb]

In a week watching these videos I've learned more about DMing than in 2 years of play, this is so awesome

[@jasonbarnett9565]

This is a great video! I have never heard of the "five room dungeon" concept, until now. I've been DMing for 30+ years, and I've come to a point where I like doing "more with less". I now focus on mini-campaigns, which I try to use to cut to the meat of the game. This video gives me great ideas that feed into that. Thanks!

[@annabibibi]

Love the tetris analogy!

[@heycato-l4t]

It was very... "fitting".

[@rickybrooks2971]

Love your tetris analogy!

[@GabeTetrault]

Suddenly there's a new master of dungeons on the scene! Really liking your stuff! I look forward to seeing where you go from here.

[@edwarduribe2910]

I am enjoying the content. This is a great idea.

[@lk4864]

These ground rules are excellent, because with a little tweaking you can make something special. It gave me ideas of the 4th room being what makes the undead rise up and the PCs have to fight their way out -- a reverse 5 room dungeon escape. They inadvertently cause the worse outcome than what they planned for and have to save themselves or be buried too. Each room leading up to it has subtle clues, expending resources and building tension; then its a skill challenge to get out. I'm happy to get in on this channel so early, I really enjoy your style.

[@thenukebout3]

I love the way these videos are made, it's like they're made to help not just show. Keep it up

[@ChristopherPolack]

👏👏👏 Terrific explanation of the 5 Room Dungeon structure for table top playing. *chef’s kiss*

[@jkpelke]

Favorite new dnd channel. Clear information, delivered calmly, relatable. Keep it up, but please don’t burn yourself out.

[@3nertia]

That Tetris analogy is *chef's kiss*! Brilliant!

[@chazlewis8114]

As a video game level designer, I found this pretty interesting! (Even though I've never played D&D).

[@Levacque]

Wow this is really cool! I felt the whole explanation unlock when you said the five rooms are actually five scenes!

[@mrjwojc1]

Dude, your channel is going places!

[@evinoge5834]

This video really unlocked my ability to structure adventure. Thank you so much

[@ninjunc]

Tetris analogy was en pointe, sir. I can now use that mind's-eye visual to intentionally do what I accidentally did on occasion.

[@Kootify17]

Hello. I found your channel today, and I've watched all of your published videos. I have to say, you're doing an excellent job explaining D&D, especially for new players. I've come back to the game in the last few years, missing 4e. And I have really missed it. I've been recommending your videos to friends who are interested in trying out D&D. Keepnup the good work!

[@Mystic-Arts-DM]

Wow, thank you!

[@klinesmoker5537]

Really gold stuff here. Been at this game for years but this is the best video ive seen really driving home both macro and micro campaign concepts.

[@TheVTTDM]

The fifth "room" is also described as "reward." Also, this works with forests and mountains. I just did this with hills and mountains and it was beautiful.

[@greenweave3882]

Wow great channel! Just binged several of your videos, then this one pops up! Subscribing for sure, thank you for this!

[@2Tough]

I love the Celestant-Prime being the Big Bad boss XD

[@judahborgwardt2860]

You and DeficientMaster both came out of nowhere with what I think is the greatest advice for DMing. Keep it up, I love the videos!

[@chyocolatecaaake]

I watched this while taking a break from setting up my Friendsgiving session, and you both covered and resolved my entire hook. Thanks dude

[@DistortedSemance]

I want to add a counterargument here, just for the sake of fostering discussion. My play group recently completed an arc in our campaign that was pretty transparently using a five-act structure, and it was honestly one of the most boring adventures I've ever played. The plot was perfectly fine - good buildup, plenty of twists, nice narrative arc...but we didn't really DO anything. Our characters were essentially just listlessly going from hook to hook, following the route the DM had planned, just going through the motions for the sake of moving the plot forward. We weren't even being actively railroaded - every new location had exactly one lead that was obviously pointing in the direction we were supposed to go next, so it was either follow the obvious lead, or let the story stall out. We never got told "you can't do that" or got hardballed into going a certain way, the scenario had simply been engineered so that there was only ever one obvious way forward. But even though we were never being forced to do anything in particular, it felt totally passive, like our protagonists were really just side characters being swept along someone else's story. I kept forgetting minor details like names of the antagonists because I realized halfway through it genuinely didn't matter whether I understood what was going on or not - the next door was always just there for us no matter what. The thing is, our DM was doing everything "right". I have seen countless DM guides praising this exact structure as excellent adventure design, and it just completely fell flat for me. It's not because I don't like story, either - I'm one of the biggest story-gamers in our group. But I don't think having a conventional plot structure is enough for an engaging story game - in fact, I'm beginning to think it's actually counterproductive. Some of the best story-focused campaigns I've ever played in actually had terrible plots in retrospect, but they were plots I had my own hand in telling, and that's what made them compelling to me.

