How to run EVERY encounter in the Wave Echo Cave - D&D 5th Edition Starter Set Guide 8

[@heyitsMattyP]

Few notes: I got the Stirge stats wrong. They deal 5 guaranteed damage, then detach after 10. Advice still stands though! And I think I mixed up room 4 and 5... BUT here's the story of how my party decimated the Northern Barracks. Back in session one, when they met Klarg, the party found him smoking some Wizard Grass, because I said he was an evil Seth Rogen and things got a little carried away. So they've had this Wizard Grass in their possession for the entire campaign. When they get to this barricaded door after defeating the Flame Skull, the Warlock sends his frog familiar under the door and sees FIVE Klargs in there. So what the party does, is have theDruid in spider-form weave a web tunnel from the furnace in room 8 all the way to the barricade, then they fill the furnace full of Wizard Grass and hope to smoke the bugbears out. Cool, I say this will 100% work without the need of a roll and will give the bugbears disadvantage in the fight. But then someone has a better idea. Player: "Wait, why can't we just use coal instead of Wizard Grass and suffocate them all?" Me: "..." Me: "OK, now we might need a roll for this plan." -------------- ❤ 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]

[@HannahFortalezza]

Muahahaha! Yeah I'm pretty evil

[@TheShoo]

One of my players (Evil PC) kept asking to gas everyone in Redbrand Hideout lol

[@ActualChef]

As usual, the best series on KZbin for Phandelver. These videos have made our adventure absolutely bonkers good. Thank you!!!! A million times over.

[@maoriwargamer]

My party encountered Nundro walking down the passages whistling a tune with a plate of food. He was surprised by the party who were also surprised by him. Eventually they figured out that things weren’t quite right, Nundro triggered the events of the campaign by trying to sell the location of the cave and capturing the Black Spiders attention. The Black Spider paid him gold to betray his brothers and the party realised the extent of this betrayal and executed the dwarf.

[@leviritter6279]

Just finished my second play through and this is without a doubt one of the most informative DnD series I've seen. Each video is a treasure trove in itself. Amazing content my dude

[@heyitsMattyP]

High praise - thank you! If my video series were a book, this is one of the reviews I'd print on the back :)

[@AlejandroCab98]

@@heyitsMattyP You fixed my campaign by pulling me away from the books and getting me to focus on the players, thank you!

[@Ikehammer]

Every flameskull I've ever run has gotten the party to accept it as a friend and then cast fireball centered on itself the second it gets close enough

[@adammetc]

I love this

[@heyitsMattyP]

I'm giving you the keys to my youtube channel. That's actual gold! You are are a true Dungeon Master.

[@Ikehammer]

Here are two ways I've managed to make this happen over the years: 1) It sets itself up on a magic altar and tries to pitch itself as a Magic Item. 2) It gives the players real, helpful information about the dungeon layout and promises more if the players help carry it to another part of the dungeon . When they pick it up? Kaboom! That'll teach your players how important it is to remember to ask for Insight checks

[@welersoncarvalho2471]

@@Ikehammer My players almost died to it and then one of them decided to take the dead skull and put it in his bag lol

[@mattbanak8917]

I gotta say, for a campaign finale fight a little 3x4 room is _not_ cutting it for me. I'm going to place the force of spells in room 19, and expand it into a cathedral-style room with the force of spells at the apex of a few small flights of stairs. I want the BBEG's spiders to feel like more than just a gimmick, she will have the spiders coming down from the ceiling to attack the players while she uses her first turn to start the process of enchanting the item she set out to make. While the item is enchanting for two turns she'll turn around and fight back the party with the help of her spiders. After a couple of turns, or if she's taken enough damage, she'll transform into a final form and be a truly big bad, in the most literal sense, in the form of a beefed up spellcaster Drider.

