Let’s write a horror D&D one-shot!

Pre-order your copy of Tome of Beasts III here: www.koboldpress.com/tob3
Thanks to Kobold Press for sponsoring this video!
Download the adventure for free: drive.google.com/file/d/1-mi_xP0pj3-YW6eLgEPIkFeL-WoaizdK/view?usp=sharing
0:00 Intro
0:47 Keeping monsters fresh
2:07 Getting ideas
3:38 Writing the adventure
13:00 Conclusion
Music from Epidemic Sound
Need music for your videos or streams? Here's my referral link: www.epidemicsound.com/referral/yek689/
Have you ever written an adventure for Dungeons & Dragons? Join me today as I walk you through the process of writing my own horror one-shot for D&D 5e using Kobold Press' 3rd party monster supplement "Tome of Beasts III." Then, download the adventure PDF for free and run it yourself!
► FIND ME ONLINE:
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patreon.com/ginnydi
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[@natalyiatimoshenkova1273]

OK, you had me at "And *this* is a Bakery Drake! It's a little dragon! Who likes to bake!" in a video about a D&D horror one-shot. I don't even care if there *is* a Bakery Drake involved in the actual one shot. Just the reading of the line was sufficient.

[@mollywantshugs5944]

I squeed a little upon hearing this line. Very cute

[@DanielECulbertson]

LOL, Agreed! 😁

[@TheRubberDuck77]

Why didn't they have this book out during campaign 2 of CR, Jester would have sooooooo wanted one as a familiar or friend depending on intelligence of the creature lol

[@cameronlapp9306]

I was briefly disappointed that it wasn't a horror adventure starring bakery dragons :P (Hansel & Gretel style?)

[@AzraelThanatos]

@@cameronlapp9306 The phrase "Baked In A Pie" and Sweeny Todd come to mind...

[@theMifyoo]

An idea for if you are putting alot of info on a hostile npc, consider giving them a diary. That way the players kill this thing, and then loot the corpse. In the loot is a diary which can convey the information that they would have lost out on by killing the npc.

[@pLanetstarBerry]

Yes! I love including clues like that! For me, if the antagonist is profiting off of their villainy in some way I like to include a coded ledger. I have a couple high intelligence party members, so they get to participate in decoding the ledger and figure out the bbeg's schemes. This campaign leans heavily on mystery and investigation, so it might not work for everyone.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

Plus, it gives you the opportunity to make a cool handout! I think a great diary would be a stack of loose pages tied between two boards or pieces of leather, and the paper being different sizes and types, as if the mad diarist was scrounging for paper from various sources.

[@02JAN1970]

Classic! and a little used device. Certainly worthy of consideration.

[@quinnlee-newbury9003]

I have a bakery in my game that's like a cat cafe for tiny drakes called Cinderpuffs, so that bakery dragon really caught my attention XD

[@fearfulpixel6165]

That sounds absolutely adorable 🥰

[@leannemedhurst9662]

Can i join that game please?!?!

[@valois6846]

I'm starting to wish Ginny would do a crossover episode with Ben Byrne from Ghostfire Gaming, where the two share ideas for a horror-themed adventure and write it together

[@mollywantshugs5944]

Another way to keep monsters fresh is to take every monster you introduce in the setting and make a few mechanical changes without telling the players what you changed. They should know that you’re making these changes, but not the details. If a monster has different weaknesses or abilities than normal, that can force players to adapt on the fly without needing to make new monsters or reskin ones. Like if ghosts aren’t affected by magic weapons and instead can only be defeated by performing a specific difficult ritual or by appeasing it. This also adds opportunities to do what I just did in that example and pull from actual folklore that WotC didn’t use, and some kinds of monsters like the ghost example can even have unique traits on an individual basis. A ghost that sticks around because their murderer was never brought to justice and a ghost that lingers because no one mourned their passing would be appeased in completely different ways and could even have different forms of haunting. There’s also little things like giving a dragon an existing injury that hinders them in a unique way

[@flyboymilligan2999]

Ginny: “Hey let’s get gross!” 😂

[@frankfuller975]

@@morrigankasa570 Yup 😁

[@jordanw2741]

I've been using the Monster Manual Expanded books from Dmsguild almost exclusively for all my encounters. While I like the variety from RAW, will definitely look to pick these tomes up. Monsters look super diverse. My players won't know what hit them 😈

[@juliadandy6019]

GINNY, THANK YOU! As a new DM I appreciate one shot options so much!!!

