Let’s build a D&D campaign with ~dark fey vibes~

[@GinnyDi]

Thanks to Kobold Press for sponsoring this video all about The Book of Ebon Tides and Tales From the Shadows! Get yours in print or PDF: ► koboldpress.com/kpstore/product/book-of-ebon-tides-for-5th-edition/ ► koboldpress.com/kpstore/product/tales-from-the-shadows-for-5th-edition/

[@alexsnow3319]

Why not review the book using the campaign as examples of the ups/pitfalls of the book?

[@claytonwilde5750]

@@alexsnow3319 kobold press probably requested this sort of content rather than a review

[@TurboWulfe]

Yes please, thanks for this! Take care 😎 🍻 🤘

[@GryphonDes]

Used your links and picked up them both 0- thanks for the inspiration

[@isaacgraff8288]

So far only complaint is there is a typo i have found in the book that bugs me a little.

[@tooblue127]

As a young girl who loved to read grimm fairytales as a kid I also have not grown out of the dark fey vibes. Probably why I love dnd and specifically anything fey so much.

[@majorzipf8947]

Yes! Totally agree. I love the contrasting themes of beautiful whimsy and twisted misery. Subverting expectations and making your players questions EVERYTHING is such a joy.

[@happymanharp1378]

"they are not paying me to run a campaign" *blink* Yeah, do that! Sponsor her! Do it now KP!

[@RayOfGraceFieldHouse]

I'll sign that petition.

[@Boone_Faustus]

"It's very fucked up I love it!" is always a sign of great content.

[@CrispysTavern]

The Feywild is such an interesting and surprisingly dynamic location for games! Folk horror, whimsical fairy tale, dark political intrigue, all of them and more fit perfectly with the Fey. I’m building a political game in a home brew take on the Feywild and it’s been a great time! Looking forward to some inspiration from this video.

[@GinnyDi]

Love the Feywild, too! In this case I think the Shadow Realm is a cool place to set your fey courts for a different, more gothic vibe than the more traditional Seelie/Unseelie dynamic in the Feywild.

[@CrispysTavern]

@@GinnyDi Yeah I made this comment before I realized the full context of the video. The Shadow Realm seems like a cool take though! I love the idea of creatures selling memories, definitely stealing that one for myself.

[@semipessimistic]

Do you think this setting could represent the unseelie court? With all it’s dark fey influence?

[@GinnyDi]

Totally! I think you could easily drop much of this setting into the Feywild - make it so that the Unseelie court is perpetually night, give outsiders "shadow corruption" if they spend too long there, use the Shadow Fey concepts for Unseelie fey, etc. That's what I love about modular content like this. It can be a whole plane, or you can just take what you like and put it into your own game however it suits best.

[@AdorableTheNerd]

the direction this video had my particular thoughts turning in was how much of this would be useful for my ethereal plane, which in my setting is more commonly known as the Dream realm, a sort of collective unconscious fashioned of the mortal emotions and imaginings layered on top of one another for many millennia. the Deep Dreaming contains many realms of shadow and darkness, especially where it bumps metaphysically up against the shadowfell, and now i wanna steal so many of these mechanics and concepts and adapt them into a dream realm adventure :D

[@thatrandomswedishperson]

"Life is short and D&D is long" is iconic and I'm gonna go put this on a shirt now.

[@jeremyfrost2636]

Could use a bumper sticker too.

[@tcepsa]

"Ludus longa, vita brevis" XD

[@davidfarnham5623]

for anyone curious, there is a domain of dread in Ravenloft called "The Shadow Rift" that had dark fae with it's own seelie and unseelie court. It is accessed by the neighboring realm of Tepest that has to deal with fae all the time. There were even 2 modules in an old edition. I am currently running a campaign in Tepest and using those dark fae and it's incredible, my party is terrified. One of the characters even got their shadow stolen.

[@Tralldan]

Ah, stealing shadows, the most fae thing a fae could ever do.

[@theSheighani42]

Oh shit o.0 so, really hoping they have a double running around. Idea of soul or Self attached to shadow, or like in The World of Darkness something akin to a Fetch...

