Prepping An Adventure | Running the Game

[@wbbartlett]

I blame the parents. If you call your kid Explicata Defilus can you really be surprised when she grows up to be an evil cult leader?

[@Psyke0330]

"I don't memorize them, they're mostly peasants" Me, when referring to coworkers

[@rivermistfae]

I just let out an ungodly cackle 😆

[@deathless12345678]

True

[@anthonywritesfantasy]

*my coworkers, when referring to me

[@EnbyNomad]

Can we give it a hand for the man who got so many people into DMing? Thanks to these vids, I can finally be a player again!

[@jesterericv2]

lucky.... God I can't wait to be a player again in a good story. :P

[@pippogriffthegreat7003]

I have the feeling that I am getting myself into trouble. I'm currently playing an extremely long campaign, but I'm also about to start DMing another party in the same exact campaign. Once a DM, always a DM, I guess. The funny part is my current DM is about to play my campaign, but this is his third time going through it in general. Meta paradox.

[@ozymandias7392]

HUZZAH

[@newsystembad]

Honestly, yeah. I was DMing before I found Matt, but I didn't feel all that prepared for it. I wouldn't be the DM I am now without him!

[@youtubefuckingsucks]

AH WAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!! 💩💩💩💩💩💩

[@foymic3930]

1 minute in:"I hope this will be a short video" Matt don't kid yourself

[@BloodWolfXZ]

By saying it enough, the subliminal message will rewrite our minds to believe that it is, in fact, short. On a side note, it's not 2 hours long, is it?

[@tribulancer7208]

Do check "0:00"

[@toughnerd]

It is like a curse. Everytime he says that at the beginning of a video, the video is always longer than he intended.

[@Welverin]

Short is a relative term, for him half an hour probably qualifies.

[@tribulancer7208]

Like the longer the better I'll say

[@secretname3897]

PC: "The road runs through Orlane..." Nosey NPC: "UH YEAH, I SURE HOPE IT DOES"

[@janfransdevries8032]

Nice

[@quantumnaught]

I just DMed my mom through her first dungeon and thanks to videos like this I didn't mess up as often as I thought I would and my moms character came out alive, suffering only a fear of butterflies. She had fun and wants to play more. So thanks for doing these videos for less seasoned DM's.

[@kingsting12]

This is the most precious comment I've read in a long time.

[@yipyipyipi]

Butterflies.... Why did it have to be butterflies? Why couldn't it have been "follow the trail of hideous spiders"?

[@leonielson7138]

I'm guessing that it was something like the 'Storm King's Thunder' tie-in modules? The one where the party has to go into a forest to hunt wild game for a village feast?

[@quantumnaught]

@@leonielson7138 it was the mad manor of astabar.

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

Mazes and Momsters?

[@dreadmorg]

"Go find out what happened to..." This is the best piece of adventure design I have ever heard.

[@Bluecho4]

Concerning the evil cleric ("Misha"), I liked the idea that she was not charmed by Explicitica Defilus, but rather serving of her own will. So, as I started thinking about how I would run the adventure, I began to wonder: _Why_ would Misha serve the Reptile God? Why would someone _willingly_ serve in this cult and worship its Spirit Naga as a god? My explanation is thus: Misha was originally a priestess to the harvest deity. Not a Cleric, but a priestess. She never manifested the ability to work miracles, not in the ten long years she's been serving in the priesthood. The harvest goddess Misha served apparently never saw fit to give her power. This disappointed Misha continuously, developing into a private chip on her shoulder. Moreover, she got transferred to Orlane some years ago - a sleepy nowhere village far from major cities - where her opportunities for advancement were limited. It was as if the church structure she labored in was as ambivalent to her as her goddess. It's worth noting that Orlane in the original adventure is situated on fertile farming land, with bountiful yields. While it makes the village successful, it also attracts monsters and chaotic humanoids from the surrounding wilderness (goblins, orcs, grung, etc), to perform regular raids on Orlane. Many people get wounded or get endangered. And there's Misha, meant to represent a force of mercy in the town as a member of the church, but lacking (in her mind) the power necessary to protect and heal these people. Misha begins to grow to _resent_ the harvest deity, the church, the older priest that sits over her in the church. When the land has a bad harvest one year, Misha has no magic with which to rectify the poor yields. At her wits end, she gets desperate and tries asking anyone for help. The old druid at the edge of town has used his own magic to search for a cause, and when she asks for help he says the cause of the blight might trace out of town, towards a swamp a few days travel away. Having no other options and eager to prove herself of worth, she heads out alone to the swamp...where she stumbles upon the underground hiding place of Explicitica Defilus. As the Reptile God tries (unsuccessfully) to charm her into complete obedience, Misha cries out for her goddess to deliver her. It doesn't occur to Misha that the goddess might have answered her prayers, by helping her resist the Naga's influence. All Misha knew was that her deity appeared to have forsaken her. And when Misha cried out in despair, saying as much, Explicitica Defilus chuckled, bemused. "Your goddess doesn't seem to listen, does she? Not surprising. Those distant deities rarely listen; they are aloof, ambivalent to their suffering flock save when it pleases them, and willing to let their followers run unchecked. It's for this reason that your world is filled with such chaos, such...disorder. No, I think what you need, little mortal, is a new god. A strong god, an _immanent_ god...a god who has slithered on this earth since before your god was even named. I am Explicitica Defilus, and I can be your god. And unlike that other one, you _know_ I will be here to guide you. To empower you. To give you meaning. I will _never_ abandon you, for I am already here." So in the end, Misha was charmed after all. Just in a different fashion. Now Misha had real power, and a new purpose. A dark purpose, yes, but a great purpose. One that would see Misha elevated leadership of a religious sect of her own, second only to the Reptile God herself.

