How To Run A Wild Sheep Chase - D&D One-shot Tips and Advice

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thanks for watching! The best way to help the channel is to subscribe, like the video and leave a comment. If you've run A Wild Sheep Chase already, please share this video with your players and let them peak behind the screen! -------------- ❤ Support the Channel ❤ -------------- 💚 Patreon: matthewperkins.net/patreon 💚 Donate: matthewperkins.net/donate 💚 Store: matthewperkins.net/store 💚 DM Guild: matthewperkins.net/dmsguild 💜 Twitch: matthewperkins.net/twitch 💜 TikTok: matthewperkins.net/tiktok 🧡 Discord: matthewperkins.net/discord 🧡 Facebook: matthewperkins.net/facebook 🧡 Twitter: matthewperkins.net/twitter 🧡 Instagram: matthewperkins.net/instagram 🧡 Reddit: matthewperkins.net/reddit ✏ Blog: matthewperkins.net/blog 📧 For marketing/business/sponsorship inquiries, email: [e-mail]

[@GammaTheGreat]

Scaling for Level 1: Apes -> Baboons Wolves -> Hyenas Brown Bear -> Black Bear Bed Monster -> Giant Eagle Noke -> Apprentice Wizard with escape spells

[@pirateFinn]

As a personal note, I changed Noke into an Evil Mage with otherwise mostly his spells he has in this adventure's block and the Cult Fanatic's Dagger stat block. On that note, for the Gibbering Mouther, I use Cult Fanatic Health and 7 (2d6) bites, especially as my party are inexperienced newer players.

[@MRWilliamson596]

Also Guz takes the Orc statblock I think. I have to say that when I ran this for 4 level 1 players using these modifications, the combat was far too easy. The wolves and the apes in particular went down very very quickly because they were low in the initiative order. I know lvl1 is difficult to balance but I'd recommend keeping some flexibility to beef them up if needed.

[@justinlively693]

my friend ran this session with our group as our session 0 and as we were going, our half orc started calling the sheep goat, when he tried to use the wand, he rolled a Nat 1 and accidentally cast fireball instead. now he carries around a bag of "goat's" ashes.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Perfect!

[@sarajohnson8726]

Thank you for the painting idea! The players loved it and tormented Guz with some awesome insults during the fight.

[@TehHellequin]

Planning on running this in a few days with some mates as our first DnD session, and I can't thank you enough for the rundown. Really helps me feel like I can get this 'storyboarded' and then fly with whatever wackiness

[@heyitsMattyP]

Glad to help! That's the best attitude to approach this adventure - just fly with it!

[@joekc7114]

I love this, I made my players take 1d4 eye pain if they look at the art, so they can’t just get all the answers for free 😅

[@Derbycityborn]

I’m currently(horribly) painting nothing but feet pics for Guz’s art!

[@roscofett]

I ran this as an "intro to D&D" game before... It was hilarious! Good shout on this one

[@jacobvafides5294]

Just play D&D for the first time with this campaign. Never laughed so hard. Super good starter campaign!

[@D4V3TH3RAV3]

Late to the party but first time DM AND players - was going to go DOSI but ran this first as a bit more manageable! Just wanted to say thanks for the videos, they've been super helpful! My players; - Beat Guz to death when accosted (after embarrassing him with a high intimidate roll) - Played non lethal vs guards to try and avoid killing innocents - aside from 1 ape guard who had a javelin thrown at it from on high - Didn't fight the bed dragon as Noke moved into the central room (which I planned he'd retreat from) - he was pinned against a door & killed with a high rolled Inflict Wounds - Quickly punted Noke to his death off the tree top after he failed to Polymorph himself & was turned into an incredibly weakened Jibbering Mouther - Got a very lucky roll and got Finethir back to his Elf-y self I ended up playing Guz more evil than intended + Fenithir as more good / likeable than I meant to - got around a few complexities around Speak with Animals / Polymorph by basically working on the grounds that a rune infused in the wand was making the animals more of a hybrid than a 'true' polymorphed animal which had kind of scrambled their brains/made them more subservient - it worked as this was AFTER the wand was taken from Fenithir so he was all good! Thanks again - amazing content & keep up the good work!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Well done! Sounds like you smashed it :)

[@najomiecournoyer2604]

Thank you for this video! Greatly appreciated!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Hope you enjoy the adventure!

[@jamesewert3088]

Appreciate the video. I've got a couple of first timers lined up to run this with me over reading break. Awesome video & guidance. Thank you. "Ooh, I'm a player, I can only control one player at a time!" Perfect.

[@CoryACC97]

Rewound and laughed my ass off at this at least 15 times

[@calebludrick239]

Great tips all around, really liked the advice on running the sheep in combat - I've always struggled with running NPCs in combat because I don't want them to outshine the players, so giving the players some agency in what the NPC does seems like it would help with that

[@heyitsMattyP]

And can you imagine if the players got outshone by a sheep!? They'd never live it down

[@BrendanDonnelly51395]

My players ended up turning finithar (the sheep) into the pile of goo on accident so I let them keep the tree fort as a sort of base of operations!