[@markkoehr5003]

Kenna's backstory got my brain spinning the most. Just thinking about if Kenna hired the mage to take her and her child somewhere (like they were on the run from something or moving or whatever) and the Kenna's child wonders off or is lured off the shadow roads. So Kenna ran off after her child to protect them. But she is abused by the memory thief and loses her memory of her child. So her child is now lost plane of shadows. Maybe they gang comes across her child during their adventure. Maybe this is before Kenna regains her memories so she doesn't know its her child yet. Maybe child got corrupted by the shadows. Maybe the child gets entangle in a rival fairy court of Aravni's, or even one of those lost courts you mentioned. Idk, so many possibilities.

[@solarcupid2583]

The fact that you uploaded this the DAY I finalized my changeling's backstory. They're one of the "switched with a human baby" ones, and was found out when they went to help the local blacksmith and touched pure iron for the first time. They were then banished in a very traumatic incident given that they didn't even know that they were one. There's a whole lot more details, but that's the basics of it. I'm also going with classic fae rules so this changeling can't lie. They don't have the whole gift stuff though because I imagine that's a societal thing, not instinctual. I'm so excited for session one next week

[@ProfBoggs]

Do you have a 5e source for classic fae rules, perchance?

[@solarcupid2583]

@@ProfBoggs not officially, but there's some cool homebrew rules you can find by googling "Fey dnd 5e" or "playing fey dnd" a lot of it it just flavor stuff based on actual Celtic mythology, like the favors system. Some of the ones that come to mind are true names and iron weakness. The true name rules are basically, if you give a fey your true name, they can use command, suggestion, geas, and other spells like that on you at will. (Which spell they use depends on the strength of the fey) you automatically fail the saving throw as well. As for the iron, fey creatures take double damage from iron weapons, have disadvantage attacking enemies with iron equipped, and take minor burning damage when touching it

[@ProfBoggs]

@@solarcupid2583 tyvm :)

[@jamesfavell1731]

In my setting, there’s an Elven nation called Davael. Davael is a theocracy dedicated to beings they call the ‘Bright Creators’, whom they believe originally made the world but whose glory was usurped by the other Gods. The Davaeli are fiercely devoted to the Bright Creators, and the most loyal are allowed to drink from the Bright Font, becoming Eladrin - the chosen children of the Creators. The problem is the story is not true and the Bright Creators are just a bunch of capricious, dangerous and bored Fey who basically pranked a nation of several million elves into religious extremism for kicks and profit.

[@theSheighani42]

That... Sounds legit xD

[@jasonreed7522]

My favorite part of world building is coming up with "what really happened" vs "each culture's record". In your case the elves believe their religion, everyone else has the normal DnD religion, and the absolute truth is that some Fey are doing Fey things and messing with an entire kingdom or empire sized realm.

[@wendyblair3079]

I love this idea! I’m curious as to your thoughts on how to write/run dark fey aristocracy. I’m a little in the dark (no pun intended lol) on the subject of fantasy aristocracy in general, but I really want to add some in to my campaign rn. Thanks in advance!

[@figboi]

We engage in a mild amount of tomfoolery moment there

[@LittleAshfairy]

Me: Gotta prep D&D! No time to lose Ginny: New video 😇 Me: Yeah, okay, I'll watch it later, really gotta prep Ginny: It's about Fey... Dark Fey Me: ... Well, I can just improvise the next session I guess

[@ProPirateRyan]

Omg please do more videos in this format! Campaign setting prep is SO INTERESTING I am all about this. Production quality is top notch too, I love it. Thank you so much for taking risks on niche content like this!!! Very cool

[@laurengray7010]

As someone who was obsessed with The Spiderwick Chronicles as a kid, I am definitely an enjoyer of dark fey stories.

[@CyberChamp]

This seems perfect book to have a Jim Henson Labyrinth style campaign

[@ryadinstormblessed8308]

"... it's always October in my heart!" That made me smile so much! I worked at the local Renaissance Faire for the first time on the weekends last July, and found out that the same place also does Halloween stuff in October. I've been eagerly awaiting the chance to go back and dress up again for another month!

[@nordicson2835]

My daughter was watching this in the living room , too hot to go outside , as soon as she saw your shirt. She yelled. " it's officially Halloween Season." Another great post , thank you. End of Summer mermaid lament ? Please ?