[@williamozier918]

When I read your Explicita Defilus dialogue I could hear it in the hissing voice of the character Nagaina from Ricky Tickey Tavey. (P..s if you haven't seen Ricky Ticky Tavey do so now!)

[@Diogolindir]

This is great, Im going to get some inspiration from your version

[@erikzorrilla4106]

Incredible speech, powerful and making perfect sense. This is exactly what my villain needed, thank you for sharing.

[@nogy8884]

no TL;DR?

[@tristan3978]

@@nogy8884 tl;dr priest doesnt get magic from god so gets sad and then goes to Big Lizard for power

[@mcolville]

Actually Dalglish and the Thieves Guild in the Black Frog just drug the heroes. When they wake up, they've been taken to Explicitia Defilus where she tries to mind control them. The drug doesn't do it. It just knocks the heroes out.

[@paragonexperience]

Have you made any consideration on making the audiobooks, I know that more than a few people loved the sample and would love to purchase them if you have your link for direct purchase so that 100% of the profits go to you, mention it in a video I would personally follow that.

[@gamebreakersmedia7049]

Matthew Colville For what it's worth, we'll be running a collaboration stream of the Mines of Phandelver soon. If no one's offered to run the game for you, you've got an open invitation to our virtual table.

[@joetreacy4799]

Is #36 of Running the game missing or is this mis-named?

[@davos6129]

He added his video on Funhouse Dungeons to the list. It's a bit older but it is now #36

[@adimiss]

OMG please do the undead video! my Campaign is very focused on necromancy and i would love to look over undead with you!

[@gatorhoy0420]

7:40 What you’re talking about around this moment rips me up. Somewhere along my 90s education, there was imposed on me this need to GET and grind through every word of every thing. If you’re going to read a book.. READ THAT BOOK. To skip a chapter is fundamentally abhorrent to me.. but for no reason! This is a different kind freedom with which to engage that I’ve never really known. I’ve always just assumed the tone of my ‘education’. Anyway. Thank you, Matt. Your channel is such a delight.

[@imperialadvisoraremheshvau3788]

Ok, despite knowing about 95% of Matt’s tricks and tools, it’s another thing to hear another DM run them down for you, I’m addicted to this series.

[@yutubemerda]

Love the way Matt says "expliciticadephilus" faster than if it was a Mary Poppins song.

[@davewilson13]

Watch him say it on 1.5 speed :)

[@mackraynor9106]

Just watched it again and the auto-generated captions said "X Pacifica file us" 😂😂

[@henrystokeswrites]

@@mackraynor9106 The captions cracked me up every time ... they were different in each telling. My favourite was "explicitly good violence" 🤣😂

[@xezazase]

Matt Colville I love your videos. There are links to the doobly doo in my heart

[@timer67]

Dorian (the elf fighter mage) from this module was my first ever dnd character. The DM was my teacher from school and they were doing an afterschool club running this game. I had joined late and (as the players were new) the dm had included the Elf as an NPC to give them a helping hand (being 14 at the time or so). When i joined he felt that the players were getting along well enough, so let me take control of the character (without his equipment of course). Start of a long and crazy adventure, Played with an outrageous french accent that elf made it all the way to the gates of mount celestia itself (watching mystra get smashed into pieces by helm at its gates). Full blown 2ed Time of Troubles campaign. Fond memories, glad you did this module and this video. Keep up the work :D

[@moredetonation3755]

This is a very "Shadow Over Innsmouth" adventure, and I love it. I especially love that it's cheap for me to print.