[@calebleach7988]

why is flesh-based horror so creepy? It's *so* cool, I wish there was examples of it in mainstream media. Might have to buy this book...

[@lilymatthosinhos2086]

Hey,have ya heard of scp-001 when day breaks

[@lilymatthosinhos2086]

Or the scp sarkic cults & the flesh that hates

[@calebleach7988]

@@lilymatthosinhos2086 yes to both

[@mitchhaelann9215]

go watch the Hellraiser movies.

[@xicarus8141]

Junji ito is good at body horror as well!

[@Dagroth]

The adventure reminded me of a monster from one of "Dresden Files" side stories. I don't recall its name, but it's similar to Wandering Offal and Offal Walkers (in that it's animated remains, as far as I remember), but also gets bigger and bigger as time passes and it hunts more (and bigger) prey. Initially it preys on mice and rats. Then cats and smaller dogs. Then bigger dogs. Eventually gets big enough to prey on humans. (As I don't know D&D much, maybe those two creatures do that as well, and I just don't know.) That could perhaps add a time factor to a scenario, the longer the players take to figure out what's going on and get to it, the more powerful their enemy might become. And I guess more horror factor. Mice and rats, they won't even notice. Small dogs, could be a coyote. Bigger dogs, a pack of coyotes (if they are pack hunters, I don't know) or wolves (if they live in that area). But what if it eventually starts targeting humans... Or maybe set the adventure in a zoo. First, some small rodent goes missing. Then something bigger, like a small monkey. Then a coyote. Then a lion... and a bear. And so on. Tick tock.

[@Katinthekingdom]

This is great not just for writing a horror one-shot but writing any type of one-shot or encounter arc in a campaign. Thank you Ginny for your work!

[@gamingmemories8326]

Hi Ginny. This video sent me down a rabbit trail eventually leading to me picking up the Tome of Beasts II. You are always suggesting such awesome resources for DnD. Thanks. As a side note, I also watched your "Where she sleeps" parody today and really enjoyed it. Im sure you hear this enough but you're extremely talented and diversely so.

[@juliadandy6019]

PS: I would die for the baking dragon

[@RogueAgentJ]

One of the ToB 3 Lairs is based on the bakery drake, just sayin'.

[@HeyLizardLeigh]

I also have been absolutely binging body horror heavy podcasts and movies, so yes, I am very much here to COSIGN the fact that mid-november is still peak horror season! also kobold press makes such great monsters!! as someone who's been playing in a kobold press home game for three whole years- big fan haha

[@thesilverhydra22]

These are the best Ginny videos!! I know they're a lot harder to make but I really love these and hope they perform for you. ✌️

[@obadijahparks]

I would've expected this for Halloween.... but Gothic horror is for all year long!

[@thesilverhydra22]

These videos are so great!!! Getting to see how adventures are supposed to be designed and the process behind them is so interesting to see and you always have such an interesting perspective

[@CharlesStacyII]

I loved getting a little insight into how you do your writing. Thanks Ginny!

[@jenschristensen1774]

"Not everyone has an NPC they love" with a slight tear-up in the voice. Oh, the solitude of being friend zoned by even NPC's 😉 I love you videos and all the gems, big and small, strewn all over. Such great inspiration for us homebrewers! ❤ Greetings from the damp pancake called Denmark!