[@CitizenMio]

Yeah that happens in any media whenever the story is made to riggedly align to a structure. Structure is a tool, it's there to help you build up a story, but you should learn when not to stick to it and when to change things up a bit. It works pretty well in short form, like a one off dnd session. Or comedy/super hero movies that are entertaining you with other things than deep compelling storytelling. In long form, like a more serious movie, a novel, or a 3 year dnd campaign, you want to mix it up. I like that Tetris analogy, most good art is layers upon layers anyway. Every scene in a story is essentially a mini story of its own. You can follow some basic structure to easily create those scenes and then string them together. In DnD you should realise that your players should at least feel like they have a lot of freedom, and you can tell a great story together by fitting playing tetris with mini story elements as they pop up. You can still keep a direction in mind, but ideally it's somewhere between what the DM intended and what the players are actually doing. But the balance will depend on who's at the table.

[@cheezyboy5752]

Really high quality content. Expected from a professional writer but still very much appreciated! You're the first person I've ever watched on youtube where I tend to actually write down notes to memorize and save the content for later DM'ing moments. Keep it up :)

[@drago939393]

Props on the video, useful and spry; the Tetris analogy is great honestly! Good luck on your videos, looking forward to seeing more. My favorite TTRPG gurus are Seth Skorkowsky, TheAlexandrian and Baron de Ropp (Dungeon Masterpiece) and I am hopeful you can join them. :D

[@nicholasgriffiths9579]

Well constructed and thought out! I really appreciated the break down of the importance of each "room". There is also more than enough here even for more experienced DMs to tinker with. Awesome vid!

[@zibbitybibbitybop]

Dude. Dude. This advice is fookin' brilliant, maybe the most useful DM advice I've ever seen on youtube. I will absolutely make use of this constantly from now on.

[@TriMarkC]

@MysticArtsDM - in the Gek adventure, “clostrophonic” sh/b “claustrophobic”. Else, nice starter 1-shot! Thanks!

[@Mystic-Arts-DM]

Oops! Missed after two editing passes too! Ah, well. You live and you learn. Thanks for reading it! 🙃

[@TriMarkC]

@@Mystic-Arts-DMIf you’re open to suggestions, in the Kennel, I’d add a “semi-mobile” skeleton buried in the bones, w say 1/2 normal HP & 1/2 damage ability. AND an emaciated but still living dog. The skeleton ignores it, but if the dog is freed & the PCs feed it even a little bit and save it…. they gain a companion (Rangers & Druids will love it) or just a pet. But loyal enough now to them to whine and not want to go anywhere near the Table Mimic. Just a little bit of reward or warning for saving it.

[@General_Degenerate]

Thank you so much for this, I had one of the best games I've ever DM'd for!

[@Mystic-Arts-DM]

That's fantastic news! Good job!

[@Lemurion287]

Solid stuff, I really like it. The beauty of the 5-room structure is that you can apply it to anything... for example, my current party is dealing with a Drow civil war and has the opportunity to turn one of the leaders into an "ally." I'm using the 5-room structure as a way to figure out what they can do to get this Drow on their side so she can help them get home--as they are currently trapped in what they thought was the Underdark but is actually inside an asteroid in deep space.

[@Capt-Levi]

Please make more videos like this. I love how you give a skeleton for us to hang our campaigns on. I’d love to see this but for more macro scale campaign design!

[@Flexagoon]

Beautiful video!! Makes so much sense, and I've been subconciously structuring my games like this! But now I can finally do it on purpose. I've been DMing for 10 years and this really helps, somehow have never heard of this structure. Gonna prep my next session in accordance :)

[@rjbramirez]

Dude. This is so good. I'm without enough words to explain.

[@JohnKellyDraws]

Excellent video, clear concise and I look forward to implementing the suggestions here

[@IonicEnder]

Underrated! Loads of good advice, Thank you!

[@MalloonTarka]

Your videos are consistently landing in my "TTTRPD Advice" playlist of things where I learned something new that I want to use. I especialy like how structured your videos and advice are, so I can remember them much easier.

[@negative6442]

Good video, dungeon creation was always a weakspot for me. Which is why im running a goblin dungeon come Monday lol

[@Mystic-Arts-DM]

Yes! It's the only way to improve!