[@seansteele6532]

I played a Satyr Hexblade Warlock named Sweetpea who's backstory was that she was a regular goat that got was kept in the feast hall of the Countess of County Faire (A feywild infused district in the city setting my group homebrewed) and when the Countess needed some champions to do stuff for her she turned her into a sentient Satyr Hexblade Warlock, she only wishes to return to the peaceful life of just being a goat.

[@harrison3207]

That sounds amazing 👏 Also very cool that your group worldbuilt together. Was everyone at the table just interested in homebrewing things or did you do something special?

[@seansteele6532]

@@harrison3207 Well there's absolutely no homebrew in her, she's mechanically a Satyr Hexblade Warlock with the Entertainer Background, remember, flavor is always free.

[@graphicfire]

I'm playing a fey warlock of the seelie court, there's not much content I've seen based on that unseelie seems to be the one with all the content and lore. Peeps love their dark faeries. Also I tend to picture the characters from the Dresden files wile playing.

[@zeppelopod]

Dresden Files is EXCELLENT for weird dark fae shenanigans.

[@mollywantshugs5944]

My favorite part of the fey is the sheer alienness of the fey in folklore. In particular the idea that they have a bunch of social rules and even laws of nature that they take very seriously which the human characters don’t understand

[@loveearth30]

Playing in a game completely shadow realm based does sound highly appealing to me. I enjoy the combination of mystical fey and dark less "pleasant" aspects that come across as sorta horror based. I very much enjoy giving my dms room to completely terrorize my characters, and I also enjoy being surprised with backstory things and this setting seems to naturally lean pretty heavily into aspects that could do that.

[@KestralSabre]

“For as long as the players can keep their Saturday mornings open-“ I’m dying, too real😂

[@giraffedragon6110]

I would recommend Coraline for inspiration as well. It is a PERFECT example of dark fantasy.

[@ms.aelanwyr.ilaicos]

I've been running a dark fae campaign for quite some time now. It's a vibe. I love the creative liberties you can take in the Faewild, the Dreamlands, and the Plane of Shadow--and fae let you play in all of them!

[@riareanne]

Your characters are so interesting! Your videos have definitely helped me flesh out the backstories I wrote for my characters, but I’ve still got a lot of room for improvement. Thanks for all the wonderful inspiration!

[@irian42]

Speaking of Kobold Press, Courts of the Shadow Fey is absolutely amazing!

[@Coffee_Nutz]

And... sold. The book is now on its way to be on my shelf... Kobold Press does great stuff. :: Happy Days::

[@dmore]

I was in a session yesterday and found myself needing to tell a folklore tale of my people. I started telling this dark, sad story… something of a warning used to keep children on the path, something turned into plays and theatre. I couldn’t remember where the story had come from and I didn’t get it 100% the same, but I just realized I told the story of Kenna Talward!!

[@xkacie]

Your characters always have such compelling and well-thought out backstories. I am SO invested in Kenna’s arc! I want to see this campaign played out!

[@3DJMV3]

My party is halfway through Wild beyond the Witchlight, they're buying a lot into the fey theme so I think this adventure is right for them !

[@JediKnightDTV]

OMG Ginny!!! A Warlock, a Barbarian, a Druid and a Cleric, and I LOVE the new Classes/Subclasses!!! 🤩 I absolutely ADORE the Shadowrealm/Feywild like you do!!! What a great idea for a Campaign!!! 😍

[@smt7134]

Making a pact with a dark Fey where all I get in return is a full campaign DM’d by Ginny.

[@captaincube132]

13:03 I'm surprised you built an entire party and only put *a* fey in it, one, singular. Very impressed at your self restraint =)

[@DaltCity]

I am a male that usually does not comment on make up at all, but that hair color and lipstick combination is fire 🔥super cool aesthetic look

[@OptimusOmega6]

Always on the lookout for good D&D horror content.

[@heididobson2437]

Onyxclaw got my head spinning with ideas. I now need to make a shadow ranger or druid.

[@Arkhavist_S]

Man, that bear cosplay was spot-on.

[@GinnyDi]

thanks, worked really hard on it

[@ProfBoggs]

Wait, where was that? I didn't see any bear ears or snout on Ginny Di...