[@DungeonDad]

Really great to get some insight on your prep style! I am totally one of those people who will read everything, knowing that the players will only see maybe 15% of what I learn. I think I just enjoy reading.

[@pickledboaby]

Dungeon Dad heya funny seeing you here

[@ninjapirate31]

I just finished Priest and started Thief and I absolutely love the tone in those novels

[@nekrial]

I was absolutely gobstopped at the end of Thief. I need to tape the reaction of everyone as they finish that book.

[@ninjapirate31]

I finished Thief and it's amazing

[@chrischapman163]

This series has greatly increased my DMing skills!

[@Zmapes89]

This series has greatly increased my hypothetical DMing skills. One day i'll use them.

[@1simo93521]

Zach Maples look for players on facebook and get GM'ing dude loads of players and not enough GMs out there.

[@auldcrow1461]

Zack Maples, I agree with Simo! Just get started, sure it'll feel clunky & weird at first but that last such a short period of time (mostly in the 1st hr or so of gaming). Could also try something like Roll20 with a one shot. After watching Matt & a few others (not sure if I should mention on Matts channel) my skills shot up, over 9000 some would say!

[@JKSSubstandard]

Zach Maples I dont know if anyone here has seen Heroes and Halfwits by roosterteeth, but they have caused a thriving community of newer DnD players and DMs. I actually found Matts videos looking up DnD stuff for the first time. Theres a discord called Fans and Fables which is a massive collection of DMs and players trying to put together games over Roll 20, Maptools or some other software. Im sure there are any number of similar groups you can find. Another place to try would be Meetup.com

[@KTSalyer83]

Chris Chapman me too. This series has revolutionized the way I GM.

[@GrimBrotherIV]

I love your bit about the thieves guilds, because you are essentially speaking thieves' cant, which I feel like a lot of players thing is a language of some sort.

[@jermainerace4156]

In all fairness, taking a language and using the words to mean something wildly different is much like creating some sort of a separate language, or at least a very distinct dialect.

[@jackodonail1980]

The distinction between language, dialect and "accent" is certaintly a gossamer thin boundary. However, Thieve's cant is a cryptolect and therefore divorced from such discussion.

[@TheGameWookiee]

I’m staying with my girlfriends family for a little while and I found the ORIGINAL book for this adventure in her dads office, we’re playing it tonight, and I’m absolutely taking advice from here!

[@daancoenen5510]

It's been about the 10th time I've seen this video, but it still is the best synopsis of how to prep any session. Truly, this series is the entire basis of how I run my games

[@GUNDAMURX73]

Coming back to this video five years later to better prep my own Reptile God adventure, as the start of a new campaign. You are indeed a river to your people!

[@sacchrine]

Was trying to find a video to fall asleep to, but then this came up. Guess I'm sleeping late again, haha.

[@HundredYearsBoar]

My thoughts exactly Laurence Jamil! Thought provoking to say the least. Also I'm HIGHLY anticipating the undead video!!!

[@Tysto]

Just a historical note: saying that a medieval village had a mayor is like saying a slave plantation in the American South had a mayor. The guy in charge is the owner of the land, and that is the lord of the manor. His bailiff is the closest thing to a mayor. Even a town would just have a council and a town bailiff.

[@guardiangamer2551]

I don't use twitter but I still try to share your videos with my friends. These videos have helped me immensely and others deserve to see these great works!

[@AaronAlso]

"Even a stopped clock gives the right time twice a day."

[@isg2015]

Great timing! Video was uploaded while I was working on my own game. These videos have been great for me as a first time DM

[@ArbiterLibera]

All this talk about settlements and their maps gave me flashbacks to Rifts where they would break down locales to ridiculous level of details in terms of economy, demographics and notable individuals. Information you would basically never ever use.