[@angryfroggo6394]

The first 20 seconds feel like the two sides of Ginny's personality

[@aleksander1383]

Thank you so much for this video! As someone who's only DM'd regularly for a year, I've always wondered what it looks like when others prep a session or a story - and if perhaps the way I do it is too chaotic or if I somehow do it "wrong" or not very efficiently. It was a joy to be able to get a "behind the scenes" glimpse of Ginny in writing-mode and seeing you make that draft! Definitely made me more confident as well about prepping my own things, seeing that someone else has the same approach! Thank you, Ginny! Always a treat watching your content! :)

[@zeevorourke6876]

I *love* your subplot and side quest content and now I love these. Thank you for such creative and inspiring content Ginni! Also - your videos are so polished! I know it's a ton of work keeping up with the algorithm, but your channel never feels like it's grinding out content to keep up. If you're reading the comments, keep up the good work!

[@derekthomas2940]

Writing my first homebrew horror one shot and I can't tell ya how nice it is that your adventure is almost exactly like mine already, down to plot hook, number of encounters, one being easy and another being optional, and the big boss fight at the end. Love you're content Ginny and quality adventure design is pretty lacking on KZbin, though certainly not on the rest of the internet.

[@AMoniqueOcampo]

How long until Ginny goes full on Critical Role and livestreams a game? Can we get a petition to have her do this?!

[@GinnyDi]

Lots of people ask, but I don't want to 😅 for a bunch of reasons!! sorry!

[@maxzero9647]

She's said on twitter numerous times that she doesn't have time, among other reasons that it's probably not going to happen.

[@Mark-ki7ic]

@@GinnyDi would you do a guest appearance on CR if asked ? Would love to see you react to the chaos of a show. Love the adventure, needed a tomb.

[@codybeames1534]

The internet is full of critics. As much as there are many people that will enjoy it, it is a very hard community when you don't appeal to everyone. And that's kinda impossible.

[@deannarowe7171]

@@Mark-ki7ic did you see her in Legends of the Multiverse?

[@Person-py1wy]

The Horror themed campaign i've been working on for a few months has a pretty unique hook that I wanted to throw out there to potentially inspire other campaigns since a great hook is always something good to have on hand or in the back of your head for DMs. Essentially my BBEG is a chronomancer who has already caused two horrible events through extensive manipulation of space-time. During the time in which the party ventures into his domain he has disappeared for quite awhile and some people have come to the conclusion that he has left his castle for good but it is warded by powerful magic, therein lies the hook. One of the first few encounters the party has is with a high level Necromancer Lord seeking to lay claim to the Chronomancer's land who sees the (5th level) party as a perfect opportunity to send adventures off to collect components he will need to break the ward on the castle. The Necromancer casts the Geas spell on the party and demands them to seek out these components, obviously if you know how Geas works then you know that if a 5th level character disobeys a geas there is a very good chance they will die, but this is a necromancer we are talking about so right out of the gate you have the potential for characters to make a lot of different choices, whether it be to long con this necromancer or otherwise get revenge, seeking out a way to remove the curse without disobeying the curse itself, dying out of ignorance of the spell they are under and becoming an undead version of their PC, opening the doors to the castle and trying to take it for themselves at the last minute or anything inbetween, it's really up to them. There are a few NPCs on both sides of the alignment spectrum that can cast remove curse, some characters could learn the spell themselves. The party finds themselves constantly moving from place to place as every imaginable variant of undead are always at the throats of every living being and their settlements. Above all else, DMing this campaign I want PC's to be fearful each night as they sleep, the reprieve often granted by the "safety" of an inn room, no more. Whether it be by nightmares that plague the mind or the horrors that walk at night, theres nothing like a good nights rest interupted by an absolutely daunting experience to keep players on their toes. Several ghost towns already exist, but they won't be the last.