[@Arkhavist_S]

@@ProfBoggs 9:19 you can't miss it. Flawless. If I didn't know better, I'd almost mistake her for a real bear.

[@ProfBoggs]

@@Arkhavist_S doh!

[@IfLifeIsALeaf]

Play in the shadow plane? Absolutely! Love dark fey, Unseelie court!

[@LightningPiano]

This is a ridiculoulsy good advertisement for the book. I don't know that I have ever been so tempted to buy a sponsored product before!

[@quinnlee-newbury9003]

Very excited for this. There's a BIG fey component to the current campaign I'm running (one of the PCs is a changeling and I really wanna give her the opportunity to do lots of fae stuff) but as much as I love everything Fae it always seems yo be the thing I struggle most with for creating adventures around, so I'm certain this video will give me some ideas and get me in the spirit!

[@plus2happiness]

I love this style of video! I'm a big fan of your character creation videos, but this type definitely scratches that same itch but on a grander scale. Big fan!

[@darindeyoe1817]

Great way to discuss such a wonderful product. People loved these new races and classes played at GenCon 2022, especially in the confrontation with the Tick-Tock man😎 a memory thief. So much fun Ginny Di

[@deusexaethera]

If I had someone like you around, D&D would be worth setting aside time to play. Your enthusiasm is infectious. I'd ask why you have to live so far away, but I wouldn't inflict DC-area weather (and traffic) on my worst enemy.

[@Invindication]

Fey are my favorite part of DnD. I’m gonna enjoy this video so much!!!!

[@dziubasinsky]

I must say that your timing is amazing! I've just finished GMing first part of my scenario (first adventure written by myself) with fey vibes, but more cute, colorfull and friendly fey 🦄

[@Jarulf4477]

I don't know how i missed this gem from you, Ginny. Always loved the fey since i was gifted a whole book about all sorts of fey, both Seelie and Unseelie. Very nuanced and exciting characters you deliver on top of this great vid.

[@PotterFreak22]

I have been waiting for spooky season all year. This is close enough to start putting Halloween decorations up. And leaving them there until next year. Or whenever.

[@jeremyfrost2636]

I have a meme that says "July 4th has passed, I'm putting my Halloween decorations up now". I post it on Twitter every July 5th.

[@battlebardart]

This is such a great video, Ginny. Especially watching you create a campaign while doing it! As someone learning to DM for an experienced party (We all take turns DMing...I one of two that's never done it yet) it is so helpful to see how you build!

[@Sellesion]

This is perfect! Thank you for this video cus I've been wanting to write up my own campaign for my group and I have a plot and BBEG in mind, and asked the players if they like the idea of it being a Dark Fairytale setting. They were intrigued! As a kid I always loved the idea of twisted beasts that go bump in the night, fairy mounds and dark fey magic. So I've been dying to play around with it. These books sound like very helpful material for that. I'm so excited that this kind of additional content is out there now. It'll really help not to have to make so much from scratch.

[@keithlewis9621]

I really really loved this style of video and hope you do more of them. So much inspiration to pull from and it helps seeing how you put together a campaign from scratch, as I have trouble working in my players backstories at times

[@michelleandrews3921]

the content of this video is very good, and so is the filmography of each character introduction! Excellent work

[@nathancheetham8992]

I think this might be my favourite video you've ever released, Ginny! As someone about to DM for the first time, I love seeing how you plan out stuff!

[@elvacoburg1279]

Your overview alone has given me ideas on how to incorporate the Shadow realm into my current campaign, in a way that will cause the character great anguish, sorry, great joy!

[@Labratify]

Kobold Press definitely got their moneys worth for that video. Fantastic overview of some of the content! I played the 'Courts of the Shadow Fey' adventure they published and I really enjoyed it. Happy to see the setting is getting more and more fleshed out.

[@riuphane]

"that hits a little too close to be funny" Yes ... Yes it does... We've had to move to online only, after everyone's kids are in bed, and only for a few hours every few weeks. Been like that for a few years, sadly, but we're just happy to still be going

[@LostForestFires]

Ohh I just started a very short campaign with the Tome of beast as my main source of inspiration. Shadow fey are so fun. My party is trying to remove the moon king for his crumbling seat of power. During a grand masquerade ball in the overlapp between the shadowfell and the feywild.