[@azzakirk44]

Thank you for holding my hand along the way, good sir. First time DM here, gonna run the epic showdown in 2x days 🤞

[@FernieMac]

I love how you personalized every room to make them unique and imo even better. Ill be using these for my dungeon tomorrow. Thank you

[@timflynn2336]

Looking forward to this! Just started playing D&D a month ago, and I’m the DM for my kids and family. Having a great time and I’ve watched all these LMoP videos multiple times. Thank you for making these videos.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thanks Tim! Such a kind thing to say. This one is by far the most dense guide, just because there's TWENTY encounters in this big ol' dungeon. After this, it's just a video about how I would rewrite the campaign to revolve around Venomfang (if I wasn't already cutting Thundertree), then a storytime of everyone's best Lost Mines experiences.

[@timflynn2336]

@@heyitsMattyP Ive been enjoying your channel so much that I joined Patreon for the first time ever, today. I Can’t wait to take a look at all of your cool stuff. Keep the content coming!!! Btw- is it still too late to sign up for the giveaway?

[@MathieuVuylsteke]

Your channel is criminally underrated! I've been using your guides in my first run of LMoP and there's some really fun additions. Especially the royal court theme for the Cragmaw castle is so well done :) I'm going to make the players use Cragmaw castle as a base of operations in my Acquisitions Incorporated campaign

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thank you! But I think my channel is doing OK for me haha -- I reckon I would panic if there were too many digits on the view count or subscriber count. Having the players set up in Cragmaw Castle would be really cool! It reminds me of this game I played as a kid called Suikoden - you ended up with a derelict castle, and you had to go around the world finding talented people to help you restore it. It's a fun little addition to the story!

[@davidcoyle6265]

HEY MATT PERKINS!! Just wanted to say what a help this video series has been! I started playing D&D as a player through Discord then eventually Fantasy Grounds (hadn't played in 20 years or so? AD&D and RedBox) during the lockdown but am now running LMOP in real life as the DM. These videos have been a HUGE help! I am following you on Patreon (can't wait to give out some incriminating letters next session) and watched all your KZbins---great stuff here! Thanks!

[@jamesewert3088]

Been subbed since your 2nd video, got to say, you are absolute gold. Love your style. Thanks for continuing to work so hard on your channel. Big fan over here.

[@heyitsMattyP]

My dude! What was my second video? Watching it is probably a bad idea. Appreciate the support :D

[@jamesewert3088]

@@heyitsMattyP Hah. As if I remember that. Goood luck. I was just pumped to get in on the ground floor. You're a huge booster, Perks. Thanks for being a positive voice.

[@RussellWalker21]

Huh I read that Strige attack very differently. As written I don't think they cause an extra 10 damage on detach, they just detach themselves after sucking 10 points of blood from their normal attack. My players always just immediately use their action to detach, making them just a minor annoyance (fitting for CR 1/8). For that room my players wound up avoiding it anyway due to being scared of all the skeletons coming to life, but I do really like the Animal Handling trap idea!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Have I been running them wrong my whole life? All this time? I'm scared to look a that statblock. BUT if I was right, and they worked the way I though - pretty deadly, huh? Wouldn't that be crazy? Aw beans.

[@EyeAM138]

Thank you so much for this series. I'm currently running this campaign for a 3ed time with my parter (2 1/2 years experience) and 2 player completely new to the game. This has breathed new life into this campaign for me and has given me lots of inspiration going forward with any other modules. The encounter with Nez (that's how she introduced herself) in Phandalin really grabbed their attention. Were not far into it yet, just now in the Redboys hideout, but this has given me so many ideas and time to throw some lore in flesh this out to be a memorable experience for all of us. Thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go binge the rest of your content.

[@thealmightypadfoot189]

Hey Matt - thank you so much for all your content on the Lost Mines. I have been running a heavily edited version of the campaign myself, but had been running out of steam a little as the party head for the finale. I have been binging these videos for the past day or so and it has given me so many awesome ideas, so thank you again!!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Great! Not all of my suggestions are gonna land, but if you find one or two things which you wanna steal, that's ace.