[@Neophoia]

I love that you did a walk though of how to build an en-counter. as the group I dm for have a player that have already told me before that she cannot deal with undead or body horror I won't be using the adventure you wrote, but the video was still super helpful. 💚

[@syrupchugger421]

Great video. I'm always stressing about making an epic adventure, seeing your short and sweet (but well made and thoughtful) one shot gives me a lot of ideas. I love the bakery dragon, I already have an inn called "Rotund Dragon Inn", now it has a chef

[@anneott7796]

I love the way you walk through the process of creating the one-shot. I've been playing and DMing for 45 years, and forever DM for the past 30, running mostly AD&D 2e. I draw a lot of inspiration from the third party 5e sources. It isn't that hard to convert the statblocks to 2e for my table.

[@faemerothgoblinbane]

This is so cool! I really like the bones of this quest; sound perfect for a party taking a romp in one of the Domains of Dread, such as Lamordia or Falkovnia. If I ever am so lucky as to be in such a position, I'll be sure to use this! Also, that skeleton top/sweater is super cute.

[@jillfogarty6409]

Great video, and great idea for a sponsored video!!! Such a brilliant way to weave in the ad with the worthwhile content!!!! I love your work, this adventure sounds amazing and I will have to check out Tome of Beasts III to run your adventure!

[@apino9754]

This has helped me with planning a Christmas one-shot myself! Thanks Ginny!

[@GryphonDes]

This one is/was an instant buy -- I adore Kobold's Tome series and really enjoy their Lairs - esp w/their FoundryVTT availability!

[@dlarso11]

Thank you Ginny, hope you keep bringing your creative joy and energy to us fans.

[@algellish340]

definitely loving this!! just grabbed it

[@kamikeserpentail3778]

I'll have to watch this tomorrow. I really love the idea of horror one shots. Been wanting to make one for level 1's using a displacer beast, and have it play out kind of like alien 3.

[@bryansyme6215]

Love it! That horrible monster at the beginning is one I got to paint! I really got a kick out of seeing you use it. Keep up the awesome videos!

[@alexhill9169]

The Tome of Beasts 3 sounds really good. I am just getting into D&D (yet to play a session tbh) but I really feel I will end up becoming a DM and this is a great little one shot that sounds awesome.

[@tomphillips4306]

The Tome of Beasts books keep getting better with each new release! Highly recommended! (Thanks for the great preview!)

[@xXProtozoaXx]

Love it. You are wonderful to watch and listen to.

[@mitchhaelann9215]

I do like me some gorehouse and body-horror. Not to everyone's taste but I grew up watching Hellraiser movies the way normal people watched Sesame Street, so, y'know, different strokes different spleens. And when it comes to necromancy, I'm very much in favor of the 'waste nothing' school of thought. You know what's fun? Building a tentacle monster out of the intestinal tracts of a dozen creatures (troll for regeneration, aurumvorax for strength, human for filler). Either deploy it as a trap (acid-oozing tentacles reach down from a grated ceiling to grapple adventurers) or as a stand-alone monster (just use the stats for a Shambling Mound but make it an Undead type instead of Plant).

[@DMDenver]

Love the idea of designing throughout the video! Might steal it … great adventure too

[@jayspeidell]

I built the Lost Mine of Phandelver around a void dragon BBEG from Tome of Beasts 1.

[@jayspeidell]

@@morrigankasa570 I think there's a third starter set adventure too, Dragons of Icespire Peak.

[@basheerghouse644]

I designed the Offal Walker and Atavist and it's incredibly gratifying to see people enjoy them! The adventure also looks cool!

[@SpectralSavaant]

Awesome video and adventure aside, here's a extra shoutout for reading Nona the Ninth. Love those books! Dying for the fourth one.

[@cameronlapp9306]

Swarms are great! Especially as an added "minion" to make combat more interesting - much like a passive spell effect it really adds an extra dimension in addition to more stuff to hit (even if it would be massively underleveled on its own).

