How to run the Compass Rose, the harpy encounter and Alietha in the D&D Starter Set

[@Cinderblocksally]

these dnd encounter walkthroughs are fantastic

[@heyitsMattyP]

danke

[@georgegonzalezm.8393]

That ending was EPIC!!!

[@heyitsMattyP]

tytytyty, it was Dael's idea

[@Zeptim]

Another possible hook for the ship: In addition to the "Red Heart Mushroom", Tarak also needs a feather from the Harpy, in order to create the ointment for the player who got "a wound from a maid unfair" :)

[@heyitsMattyP]

Ooooh that's good!

[@FabbyTravy]

My party almost got a TPK here. The wizard foolishly separated himself from the party cause he detected magic in the lower decks and got ambushed and killed by the ghouls. At the same exact time I rolled a 1 on the threat die on my party was ambushed by the harpies and then flanked by the undead. It was a bad time for them, i loved it though :)

[@heyitsMattyP]

There are some classes that can split from the party, but level 2 wizard ain't one of them

[@ericpadilla334]

THANK YOU!! What a way to show new DMs how to up their game!

[@JurgenBlitz]

I'm running this campaign with a few friends 6 family members and many elements pf the official booklet felt off. Your tips to improve the campaign are awesome- the Ghoul being Aleitha feels logical, and maybe that was the author's idea but it wasn't communicated correctly.

[@memop94]

Just binge watched the DOSI playlist and became a patron for the resources, thank you! Looking forward for the observatory walkthrough

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thank you! I'm editing that video tonight :)

[@mikemckinney7031]

Great video, advise and enjoyed the guest appearance with Deal Kingsmill & the elusive E.

[@heyitsMattyP]

I'm just glad she found it!

[@Tony-xq7ls]

Matthew, thanks for these walkthroughs! I'm a 1st time DM, running Stormwreck Isle with a group of brand new D&D players. I love your ideas for adjusting the encounters and your vids give me confidence running my first campaign. I struggle with reading through the campaigns and remembering all the goodies, so it's super helpful to have a concise audio/visual aid in my preparations! We'll be venturing to the Compass Rose, Tonight! Cheers!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Glad to help, Tony! I'm sure you're smashing it :)

[@yuto6690]

Thx I'm running this campaign and wasn't quiet sure how to run it and all your helps were so great for the first session I'm looking forward for the next dnd night with my friends ^^`

[@heyitsMattyP]

Hope it goes well and they stomp that harpy :)

[@GMWorkshop]

Great video!

[@heyitsMattyP]

danke

[@echelon5266]

I have been super excited about running this dungeon with my group of four and we went through it last night. I am a new DM and this is the first Campaign I am running. I set up the threat dice, I made the ghoul linked to the storyline, I even added a second harpy. But I felt it just didn’t flow as intended. My group rolled the 1 on the threat dice while they were below deck, so I had two harpy’s arrive on the main deck. But then I felt like it didn’t make sense to bring the harpies below deck given they’re flying creatures. So there was this awkward “oooh it’s a 1!!” moment, followed by no increased stakes. Also, I was especially excited for the luring song+grapple+fall damage combo, but the luring song just barely succeeded against two players who by the time their turn had ended had succeeded another saving through. And the harpies’ grapples never succeeded. So it never happened. I’m confident that the lacklustre moments I felt were there were due to my beginner DM skills. How could I have run it differently?

[@heyitsMattyP]

Oh mate! I'm sorry it didn't work out. I don't think you did anything wrong. In that situation, I would be relying on the charm effect getting someone above deck. But failing that, I might say the two harpies somehow manage to dislodge the ship and it starts to sink for realsies, which might force the characters above deck. I reckon the overall problem is with the harpy statblock though - it's not a versatile kit. I'd like to see some kind of ranged weapon, or a spellcaster varient.

[@echelon5266]

@@heyitsMattyP thanks very much for your thoughts! Love your content.

[@heyitsMattyP]

@@echelon5266 Thank you!

[@Weird_Quests]

Loved working on this one with you :D And the tips are ACE!

[@heyitsMattyP]

danke!

[@JS-sy7ym]

I like this series, but binging it in one go I noticed that during the opening shipwreck fight there is a chance for the mast to break and fall. So if you use that, the mast may not be here later. (Based on the ship plan it looks like a cog which has a single mast.)

[@heyitsMattyP]

Good point! I reckon that would be rewarding for the players to remember that detail and highlight it somehow in the shipwreck dungeon.

[@darkhoophoff-dog1468]

I'm so glad I decided to look up Stormwreck Isle your videos are fantastic!

[@heyitsMattyP]

I'm glad too! Thanks :)

[@sticknotfire]

We are Subscrib!

[@heyitsMattyP]

danke

[@potatomanbo]

Appreciate ya pickin this back up. I'm currently running it now, deep in chapter 3, now heading up the Oracle. This is immensely helpful👏. One of my players has deep connections to the Kraken Society so I'm curious to see what you got to say about them. Any chance you can do a video discussing Bigsy Glory of the Giants and how one might try to incorporate some of it

[@heyitsMattyP]

Bigsy's is a maybe! I intend to reference it a few times in the other videos, but I'm not sure about a dedicated video

[@joruairc]

This series is great - would love to see this for a module like Dragonlance! Subbed!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Cheers! I'll take a look :)

[@cdr1179]

I'm running this adventure as a precursor to Out of the Abyss and since Alietha is a worshiper of Orcus it is totally within the realm of plausibility that he turned her into a ghoul.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Oh cool, I like that connection. In my imagination though, Alietha isn't a worshiper of Orcus: her prayer was intercepted by Orcus

[@jermperture9094]

Such a cool video and high quality. Subbed and sharing it!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thanks!

