How to Prepare The Sunless Citadel - A Dungeon Master Guide - Tales from the Yawning Portal DM Prep

[@neurocolin]

I'm year late but still really grateful for this, my man. I've finally found some friends wanting to play TTRPG so i though, what's better than some classic adventures. Aaaaaaaaand I found out how much has changed since 3E. Cheesus. Great channel you got there, got a new fan ;) Take care mate

[@RdotDoyle]

@@neurocolin I appreciate you taking the time to say that, have fun!

[@Archibaldo43]

I am gearing up for my first ever DM experience, and this is the adventure I'm planning to embark on with my friends. Thanks for the video/tips!

[@RdotDoyle]

Awesome! This is a great place to start, hope you all have a great time with it

[@chaseholt7037]

same!! Good luck!

[@IPv6Freely]

Thank you for this! I have not DM'd a game since I was about 19, which is 20+ years ago. And never on roll20, so this is going to be my into both into DM'ing 5E and also learning the roll20 tools. I really appreciate the information on this adventure being laid out this way!

[@RdotDoyle]

Heck yeah, welcome back to the party! This is a great way to do it too, hope you have a great time with it

[@micahsmith7286]

Thanks for the work you do keep it up!

[@RdotDoyle]

Thank you for the repeated encouragement! It's a small thing but it makes a big impact to us little guys on here and it is appreciated.

[@JohnSmith-nd5yc]

Getting ready to run this for my party great video!

[@RdotDoyle]

Thanks! It's a great adventure, I bet you have a blast

[@PossumMedic]

Thanks for the vid!

[@RdotDoyle]

Thanks for the comment! Hope you have fun with this one

[@zubietalizama]

thank u for this guide. my DM and me decided to switch places, so he can enjoy de game as a PC. This will be my first time DMíng, so ill find this very helpful

[@RdotDoyle]

Oh awesome, that’s great. This is definitely a fun first adventure

[@peterlane7128]

I ran Lost Mines for my party's virgin foray into dnd. At the end, they wanted to take an expedition back to Thundertree to clean it up and reclaim it. According to TftYP, the sunless citadel is not far from thundertree. Could I just.... replace oakhurst with thundertree with like a short time skip and beef up the monsters a bit?

[@RdotDoyle]

For sure, it might be easier on you to swap in forge of fury though. They’ll still be over leveled for it but it would be less work on your part

[@lovecheese45]

I want to DM this but I've only played a few handful of games. I'm just nervous about messing up.

[@RdotDoyle]

With this playlist and a page of your own notes you’ll be all set

[@KaelinGoff]

Thankyou, this is helpful

[@RdotDoyle]

Glad it was helpful! More is on the way, I'm going to walk through the entire adventure over time

[@mscfplayervictor99]

Odd question but I'm looking to run this dungeon as a first time DM, and in confused on how to show the map to the players. The Dungeon itself is huge and sprawling and I think if the players were to see the whole thing right away it would take away from the magic of exploring. But then again sometimes looking at the layout of the room is critical during combat or other occasions i presume. How do u go about this?

[@RdotDoyle]

Not an odd question at all, and you've got a few options. However you do it, I would be showing the players the map room by room. You're correct that if you give it to them all at once it will detract from the experience. If you're online you can use a fog of war feature or dynamic lighting or whatever. I'm a fan of Owlbear Rodeo because it is a lightweight and simple, but more sophisticated virtual table tops are popular as well. Or you could cut it out room by room using the snip tool or Paint or whatever, and paste it into discord or zoom or whatever you may be using. In person, you can cover the map with paper to move it as they go to reveal what's underneath. I am partial to just old school drawing it out with erasable markers on a battle mat or a white board. I have very little talent drawing, but I find that gives you the most control and you'll never show more than you intend.