[@_knoxxis]

This is such a practical and informative way to expose folks to your sponsors while keeping things really engaging! Well done!

[@theSheighani42]

I LOOOOVE Fae mythos and lore, so the moment you mentioned the Pathways, even without the intro, my brain clicked, "Yep, that's Arcadia. Totally the Hedge..." I can't help but want to have a Gloomstalker Ranger in this setting... Would annoy a LOOOOT of things xD Not sure how I feel about a DOZEN Courts, but a character from a Lost Court...even if only an NPC...could be a LOT of fun to run! Plus, totally dig the new Druid circle!

[@rockfacts3987]

THIS IS LITERALLY WHAT MY NEXT CAMPAIGN IS ABOUT AAAGH

[@christosgiannopoulos828]

"Looks like you're going to the shadow realm, players"

[@nigeldepledge3790]

Ooh! I can see why Kobold Press are keen to work with you. I love the way your mind works. I think it would be brilliant to play the campaign you've described, but I'm currently without a group. (Yes : several bags of new dice and no place to roll. 😥)

[@monstermoo4191]

Literally one minute in and this is already such a cool video premise. I hope it was fun to make! Love your channel.

[@antonioscendrategattico2302]

Ngl, this is a really great atmospheric premise. The characters are all creative and fit the setting, and their backstory is deeply tied to it.

[@wylde_hunter]

Great, creative way to review a RPG book! I love your take on the Shadow World - very inspiring. You've made me want to dip into a mini-Shadow campaign of my own. Thanks Ginny!

[@maximepearson5031]

Thanks!

[@jessofall_trades]

Ah this is so cool! Dm'd for the first time last Saturday and have been planning my campaign around the shadow fell and fey wilds so this is so helpful!

[@serialgoober816]

I just recently started watching you im so glad i jumped on the bandwagon. Ty for the amazing content and tips throughout! Its helped me to start getting into DMing and hopefully creating a world and adventure my friends will love!

[@dndinacastle]

This is a phenomenally helpful video. A great example of how to make the most of a new setting.

[@localman6537]

I have never DMed before, but I am in the process of writing and planning my first campaign. The premise was going to be centered around dream/memory stealing by a big bad from either the Feywild or Shadowfell, and they would use those dreams or memories to power a spell or artifact that would enable them to merge their plane with the prime material plane as kind of a territorial expansion. Your video and this product has come at the absolutely perfect time and is something I will rely on heavily to create this campaign world. Thank you so much for posting this up and Happy Gaming!

[@isaacgraff8288]

Considering how early I see Christmas crap, you are perfectly okay delving into Halloween late August.

[@davidbarnett342]

I am half here for the videos half here for the your style. Your hair color and how well it looks on you are just awesome. Super jelly.

[@Blindy_Sama]

The T-shirt made me smile.. my blind butt had to pause the video and zoom in to see what it was but then a smiled even bigger. Also this was a cool video keep up the nice work

[@shanearnett3235]

Oh I would kill to play a campaign with you. I love your videos I've watched many of your videos and I'm obsessed. I'm a newbie so I know with all of your experience you would be able to mold me into a good player and with both our imaginations we would have a blast. Keep up the great work Ginny

[@Syndro_Deathblade]

This is awesome. I really enjoy seeing your thought process in designing the backstory and lore for each character.

[@paulieboy6644]

This is helpful - I’m newish to DnD and playing a Fey warlock

[@danielgoldberg2129]

Nice timing on this video! I just started in a campaign last night and the character I made is a Shadar-Kai Shadow Sorcerer. Seems like he would do well in your campaign, too!

[@22CAJ]

Honestly this was the most effective way to promote these books that you could have chosen. I love this video and the ideas it offers, and now I am seriously considering looking at these as well as whatever else Kobold Press has published. Thank you for giving such a great example on how to use and enjoy these books!

[@erikwilliams1562]

5 seconds in and this is already my favorite video of all time

[@TrainingFanatic]

I'm doing a fey heavy Grim Hollow campaign, and this is very helpful for preparation!