[@bluebutler7428]

im planning on running this with my cousins later this month! sadly, we dont have a large party so ive been adjusting this adventure to fit 2 level 5s instead of 5 level 5s haha! im having lots of fun and cant wait to run this!

[@unbendingaura9492]

Love the flavor and context of the one shot but i do recommend to anyone, that if you try to play it to introduce anyone to dnd definitely read tome of beasts 3 carefully and either have a higher level party going into this than level 5 or to mess around with the creatures abilities. Ginny did a good job story wise but a level 5 party of 4-6 players will definitely have a semi hard time with the two cr 3 vampire blossom swarms and whatever remains of their spell slots abilities, and potions will definitely not be enough for the three cr 1 walkers plus a CR9 animated offal at the same time. ofc everyone plays different, some like to make their players feel hopeless. Do what makes you happy, but if you're gonna use this to introduce players to dnd like I did, definitely read the source material first, then do what you want cuz oh lord was i not prepared to put my players through what they went through lmao. Great job Ginny, would love to see you do more adventures in the future, you have great tastes! :D

[@iratami]

Made a great monster for a scenario like this being all body horry and disturbing. drew it up as a D&D Pokemon fusion "Shuckle and Shadow" I call it the "Dark Blite Mites" small swarm of tiny beasts, unaligned. They feed on emotions and memories "translated into combat as wis/int damage" and store said energy as raw arcane magic or soul juice or something. Edit" Forgot to mention, they also use the skulls of their victims as material for their hives. disolving and pasting bone together to make monolithic structures of fused skulls. They look like demodex "face mites" but like, 6" in length

[@WolfCry791]

Just want to say that Deep Magic has been the single most useful 3rd party book I've gotten. It fills so many gaps in the magic system of 5e, and it has some really fun subclasses like the Beer Domain cleric

[@GinnyDi]

Pre-order your copy of Tome of Beasts III here: www.koboldpress.com/tob3 Download the adventure for free: drive.google.com/file/d/1-mi_xP0pj3-YW6eLgEPIkFeL-WoaizdK/view?usp=sharing

[@notoriusbookworm48]

I literally hate horror why am I watching this??? the power of the baby dragon is forcing me to I guess

[@nighthunter3753]

@@GinnyDi hi

[@Denoblis]

My preorders/Kickstarter will be in on the 19th!!!!

[@DrownedInExile]

12:13 "I'd rather pick loot that makes sense for the creature" Aaaand every JRPG ever is now giving you the side-eye :)

[@AlkanetEXE]

I can say from experience that using MM for minions and Kobold Press for the bigger bads is a VERY fun approach to battle design.

[@LexIconLS]

I LOVE the kobold press books! I barely use the official published MM at all anymore except for basic creatures.

[@randalx]

Great vídeo!

[@KittyCatThang]

This is so cool!!!! I really want to order a copy of this KP book - when I have the money, I definitely will!

[@DeltaDemon1]

I don't reskin monsters and rarely create my own. I just change the stats of existing monsters. Does a Ghoul, for example, have two hit dice, three or 2+4...Depends on the Ghoul. Not all Ghouls are created equal. So, each Ghoul is different from hit dice to armor class to attacks as well as special abilities. Some Ghouls are expert jumpers or move faster than normal or need to be killed multiple time (with their hit dice reducing by one every time they come back). I also always roll hit points at the table in front of players (one hit die at a time so they don't actually know the max potential hit point).

[@georgeraigor885]

I love the horror aspect in TTRPGS! When I make terrifying sessions I follow a couple of patterns and players love it: 1. Take away player power, not their agency but their power. Keep them low level with limited tools and resources and throw creepy overpowered monsters. Their strategy is to survive so they use all their combat tools to escape not win! 2. Puzzles! The horror genre is best buddies with a good riddle. Keep them creepy and be graphical, inspirations from scary stories and games are a major boost! 3. Use as many immersion tools as possible! Fear is inspired and the atmosphere is key. You need to fire it up with music, art, background sounds, turn off the lights and leave only a candle to each player, use fake blood on yourself, anything is on! 4. Time scenes and have something bad happen on time up. The feeling of constant stress will keep the player's spine chilly, as a bonus the pacing doesnt bog! 5. Make an open conversation on what is okay and what is not for players on session 0. This is key for all games but for horror it is 10times more essential. The genre is notorious for making people uncomfortable, so make sure everyone is okay with whatever nightmare you have in store!