[@MrZeyami]

I'm pretty sad I only found your channel like 4 days ago, these videos are super helpful and it sounds really cool to get to play in a campaign with you. I've been binge watching youtube DM tips channels for something like 2 weeks just because I really wanted to up my game as a DM, and while most of the channels are entertaining, this is the one that I'm subscribing to.

[@nekrial]

I just geeked out like a child as soon as I got the notification on my phone.

[@TotalNegan]

You have given me knowledge on everything DnD, and I thank you for it. I applause you and your work. Thank you so much 😁

[@jarrettmessing8543]

I appreciate how conscious you are of your own process. Glad you included your notes.

[@cspeak792]

I am preparing to run White Plume Mountain right now based on one your previous videos this video was highly appreciated.

[@chriskallio1980]

Hey Matt! You mentioned a while ago that you'd maybe do a video about "opening with a bang." I would be really interested in a video like this, as hooking a new group of players can often be challenging. Keep up the amazing videos!

[@rokkkrinn2793]

Chris Kallio You should check out the High Rollers video from stream of annihilation. That opens with a bang for sure.

[@danielfields985]

Re: opening with a bang A lot of Star Wars scenarios open with this method by starting the session/adventure off in a combat encounter. Blood pumping right out of the bat. I remember, years ago, a 2e campaign I played in opened thusly, but first a little history on the Monster Summoning spells: when cast, you would roll on a chat based on for what showed up. One of the lines on that chart was an adventuring party. So, a high level wizard and his fighter companion were at the end of their rope. Out of hit points, out of healing and surrounded by goblins. As a last gasp the wizard casts Monster Summoning... And pulled from the various corners of our city, unknown to each other get, we the PC's arrive out of the ether. We fight off the goblins, all the three while the wizard is mumbling how it isn't supposed to work this way, who are we, how did we get there and so on. Fight ends, wizard starts talking to us and it is revealed we are all from the same city. Spell duration ends and we all return (a little worse for the wear) to where we were before. Playing a ghetto fighter, fr/the multi class, I start looking for the others I was fighting beside. Find 1 or 2, when it happens again. We all show up, in a protective circle, around the same wizard and his unconscious fighter friend. The campaign went on from there, and it was fun, but we were somehow linked to this wizard and our party, in addition to our own adventures once we all connected and hunted each other down for real, we always showed up when he cast Monster Summoning, which he stopped casting after a few times for not wanting to take our free will away by forcing us into these situations.

[@whatfruit7965]

"You wake up the earth is trembling. The items you neatly placed on your table have scattered on the floor. Outside you hear screaming. You look out the tavern window and see a 100 foot bipedal Elephant with 30 feet squid tentacles for arms pull down the South gate."

[@darcygibbons2891]

Reading the manual was never a problem for me. I always enjoyed all the little details and the long backstory!

[@ryanhentges4956]

I have watched this video so many times, at least once every time I write a premise to an adventure, one shot fun house or multi layer full scale campaign.. Thank you for everything Matthew

[@qdogg224]

I'll comment however I want. Contest notwithstanding. You don't control me, Colville.

[@PenguinJack]

qdogg224 only if you succeed your wisdom saving throw

[@qdogg224]

Night Fire I rolled an 11 total

[@ChroOmega]

I've got proficiency but disappointingly still rolled a nat 1

[@mutebanshee7769]

I love these videos. I tend to make my own adventures. But one of my favorite ways to run a premade adventure is to sit down and read it cover to cover. I don't take notes or anything, just absorb the themes and the story. And then I put the adventure down and never look at it again. I find that this method really balances my desire to make things up with the fun of running iconic villains and locations. I have to improvise more, find ways to get to big story points that I remember, while making up a lot of the smaller story points that lead from part a to part b. Definitely a very different method, and probably not for everyone, but I thought I'd leave it here anyway.

[@DanteRavenkin]

I just went looking for this adventure on dmsguild, and discovered that this adventure was written by Douglas Niles. He wrote my favorite fantasy novels, the Forgotten Realms Moonshae Trilogy! Gonna have to find a physical copy of this adventure now...

[@40Found]

For anyone who runs this and is worried about Ramne's presence, here was my solution: I put him in the dungeon. He was a release valve in case the heroes bit off more than they could chew. He had resisted Explicitica Defilus' domination and been imprisoned. He was grumpy and suspicious of adventurers, but they broke him out and he helped in the fight against Explicitica Defilus. He only cast buff and debuff spells, making the players feel more heroic and powerful with his help.