[@mamneo2]

I wonder what will happen when the taxmen come to tax the wizard and find a bunch of adventurers living there, or perhaps some noble that wants to hire the wizard for a job.

[@steverowe5990]

I had a blast running this module for my son and his friends.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Did the sheep survive???

[@Brackloon]

Cheers man. Running this tomo, my forst DM experience. This has helped a lot!

[@jonasateo]

That's some amazing advice, thank you so much! I actually decided to develop your idea regarding Guz's painterly aspirations a step further and turned Noke and Guz into a workplace couple for some increased dramatic & emotional tension should one of the two get hurt.

[@ashtrayheartedgirl]

After playing for 8 months, I'm DMing for the first time for my work team. they are all total newbies. I maybe bit off more than I could chew by creating lvl5 characters for them all... I wish I'd seen this first to scale down the encounters! But I will use your tips for building the story and playing the NPCs. Will update after I run it next week!

[@ThePhanomas]

How did it go?

[@ashtrayheartedgirl]

@@ThePhanomas it went so well! They really enjoyed playing and thanks to these tips, it ran smoothly. They even went on a side quest to buy painting supplies for Guz in hopes of convincing him to join their side 😂

[@RedMaij]

Thank you for this! This will be my first time DMing in 15 years (I used to run Earthdawn), and I think this adventure is great for a start. I was going to just let my players start at 4-5 as a one shot, but now after watching this, and reading one of the comments below, I think this would be a perfect way to give a starting company a base of operations!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Josh, you're gonna slay it! :) Please report back with how you go, and remember to hit up Richard at Winghorn Press if you like the adventure

[@LunchBreakHeroes]

I had forgotten all about this one shot. I read about it once upon a time when I was first thinking of starting to DM. Thanks for reminding me of it!

[@heyitsMattyP]

It's a solid adventure! I read it way before I played it too, but mainly because it stole the name of my favourite Murakami book.

[@sethd.michaels4048]

just stopping by to say thank you for this - i ran through this adventure with my sister and three nieces, all first time players, and this video was really helpful for my prep!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Aww thanks Seth! It's a really fun adventure, especially for kids - talking animals is always a winner

[@meliss7582]

Thank you for the video. I was having problems figuring out why people thought it was so funny but you really illustrated it for me

[@heyitsMattyP]

Glad to help :) It's still my favourite one-shot

[@heathersoconnell5644]

Hi! I read the story, modified ideas and am set to run it tonight as a first time DM. Today, I saw your video! Thank you

[@heathersoconnell5644]

I love the deeper characters, appreciate the pronunciations and am adopting your town as the perfect starting point. My two players are a very feminine magic user and a palidan serving Sune. They'll love the gourmet marmalade, etc. My plan is that our sheep has been on the lam for two weeks or so. He escaped with the scroll, saw the shrugging witch and ran.toward her before recognizing it as a statue. He ignored a squealing little girl and is lifted off the ground by the big burly man with her. He's carried to a beautiful home with a huge, gorgeous garden, a high fence and full views of the town square. Finathair secures the scroll in an oversized play cottage where the girl holds afternoon tea parties with her new sheep, other pets, and dolls. At last, Finathair is enjoying properly brewed tea, slurping from a dainty cup he keeps knocking over. He has all the.pastry he can eat, a soft grass bed and proper appreciation. He's been bathed, brushed and his wool is elaborately styled, and nearly covered on colorful ribbons. He looks down at the town square and sees our ladies, one on Wizardly robes. Finathair grabs the scroll and is off, and out the gate! Meanwhile, Guz is relentlessly searching, but wonders if real wolves got the sheep. Noke is getting more paranoid and desperate. The sheep crashers into our team, talking rapidly as both the Gus group and the girl with her big bad dad close in. I'm thinking the Dad will help in fighting, the girl can help her sheep hide or escape. The team and sheep may go to the girl's home to plan. Or they may be in.a race with Guz: who can sheepnap first? Question... Can a transmuted wizard do any non verbal magic in sheep form? ( or Later, maybe if magic runes are carved into his horns?) Thanks

[@heyitsMattyP]

Sounds great Heather! I don't think the sheep has any magical abilities, just its regular Wizard intelligence. For some reason, I DO like the image of the sheep trying to fire a crossbow or something though :D

[@amandapbandeira]

thank you so much! i ran this adventure two days ago and it was a BIG challenge, my first real DMing and the way you give your own touch to the story is so more grounding

[@heyitsMattyP]

Glad to help! It's just a super fun and sill one-shot :)

[@ericness9660]

This is exactly what I was looking for, a recommendation and tips on running a one shot. Thanks!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Glad to help Eric! If you end up running Sheep Chase, let me know how you go :)

[@ericness9660]

I ran this last night with 5 first time players and my second time as a DM. Thanks so much for all your tips, they made things go so much smoother. I got thrown off a bit when the player persuaded Guz to let them return the sheep to Noke. Turns out all my players expected a plot twist where the sheep ended up being the bad guy all along. But still, good times.