[@cthomashand]

You are doing a remarkable job. A PDF or word doc with the structure written down, or a template for someone to look at with a ton of options would be helpful for people as well. 1. Entrance / Barrier to Entry 2. The Puzzle 3. The Setback (The Meat) 4. The Boss Battle (The Big Scene) 5. The Reward or Plot Twist Trying my hand at this off the top of my head... The Forge Underground is attacked. The characters are in an underground black market run by dwarves and artisans filled with all manner of vices, including a big pit fighting arena / gambling den (think Vegas boxing and casinos but grimdark). As the characters are Carousing, having fun after an adventure, the Darkmold Death Dealers arrive on scene to raid the place, take hostages, steal wealth, and cause chaos. Their leader is a monstrous humanoid transformed by his time in the corruptive influences of the Darkmold fungal forest. They need food for their Dark Mistress in the heart of the forest, wealth to fuel their endeavors, and enjoy sowing chaos. The Forge Underground is an easy target because it is a massive black market and unprotected. 1. The Entrance / The Barrier - Fires everywhere, people screaming, the PCs see a large group of the Death Dealers taking hostages into the largest casino/fighting hall (The Boar and the Rat). Just as they decide to act, a building collapses near them and a wild (summoned) fire elemental threatens to burn the path ahead (or behind if the players decide to abandoned things and flee). 2. The Puzzle - As the PCs clear the fight (and creature), the Darkmold Death Dealers enact a powerful ritual blocking the paths into the Boar and the Rat and out of the Forge Underground as they run cleanup. There are strange glyphs painted in fungal juices on the walls. Maybe the characters just need to remove the smear from a few. Maybe they need to counter with magic. While they are doing this, there is a chance a few straggler death dealers, or looters (this is a black market after all and everyone here is a criminal) get in the way. 3. The Setback (The Meat) - If our PCs decided to go into the Boar and the Rat to save the hostages, the enter the main floor and find the hostages trapped in the fighting pit, surrounded by Death Dealers who find it amusing to unleash a few of the prized monstrous fighters to harass the hostages and maybe kill a few of the hostages. - The PCs may ambush the Death Dealers. The longer they wait, the more likely a random monstrous creature (Giant Scorpion, Lions, a caged Owlbear) gets loose to attack a hostage. The Stakes are High! Can the PCs rescue people? - For terrain and dangers, maybe the fire catches on the Boar and the Rat and the building starts to collapse? Maybe the Death Dealers are distracted with collecting winnings from the gambling tables and some of the original guardians (dwarven artisans with weapons) break free to help the PCs? The fighting pit itself is depressed into the floor and hard to get to, but a freed Giant Scorpion could make for a complicated fight. - If the PCs decide to leave the hostages, you can do something like this to block the exit. Random Death Dealers, people running, freed pit fighting animals, fires all over. 4. The Boss Battle (The Big Scene) - As the PCs are wrapping up, handling the Death Dealers and the freed monsters, the Lieutenant of the Death Dealers arrives on the scene. He unleashes the Darkmold Corruption and raises the bodies of a few people as spore-controlled plant creatures (minions). He releases a couple of assassin servants (strikers). He absorbs life from a few chained hostages and makes himself a massive, slow moving Tank of a beast. The spores and the fires are tearing down the building (collapsing terrain each round to avoid) and the floors of the place are beginning to become unreliable threatening to fall into the basement (every other round, a random spot opens up). 5. The Reward or Plot Twist - After the defeat of the Death Dealers, the fires are put out, the characters overhear one of the hostages say to another "This is all your fault! You should not have given them the keys." Turns out one of the disgruntled pit bosses (card dealers, gambling manager) made a black deal with the Death Dealers and let them inside. IF the PCs interrogate, they will find out that this same individual figured out how to grant the Death Dealers access to two other major locations (a black market and a town). Will the PCs go to help? - Additionally, the owner of the Boar and the Rat gifts the players with a magic item or money as thanks for saving most of his employees. OR - A few of the Death Dealers got away with hostages. People overheard them saying they are offering the bodies up to their Darkmold Goddess for she is hungry, every hungry...Will the PCs pursue into the Deadly Darkmold Forest? OR - The owner of the Forge Underground decides to deputize the players as Heroes of the Forge. The proprietor of the Boar and Rat died in the fight, so the leader gifts the characters with the ruins of the casino/fighting hall as payment and asks them to help protect the place. When the characters investigate their new domain, they find documents that suggest the leader of the Forge Underground themself owed favors to the Darkmold Death Dealers and was hostile to the owner of the Boar and the Rat. Was all this a way to clean the slate? Anyway, this is fun.