[@RockThisCrib]

So many ideas to packed into this book and video. Well done

[@chaosheaven23]

This book seems really cool to me as my homebrew setting has seen a lot of bleeding between the Shadowfell and Feywilds into the Material Plane. I run a grimdark game and folklore-style horror is something I hope my party can get invested in. I bet this book would be an awesome resource!

[@seanfsmith]

I absolutely **adore** the casual bodyhorror in this --- this might be the first time I pick up a campaign setting for 5E rather than build my own!

[@goingpostale]

thanks for walking us through character creation and relationships as can be defined by the tools in this book! it’s so cool to see how a game could be defined by the options available in these books!

[@singularrookhart7501]

This could not have come at a better time, for me. I had a few bolts of inspiration over the last month regarding fairy tale archetypes as D&D characters and leaning into the darkly comedic overtones. This is serendipitous encouragement.

[@gracegodinez5302]

wait no wayyyy, I was literally just talking about our new heavily fey centered campaign!!

[@Midnight3Wonder]

I've actually been DYING to play in a game heavily inspired and influenced by fairytales. If you read the original stories, you know how messed up they truly are. Perfect setting for a D&D campaign!

[@jeremyfrost2636]

To paraphrase Ginny, they're very fucked up. I love them.

[@Midnight3Wonder]

@@jeremyfrost2636 Me, too! Some of my personal favorites are Alice In Wonderland, Red Riding Hood, Robin Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and so many more! I can't help it! There are just so many wonderful tales out there to explore!

[@RyanFribble]

@@Midnight3Wonder Wild Beyond the Witchlight is a official module that has a lot of those themes to it

[@Midnight3Wonder]

@@RyanFribble I know, and I really hope I can play that module someday. I have tried to play it, but I was only able to last a few sessions before life got in the way.

[@kingzecromatic]

Yes Ginny! Looks to be an awesome vid!

[@lucaswarren5947]

Loved this! It was a ton of fun following your thought path through what is basically a session zero.

[@grimgrimly]

I'd love to see more content about the Shadow realm. I'm running a solo campaign in the Shadow court right now as a side quest between the two halves of Out of the Abyss. The player, a drow nature cleric of Eilistraee who started as a drider, has travelled to the courts to ask the moonlit king to make Durendil the Quaggoth's delusion of being an Elven prince real.

[@BrindleBoxerMax]

Just got The Book of Ebon Tides and really like it. A quality hardback book. Love what you have come up with for a campaign.

[@SilentSooYun]

1:15 "Let's get spooky!" I need to turn that into a ringtone :D

[@mrfmorita]

You are an incredible creator. I watch all your videos, yet you keep surprising me with new, disruptive and entertainment content! I hope you have as much fun as I do.

[@justangela1684]

My friend is playing a changeling and it's SO COOL

[@andersschmich8600]

I love the idea of using the Fair folk as horror antagonists. I have ran a few Call of Cthulhu games with that concept.

[@MatthewSmith-pv6gd]

Love these ideas. I have always wanted to run a session in the fey or shadow realm, but nothing really has much resources to build off of, and it's just been too big a job for me to build the kind of place I imagine from scratch. These books sound like just the thing for me.

[@gbprime2353]

This is a world-building element I need. A previous campaign that went epic-level saved an entire world from sliding into the Abyss after it was pretty far gone. Then they left. So with nations gone and populations decimated... now what? A world ripe for the feywild, with leftover lurking terrors and civilizations few and far between.

[@Anastasiaaugh]

Im about to start a campaign with 4 of my friends and this just gave me some great ideas, thanks!

[@royaldolly6467]

I've been on such a fey high as of late, and dark fey vibes is just *chef's kiss* so this video caters to me specificly

[@tsarina7832]

I actually have been writing a dark fey autumn court D&D campaign so this invaluable thank you !!

[@majinantipanda]

This was such a wonderful insight into your process. You must be a amazing GM. I love Dark Fairy Tales, and Mythology. I would love to DM something dark and twisted. Just have to be careful and know my players lines and veils. Though I be but a petty dabbler in the dark arts with only a few One shots (To give the reg DM a break) under my belt.

[@digitalhunter42]

So glad I recently found this channel, rpg gold, thanks

[@mikaelabowler]

Kobold Press better have paid you well for this video girlie, great job