[@fire99xyz]

Will run it on Sunday thank you so much!

[@heyitsMattyP]

How'd the session go? :)

[@fire99xyz]

@@heyitsMattyP Session was moved to next Sunday :/ am so looking forward to it! I haven’t been the dm for so long and now am so happy to be one again tough only once am month I selected music for each scene.

[@rdhellings]

Its a great small adventure, good idea to reduce it for first level. I've run it for some of my friends twice now. First as an isolated one shot, then again for another group woven into an existing campagin.

[@wizardsamwise]

i am running this one shot for 4 newbies next week and this video made me wayy less nervous ! thank you for you amazing video, this really helped me understand the NPCs better !

[@heyitsMattyP]

Oh rad! Glad to help :) Let us know how the session goes!

[@sjmmahoney]

I’m running this today as my first time ever DMing!! All my players have played before so it’s more a learning experience for me. This helped a lot, thank you so much!❤️

[@heyitsMattyP]

Nice! How did the session go?

[@sjmmahoney]

@@heyitsMattyP it went amazing! Having watched this I was comfortable and able to adlib and make it my own (the inclusion of my OC Bev the Beaver was a big hit).The players said they had a great time and want me to DM again soon so I’m so happy. Thank you so much!

[@owen.mainville]

Im actuallt about to dm this as my first experience dming too

[@IkBenNoLife]

Currently watching this is repeat to get over the anxiety of running this for my group and the usual dm. Wish me luck!

[@heyitsMattyP]

I believe in you! Your mates will have a blast :)

[@MrAntsRants]

This was my first delving into DMing 3 years ago, I am going to run it again following on from waterdeep dragon heist. It was really enjoyable, and hearing your tips I have better ways of running it now, also more experience as a dm. I love the idea of your friends group keeping the puppy haha.

[@heyitsMattyP]

It's always fun returning to an adventure :) I'm about to finish re-running Lost Mines of Phandelver after a three year gap - it's been a blast second time around. You'll smash Wild Sheep Chase for sure

[@prosthoplus]

This is incredibly helpful, thank you!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Glad to help! Cheers Stephen :)

[@ianmccartney5391]

For any wondering, gibbering is pronounced jib-ehr-ing, like you would gibberish. More importantly, thank you for the video. I've been stressing trying to find a short, silly one-shot for tonight and this seems perfect and also the suggestions you made gave me a few similar ideas for myself.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Cheers Ian! Have fun with your session :)

[@jeffreywitty3088]

a most potent brew is also a very good free introduction adventure

[@heyitsMattyP]

I'll look into it - thanks!

[@jeffreywitty3088]

@@heyitsMattyP same author "winghorn press" they offer a few free ones. With: current 5e basic rules & 5e SRD-OGL, Elemental evil players companion, 5e character sheet, Plus current free/open D&D spell list you can get alot together 100% free. Most of the AL supplemental pdf's are free also. also: Free Official Adventures from WotC: Hoard of the Dragon Queen (lvl. 1-3) - Adventurers League (AL) Legal Princes of the Apocalypse (lvl. 1-4) - AL Legal Out of the Abyss (lvl. 1-4) - AL Legal Curse of Strahd: Death House (lvl. 1-3) - AL Legal Storm King's Thunder: A Great Upheaval (lvl. 1-5) - AL Legal Underworld Speculation (DDIA-XGE; lvl. 3) - AL Legal Harried in Hillsfar (DDEX03-01; lvl. 1-2) - AL Legal Definace in Phlan (DDEX01-01; lvl. 1-4) - AL Legal Shadows Over the Moonsea (DDEX01-03; lvl. 1-4) - AL Legal Dues for the Dead (DDEX01-04; lvl. 1-4) - AL Legal The Scroll Thief (DDEX01-06; lvl. 1-4) - AL Legal Winter's Spendor (DDAL00-05; lvl. 1-4) - AL Legal Tyranny in Phlan (DDEX01-10; lvl. 5-10) - AL Legal Trouble in Waterdeep (lvl. 1-3) The Gribbits Detective Agency (Dragon+ issue 18; lvl. 1) The Crypts of Kelemvor (Dragon+ issue 18; lvl. 3-5) X MARKS THE SPOT - A Plane Shift: Ixalan Adventure (lvl. 4) The Hangover (A Rat Queens adventure; lvl. 5) The Barber of Silverymoon (lvl. 4-6) Elfhunt (lvl. 5) Grammy’s Country Apple Pie (lvl. 1-4) The Return to the Test of Initiation (The Adventure Zone official comic and adventure; lvl. 2) Struggle in Three Horn Valley (Dragon+ issue 24; lvl. 3-4) The Ruins of Matolo (Dragon+ issue 19; lvl. 5-10) - AL Legal The Six Faces of Death (Dragon+ issue 21; lvl. 11-13) The Risen Mists (Dragon+ issue 18; lvl. 11-15) - AL Legal Monster Slayers: The Heroes of Hesiod - A "D&D-lite" adventure for kids Monster Slayers: The Champions of the Elements - A "D&D-lite" adventure for kids