[@kevinthomas2342]

So much great stuff in this video and not just about wave echo cave. This videos has really helped me rethink how I plan dungeons. So here's some of what I've done with your ideas, and I'm loving the new direction. Here's what I'm doing it, but first: - such a good idea on the boots. When the party found Gundren's living brother everyone at the table went "yikes" - love the idea of a stirge trap. Even if it's not exactly how damage would have been done, giving people a chance to use an less common skill is fun. Killing a ton of little bugs is unrewarding, so I'm going to say that everyone gets bit by multiple buggies and they each take the set damage based on multiple bites - for the map, we are playing online and I've just been using google slides. Since it's so massive, I've made each room a separate slide so they just see one room at a time and don't see the relationship of where the rooms are to each other. If they want to draw their own map as they travel they can (which is what I think the characters should be doing) and by not know exactly where they have been, it feels way more like the maze that I think it's supposed to be. I could keep going but what I especially like was the idea of making the adventure time sensitive to increase the drama. My characters have been collecting a series of statues (they were so into the jade frog that it became a thing) which are needed to unlock the entrance to the forge. My characters think they have been doing it for themselves, but the Black Spider has been feeding them leading information to help them collect and bring everything to the cave (since it's not easy for her to hunt for the components topside). So I had to modify your plan since she can't open the forge without them. The next campaign is Avernus, so I decided to go with an infernal deal. Nezznar aquires the components to give the devil access to the forge and in return the devil creates an infernal machine that will blot out the sun in the area giving the drow the ability to raid and pillage as much as they want. There is currently an army of drow heading to Neverwinter and they will pass through Phandalin on the way. Local forces are trying to slow them but the party has to find and destroy the machine (in the smelter cavern) which is feeding off the ambient energy of the cave and pouring a magical darkness into the sky. They will get a few hours of game time to get there and look for it before the rolls start. Each hour increases the DC and each fail means another level of destruction to either town or to the townspeople themselves. I've been hinting at it for a few sessions and the sky is currently darkening but they don't know why yet. I can't wait to see how it plays out. So thanks for all the hard work. Have you run Avernus before? Asking for a friend.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thanks for the kind words Kevin! I'm glad to have helped :) I haven't run Avernus, but it's on my list of adventures to make guides about. I think we're doing Storm King's Thunder in the first half of 2021, but who knows for the second half?

[@leesh3319]

hey! i'm really interested to learn more about how you use google slides for the individual rooms! are you open to sharing those? my party is going into the mines this weekend and i've been debating on hand drawing important rooms as they clear them and let them make the map on their own, but it stills feels like a lot to prep. thanks in advance !

[@shanesartori5464]

I rarely coment on a youtube video but I just came across your channel and am very impressed with the quality of the content youve put out. Keep up the great work.

[@heyitsMattyP]

I'm all about those rare Shane comments haha :D Thanks mate! These Lost Mines guides have been a real galvanising force for the community and channel - this is clearly the kind of content I should be making, and all the positive feedback has been a massive help in helping me make that decision. In fact, I am at this VERY MOMENT filming a one-shot guide which comes out tomorrow

[@ManicCow]

This was during my schools dnd club when I was playing through this campaign for the first and so far only time: When we found the dead dwarf the rogue in my party immediately without hesitation looted the boots off of em. This was so sudden that the teacher who was running the club even commented on it as he was walking past.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Haha, imagine stealing someone's shoes

[@CoalMinersGlove92]

This is the part our group is up to. This is my first time ever DM'ing and to he honest, the size of this place is super intimidating...

[@JeshieWafflez]

This video was absolutely fantastic! Thank you so much! It saved me SO MUCH prep time! XD

[@heyitsMattyP]

Glad to help! Spend the time you saved on extra sleep :) zZzZz

[@banginthedead1]

Just want to say thanks for this series as it's been massively helpful to me as a first time DM x

[@heyitsMattyP]

Glad to help! Cheers JJ :)

[@agsilverradio2225]

This showed up in my recommended just when I needed it!

[@brandonduer2971]

Thanks for your input I'm running it this Friday. I've changed the narrative a bit, instead of orcs and ghouls, I made it robots vs the undead. The forge guardian is a large warforged with a large key for a head named lock. In order start the forge they have to get the water flowing to the billows or move the large wood wheel, this will ignite the magic flame, then defeat mormesk (who I made an ancestor of the rockseekers), this will convince the warforged Lock to open the forge, or they can defeat the worforged and take it's key head themselves lol. The black spider is in disguise as a Gith (it fits my to my story, as it was the city and dwarves at ends with each other) he has knowledge on how to start the forge but because he is disguised an an old high trapped in the forge for centuries he needs help cuz he can't do it on their own. Also the the dwarves brother is a dopleganger

[@heyitsMattyP]

Brandon that sounds SICK. I love it! Everything about this situation is better than the adventure the book wants you to run. PLEASE let me know how it all works out :)

[@adammetc]

There are some really great tips in this!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thank you. I love you.