[@KrisNielson-nimhrodell]

Your hair is very luxurious right now.

[@Anon-s8n]

I'm currently binge watching Matt's video's and it's a little surreal to see his hair go from short to long and back to short again, in the space of half a dozen video's or so. :D

[@ArcticAlpaca275]

Dungeon mag is actually still on the iphone newstand I believe. I get it every now and then in a notification.

[@Curtofthehorde94]

I can't begin to tell you what a big relief it is as a newish DM (About 6 months in) to hear that an experienced DM does the same things I do to run the adventure! I just skim, pick out the important details and characters, and improv the rest. So far my PC's love everything we have done, but I always felt as though I was a lazy and bad DM for my practices. Thanks for taking the mountain off my shoulders!

[@thereluctanthireling]

Yes! Cult of the Reptile God, one of my favorites. The scaled down map is super helpful as well, much thanks.

[@recless8667]

Big thumbs up for the "Use bullet points, don't write out every word." This is actually a major aspect of public speaking, because reading from a page negatively affects the audience's interest and attention during the speech. You can definitely think of playing D&D as a form of public speaking; it might not be a TED talk, but it's still you describing a complex concept to an audience (with a heavy focus on audience participation).

[@adamhensley9827]

This is one of the most helpful videos you've created thus far. Well done Matt!

[@lauramcmillan9592]

So helpful! And this video took my suspicion that a livestream I’ve been watching is largely a reskinned “...Reptile God” from 10% to 95%, so it’s extra fun now to see what the other DM did with it and how that differs from your alterations.

[@Darkfrost-fd8gy]

I'm a newer DM(a few sessions Into my own setting) and I've already had experience with over prepping, and it is a very enjoyable experience when otherwise you were going to have to call that session off!

[@Greenhawk96]

Thank you for this, learning how you take an adventure and use it makes it seem much more manageable

[@teeonhighhill8827]

As Matt stated in the video don't over prep. That was the best advice I got when I started to DM. Learn to adjust to what your players are doing and go with the flow. Your players dont know the difference between what is prepped and and what you are making up on the fly. Great video as always Matt.

[@AntonioJunior_]

Matt did u know that a lot of brazilians watch and recommend ur videos? actually you're one of the most known RPG channel

[@ImNotAThief]

This series is such a great tool. Thank you thank you thank you for all of these videos!

[@OaseDaniel]

This is one of my favorite "running the game" videos. Thank you Matt!

[@timbo5360]

So into the second session of this. At the end of the session on of my players said “what the F:;k is going on?!” They’re loving it Thanks Matt!

[@MusicsInMySoul977]

I'm so excited!!!!! I'm new to DMing, and I want to do this one with my players, perfect timing Colville. Also - would you ever think of putting your reworking of Night Below somewhere? I love it so much, and would love to put it on with my players, but I can only find the first section of a Night Below PDF, and your take on it is amazing.

[@RyanDenley]

I know I'm 3 months late to this comment but I'm also trying to find his reworking of Night Below. Did you ever have any luck finding Colville's take on it anywhere?

[@mikecif4123]

Commenting because I want to say something about the prepping an adventure video. Cool video, thanks!

[@jonispatented]

14:54 Those elves aren't supposed to be there to help the players, but rather as red herrings. While they investigate, they are suspicious and the players are supposed to assume that they are involved somehow.

[@tobycurrie4499]

This is the episode I was waiting for! I've been trying to decide what to run for my first time DMing, and I think I found it. Thank you, Matt!

[@randorifilms]

i really can't belive how many times i come back to these series since i started Dming.

[@zealous944]

ive done years of homebrew for my games and only recently have been dipping my toes in precon adventures. now i take maps and adventures and retrofit them into my setting with my own changes and embellishments and man has i saved me a lot of time.

[@parsifalsunflower6529]

These Are Timeless well done

[@rawrmfrawr7746]

Love your work Matthew. Thanks for everything you do.

[@theungentleman]

I for one would love to see a continuation of "Getting on the grid" for the completely selfish reason that I've started running a 4th ed campaign, and if I could make the combat more interesting and/or fun for my players that would be awesome.

[@skippthomsen9852]

THANK YOU FOR THIS. So helpful and very approachable intro to DMing.

[@zsdCKanVOIJANSO]

I've never seen a channel more deserving of 100k subs early Congrats Matt!