[@philippejean3032]

I love the theme and the many ends!

[@mookiewilson4166]

Excellent calibre video. Sound is great, pacing clear, not rushed, not lagging. You have very good content and advice and your delivery is quite professional. Earned a sub. Hopefully you do a variety of general and specific topics. Off the top of my head suggestions: Designing magical items & placing magic items vs random ones. Two shot adventures. Where to break? Start of an encounter? Midway through action? End of a battle? What to accomplish in session 1 vs 2. Can you give us a “10 room dungeon” outline? Book monsters and descriptions or reskinned originals? Merits of each?

[@JohnCena-qe1rz]

“The corpse of a long dead titan that will soon awaken” we have that and it’s called Xenoblade and it’s PEAK

[@Echangcosplay]

Allow me to expand on that here as well. We also have that and it's called Bionicle and it is PEAK 😅

[@robertbengel2689]

This video is a welcome addition to my prep videos playlist. Thanks!

[@ken.droid-the-unique]

This video was excellent. There are a lot of videos about 5-room dungeons but the one thing I never hear is that you can add extra rooms! Whether it's a storeroom that has no traps/obstacles/monsters to fight or just a wide and long hallway that connects multiple rooms or... your imagination can run wild. My only suggestion is to only add 2 to 3 "empty rooms" max.

[@DungeonMasterQuest]

The way you present the idea is as fun as the idea itself. the content is so enjoyable to watch, congrats, man!

[@MrStrikecentral]

Reminder: I have SUPERIOR darkvision. Just so you know. I roll for Subscribe. Total of... 22. Done and done.

[@maul42]

Did not expect this voice to come out of this man. A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

[@RogerWoolgrove]

This channel popped up in my feed with this video. As a gamer with decades of experience running and playing I found the materiable extremely valuable and hope that many new and less experienced DMs and GMs pay attention to what has been presented here. An excellent, clear, concise and fantastically helpful presentation, and I will add that it was delivered superbly and with style. Keep up the good work, Thank you and well done, I look forward to more.

[@joshdaymusiced]

Hey, really love your content! It's really good stuff! I love the way you've run with Matt Colville's "intense camera talk," but implemented more editing. Keep it up!

[@gstaff1234]

This is great. There is terrific info and then a call to action. Let’s GO!

[@RoughGalaxyYT]

I'm a pretty new GM, mercifully running a game for other GM's, so I'm encouraged to use tropes and cliches while I get my feet under me. This is great advice. Anything that can alleviate some of the mental load is welcome.

[@DavlinViari]

7:14 The element I struggle the most with is The Puzzle. The riddles, intricate traps, literal puzzles or non-combat encounters in a “dungeon”. Don’t know if you have a whole video planned on that, but I’d love to hear your take/advice on it.

[@Mystic-Arts-DM]

The puzzle for this example took me the longest to think of, I'll be honest. But not that long, I think we might be able to make a video about that process.

[@samchelms]

Instead thinking of a clever puzzle, or trap, come up with an interesting combination of mechanical elements and let the players come up with a clever solution. For example: a pit with a single cylinder of wood spanning the distance. It rotates freely on its axle. Boom, now the players have a problem they can solve in clever ways.

[@DavlinViari]

@@Mystic-Arts-DM I’d be looking forward to that 🙌🏻

[@DavlinViari]

@@samchelms that’s good advice, thank you!

[@theminecraftwikiman]

Had an idea for a reverse dungeon where on the way in everything is quiet, and nothing happens, and at the end they find a treasure surrounded by skeletons. When they take the treasure the door locks and the skeletons come to life to act as the "entrance". then do the same for each room after until the last room at the entrance you have a boss to defeat to escape the dungeon

[@attykarly]

Immediately subbed your voice is so good

[@Fnordathoth]

This is one of the best explanations of the five room dungeon I've seen; should be very helpful for new DMs and experienced ones who've never gone down this track. Subbed!

[@ptrlyonawesome]

Really like the channel I am looking forward to seeing more.

[@BrimRun]

ANOTHER VIDEO SO SOON! Life is good 🤌✨

[@mikedaniel2628]

DMing is Tetris may be the most mind blowing image of all time. It's absolutely correct but I don't know how I never thought of it like that before.

[@Elric54]

This guy is giving Baron a run for his money. So classy.

[@henrytwist.]

