How to run The Shadowfell in D&D

[@TalesArcane]

CHAPTERS: 1:18 - What is The Shadowfell? 3:22 - Entering The Shadowfell 5:38 - Gods and rulers of The Shadowfell 8:11 - Denizens of The Shadowfell 12:25 - Creating your Shadowfell

[@Teraclon]

Bring out the whetstones, for we're now embracing the EDGE! xD

[@TalesArcane]

Yeah, the Shadowfell is very much The Edgelord of the planes.

[@deusvault5732]

I love this, very quick and consistent. Wish I could listen for longer but I get the videos length.

[@oopsallchromosomes8994]

This is the best video I've seen on this, and I'm glad it came out as my players are about to enter the shadowfell next session! I'll be taking notes when I get home because I've decided they're going to stay there a lot longer than I originally planned as the videos I've been watching have given me much inspiration! Thanks!

[@StarWarsBuddy]

Thank you mean. I really appreciate this type of videos. You're my personal mrrhexx

[@Gamesthisguylikes]

Excellent video! Would watch more. I’d cut the bits explaining the format, you are showing fantastically. No need to tell

[@TalesArcane]

@@Gamesthisguylikes Thank you, that's much appreciated! This is the first video I've done in this style, hence the explanation of the format changes, so I don't plan to include those in future videos 😁

[@erictwombly5902]

This is a Excellent video on the Shadowfell! Please do more! Your interpretation is a superior interpretation compared to any other that I've been exposed to, I've been playing D&D since 1977!

[@TalesArcane]

That is high praise indeed! I really appreciate that. I feel like, with so little 5e Shadowfell content from WotC, it really is a setting that relies on your own interpretation now. In a way, it's quite liberating!

[@timofluit5132]

Very interesting and handy video and format! I would love to see more planes in this format, maybe also even the far realm

[@srmillard]

loved the detailed, detailed educational format. Thank you!

[@Mitchthisis]

I love this format, it was engaging and extremely educational.And I am going to use all of this!

[@MurdokLambert667]

This is pretty awesome. I am currently running a campaign where the shadow fell is trying to encroach on the material plane. So I can use a bunch of the stuff for that! Thank you, sir.

[@TalesArcane]

I love that idea! The darkness spilling into reality. That would make for a great, creepy end-of-the-world experience, I imagine.

[@stillarobyn]

Really enjoyed this style of video from you! Definitely taking notes for when my players get to the shadowfell

[@kquixotic]

This is such a cool and inspirational video. I'm going to look up the out of print books you pointed to immediately, as I love lore books and drawing ideas from them.

[@TalesArcane]

I'm delighted to hear that, they're outstanding resources! The 4th Edition one is the most useful, but the 2nd edition one is great too, it's quite Lovecraftian in the way it's written.

[@adambaldinger4507]

Definitely need more of these

[@ZeKiwiOfTheNorth]

I enjoyed the format. I've seen your Feywild video, and I'd watch some more videos looking at other planes and areas of D&D

[@TalesArcane]

I think I'll do some more like this! Another commenter suggested doing a deep dive on Ravenloft as well, so I think that's coming.

[@pdubb9754]

Well done. Good format. Edit: I followed the link to the Feywild video and liked that as well. One challenge I am left with is how to differentiate the darker aspects of the Feywild, e.g., the Gloaming / unseelie court from the Shadowfell. Add to that some other D&D cannon (Domains of Dread, the Feydark) and it all starts to feel like the same flavor.

[@TalesArcane]

You got it, more to come!

[@TalesArcane]

I've had the same issue! With the Unseelie lands, I always try to lean into the idea of melodramatic emotion - there's sadness and gloom, but it's always dialled up to 11. For example, I have a Feywild campaign setting where people in the darker parts of the land are constantly trying to have worse and more tragic lives than each other, because they value sorrow as a status symbol. That leads to a lot of humorous and weird moments, whereas in The Shadowfell it's all a lot more grim and muted, leaning more into dark, resigned emotion rather than explosive, high-energy stuff.

[@TheIncredibleHuls]

I like this lore style video! It was very well done, I would love to see more as well, what about personalized lore, like for your own Homebrew World(s)? Might be asking a lot, but thought it might be worth the ask. Anyways very well done...

[@salemfoxtrot7659]

Great video. I think the format is very well done, so if this is easier to do - make more! 😀 You gave me ideas on what a seemingly random raven following the party could mean and lead to. You've given me an appetite for Ravenloft, which I know almost nothing about. Maybe the next big topic?

[@TalesArcane]

@@salemfoxtrot7659 Absolutely! I love Ravenloft, and I was thinking of doing a kind of whirlwind tour through the various demiplanes.

[@johnmagowan6393]

Loved this video! Gave me a lot of ideas for my own campaign world.

[@StacheLarkin]

Wonderful video, love the new format, keep up the great work!

[@heathersharo5294]

Good ideas on how to make the environment itself into the biggest obstacle. I especially like bringing in the insanity mechanic, now the players must choose between using a light source and dealing with the monsters that it draws to them ,or going without and having to to face the monsters within.

[@TalesArcane]

Absolutely. I think that sort of thing adds a lot to the setting as a whole, makes The Shadowfell feel like a brooding, dangerous presence that the players are always working against.