[@DisneyIsHardcore]

These videos are awesome. I've played some games, watched a lot of critical role, and run my own games (just a couple). I really like hearing about how you structure your games because I think it sounds a lot different than other examples I've seen. And sounds a lot less stressful too.

[@meebmabeeb]

Finally subbed on Patreon! I start the Wave Echo Cave tonight...I am going to try your flip pages since the map is super overwhelming!

[@girllover12940]

Always great! Thanks for the great info!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thank you!

[@lemake72]

Love the card map idea!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Cheers Kevin! It was actually a total mind-warp trying to get all the room arrows pointing in the right direction and assembling the dungeon so it made sense, but even then it was STILL easier to run at the table :)

[@chiiiiaaa]

Great video, as a new dm wave echo cave was a mess to run. It'll be much better in future following your changes. I was wonder what is the program you are using to draw the maps in the video?

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thank you! It's called Procreate on the iPad. It animates drawings :)

[@panatzu_gaming]

I finished it today 😍 thank you for the videos we had so much fun

[@heyitsMattyP]

Nice one Panatzu! Glad to help :)

[@ayesleighstark]

Thank you for this! Such helpful info for a new DM!

[@vherus]

Doing this adventure with my IRL friends that have never played D&D. One of them wanted to play an Evil Warlock so instead of dissuading that I decided to make him the real BBEG all along. He's an agent of the Black Spider, in cahoots with the Nothic to betray the spider right as she makes her final appearance at the Forge. The group will fight her and he'll use the Forge just as she's about to "power up", then he'll kill her and the rest of the group will fight the powered up Warlock who's been travelling with them the entire time. Special Player Moments :D

[@heyitsMattyP]

That player will certainly feel special in that moment, true true true!

[@lexzbuddy]

I am 3d printing the whole thing. Kind of makes me have to do things a bit differently. Lots of useful things though so thanks The room with the wraith after the fungus room, imam going to make that a feature. He's a unique wraith that has an odd personality. He wants the flaming skull gone as he was peace and quiet so asks party to help in exchange for info and treasure. I'm going to play him like Bartimus the Djini from a book I read, sort of pompous and funny but trapped for eternity.

[@paulh3892]

Love your channel! You’re the man!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thank you! I appreciate the support :)

[@hoofa2000]

I just found your LMoP series of videos and I wish I had found them sooner. I found Thundertree and Cragmaw Castle to be very boring to DM and I am really looking forwards to completing the campaign today using your streamlined version of Wave Echo Cave. I have written a "Chapter 4 Prologue" set in the Stonehill Inn in Phandalin to allow me to add in some of the lore you introduced far earlier in the campaign and to allow the Black Spider a chance of stealing the "puzzle box". I also bought an actual puzzle box for the session.

[@heyitsMattyP]

YES! Glad you've got a prop puzzle box :) Let me know how it goes!

[@ericsilverman1225]

Thanks, Matt! I used a few of your tips, especially for the final confrontation with the Spider. BTW, I used to game with a Matthew Perkins in Baltimore in the 90s. Pretty sure it wasn't you though.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Glad it worked out Eric! There are a few of us Matty Ps around. Used to be a singing preacher named Matthew Perkins would show up whenever I googled my name, but thanks to this youtube channel I've finally knocked him off the top haha :D

[@mikkelfellandgunnlgsson8124]

I love this. Thank you so much. Just to clarify something regarding the time aspect, because I am not quite sure of the meaning around @1:40 : IF TBS has aquired what's inside the puzzle box, I get why I should roll with disadvantage for a few rolls, because it would take some time for her to figure out how to use it on whatever obstacle I will put to guard the forge, and thus she will be occupied in trying to figure out the puzzle, not expecting the players to turn up/not be looking for them ... but. How do you suggest I roll, if she hasn't obtained it? Just roll normally every time, and if I roll a 0, she will attack with her minions and her normal stats? I am not sure I understand ...