[@zoglin]

Matt, I tend to over prepare. Your video confirms that less is more. Being ready to DM and staying open to what happens during the game session makes over preparing a curse. I have played for many decades (40 years?). Recently, I am learning to do less preparing. Sly Flourish - Lazy DM, etc. ICRPG I especially liked your comment about hooking some (not all) of the players and keeping that hook close to the PC's own motivations. Understand the adventure enough to see why any specific PC would care to complete the adventure. Thank you!!

[@TenguBE]

In the process of converting and prepping "Red hand of Doom" and "Tears of Twillight Hollow". All of these vids are very useful.

[@JoshuaMeehan]

just finish all of your content so far Matt! this video in particular helps a lot to compare and contrast with my own prep cycle. 1st time DM running 1st game with 3 gamers. only one has played before and they are having a lot of fun, which means I am as well. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

[@Darkfrost-fd8gy]

Joshua Meehan Same as me, but instead of first game it's my third session ever in my own campaign.

[@1simo93521]

Thanks Matt this is really helpful. I've always run my own adventures but was intrested in trying some pre written stuff for a change. But found it a bit much to read an entire adventure plus background stuff and process it into something manageable.

[@jeffreybarker357]

I would love to see a second series on how you personally prep these pre-made adventures!

[@Freshleecut]

Matt - thank you so much for all this great content. I found your videos just as I was starting to DM again and they have been a huge help to me. And this is the one I've been waiting for since you first teased many videos ago. So one more gigantic thank you for all you've been doing for the game and the community!

[@demonxkiller1]

Matt, I just gotta say, you are, by far, the best Dungeon Master I have ever met. You're not a stickler for rules, but you don't just say whatever goes. You make such awesome videos which have inspired me to be a better DM. Thank you so much for making these great videos, and I hope one day, I might be able to play a game with you.

[@scottbrewer474]

This was really useful! Based on your previous recommendation for AtCotRG, I tried running it and ran into all sorts of problems that your approach would have helped avoid. 1. I used the random rumor table (all of which were false) and gave them no more hook than go investigate. They quickly got bored when their investigation just turned up a town of fearful villagers that didn't know what they were talking about w/r/t the rumors. 2. I spilled the beans about the bad inn too soon, so it was entirely avoided. Eventually I had Misha act bit suspicious just to get some action going, which kinda saved the session by turning the temple into a dungeon crawl. Basically, having better hooks as you described would have led to actual involvement with the mystery. Instead, they only got interested after they defeated and questioned Misha and then found all the odd stuff in the temple.

[@stephenbateman9776]

Matt, I've been DMing now for about 18 years, and still I very much enjoy all of your videos. Thanks for doing this. Keep it up!

[@1n20DnD]

We're really lucky to have folks like you in the community, Matthew. I've been PLAYING for about 32 years, but only recently started to DM regularly. Your example of notes & maps is so useful. Super video. Thanks for leveling-up my game!

[@Kingatje]

"And I hope this is going to be a short video" 😂 Oh Matt.

[@matthewshroba1511]

What an outstanding teacher.

[@grumpyturtle1711]

I logged about 1,000 hours DMing last year and I still learn so much from these videos! I run games pretty much exclusively in Roll20, where I run from the map. I hate having a bunch of windows open, so as I go through I add DM tokens which have all of the information for a specific area that I can call up by clicking on it... This is especially helpful in non linear areas like a town or Wave Echo Cave because it is frustrating to stop everything to find the description for where you are at. I also like to build session notes in their own folder. With pregen content the scope of Storm King's Thunder it is super easy for the stuff you need to get burried in the module. So I like to make new notes with the relevant stuff copied and pasted to the session folder where it is at my finger tips.

[@Valtremors]

Your videos are a godsend. I have no previous experience with DnD, which means I've had to learn absolutely everything from scratch when it comes to running a game. When I found these videos, I've been able to learn so much and it honestly has given me the courage to go through with my campaign. Long story short, my brother had no hobbies and he showed interest in DnD, so I promised to arrange something. There are no groups or people near where I live who could've helped so I got as an idea to learn the ropes myself, without knowing what I was getting myself. After reading rules, getting a starter kit ready and watching Matthews videos, I'm planning to run my first game in my town with three players somewhere in July. I just hope my introduction will get them hooked.