[@jeffreywitty3088]

@@heyitsMattyP AND #1 check out the 100% FREE "Aurora" character builder (only web links to public sources, does not pirate the books). That and of course the "free" D&D Beyond content

[@gielotjuhh]

Thanks for the tips. I played this one-shot for 2 players today, I let the druid adopt a owlbear they found in the woods to round out their party. My players ended up burning the beddragon and the complete fort. I played Shinebright as someone who relied too heavily on his wand, so he wasn't too mad to watch his house burn down with his new friends. Where after he retired.

[@heyitsMattyP]

I like the idea that he retired using the insurance money :)

[@aylindilandemiralp7856]

Thank you so much for this video! I want to run this one shot, but it is so hard to justify for me why Noke doesn’t turn the party into sheep with the wand of true polymorph

[@heyitsMattyP]

Glad you like the video! You're totally welcome to use Noke's wand to transform the players, but HE KNOWS it's a risky manoeuvre with the broken wand, so I imagine he'd only do so as a last-ditch thing against the most dangerous opponents.

[@godofallcows]

Thanks Matthew! Randomly discovered your channel. You did a fantastic job, looking forward to watching more of your catalogue.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Oh wow thanks! I worked pretty hard on this video, so I'm glad people keep finding their way here : )

[@blairberry-o5872]

I'm planning on running this in a week when I visit my dad. It will be my first time DMing. My sister ran (her first time DMing) it with our DND group and when I say we had a blast we had a blast!!! We drew random premade characters. I've never played a monk so that was interesting... anyway I digress. We ended up eating the sheep wizard and keeping the tower. Good Times! I killed Nuke by giving him several atomic wedgies.

[@Emily-in7mi]

I loved you video! It made me feel better about running this one shot for my friends. I'm going to dm for the first time and they are playing for the first time. We are playing with 2 pcs and im so worried im going to accidently kill them by making the fights too tough. But very excited to try!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Excellent! You'll have a blast. For 2 characters, I'd recommend only throwing 2 enemies at the party each fight, 3 maximum.

[@Emily-in7mi]

@@heyitsMattyP ok that sounds good. Thank you so much!

[@zacharybolon3927]

I LOVE your videos! I'm running LMoP alongside your videos on that. My party wants to run Wild Beyond the Witchlight next. Please do a series on that campaign!!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thank you Zach! I don't know much about Witchlight - I've only played a little portion of it as a one-shot. But WotC did send me a copy of the book and I've been meaning to do a readthrough on Twitch, so I might start that in September. I bet it will take all month to read haha! But I don't think I'll do an in-depth module guide for it unless it's a total banger, just because these bigger books are so much harder for me wrap up in my flippant advice.

[@betci90]

awesome thank you so much, love your fleshing out the characters! gonna dm it tomorrow :D

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thanks for watching! How'd your game go?

[@betci90]

@@heyitsMattyP So. Much. Fun!! Everyone loved it 😍😍 and the house did burn to the ground , thanks for the reminder that it's completely wooden mwuahahahhaha 😂😆

[@yarinaknin3221]

Thank you for this video! I’m planning to run this one shot tomorrow with a group of friends. We’ve been playing a long campaign for the past year and a half or so, where we are all level 16, and our DM said he needed a break. So I decided to try and run this with 4th level pre-made characters. I don’t have a lot of experience at DMing and I hope it goes well :) your video gave me some inspiring ideas (definitely going with Painter Guz). Love your narrating!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thanks for watching Yarin :) This is a really good adventure to cut your teeth on - you'll smash it!

[@yarinaknin3221]

Matthew Perkins So, I wanted to share how it went: my players immediately went off track when Guz and his wolves entered the tavern (in Cradle... thanks for the name!) and decided to grab Shinebright and escape through the back door into a candy shop. They bribed the shopkeeper for his silence, went out the window and tried to climb onto the roof to run away parkour style. Guz and his gang couldn’t find them so decided to give up and return to their master. Later on, they snuck past all the guards and climbed (again...) right into Noke’s bedroom, so he couldn’t retreat there from the kitchen. Instead, he polymorphed his stove into a threatening coal-spewing dragon wyrmling (immune to fire because, well, it’s a stove). The sorceress rolled extremely high on her intimidation check and managed to frighten Noke into surrender! He explained how Shinebright was an abusive teacher and so they agreed to help him find a new apprenticeship in return for the wand. This is where we finished the session. I’m thinking I’ll let them turn Shinebright into the gibbering mouther instead of Noke :P