[@heyitsMattyP]

Glad your digging it -- and thanks for the Patreon support :) So the idea is: if you roll a zero, she has somehow found a way past the guardian, activated the forge and attacks the party. If she DOESN'T have the puzzle box, she's rolling at disadvantage because it's more difficult for her to bypass the guardian without the correct tools. If she DOES have the puzzle box, she rolls normally. If you've already rolled a few times, she gets advantage on her rolls to simulate her being more likely to succeed over time. Does that make sense?

[@damienlifemusic935]

Omg ur video help me so much👍👍👍👍 thanksssss

[@heyitsMattyP]

Glad to help mate!

[@lilv3966]

Running my second session in this dungeon tomorrow. They rested in room 7. Having monsters and creatures kill themselves instead of the dungeon being some kind of monster college frat house of endless mobs would help speed things up.

[@josechavez3765]

Love the series, thank you

[@bobcarnicom2232]

These are very helpful insights! Random question. If you could add or change one thing about the Black Spider, what would that be?

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thanks Bob! Yeah I would make her NOT a drow. Drow cop a bad rap, and they're not very interesting outside Forgotten Realms cannon. I prefer her to be be an ambitious, unscrupulous adventurer, rather than some Underdark-dwelling spider villain.

[@adammetc]

@@heyitsMattyP that's a great idea and if done well could prevent warcrimes from the party somewhat. In a world where we're Adventurers and they're monsters, we can suffocate them without worrying. In a world where we're good Adventurers and they're bad Adventurers, maybe we need to work harder to maintain that distinction.

[@tazaycharla3426]

I'm planning on making The Black Spider not a person, and having Nezznara a Drider who wanted to use the Forge as a last ditch hope to turn back (Not knowing that only a Wish or the pardon of Lolth can do that) and is being used by the BBEG (Venomfang, who pulls the strings behind the scenes using the Black Spider as an organization framed as a person, and will be the final boss along with Glasstaff)

[@GettyFan08]

If and when my party gets to The Forge Of Spells, the forge is actually going to be within a 200 year old a Mana Clipper(Captains&Cannons) that has been waiting within the Mines in an underground river that they can activate and “sail” it from its underground bay in Wave Echo Cave out to The Sword Coast. This gives the party freedom to explore the world with their new ship and also is a nice surprise that The Forge Of Spells is a ship as well as a +1 forge. Hopefully for their sake they deal with Venomfang(aka Mac) before they set sail.

[@NickPierson]

Is the Starter Set something you feel like you get more and more out of each time you run it as a DM? I've never run an adventure more than once. Largely because I homebrew everything. Also, do you feel like it's something with enough variation that PLAYERS can rerun it and still enjoy it? How much would you need to change?

[@heyitsMattyP]

There's no replayability for players, but I wouldn't expect any adventure to have that. For DM's, there's intrinsic value in running adventure multiple times, not just LMOP. Sick questions man. That's why you make the big bucks.

[@NickPierson]

@@heyitsMattyP Solid. I'd love to see those big bucks end up in a bank account of mine! That'd be nice. Also, you mention my Campaign Diaries a lot (thanks for shoutout on Twitch), do you really think there's value in those? Should I resume them? I feel like there's SO little value for the viewer unless you just want to listen to me talk lol.

[@benvoliothefirst]

I've run the Goblin Arrows and Cragmaw Hideout scenes multiple times with different groups and their playstyles resulted in massively different outcomes. (If Yeemik and Klarg are opposed and willing to parley with the characters, they can start a goblinoid civil war!) It's worth getting to know an adventure inside and out.

[@novaiscool1]

I would say a suit of +1 plate is fair as its a fairly common thing for adventures to give out. The first adventure in Ghosts of Saltmarsh has one, and the summer finally chapter of Dragon heist has the ability to aquire a set. Not sure of other adventures as I've only ran the two properly.