Love these videos they are straight quality

[@scythero1055]

I've been a GM for a few years now and coming up with combat-filled sessions has been my main issue in session prep. I've always struggled to make them narratively satisfying. So I took the advice from this video and made a 5 room dungeon in about 40 minutes. Here's what I came up with. Feel free to use it. Feedback is appreciated. Room 1, Entrance: The party is going through a forest when they notice it getting darker and greyer, color fades as they keep progressing. They see flashes of light from between the treeline. After a pursuit, they stumble into a clearing strangely illuminated by the grey flames of a will-o-wisp. Whispers in the windless air dare the party to prove themselves to “Hirandra”. Room 2, Puzzle: The wisp is defeated in a whisper, grey fire burning a circle into the center of the clearing: a fairy ring. The surrounding trees creak and ache in the windless night. The party swears the trees move behind their backs, the branches twisting into weird shapes. They can figure out that the branches align to form letters, always to be seen from the characters’ perspective. If spoken while in the fairy ring, the treeline parts to reveal a massive tree stump with a hole inside, the entrance to the feywild. Room 3, Setback: Upon entering the treestump the party find themselves in the same clearing as before. It seems mirrored. The trees shift again, this time to align and appear as a wall around the party. Roots shift below the party’s feet to entangle them and several trees rise from the wall to attack. With each tree defeated, the wall of trees grows closer, confining the space further and further. The party just manages to stumble back into the tree stump. Room 4, Climax: Another one of the same clearing stretches before them. They notice slight alterations. A large gnarled tree creature stands in the fairy ring. It is alight with grey fire. The word Hirandra is carved into what would be its chest, in Sylvan script. The boss battle ensues. The creature is surprisingly fast and deals high damage with melee attacks. While in the central fairy ring, it’s burning, allowing it to make (weaker) range attacks and regain HP each turn. It can create cover by moving trees around the clearing. Room 5, Resolution: Back in the first clearing, an elderly woman introduces herself as Hirandra. The party was so brave, she thoroughly enjoyed the show. She offers them each a magical silver necklace, in exchange for the sweet memories of today. If accepted, the Party wakes up in the forest wearing silver necklaces with no memory of what transpired. Put together, the engravings on the necklaces spell out: “Hirandra remembers”. If refused, Hirandra becomes angry. She summons as many will-o-wisps as the party could reasonably take and attacks. She’s a damage soak with enchantment magic, setting up the wisps to deal damage.

[@scottyrye]

Loved this, caveat, I think having the big picture figured out in advance is invaluable to some groups. It makes your plot believable and immersive, if players can trust that they are in a fictional world with merit instead of just on a track with rails. I don't think most players care, but some do - and this is the thing that elevates a strong B tier campaign into being qualified for A tier (or S Tier if you prefer)

[@noahfreeman8115]

This is my new fave dnd channel

[@lukasbernhardt6720]

I was about to create a christmasoneshot, you helped me out a lot!

[@lyracian]

I enjoyed that. Having heard a lot of talk about the 5 Room Dungeon concept it was great to see it explained easily.

[@Sitharsis]

Keep going! You got this!!!

[@BioMetatader]

Wow this is the best i fucking love the heros journey comparison

[@TepigIsHot]

The advice is very solid and I love the dramatized examples in your videos. Makes it very easy to imagine how it works and gives great inspiration

[@babyatemydingo574]

Great advice. Personally my biggest hangup is analysis paralysis when writing and worldbuilding so this will come in handy.

[@link090909]

How long until we get "I am a river to my people"? Fantastic video, I really like your approach to game design from a story-writing perspective. This hobby is a tricky blend of both, after all

[@GunnarWahl]

I never heard of this idea, but I’ve definitely done this. Jumping to mind I had a mind flayer ship follow this idea. First room was a sanitation room that cleaned the players of the outside. The next room a puzzle room with a single intellect devourer that threatened the players while they looked how to escape the room the ID just trapped them in. The control room the players encountered a small team of mind flayers who ambushed the players. A hallway of mini rooms all of the collection and experiments of the mind flayers (loot rooms) and the engine room where they encountered a final mind flayer who was more than enough of a boss because my players were tapped out and even though he was not different than the others, 1 mind flayer resourcesless was harder than 4 with resources.

[@ahowl7mx]

Who else isn't ready for his voice?

[@ryanbarnett5923]

@@ahowl7mx I was sure the car insurance guy was going to walk out from behind the camera and this guy was going to show how proficient he is at lip syncing.

[@rheelgreybird4276]

Came out of the blue and I'm loving your vids. They speak to me very well, and you articulate ideas that I've struggled to put down for so long. Please keep up the videos, I really enjoy how you explain your ideas! One request/suggestion: it would be helpful to have a list up on your screen when you go through such reviews. Such as@ 4:00 and @14:06, when you are going through the structure list.