[@Pyraxian1]

Hi I loved this video because I'm a DM who has only ever run publishes content and has been too nervous to write my own because "well I know it won't be as good and how do I even go about figuring out all the detail I need?" And seeing your thought and writing process was super helpful! Thank you, Ginny!! (Also, love your lipstick color).

[@jasper5201]

Wouldn't it be fun if a wizard in your dungeon decided to petrify a dozen gelatinous cubes and use them as flooring to digest curious adventurers when an item with or greater restoration is cast/used. The idea being that your players are never going to find anything wrong with the flooring.

[@hotbeefman69]

[Writes in session prep journal] Ah, fun. That's one word for it!

[@TheRubberDuck77]

Another option for the "getting information from a dead guy problem" if someone has speak to the dead, but that wastes a spell slot and this is a one shot, so another idea I have seen used is the old hidden letter or journal on his body trick, because of course once he's dead any good adventuring party is going to loot the body right? So you could say they find a letter or small journal outlining all the info, you could actually write the letter or just sum up the info they find out from it or the journal, like "it his hard to make out their scrawl but from the entries you can decipher it looks like he opened this tomb to take control of some creature here but is in way over his head"

[@emdueck6250]

For encounter building, I really like Kobold Fight Club. I also use these tips to assess whether an encounter of higher CR is something the party can handle: • do the monsters have multi-attack? • are there any legendary or lair actions? • how many monsters are there? • do the monsters deal AOE damage? • if yes AOE, use it *early* in the encounter • are there any instant-kill abilities (eg: banshee wails)?

[@ProdJude-mp6ed]

I’m literally writing a dead space esque one shot right now so this is perfect timing! 😄

[@vintagekaiju5486]

I love using very powerful creatures like that bone lord as an insurmountable challenge for my parties I DM. Usually I portray them as a greater threat that forces them to search for alternative solutions to the problems they present. Something like finding a powerful artefact, calling for the aid of their allies, or maybe researching forgotten lore about the creature. Recently my party enlisted the help of a local druid circle to combat a gargantuan fusion elemental they had accidentally summoned while participating in an experiment. In return they have the temporary help of a Galeb Duhr that was also summoned by their experiment whom they are trying to help return home.

[@gamegraves]

Super cool, love the concept for in the flesh

[@johnpauliuk1382]

That vampire blossom is exactly like a grass I made years ago where the land is infected by the Mother of Vampires and all the grass in the forest. The grass is always pink near her lair because they are well-fed.

[@bobthetitan777]

This is a cool insight into approaching publication

[@BroxigarZ]

I think there's a lapse in the terms "gruesome" and "horror". "Horror" is a genre defined by setting an expectation of fear normally by an atmosphere where the protagonists are being stalked by the antagonist and then you supply the jump scares, but the feeling of being stalked by the unknown is what sets the tone for a Horror. So something a bit longer than the dungeon defined where as the players move through the spaces they hear moans, sloshing, the grinding of bones on stone, this sensation of being watched, each time they get these sensations its from different directions...encasing them....hunting them...throw in some good jump scares and then the inevitable encounter with the monster. Just because a monster is "gruesome" does not make the "Horror" atmosphere...it needs that extra layer of setting a tense situation, and unease in the feeling of what the players have gotten themselves into...Just some considerations for next time. You could of made an Offal Bakery Drake Walker who is stalking the players to use them as ingredients in its next meal and left odd clues through the dungeon of spatulas, pie pans, human bones and sinew???....