[@lukeaxx6911]

​@@RdotDoylePrinting out the map and covering it with sticky notes is another approach, so you dont have to draw rooms that arnt meant for combat

[@RdotDoyle]

Post it’s are a great idea in person, can’t believe I’ve never considered that

[@lukeaxx6911]

@@RdotDoyle A few caveats to the post it note method would be that they dont always lie flat which could reveal whats underneath, also the mere presence of a post it note could suggest to players that there is something hidden, ie hiding secret doors with post its. Another approach I will be testing myself soon, is just myself drawing a sort of 'mini map' on squared grid paper as the players progress, this eradictes players failing to draw maps from room descriptions, but allows for me to quickly add the spacial layout of the next area. I would then either move to a battle mat or modual foam terrain once combat commences.

[@alexandredelarge1901]

"5e is way less deadly than his predecessors" yeah, me coming here to prep the new adventure after my players wiped in Phandelver lmao

[@RdotDoyle]

hahaha, that Goblin Ambush is a notorious exception to the rule. Once you get past the first level or two PCs are way more indestructible

[@jacobodajbura8829]

Make curse of strand plz

[@RdotDoyle]

This is probably the most popular module that I haven’t touched. I put some threads to set it up but the players never went that way. That’s one issue with running a sandbox, things get left unplayed. Maybe one day.

[@Melvin7727]

Mentioning about whether something is "problematic" is nearly an automatic annoyance for me. Without then contextualizing what the problem even is, it cements the annoyance. Not at all trying to be harsh or hold anyone in contempt, just giving my honest feedback to this phenomenon of evaluating fantasy races with that terminology/ideology. EDIT: Otherwise, excellent video! Subscribed and will be watching more.

[@RdotDoyle]

I didn’t go into context because I didn’t want that to become the point of the video and it’s in later adventurers in this book, but there’s a point where fantasy can get lazy and myopic and show it’s real world influences and prejudices pretty transparently. It happened more in the older editions but there was a glaring example last year as well (with the Hadozee for context.) I think acknowledging and addressing these issues, even when it’s “annoying” for some folks, is how this hobby will continue to grow to include more and more types of people

[@ProducedByMERC]

This is a problematic comment Melvin

[@Melvin7727]

I will attempt to be more clear. I understand what is going on with the context, I know what kinds of things it's referring to. I am meaning that I disagree with that perspective/worldview. I also understand why one would not go further into it, because like you say, it would eat up the video and it's not the point of this video. To that end, I can somewhat respect not going into it because it shows respect for the focus of the content, and gives people like me an indication that ideology won't be the focus. But on the other hand, by mentioning it at all, it still brings it up. And thus for someone who disagrees with the worldview, it gives a reason to want to debate it when they hear it. Which I think is fair because the person who disagrees isn't the one who brought it up. It's not that I'm saying you should have talked about it more, it's just that it's a reality of bringing up ideological things on a gaming channel. And if it needs repeating, I said this for the sake of honest feedback. I am not expecting you to tailor your content to one random person in the comments, nor do I expect you to change any of your views on any matter, nor do I wish to debate the issue itself. Just voicing my feelings as a viewer, and really just one viewer at that. Hope that makes sense, have a good one friend.

[@Melvin7727]

@@ProducedByMERC I try

[@fatherstrifemneh2010]

Fair. The video was playing in the background as I was making my previous comment. You didn’t linger on the language or topic. Appreciated. So tired of hearing all this woke crap when I play dnd to get away from those very topics.

[@archersfriend5900]

Lost me with the hate on older editions.

[@RdotDoyle]

Hate's a strong word, I just don't think they're above criticism. Can't please everybody I suppose

[@archersfriend5900]

@@RdotDoyle I totally agree, but we are judging based on hindsight. I believe the phrase was makes me want to to throw up.

[@RdotDoyle]

Oh oh oh ok, I see the confusion. The part that makes me want to throw up about calling something from the year 2,000 “old school” is that it means I’m old now 😆. Super clear joke in my mind but I guess it didn’t come across that way

[@giraffe7753]

@@RdotDoyle that joke was crystal clear tbh lol

[@RdotDoyle]

Ha! Thank you, I appreciate you saying that

[@huejjasol8080]

As far as wokeness I don't care as a dm as long as there is no explicit sexual violence pretty much anything goes

[@RdotDoyle]

As a DM, on top of expressing my preferences I’m also maybe even more focused on getting everyone else’s input on what they’re comfortable with and enjoy