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?

[@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!!!!!!!!!! 💩💩💩💩💩💩

[@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

[@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

[@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?

[@secretname3897]

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

[@janfransdevries8032]

Nice

[@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.

[@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.

[@rightwingersexposed8800]

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!

[@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" 🤣😂

[@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.

[@dreadmorg]

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

[@xezazase]

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

[@moredetonation3755]

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

[@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!

[@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

[@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.

[@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!

[@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

[@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

[@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

[@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

[@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!!!

[@nekrial]

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

[@cspeak792]

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

[@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!

[@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."

[@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.

[@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*

[@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 😁

[@parsifalsunflower6529]

These Are Timeless well done

[@ArcticAlpaca275]

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

[@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

[@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.

[@darcygibbons2891]

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

[@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.

[@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!

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@randorifilms]

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

[@jarrettmessing8543]

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

[@AaronAlso]

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

[@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

[@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.

[@kingsting12]

My mate adapted this adventure to 5e after this video came out, and ran it as his first adventure for us half a year back. So far, its been my favorite campaign up to date. Cheers for this video

[@skippthomsen9852]

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

[@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...

[@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!

[@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).

[@thereluctanthireling]

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

[@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

[@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!!

[@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

[@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?

[@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!

[@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.

[@TenguBE]

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

[@Greenhawk96]

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

[@adamhensley9827]

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

[@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!

[@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.

[@deadrekoning5247]

Oldie but a goodie. About to run my first game, your note ideas were super helpful even today. Thank you!

[@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.

[@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.

[@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!

[@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.

[@OaseDaniel]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@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!

[@jiml9856]

This was the first adventure I ever bought as a kid. I recently bought a conversion. I made the naga a hag instead. It fit better.

[@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.

[@asherwinnie279]

I think a video on Tactical Combat would be really cool, partly because it's the sort of subject that can be useful at all levels. A novice DM who is trying to find their boots can watch it and find it informative on how the combat of the game works, while a more experienced DM like myself would still LOVE advice and ideas for how to make combat more Tactical and interactive. Keep up the great work my man!

[@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!!

[@jeffreybarker357]

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

[@ImNotAThief]

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

[@rawrmfrawr7746]

Love your work Matthew. Thanks for everything you do.

[@ZennZennster]

Hey Matt, just wanted to say thank you for all your help. I recently started my first campaign as the DM and so far it's going well, mostly thanks to all your great advice! Ps. I just got your books in the mail!:)

[@skillz6318]

Matt thank you for every video you are helping me set up/run a new campaign. Your videos are the best.

[@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.

[@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.

[@NightNewt82]

Loving what you do Matt. Commenting to say that you were the greater part of the reason of me going behind the DM screen. It is these kind of videos that do really help new DM's like me. Please keep it up :)

[@kkuja78]

Matthew. I found your channel few weeks ago, and I loved all Running the Game videos. I don't GM D&D currently, but I can apply most of your tips are fairly directly to other games (mostly FFG SW) I GM. So thank you. Few days before this video was published, I almost commented previous video and asked if you are going to continue this series. So your timing was awesome. My favorite is the sandbox vs railroad video. Thank you for your great series.

[@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.

[@Ruxinator]

I've actually been trying to find resources on the effects of different forms of terrain and obstacles/hazards in tactical combat, so I would definitely enjoy you doing another video on tactical combat.

[@mikecif4123]

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

[@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

[@harlonmccargar6452]

Hey Matt! I just wanna say your videos have been a tremendous help to me! I haven’t played in like 15 ish years and finally got a few groups together (I’m DM-ing 2 and playing in the third). Basically I just want to say thank you so much!

[@DM-ij7um]

I've been binge watching these videos since i found them. I have been suggesting these to everyone I know that is a DM/GM. For me it's been a few years since I've planned an ran a game. I'm currently planning 2. Love the series as a whole thanks for the great videos looking forward to more.

[@mattkilsby947]

WOW it was like this episode was speaking directly to me. Just about to run my first ever campaign as GM and I was genuinely 10mins or so into reading the booklet for this adventure (expecting fully to read the whole thing). Insanely, supremely helpful, you're a legend Matt

[@lucasfelipe3102]

Dude. I just watch 3 videos of yours and i've fixed tree things in this campaing im DMing. First time as a DM and enjoying so much. Bless to you froom Brazil

[@TaberIV]

Watching this video again after having read Priest and Thief, your point about authors giving too much backstory early on is clearly something you knew to avoid! Love the books and your DM advice.

[@skippyzc8608]

totally been meaning to run this for a group of players just starting on DND. such a great intro setting. this video is a great help! thanks.

[@marccallinan]

Started running this for my kids, this was very useful to me as a new DM. Gave me some good ideas.

[@compellingcookie2345]

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

[@danienglish9336]

I have never finished reading things and just made notes of details I had to change if I had to bs an answer to a question that was answered past where I read. I like writing my own, but I do use others sometimes.

[@lukasinnerebner9206]

Is that the League of Legends Boardgame in the back? Fantastic game, played it a lot!

[@UndergroundGamers44]

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