[@GinnyDi]

You're totally welcome to define horror in your own games in whatever way is exciting to you! But, just to be clear, the definition of horror is anything that incites feelings of "fear, shock, and disgust," so I don't think it's accurate to claim that my adventure shown here CANNOT be called horror. That said, your suggested themes sound great and would work really well for an adventure that's about three times as long as this one!

[@markoseldo2007]

Perfect! *chef's kiss*

[@dougantelope5013]

Looks cool!

[@viktoriaeilen4447]

I only have two friends who wants to play dnd. I love your creativity, and really wish for a 2 player 1 dm adventure written by you❤❤❤

[@Zamun]

Thanks for the content.

[@devinanderson15]

Rule of 3 have three sources of information for any critical. The Cultist if you can talk him down, his journal if you search his body, and writing on tomb assuming you can read it. It’s a little more work but it works well particularly if you need different skills for each information source and they can’t have the exact same thing in case they find more then one and it’s awesome if they get a reward if they find all 3 like knowing the bosses weakness or something.

[@WittyUsername14]

I'm digging the new recording set, dude!

[@frog_goblin7457]

Hey Ginny! I love your content and how you explain things has always been really easy for me to follow. You're super creative and have the practical and logical skills to back up your amazing imagination. I was wondering if maybe you would ever do a video about DND brothels and how you go about them in your games? A player of mine is playing an escort/ general sex worker in a 1920s inspired campaign and we both are having a little trouble going about interactions having to do with her job. Any advice you might be able to give would be greatly appreciated 👍 (or if the community has any pointers I'm all ears)

[@jeremyeaton9379]

Thank you 🎉. Awesome. I have them pre ordered. Ever think about doing a hag/ killer kids town?

[@theparagoncompany]

I've got all the KP monster books and I backed ToB3. There's so much fun stuff in there to throw at your players.

[@maraudercatt8564]

I see these CR and other asks, but I'd just really like to play/GM some D&D with Ginny Di!! That seems far more amazing! Also, I often refer back to the 3.5 Libris Mortis for some great 'horror' options!

[@grimm516]

Oh my god, the locked tomb 😍. That's amazing who is your favourite character?

[@I.Re-em]

literally just what I needed, gonna make my players scream

[@mitchhaelann9215]

Word of advice? Surprise trap in the necromancer's lair. Bearskin rug, reanimated. Just use the stats of a bear, but it gets surprise when the players walk over it.

[@mitchhaelann9215]

@@hlaw2830 Unless you're in your 50's, I've been playing Dnd longer than you've been alive. and I've mastered game systems you've probably never heard of. DnD started when a bunch of wargamers wanted to add more story and depth to their fighting games (Chainmail), and grew up as a semi-simulationist fantasy adventure game. It can do almost any style of game or story you want, as long as everyone is on-board with it. Always been that way. Just because you can't run a game without a crutch of specialized mechanics doesn't mean DnD is a bad system. So take your ignorant buzzword salad back to 4chan where you belong and never show your face in civilized society again.

[@PaddyCapDice]

Brilliant idea to use combat to set the tone, and not be deadly!

[@Whiplashor]

This video was awesome!! Thank you for posting it. I love homebrewing but at the same time really struggle with it. Do you think you could do a video about layout & formatting of adventures? As I think this could help massively! 😀

[@GinnyDi]

That's a fun idea! I don't know if I think a video about that would be very appealing to my general audience, but maybe I could livestream a layout someday.

[@captaincube132]

0:00 - 0:24 "Describe your channel's entire aesthetic in one minute." - The Algorithm "psh I don't even need 30 seconds" - Ginny, probably

[@norwegianshrubberglee8717]

Haha, now I can introduce the Bakery Drake to the players with a limerick: In a café in Champs Elysees, they have a rare creature you don't see every day. It's cute and it's tiny. It breathe flames with a spray. See the Bakery Dragon, making Créme Brûlee."