[@hunter049EN]

This is frankly fantastic as a video. You sure as heck have advantage on Charisma checks, especially thanks to that wonderful cat. Thank you so much for this video, so much help and so many great ideas, I'll have a blast running this for a few friends no doubt!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Mate, thanks so much for the high praise. That really means a lot to me and I hope you stick around for my other stupid videos. Also, I loved Fear & Loathing Mr. Thompson :)

[@steviechapin6411]

My one shot of this turned into a two shot, the second act being the fight with Noke and what comes after. We are about to do the second act, just a couple of days before Halloween. So I am making a twist Once they defeat Noke and Transform Shinebright back, he is going to lure or teleport them to the upside down/shadowfell, where they will discover that he is a werewolf. He will then throw some skeltons and zombies at them, before the final fight with him. I am calling it A Wild Sheep Chase Part II: Werewolf in Sheep's Clothing. I even made a classic horror movie poster for it!

[@heyitsMattyP]

You're presuming the wand will work on Shinebright :) After running this three times, the players only succeeded once - the other two times they they either turned him into a Gibbering Mouther or had the wand explode.

[@FrothyLawson]

Dude this was SOOO good!!! TY!!!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Glad to help :)

[@TheNibo2]

Thank you so much for all the tips for the campaign this will help me so much good job you earn a new sub :D

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thank you! Welcome aboard!

[@supersinger9000]

My party insight checked shinebright and actually found out he had no intentions of rewarding them. So after defeating noke they just tied him up and ransacked his house. They didn’t even attempt to change him back.

[@beybladerocks7]

First ever roll20 game. Built up a forest south of the tower to give space to fight. My player decided he wanted to be a dragon and became a gibbering mouther alongside shinebright. The party buried the 2 with the wand and walked off into the sunset

[@HamsterLover1337]

This will be my first campaign for 4 new players. I plan on letting them pick one of my level 1 premade characters of their liking. 1. How should I start, like how do I get the PCs together and where. Why are they there? 2. What are some skill challenges or puzzles can you recommend between the fights? 3. Where should I look for a bunch of suitable level 1 premade characters?

[@heyitsMattyP]

Oh cool! This would just be a one-shot rather than a campaign, but it can be good for beginners! 1. That's something the party can decide. At the start of the session, ask them how they all know each other and what brought them to town. 2. This one I can't help ya with, I'm not sure! I just suggest some other activity to break up the session with a bit of variety. 3. The starter set has a set of five level one pregens

[@dsbarf]

This is really helpful!

[@mozzamon]

I ran this for my kids and nephew - aged 11, 12, 13. Only my 2nd time DMing. This vid helped me so much with imagining the story and I was able to improvise with confidence. We all had a great time! I was thinking if I held they’re attention for an hour or so I’d be happy, the session went for 3 hours! And my nephew wants to start a D&D club at school :) Great video Matt thanks! I’m going to introduce D&D to another group of friends/family (3 adults, 3 kids), a couple of the adults might be a little reluctant, any other one-shots you’d recommend?

[@heyitsMattyP]

Oh man! So glad it worked out. Kids are great for D&D. I don't know which one-shot is best after this one, but I can recommend Lost Mines of Phandelver (the starter set) as a really solid campaign.

[@geekyboof8195]

Thanks mate I think I am going to use Guz the painter if it gets to that. I am running this with my kids tomorrow, after 25 years of not being a DM. They heard about D&D in school, thanks to their friends watching stranger things (my kids would be traumatised if they saw that show; they find Harry Potter terrifying), and have been pestering me to play with them. So in a week and a bit I picked up the core books, found what seems to be the most popular one shot in 5e, got some pre-generated 5 level characters and watched some videos on the rules and on this specific adventure. I am now as ready as I'll be before the time comes. However, I am concerned about the scale of the adventure for them as they are only two characters. That is why i got 5 level ones and thought I'd play one more character to join them if things are too tough. I should have explored scaling the adventure down but it is too late now, even though thinking better of it, it might be hard for them to start off with powerful and complex characters, but I guess I can help them out a bit with their abilities and stuff. do you think my plan would work? or do you have any other ideas I could implement without much preparation?

[@heyitsMattyP]

Oh nice! How old are the kids? If they're under 10, I'd recommend reskinning the animal enemies to be kind of shadowy, evil versions of animals, because kids won't want to hurt actual animals. If it's not too late, you'll be better off making it level one characters for them, but give them an extra 10 hit points so they don't drop so easily. Scale it down by making all the animals have only one hit point, and limit it to a max of three enemies in any fight. Be prepared to pull punches -- I wouldn't let them go unconscious have any real threat of death for a kids' game. Rather than add another NPC party member, give the sheep some combat stats and have him take some dudes. They'll love it, and it will make them like the sheep more. I'm on my phone and can't write too much, but stop by my discord and I'll see if I can help some more.