[@gooberato]

Loving the video series, even years later. First time DMing and my wife is in the party as a circle of spores druid. She loves mushrooms irl so I'd love any ideas you might have on making the mushroom room really cool for her character.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Siiiiick! I made a mushroom thing for a segment of my DOSI guide which might be useful for you. I think it's in the Seagrow Caves video

[@vonHobbingen]

Great LMoP content =) Do you plan on making a Thundertree Video?

[@heyitsMattyP]

I do! But it's maybe not the Thundertree video you'd exactly want: it's more a loose video about why I cut it from the campaign and how I'd rearrange the whole story to make room for it if I hadn't cut it.

[@gameon_ct]

Hi we're the newbies on the Icarus Games Discord Channel and we're going through subbing to everyone else on there!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thanks!

[@gameon_ct]

@@heyitsMattyP Feel free to check us out too!

[@robertcollins2052]

I scattered Strahd throughout the campaign. Then used the fog decreasing lvls to 3 and skipping murder house. After a short Zero sesh I gave them a trade on the magic items they got vs the ones they would have gotten in the murder house. It so good.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Good move! Strahd is the best published module

[@alexbien8638]

If you were running this dungeon the way you suggested in the previous video (handpicking a few of your fav encounters and sticking them in front of the PCs) how would you run the Mine Tunnels (room 2) with the D6 mechanic you are suggesting? I’m thinking a 1&6 is a dead end, 2 & 4 lead to two of my hand picked encounters and 3 is the monster. Other ideas?

[@heyitsMattyP]

I know I already responded to this on Discord, but I'll repost my answer here for posterity :) I'd use room 2 as the frame for the whole dungeon. But whenever they rolled, I would just put a different room I wanted them to find in front of them.

[@isOaDy]

you are a lifesaver. thank you so much for everything in this vid (=

[@josephballard1]

I'm so glad I found your channel! Wish I could have found it in time for the giveaway but ah well. As a new patron, I hope you do more of these. I know it's too late but one on the tyranny of dragons and how to add this as the intro to that would be awesome!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Cheers Joe! I'm not sure I'll get to a Tyranny of Dragons guide, but I've played the first half and I like the module :)

[@joecrook3435]

My players missed out on saving Sildar. Skipped the first cragmaw place. Any tips on trying to get them to go back? Or put him in the story somewhere else? Thanks for the videos! Subscribed for you

[@adri3251]

Hey Matthew, love the vids and what you put into it. I just have a few questions with which i'm struggling with. What is a good use for the doppelganger? And where could i use him well? Should i have him be at the castle or at the caves? Even before?

[@heyitsMattyP]

The doppelganger is a tricky one. The two uses I van think of is a) use him as a decoy-Gundren in the Trade With The Black Spider scene I mentioned somewhere in these videos, or b) use him as a get-out-of-jail-free card to fix any mistakes you make. Did the party kill an important NPC, or did you mess up a roleplaying scene really badly? Then it was the doppelganger and you get a do-over :)

[@Sylvareth0]

My players have reached WeC by the end of last session and got to explore room 1 and 3. In room 3 I treated the Stirges as a trap (I love it), instead of an encounter, but the players (especially the more experienced ones), seemed to have a hard time not rolling for initiative and seeing it as an encounter. They were kinda "weirded out" by the whole "I shoot mind sliver / eldritch blast / etc" and me responding in "Do an animal handling check". "Huh, why TF is this animal handling?". It was not quite the response I expected, and made me a bit uncomfortable as a DM (not very experienced). But they understood it once I explained the mechanics afterwards. Kinda discouraged to do this again in the future though, which is sad because I love the idea of treating an encounter like this as a trap (like a swarm of bees).

[@heyitsMattyP]

Hey, good on you for trying, don't let it discourage you. I fail all the time, but it's still important to take risks. From your experience, it sounds like a communication issue, I'd recommend starting the next non-standard encounter or scenario by playing with an open hand and saying, "We're trying something new - let's resolve this encounter with a skill challenge".

[@Sylvareth0]

@@heyitsMattyP Thanks for the tip (and for replying so quickly)! I'll keep that in mind for next time.