[@ZipperonDisney]

collab of the year 👍

[@heyitsMattyP]

Thank you to Dael :)

[@sun_patrol8610]

Ayyyyyy! A good walk through

[@heyitsMattyP]

tytyty

[@andrewlaverghetta715]

I’ve enjoyed your stuff! I’m going to be running this stuff over the next month. I like the unique bits you give, but I’m torn because I like having the book being the thing with the answers, and sometimes if I get “derailed” or just loose where I am and who is who, I like being able to go to the book for a grounding, but if it’s TOO different, then I worry it can throw me off. I’ll probably join Patreon again to check out the stuff! Thanks!

[@heyitsMattyP]

Cheers mate! The book's handy, but I find I don't usually have any time to look at the book during a session. Instead, I usually have a page of notes or diagrams that keep me grounded.

[@loreermejo]

I wonder if a Banshee wouldn't be more fitting for Alietha's role (maybe homebrewing a bit the stats to scale the encounter CR)

[@heyitsMattyP]

Maybe! But the scream of a banshee is so deadly. It's the ability that drops people to zero HP, right?

[@loreermejo]

@@heyitsMattyP it is! But I had the banshee scream when the characters were still approaching the wreck from afar, and secretly granted a free success. The idea was that they would feel a chilling scream, and later when they found the harpy's nest they would believe it was the harpies. I also played this adventure at a higher level later, and switched the ghoul with an undead ankyloasaur chained in the holds (mentioned as cargo when it was still alive, in the captain's logbook). I kept it hidden for a while and had lots of fun when it surprised the party.

[@heyitsMattyP]

@loreermejo Nice! How was the balance when it was scaled up? From the official balance, it felt like combat skewed towards being very easy, and Armour Class was the most useful stats for players.

[@loreermejo]

@@heyitsMattyP so, what I did in the scaled up game was a game for 2 level 7 players. For this I had to switch some monsters, but this allowed for more environmental storytelling (I had an adult Sparkrender arrive at a climatic moment to retrieve a golden scale from the dragon tomb, which I hid in the ground under the wreckage. The dragon ignored the party, and simply crashed through the vessel with my players still trapped inside, turning the event in an escape sequence). I must say the combat parts in this session are quite easy: there is not much happening to deplete party resources, and no danger that couldn't be avoided with high AC. What I'm thinking could make things spicier in the next play through could be including a more variegated monster pool. The undead ankyloasaur is a must for the woah factor, but I'm also pondering meenlocks because they allow for a lot of roleplay if their purpose is to slowly spook characters as they explore the rooms and hallucinate, and they could be fitting since they're spawned from fear and I'm guessing the poor captain and every harpy victim ever since must have been quite afraid to be in this place.

[@mikecerutti4721]

Yay Dael!!! Love the video, the threat die is a great tool. I’ve used one in other scenarios before and I’m looking forward to running this module when you’re done going through it.

[@heyitsMattyP]

I want to use Threat Dice and Countdown Dice as often as possible

[@Lodane]

Love your work. Prefer your solo efforts, but it's all in the game, right? Same as this engagement.

[@heyitsMattyP]

E N G A G E D

[@migglesDX]

For the sake of having a more frequent threat die roll, would you reckon that having the entire shipwreck map be treated as a continuous combat encounter would work (even if there are no active opponents at a time)?

[@heyitsMattyP]

I reckon running this in prolonged combat initiative would slow down the session too much. I'd prefer to do it more freeform.

[@LandofJaker]

So my party does not have the resources to fight underwater, any suggestions on how to give them some support creatively?

[@heyitsMattyP]

They'll be fine! Most of this dungeon isn't underwater anyhoo.

[@TheCivildecay]

I'm playing this campaign with my kids. and my daughter (who plays a wizard) came up with the idea to use minor conjuration to summon earplugs.... how do I deal with this? because using earplugs kinda trivializes the whole encounter :D

[@heyitsMattyP]

Ding ding ding! That's the solution to the encounter. Sometimes your players just win :)

[@user-hg4lq9mc8c]

Why would they need to wait until the end to ready the ballista for the harpy? IF I was a player, and was told the bit about the threat die and ballista, I'd just say we get on the ballista and wait for it to arrive. Deal with the rest of the ship after its dead.

[@heyitsMattyP]

Cause them's the rules of the challenge! If they want to spend an extended amount of time doing the ballista, I'd treat it as rolling a 1 on the threat dice

[@batpantsjr.6579]

Do you know of anyone who makes maps for this dungeon the way you’re describing?

[@heyitsMattyP]

I don't understand the question, sorry! What do you mean? Though to be fair: I don't know anyone who makes maps of any kind!

[@batpantsjr.6579]

@@heyitsMattyP I’m sorry! Any maps of the ship combining the rooms so there aren’t empty ones. :)

[@heyitsMattyP]

Oh, right! No I don't. But at the table, I'd just point out to the players that those two rooms are combined if I were using the official maps. Though when I ran it, I tend to just draw maps myself on a whiteboard.

[@batpantsjr.6579]

@@heyitsMattyP I love it! I’m running this tomorrow and I will do the whiteboard thing. lol

[@heyitsMattyP]

Good luck! I'm sure you'll smash it :)

[@Dragonfrooot]

DAEL DAEL DAEL DAEL

[@heyitsMattyP]

She spent a whole afternoon making that cameo for me and didn't ask for anything in return. ABSOLUTE legend :)