[@geekyboof8195]

@@heyitsMattyP Wow! the sheep helping in the fight is a great idea, it could go "if you want something done, do it yourself". One of my favourite things about this adventure is that duality brought by the condescending sheep, which is why I also like your Guz idea. I like that better than the extra NPC. I am kinda set now on the 5th level characters, I have already provided the kids (10 and 13 BTW) with the character sheets for their chosen characters, and don't want to confuse them further. I am thinking of having the first encounter to gauge things first, bringing the bear only if I see they can handle it and possibly having it and Guz flee if necessary.

[@geekyboof8195]

I run the adventure and it was a success. The scale seemed to be alright for 2 5th level characters except that you really need variety on the character traits and abilities. In this ocation the characters had come ahead of their performance troupe to explore the town before the main tents arrived. So they were an illusionist bard and an acrobat (thief basically). The acrobat stealthily climbed everywhere and had almost always advantage for her sneak attack. That left our poor bard as the target of every enemy attack even though he only had a ranged weapon to defend himself. But he managed to live loong enough, sending enemies to sleep and viciously mocking those awake, while curing himself; to allow the acrobat to pick them one by one. Even the sheep hilariously killed one of the apes. The acrobat only received damage when the dragon breathed at her even though she still managed to avoid the worst of it. The bard used dispell magic on the dragon and turn it into a bed once he remembered he had that spell. I made a mistake when reading the spell description and allowed it, even though, as a level 3 shouldn't have been able to dispel a level 4 polymorph. But it was a true heroic moment so it was worth it. Noke with 2 hp left turned himself into a mouther but with both characters attacking him from a good distance avoided the thing's effects and finished it off in a few boring but swift dice throwing rounds. Shinebright was turned to an elf again on the last charge of the wand by a reckless but lucky bard and Guz, who had been tied up after the first encounter, was left locked in his room for the wizard to decide what to do with him. They told the wizard to treat guz with mercy, once they saw the painting he had made. All in all it was very enjoyable and for future reference the encounters won't need to be modified for two resourceful 5 level characters until the very end when depending on the fight with the dragon the gibbering mouther might be too much.

[@sharonlarsen3642]

As always a great video and helpful insights. I will be running this adventure for a one shot and will be rewriting some of my prep to take onboard some of your ideas. I am running at level 4 and I'll prep something for that middle travel section (unless it's a chase scene). Fingers crossed it all goes well.

[@nathanvandewalle4155]

Doing this campaign in one day! First time as a DM! Uh oh... Hope it does not go Baaaaaa-ad

[@szilardpozsonyi1873]

I might run this adventure for a group of newbies, as a new DM myself. Do you think this would be manageable for 5 level 4 characters (again, new players) without making adjustments to the adventure as written? Thanks in advance.

[@roxieb6540]

I just ran this last night with my son, daughter, and husband! I was worried about my daughter playing a lvl 4 druid as it was her first time playing, but I was able to scale everything down perfectly! My initiative rolls were dog sh!t, so the family always went first and they DEMOLISHED everyone. It ended with the tortle warlock and tabaxi druid getting good with noke and the sheep crit on his attack and murdered noke in one hit! I told them about the wand and my druid just cast polymorph(without consulting anyone) on the sheep and turned him into a gibbering mouther! It was incredibly fun and I'm planning on running it again with my sister and her husband!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Great job :) That moment with the wand at the end of the adventure is fun to fail for the players

[@AndreaSchiavini]

Hey, thanks for the video, the painter idea is really nice :) Going to DM this in a couple days for some friends of mine. I've a question for you about the wand: it is really, really unreliable, and it has a very high chance of turning the target of the transmutation into a Gibbering Mouther. Also, with every usage, the DC check raises by one. It looks totally like a few-times usable item, becoming more and more dangerous after each use. Also, the chance of it exploding and killing the user is not that rare either. How could it be the "defining item" of Shinebright power, then? If all his power came from this wand, how many times can he have used it? The same goes for Noke: if he used it to turn (3 wolves + 2 bears + 3 apes = 8) people into creatures (as guards), the DC check should already be 25, making it impossible to use again for Noke (he has +3 int) to turn the bed into a dragon. Does the DC check reset ad midnight too, with the charges? In the item description it's written that "it raises permanently", so it doesn't seem so... Thanks in advance, all the best!

[@RhysSGaming]

I couldn't find the scroll handout on your website?

[@chrisburnett5588]

Thank you for the video. This looks good. Are there any tips you would recommend for running this for a group of 3 at level 6? (Wizard/barbarian and monk) should noke have counterspell etc as Fireball is a favourite....

[@heyitsMattyP]

For three level sixes, you might be OK with just running the combats as-written. The balance might even out because there will be more combatants than a three-person party might expect. I'd buff Guz a little bit to make him a little more interesting though - I'd recommend flicking through the MM, looking for interesting statblocks and straight swapping his abilities.

[@chrisburnett5588]

@@heyitsMattyP Thanks for the reply. I will look into making His something better in that case and have a gander at the MM. First time as the DM for this one.