[@demongustavditters7150]

One thing I’ve wanted to do w WEC is re work the rooms to have more verticality, possibly two floors, and have the forge walled off. The two levers required to lift the wall are strewn across both floors. Edit: I have made the mistake of letting the players see and use the map and it’s ruined what I wanted in the game every time 😅so I can attest to that being* great advice 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@heyitsMattyP]

I think if I did that, I would want some kind of riddle, puzzle or clue to give the players some kind of direction for where the levers are rather than looking for them randomly. And I might put the actual Forge very close to the entrance so they could see the closed gates.

[@demongustavditters7150]

@@heyitsMattyP I like that advice!

[@jonshurts8944]

Totally would have entered your contest, but I'm a few years late. Great content though. "Liked and subscribed"

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thanks!

[@uffish2]

My party purposely left the puzzle box in Phandalin with Gundren, because their priority is to take down the Black Spider and rescue Nundro (finding the Forge and making the mines safe for operation comes second, for them). They figure they can deal with the spectator Guardian afterward. But neither party has the box. They're about to hit the Forge of Spells, though they don't know it. I'm saying they got there first because they went STRAIGHT there, but how long would you wait before the Black Spider shows up? Until they've finished fighting? A round or two in? Honestly, they may avoid fighting it if they can, because they don't care much about the Forge, just about taking it away from Nezzar, and they tend to be very cautious. So, does she appeared right as the spectator greets them? That little building is kind of too small for a fight with so many combatants, anyway. Regardless, I guess no one gets the weapons or the buff unless they defeat the spectator AND the other party, or until the retrieve the puzzle box from Phandalin. And the poor faithful spectator will likely never get his 101 years of service pin that lets him know his agreed upon shift of guardianship is over.

[@heyitsMattyP]

I'm late to this, but top-and-tailing encounters can be tricky. You've got to balance it in a way so the players get to enjoy the strategy of the first part of the encounter before you add that extra complication of the second part. Hopefully it went well!

[@jynx2501]

"We don't loot friends. Do we? No, we don't loot friends." If I'm dead, please use any of my magical or useful gear. I'd want you to have it.

[@heyitsMattyP]

In the same way people have DNR tattoos, I have a DNL card

[@KCville6324]

I'm going to make the macguffin a bottled secret and the nothing the guardian. It has been working with the redbrands and spider because it can't be freed until it gets its macguffin secret back and it also can't tell them that's the puzzle to reactivate. If she doesn't have the box and whisper and tries to force it active, the nothic attacks her and weakens her

[@sethbrogen7952]

ok what does the number 2 and swirl on the premade cards you have mean?

[@heyitsMattyP]

That area of the dungeon is meant to be a maze. So my suggestion is to roll a D-whatever, and they pop out at the number rolled.

[@thechosenofmystra9397]

Almost magical ;)

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thanks!

[@PaBl0T1n]

I'm confused with Room 15. You're saying I should have the players arrive there first if they still have the box? Then what's the point of doing the rolls throughout the caves that check if she arrives there first? And why would her having the puzzle box give her *disadvantage* ? Wouldn't that be beneficial to her?

[@heyitsMattyP]

You're doing rolls through the session to see if she gets to the Forge, activates it AND ambushes the party wherever they are. I'm not sure I said having the puzzlebox would give the Spider a disadvantage, and if I did, that's probably a misspeak

[@AlternityGM]

For the room w/ the 3 ghouls maybe have them eating 3 dead goblins or hobgoblins who were part of Nezznar’s group that wandered off to foolishly explore the cave for treasure. And maybe have Nundro actually be a doppelgänger who will try to infiltrate the party & assassinate them.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Yeah that sounds like a good bit of foreshadowing to remind the players of the Black Spider's forces in the mine

[@DisneyIsHardcore]

holy engagement batman!!!

[@tiredjediknight3110]

“Subscribe to my KZbin channel” Well I’m not one to ignore ancient advice

[@RandoRuda]

Hello Mr Streamer. I have come to play with the algorithm.

[@heyitsMattyP]

YES YEEEEEESSSSSSSS thanks

[@enzoruizrussell]

Hey does anyone know what app he uses to create the maps shown in the video.