[@d1morto]

If you don't read the 5e adventures cover-to-cover before running them, you are setting yourself up for disaster. You'll paint yourself into a corner running the first 3-4 chapters. Once you get 60-70% of the way into the book, you will discover key details that should have impacted how you ran the first few chapters.

[@mirthfulArtist]

Explicitica Defilus is the absolute best villain name I've ever heard. 😂 (Runner up is Doctor Von Doom)

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

There's a lot of good ones in Transformers. Lord Doomitron and Deathsaurus are great ones. There's also one called Slayride, brilliantly!

[@compellingcookie2345]

I've been binge watching all your videos for about a month now! thanks for all the great content!

[@Spacemansid98]

I would like to see a video on Birthright, I'm not sure what the settings about but the way you talk about it makes it seem like a pretty cool one.

[@TheLifeOfLock]

I don't even play D&D, and these are still some of the most interesting videos on KZbin. You're doing amazing with this series Matthew :)

[@mcolville]

If you're not running D&D then I have failed! *snif*

[@AlexBrowningPX]

What I find kind of funny is ive been running my games from the map section of my notes too. I rarely need to leave the atlas tab. It helps me with my note taking program that I can link important notes and info on npcs, monsters, spells, etc on the notes in the map sections notes

[@UndergroundGamers44]

Great video one prepping an adventure! Never want to be over prepared, wastes time and improv is a good life skill to practice!

[@hermes667]

There is an important saint in the background of my homebrew campaign. I named him St. Matthew.

[@rudolfaligierski3043]

You got me. At first, when you said you only read enough for the first session I was like: "but wait, if you don't know how it ends you might mess something up..." and literally the same moment this thought popped into my head you said "but first I read from the back to learn who is the bad guy"

[@jesusismyenergydrink]

Just ran my first ever game as a DM last night. This video and your content are the main reason I was confident and equipped to run the game. It was a blast starting the campaign for Against the Cult of the Reptile Gods.

[@concreteeater12]

Matt! Your content always brightens my day, thanks for sharing your (seemingly) infinite DM'ing wisdom with us. :)

[@phinox123]

This is why I really like Storm kings thunder. It is very up front about telling you what the adventure is all about right away.

[@Windrunner007]

I was running a oneshot for a bunch of people I didn’t know. I panicked and prepped what was realistically about 3-4 sessions worth, because I was terrified we’d blow through everything in an hour and I’d have nothing to do for the rest of the session. I had a ton of npcs, I had intrigue, I had mystery... aaaaand then the one (1) combat encounter took like a half an hour. They spent 30 minutes trying to cross a river. The biggest complaint? “It was REALLY complicated!” Goddamn it.

[@Guiltaur]

Another invaluable video! Your notes look very similar to my prep notes when I run games. Like many GMs, the first game session I ran was an eye opener. That's where I learned that prepping for a game does not mean to memorize an adventure's "flow chart". In my experience, GMs who tend to railroad the players are people who believe it is necessary to follow adventure modules verbatim.

[@Narathen]

Thank you so much for your great videos on teaching and helping new DMs! Very helpful! Keep it up, i love your videos.

[@terrancat]

My method is a hybrid of these two methods. The premade adventures I'll often modify things e.g. who the enemies are, what loot they get, the hooks, etc. The adventures I make, I use maps and other stuff I find online and just fill in or modify as I need to,

[@mrtheasley]

This video should have been first in the series. I started watching this series as I started DM'ing, and the title of this video did not tell me how useful it would have been. There was so much information in front of me when I looked at my first adventure, and it was overwhelming at first. I would have really appreciated this video straight out of the gate.

[@ericwirfs5578]

Thank you so much for these videos! I'm just starting a group, and am a first time DM, your videos have been a huge part of my preparations. So thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

[@WeShallLoveOn]

This made me feel so much better about skipping to the end of the first adventure I'm planning to run. Most of the advice I've seen on KZbin says to read the adventure like 5 times before you start running it.

[@michelleparker2907]

I am so excited about this video!! A young friend was gifted a bunch of old D&D modules, and he brought them over to show us. One was "Against the Cult of the Reptile God", and he wasn't going to run it. So I'm reading through it and trying to figure out how to integrate it into my campaigns!!

[@JasonPrzybycien]

Thanks for sharing those files. Makes me feel good that I use the same basic kind of word document, of a similar length, to prep for Star Wars and Pathfinder. And I also feel the need to "fix" prewritten adventures, even though I use them regularly