[@cc1677]

Great, helpful video. Maybe you could list the stat block substitutions you made for running the adventure with 1st level characters in the description for easy lookup? Also, I just noticed: the black bear does, in fact, have multiattack, but of course one can just leave it away.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Good idea! Call me crazy, but I think they changed the bear statblocks sometime after publication, but one of them used to be a single-strike boy. I still don't remember which one though

[@MyDearestKafka]

I didn't know what to do for the second part before finding the guards made of goo I made a invisible wall that requires you to answer three riddles while a horde of zombie attack The sheep reasoning is that if the players don't investigate "Nox must have put a barrier up to keep people out and the zombies as protection" and Guz got through only because Nox wrote it on his hand so he doesn't forget Nothing too hard. I know two of the guys are good with puzzles My first session as DM tomorrow. Wish me luck 😂

[@heyitsMattyP]

How did it go?

[@MyDearestKafka]

@heyitsMattyP It went really well. I really enjoyed DMing. They didn't even have a final boss battle. Two Nat 20s. Tying up Nux and selling him off as a slave for extra gold haha

[@turwaith]

It's probably pretty unlikely you will see this comment since the video is from 2019, but I'm gonna try. I will run this adventure in a few weeks for absolute beginners. Like "Barely heard of the game before"-beginners. We will be a large party of 7 pc's and me as a DM. I will give them lvl2 characters, so I obviously have to downscale the enemies. But how would you handle that many players? Add more enemies? Or just give the enemies more HP so they survive longer?

[@heyitsMattyP]

Combat will take a lot longer with that many players, so I would add more enemies with less HP, so they all get to kill something but it doesn't become a massive slog

[@turwaith]

@@heyitsMattyP Oh thanks for the reply! So I think I will go for the substitute monsters you mentioned in the video. I though of: 5 hyenas, 1 black bear and Guz for the first fight; 2 apes, 4 baboons and one black bear for the second fight at the tower. I will also go with the giant eagle with breath weapon instead of the dragon for the final battle. I will give the eagle variable hp though, so I can quickly make it stronger or weaker depending on how the fight goes.

[@daniz7557]

couldn't find the scroll on the website where is it pleaseeee

[@daniz7557]

nvm got it good video

[@TheDragonshunter]

How do you give a giant eagle the breath weapon? I mean how do you down scale it cause in general breath weapons are supper strong. Lvl 1 pcs normally have from 8-11 HP and they been fighting already a breath weapon would TPK them.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Good question! Whenever I scale something, I always do it by looking where that things fits in the context of other similar L1 abilities and the state of the party in the actual moment. So burning hands is a L1 spell which a CR1 creature might have, 15ft cone with 3D6 damage. BUT that's a lot of power when you consider we've got other enemies in play. So I might scale that down to 2D6 of the party is doing really well, or maybe 1D8 if they're doing badly.

[@TheDragonshunter]

@@heyitsMattyP Sounds good. Still, I might give them some random healing potions that Shinebright shows the location of in the lab place.

[@francescacazorla]

Thank you so much for making this video. I'll be DMing for a group of new players and I think it'll be a lot of fun! How many players would you recommend for this adventure on the normal 4th - 5th level version?

[@heyitsMattyP]

Hey thanks for watching! Four players is the sweet spot for any group, but that's just personal preference. It gets harder to find space for yourself in the action with too many players, and it's harder to bounce ideas around with too few.

[@francescacazorla]

@@heyitsMattyP Thanks! I'll keep that in mind. Hopefully everything will go smoothly

[@Speed001]

For a single lvl 2 and an NPC cleric. I removed the bear from play, it just sat back as stuff happened. Probably should reduce down to 2 wolves with 8hp each and don't add 27 to the half orc's health. Actually, maybe just make his hp 27. My player only did 25 dmg with spells with the npc also doing damage to the orc. And only did 21 dmg between the 3 wolves.

[@rockycfc]

If I am DMing 5 level 5 players on this - would you add more wolves?

[@heyitsMattyP]

No, I would give the wolves better stats. When you add more creatures, it disproportionately makes the combat more difficult.

[@jdrprep4907]

Do you run dnd online sessions from time to time ? ^^

[@heyitsMattyP]

I've never tried! But maybe I'll give it a go once I get my patreon off the ground :)

[@jdrprep4907]

@@heyitsMattyP Yeah, this is a great alternative. Do it on roll20, it is free, it has automated character sheets, fog of war and a virtual dice roller (you still can use your real dice behind your screen). ^^

[@jdrprep4907]

@@heyitsMattyP If someday you think about DMing an online session, i would be glad to be one of your players. I'm from Belgium and looking for rpg online sessions to perfect my english and also, as you might have guessed it, a huge ttrpg fan. Have a nice evening. ^^

[@bhaynesk]

thanks!