[@heyitsMattyP]

I drew my maps using Procreate. It's pretty much just cheap photoshop for tablets.

[@OzoneInteractiveMegan]

This is a really fantastic video! Unfortunately, I think i’m going to basically entirely remake this dungeon on my own. Unlike the other dungeons, it doesn’t really have any ‘big moments’ for me? Like in Cragmaw, I would say the room with Yeemik and Sildar is the part that would stick out most in players memories. In the Redbrand hideout, I would say the Nothic serves that goal. Admittedly, in Cragmaw I like to rewrite the Owlbear encounter to make that the most interesting part and lean into funny scenes with the Goblins. But in the cave, there’s just not much that stands out to me? The Forge is underwhelming, without quite a lot of work the Black Spider is underwhelming, and it’s just very eh.

[@heyitsMattyP]

"i’m going to basically entirely remake this dungeon on my own" -- do it! Yeah absolutely. Any idea you have for your game is the correct idea.

[@nav4105]

thx you

[@heyitsMattyP]

no u

[@benvoliothefirst]

One word: STAG-luh-mytes! It's okay, I pronounced "brazier" as "brassiere" for WAY too long before some kind soul corrected me!

[@heyitsMattyP]

It's one of my words for sure!

[@danchevrie3719]

Let’s go!

[@blakejones6206]

Whoa last day to enter.... How do I do it...jk I realize that was a year ago and the clock trope got me... At least their was no dead dwarf

[@DrAndrewJBlack]

👍🏻

[@fatsquid90]

Tie in the Banshee as being sad because of something tragic happening to her old love. Like perhaps she is the reason he died.

[@ultrainstinctgoku9515]

I'm soloing the campaign and some how I'm not dead

[@heyitsMattyP]

:O

[@danpapworth6430]

Are you saying "staglemites"?

[@heyitsMattyP]

Surely not :)

[@jrobe009]

I'm just here wondering about that warcrime in room 11 :D

[@andyking1356]

Yacu approves of your subliminal messaging

[@heyitsMattyP]

The Upper Courts Are Yours brother

[@Abikuss]

Am I too late to enter in the competition?

[@heyitsMattyP]

You are so late that I no longer remember which competition this is :) But there's more coming!

[@Abikuss]

@@heyitsMattyP Mattyyy!!! Hahaha. Love your stuff keep it up brother!

[@doctordoom2324]

Woah, did you call Wave Echo Cave a megadungeon at 2:30?? A megadungeon should have 20+ rooms *per layer* and take months or years to get through. This is a little tiny baby dungeon 😉

[@heyitsMattyP]

eh, close enough

[@doctordoom2324]

@@heyitsMattyP Yeah, man. Wave Echo Cave and Undermountain are roughly the same size.

[@jefersonlopes9463]

Pact of Dragons

[@welersoncarvalho2471]

Room 7 is short rest safe

[@heyitsMattyP]

Good point! I like the idea of designating safe rooms.

[@granttrain3553]

I never run modules so this was really interesting to see how WOTC would design a dungeon. I have to say It is pretty primative and horrible. Matt's changes dose a lot of good to cut the bloat off of it but its still combat after combat with the od skill roll thrown in. When I make a dungeon I like to have Exploration, Combat, Puzzle, Trap, and social encouters in equal mix. That means most of the rooms are empty of monsters which removes the need for empty rooms and it also makes sense why every fight is not a "Pile-on" with monsters flooding in from the next room as they hear their buddies getting murderd.

[@heyitsMattyP]

That pile-on problem is a tricky one - I've played with DMs who love to bleed encounters together, but it's not my jam at all. A lot of the things that make sense for realism like pile-ons tend to make the game less fun for me. And I much prefer a mix of encounter types too :) I build my sessions like I'm crossing off a shopping list, "OK so I've got a fight, now I need a puzzle, a trap and some roleplaying."

[@magyarharcos207]

staLAGmites

[@heyitsMattyP]

nah

[@chalk6666]

@@heyitsMattyP learn to read

[@heyitsMattyP]

@@chalk6666 nah