[@underthebookcover]

I don’t play DnD (yet) but I do write stories and I feel like the Tome of Beasts would be a really cool thing to have to bring in monsters to my worlds!

[@hazelmimas3628]

Thank you for sharing this! I love running horror-themed adventures, but I think after resurrecting Strahd a third time my players are figuring out I'm running out of fresh spooky-vibes

[@millersj]

Can't wait for my copy to arrive. ToB III was the fastest kickstarter I backed.

[@frankpayne8281]

At this point, all Kobold Press releases are insta-buy for me. Their releases the last couple of years have all been really excellent!

[@fenixmeaney6170]

Ok, my mind has come up with an encounter and I want to establish that this video deserves full credit for the idea: The party encounters a strange man in the catacombs or other spooky place. He wields a bludgeon, and confidently attacks the PCs. As soon as they deal piercing or slashing damage, if he starts bleeding at all, his priorities shift. His eyes are frantic and full of fear. He spend his whole turn every round desperately wrapping the wound, twisting a tourniquet tighter and tighter until the limb becomes purple. His voice rambling about "crimson sickness" and "I can't be next, I have to find it" Eventually, it is clear that it is too late once he starts bleeding from eyes nose and mouth. Dark tendrils seep out and wrap around him, then drag his screaming form back into the shadows. The sound of dripping and squelching can be heard faintly, as well as a low rumble, almost a growl. Almost like breathing.

[@Thaumatolgist]

Really cool!

[@nordicson2835]

My daughters and thier group all watch the Pasta Queen on you tube So they came up with a character that enchants all types of pasta. Spaghetti whips , lasagna shields, penne projectiles and rolling rigatoni... l love when they are being creative and not just staring at screens... thank you.

[@cordial001]

I always like a bit of horror in my RPG, especially if it's the "just out of view" or not straight up combat type.

[@RuffioLostBoy]

Oh man, wish this was around for Halloween! Sounds awesome, though!

[@2fortsmostwanted]

Hey, thank you for this. I've always wanted to write but had no idea where to start. i.e. what scenarios do I prepare for? How many monsters? How do I attempt to balance an encounter? This not only helped answered my questions but it did so in a concise way that didn't require watching you write the whole 2 hours of it.

[@frigginsepone446]

Thanks for the adventure. 🤪

[@ethanpethel3261]

Love these monsters shown in this book. The offals remind me of a D&D version of John Carpenters the Thing; which would make one interesting adventure session.

[@firebird8600]

Bakery Drakery!!! I need the book now.

[@jleewatts4318]

XGtE has updated CR tables for planning an encounter.

[@Red-jb2zj]

It comes charging at you, the only warning, the sound of iron and bone ringing out in rapid cadence. Competing with this is a wet, stuttering squeal with equal parts of screams of pain of pain. The beast revealing itself in your torchlight as a half rotten flesh warped abomination expelling a slurry of bone, rotten flesh and ichor from its pig like snout and maw. One hand missing leaving the bones of a forearm exposed. There leathely sharpened. The other ending in a metallic hook that the creatures skin has begun to heal over. Roll initiative.

[@squidminion3801]

I've been wanting to write my own one-shot for a while (Phantom of the Opera themed) but I've never DMed before so have no idea the level of planning this would take (I also don't have the time atm) so this and your other video are really helpful!

[@GinnyDi]

Happy to help! I think the two best things you can do while learning to write adventures are, 1) have other adventures on hand to reference for questions of structure, length, etc., and 2) find a friend who has either written adventures or who has used a lot of published adventures to read it over and point out areas for improvement! Other than that, all you can do is take a stab at it and learn from doing!

[@squidminion3801]

@@GinnyDi Thank you! That's really helpful ☺

[@JustMe-um8zp]

I Love It!

[@CemDincarslan]

This is pretty helpful.