[@heyitsMattyP]

thank YOU

[@karlstormguard]

Shout out to mark!!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Heyo! [Who is Mark???]

[@TheBugB]

Link to the scroll?

[@MagicalAlpaca]

Can you do this with only 2 player characters?

[@michaelwells529]

With all the polymorphing and Guz's character trait being loyalty, I think I'm going to rename him Spike and actually have him be a polymorphed pit bull!

[@heyitsMattyP]

That's a great idea! I'm gonna do the same thing. I reckon you could make it obvious enough with just the name, a collar, and put a dog house in his room instead of a bed, so players can feel clever about working it out.

[@michaelwells529]

@@heyitsMattyP Thanks! Glad you like the idea😄 I think that would be really cool too! Haha

[@grainofrice3989]

Marmalade demilo? Was that a homebrew adventure?

[@snapbackgrandma5448]

So for 4th level characters, how many players would be a reasonable amount of have. Would running this one-shot with six 4th level characters be too many? Thank you.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Four players is my sweet spot for table dynamics, but you can totally this for six players. Just add an extra wolf to the first fight and observe how the party fares to decide whether to add one or two extra apes to the second fight. One thing to keep in mind: more players means the game goes slower. With six players, you're going to have a harder time getting this done in two hours. But since they'll go better in combat, you're more likely to use the Gibbering Mouther boss, which can be a real treat.

[@snapbackgrandma5448]

@@heyitsMattyP Okay, thank you and thanks for the quick response!

[@heyitsMattyP]

@@snapbackgrandma5448 No problem :) Thanks for subscribing.

[@notgerheinz]

Brilliant tips, thank you. Will definitely use the painter-idea! But please consider not using music. I found it very hard to listen to you and not be distracted and in the end, the music is really loud compared to your voice. (Or maybe I am a minority and ppl lose focus when they don't hear some light jazz going on.)

[@heyitsMattyP]

Fair! This is from when I'd first started doing videos and was learning how to edit.

[@notgerheinz]

@@heyitsMattyP Makes sense. And maybe I am just getting old. ;) Good luck!

[@davidarias5612]

What monster do you use as the weaker form of the gibbering mouther?? How do you spell it

[@heyitsMattyP]

I just use the Gibbering Mouther with all its regular abilities and properties, but I lower the stats to be in line with what I think the party can handle. For a level 1 party, a good way to do it is to find a CR1 monster and use its damage dice, saving throw DCs, health and armour with the Gibbering Mouther's abilities.

[@ACey96]

It's one of my first times dming and everybody is new except me (player in past) Is it OK for people to be level 5

[@heyitsMattyP]

I would recommend starting at level 1 with pregens if it's everyone's first time playing. Even with simple characters, it can be a really overwhelming experience for new players.

[@Micromanic]

4:06 Kitty!

[@heyitsMattyP]

His name is Ranger and he turns five next month :)

[@Micromanic]

I should also point out I'm running this one shot for my friends tomorrow, so this video has helped tremendously with my lack of prep work 😅

[@depressedhamburger4880]

i did the thing where guz replaces one of the apes and it almost caused a tpk

[@heyitsMattyP]

Is this a good thing or a bad thing

[@depressedhamburger4880]

@@heyitsMattyP good thing

[@heyitsMattyP]

Phew!

[@cap5697]

hey i'm running my first game of dnd if you have discord or something think you can call to help me out a bit? i'm not that good at stats

[@heyitsMattyP]

Hey Cap! Yeah I can help out. No voice chat, but happy to answer any questions in the general channel over here: discordapp.com/invite/eXQ7h9q

[@chuckguy3057]

Matthew, for a oneshot, how many combat encounters do you recommend to not overdo it but to keep it from just feeling like a social oneshot?

[@heyitsMattyP]

In a one-shot, max of two encounters for me. I run one-shots for about 3 hours max

[@vernon137]

I thought this was a Murakami book review

[@heyitsMattyP]

Nah, this is a Kazuo Ishiguro book review

[@djwilliams7935]

I just see a virtual mod convert

[@willr6887]

Video is good, but this is a massively overrated one-shot. It's called Wild Sheep Chase, but there is no chase (a chase scene is vaguely gestured at, but no rules or guidance is given, despite this being for new DMs). True Polymorph doesn't work right. Speak of Animals (Modified) doesn't explain how its modified. Noke has some undisclosed attachment to Guz that's totally superfluous. Despite being a Scroll of Speak with Animals, no RP direction is given on how to interact with the other animals in Noke's employ -- but excessive RP direction is given to how to voice the characters. The tracks on the way to the tower have literally zero consequence. Despite Noke being a paranoid person, he puts no traps in the forest. I could go on and on. It needs a revamp.

[@heyitsMattyP]

It could be describing Guz chasing the sheep, but I remember the author saying the title is a Murakami reference. He was also workshopping an adventure called A Boy Named Crow, which was a chapter title from a book I can't remember the name of.

[@squidmansoup]

CAT