[@micks21]

Great review and commentary.

[@TechtonixZi]

This was a great video, I look forward to more!

[@TheWarwulf]

Best video yet! Really liking the new format. Keep up the great work!

[@TalesArcane]

@@TheWarwulf That's very kind of you to say! Really appreciate the feedback on the format too.

[@DarkHardy20]

Love the format!

[@steliosf.9602]

i love this format keep it up!

[@arcaniswithertree4284]

Definitely liked it thank you

[@drewcourtney376]

I enjoyed this. There, I told you. This counts for my interaction for the day. Goodbye.

[@tylerkraft199]

MORE LORE VIDEOS, HONESTLY MORE SHADOWFELL VIDEOS

[@gibbousmoon35]

Nice one!

[@CelticCubby]

I liked the video but prefer the on camera format which allows you to connect with the audience more.

[@lyudmilapavlichenko7551]

Good video.

[@chrisragner3882]

Also, I have considered the exhaustion mechanic as presented for 2024 with 10 levels of an increase in difficulty for actions and skills. Say a loss for every long or short rest. The gloom creates exhaustion and a depression until reaching ten levels when, instead of dying, the person goes mad. The longer the madness the greater the intensity. From a mild depression to megalomania for example.

[@TalesArcane]

That's a great idea. I like the idea of it being emotional exhaustion kicking in due to prolonged exposure to darkness, and to the plane itself.

[@Irongineer]

great format and pacing love both styles

[@cadenceclearwater4340]

Nice 👍

[@moonwatcher8657]

Like your video done like this, fella 🙂👌

[@darkocide]

Great video please do feywild

[@TwinSteel]

🥳🫂👍🏿 Is this lore from what we used to call the plane of shadow?

[@TalesArcane]

Some of it is! I feel like D&D has always had "The Dark Spooky Plane", and it's just gone under various different names of the years 😂

[@TwinSteel]

@@TalesArcane very cool - yes, always changing yet always staying the same - love the old Ravenloft books - I have the 3e campaign setting - some very cool twists on Halloween monsters in the back

[@Gaiawolf]

Great video. Just started a Strahd/Shadowfell campaign, so couldn’t have timed it much better. Really enjoyed the format. Keep up the excellent work. 🖖

[@TalesArcane]

That's GREAT to hear, thank you! Hope your players survive the horrors to come.

[@Doauwed]

Under Hour + First!

[@TalesArcane]

@@Doauwed Thank you for watching and supporting the content, mate, it's appreciated!

[@lanceward5904]

I’m surprised, but I prefer this format!! EXCELLENT VIDEO. Keep going with this! I look forward to hearing about the other Planes

[@jmcsmtp]

Nice job. This new video format you are experimenting with is very good. It helped me to focus more on what you were saying and helped me to remember all of the information you were conveying..

[@garion046]

I like this style and love lore videos. Not as interested in Shadowfell personally as it doesnt fit our games vibe usually, but would love more planar topics!

[@btmalo6817]

This is terrific! Great job and I can't wait to see you're next one. Keep up the great work and Thanks!

[@scottgregg7994]

Just discovered the channel. Great content!

[@DizzysV]

Fantastic. Very interesting and inspiring!

[@benjaminsorensen8444]

Loved this! I've been running a LOTR themed game and am using the void realm in this manner. This helped a lot!

[@TalesArcane]

I would love to run some LOTR stuff one day! Are you using one of the LOTR rpg systems or is it a reflavored D&D approach?

[@chrisragner3882]

I prefer this over the underdark for adventure.

[@TalesArcane]

@@chrisragner3882 Likewise. I never really know what to do with the Underdark, and the constant limitation of enclosed spaces can be a bit annoying.

[@underseaturnip2665]

Awesome video.. really loved the format too! Looking forward to more videos of this style should you want to continue with it. In my game, one of my players has been banished from their home kingdom where the BBEG is likely residing. So far he has been resolute in never returning and this gave me the idea to use the shadowfell as a means to give them the option to travel there “safely”. Thanks again for all your hard work on the channel.

[@LizCollison-c9w]

That was great. Fantastic to have everything brought together and explained so clearly! Thank you 🙂

[@TalesArcane]

@@LizCollison-c9w Thank you for watching! Glad you found this one useful, I'll definitely do more in this style.

[@lugzgaming5074]

If you're a real fan of D&D you will take all the lore in 5e and throw it in the trash.

[@debaucherie]

If you’re a real fan of DnD, you wouldn’t give a shit about what edition you or other people are playing. DnD is the game you play with your friends, not the words they sell you in a book.

[@TalesArcane]

@@debaucherie Couldn't agree more. People should use whatever lore and books they want, or none at all. If someone's playing with different systems or different lore at another table, why should I be concerned? I'm not at that table 🤷

[@JohnQ5]

For all the complaints about 4e I believe it STILL had the best cosmology following the release of it's upper planes, lower planes, feywild, and shadow fell supplements.

[@TalesArcane]

@@JohnQ5 The 4e lore books are fantastic! So much of what sits in my head as the "facts" about the worlds of D&D are actually drawn from 4e, when I think about it.

[@JohnQ5]

@TalesArcane same here. :D Only book I need to complete my (physical) set is The Shadowfell one.