Revenants D&D | Let's Build an Encounter | D&D Quest Ideas

[@jack-4129]

"Hello. My name is Finn O'Reilly. You killed my father - prepare to die."

[@svenabel2987]

Fin will say his last words: I don't feel so good, Mr. Assassin

[@HiddenNerdySide]

The mental strength it took me not to put that as his last words was almost too much to handle

[@tysondennis1016]

I would make a homebrewed revenant that every time it dies before filling out its vendetta, it grows stronger and more dangerous. Perhaps something like Doomsday, where it will gain abilities that make it impossible, or at least highly unlikely, for the same trick that killed it in the past to work again. Perhaps I'll send it after the party if they go full murderhobo. Or a bunch of them.

[@godzillatemybaby4263]

I love these dark encounters, I plan on running a Grim Hollow campaign some day and all these dark encounters will be great

[@HiddenNerdySide]

Man, I hear nothing but good things about Grim Hollow. I'm definitely going to have to check it out

[@alexinfinite7142]

I'm dying to play that. And then probably end up dying a lot while playing that 😭🤣

[@JNJTabletop]

More like Finn O'Riled up, amirite? This is sort of like if Inigo Montoya didn't make it and still had to kill the 6 fingered man! LOVE LOVE LOVE having the revenant work with someone to accomplish their goals! Having the guilt/redemption resolution also really allows for incredible character growth for the traditional murder hobo. Spicing it up even further you say... how about if Finn has siblings? Maybe the O'Reilly family was part of a crime syndicate and now there's an undead... mob involved too! This is a good one and chock full of agency, character development, & all the things that make Dungeons & Dragons shine! Great job, Matt!

[@HiddenNerdySide]

Hahaha oh god. Now I just want to run a 2-3 session campaign where Inigo Montoya is a swashbuckler revenant

[@FOXtrot1139]

How does this channel not have a million subs? This content is great, and as a new dm it's really helping me create encounters.

[@HiddenNerdySide]

Thank you! And hey, we're only 998,900 away! Haha

[@godzillatemybaby4263]

Just got to use your hydra encounter.

[@HiddenNerdySide]

Nice! I hope it was epic

[@godzillatemybaby4263]

@@HiddenNerdySide It was great, keep up the good work

[@irishbug4744]

I've been waiting to bust that one out! New campaign starting soon

[@greywolf8836]

This is one heavily story-driven video! I may actually use this myself. Also, have you ever thought about doing a Death Knight video? You’ve done a really amazing job fleshing out the Revenant. I’d like to see what’d you do with a Death Knight.

[@HiddenNerdySide]

Definitely will toss it onto the list!

[@ADHDnD13]

Omg, you should write for Wizards. This is an amazing encounter that I will def be using in my Curse of Strahd campaign.

[@HiddenNerdySide]

Awh geez, you're much too kind. Thank you, thank you!

[@brianholland9572]

Dude you have out done yourself this time. Amazing simply amazing. I just found your videos like two weeks ago but I love em

[@HiddenNerdySide]

Welcome to the party, my friend! And thanks for the kind words :)

[@snowboundwhale6860]

It might just be because of how often it's said in the video, but if the line "Do you remember [Name of victim]?" were to keep repeating that way throughout a campaign, unless it's spaced out enough to at least not be as much as once per session, I can see that becoming more a meme among the party than something taken seriously. Also depending on the assassin here, there's a fair chance they're just stuck with this guy for the full year especially if they just find the recursion more irritating than guilt-trippy. That said there's also a presumably very difficult but potentially possible route for redirecting the revenants revenge away from the assassin toward the one who hired them. Assassin pulled the trigger but it's not like it was anything personal or a random assault, but people don't hire assassins without personal motives.

[@HiddenNerdySide]

It’s definitely since you heard it so many times, because this is supposed to take place over dozens and dozens of sessions. And your right, the players could meme this, it could be a burdened for the players, or thousands of other things. That’s why I like to put this disclaimer in the description of all my videos: **Disclaimer: Note that I cannot plan for every single outcome in these videos or they would become multiple hours long. Also, player's actions can heavily affect the outcome of any encounter. If encounters don't pan out exactly as I've described, remember - that's okay. Uncertainty and the power of actions are what makes D&D so great! I love the thought you have put into all your comments today! But to keep these videos a decent length - I can’t go over everything. And the end of the day, no matter how much I walk people through the thought process of building encounters, it’s ultimately up the DM and the players to make magic at the table - not some guy on the internet. Thanks for your input!

[@johnx9513]

Yo, this actually got me teary-eyed. This was beautifully crafted. Well done man. I was looking for inspiration for a forgotten realms character, ideally for CoS or grim hollow, but then it quickly spiraled into this; Meet a war criminal seeking redemption while fleeing an entire doom stack of revenants. He's hurt so many people, that it's not even a question of vengeance, but instead basic justice (given amnesty when he should've been prosecuted). When the party meets at the tavern, he introduces himself as a stereotypically goodie-two-shoes stock-standard fighter. Tl;dr A character that's seeking a redemption that's unobtainable, because of how evil he was in the past, where no good thing he could do can wash off what he'd done. Of course, depending upon the other player characters' backstories and the campaign (Curse of Strahd and Grim Hollow come to mind), this could lead to ENDLESS possibilities for quest & story hooks! One Example: Strahd could just straight-up blackmail him (while making some sort of deal with the revenants. After all, they're gonna be trapped there after the character's demise) Anyways, that's just one way to go about it. How else can this concept be gone about or built upon? Should this character's backstory overlap with other PCs' backgrounds? What more crazy things can be done? How would you modify it if you were playing him? Ect ect.

[@HiddenNerdySide]

Hey there. Thanks for the kind words! Well, one question I think you need to answer is what does he deem to be necessary for redemption? Does he believe killing Strahd is enough to absolve him of his sins? Also, why was he allowed into Barovia in the first place? Maybe Strahd wanted to use him before your character had his change of heart - but what caused this change of heart? Also, maybe Strahd offered protection against the revenants hunting him in exchange for his services - but what could Strahd use this character for? I would probably roleplay him as an overachiever. Someone trying too hard to be good but not over the top. Then after travelling with your players for a bit, Strahd can start to let revenants into Barovia since your character isn't fulfilling his end of the bargain. This also lets you introduce his dark past revenant by revenant and allows your players to decide when his sins are past redemption. Also, what is his end of the bargain? Maybe he was sent to kill your players or kill an innocent NPC in the town that was simply too pure to kill. Who knows? It's your call. But keep asking yourself questions until your story is completely fleshed out. You have good pieces, now connect the dots :)

[@tucke4wayne540]

Once had a trigger happy party member he was not evil or really a murder hobo but a little power drunk. So We were not playing one weekend, and with the DM's blessing I made a cannon side quest for that player during down time. At this point in time he had a little notoriety for having helped to fend off a small invasion of goblins and hobgoblins, through strategic use of the main bridge Garrison. This attack was of course orchestrated by the BBEG. While running errands in town he is approached with an urgent message from a local researcher and known wizard. The message says to meet him as soon as possible as he requires the aid of the great hero who saved the city. Zoltir was the name of The wizard. Within the next hour he met with the wizard, to which he goes on to explain that his mansion and research facility on the city outskirts has been overrun by bandits. They tricked him into letting them into his home posing as an order of holy knights weary from travel. Once inside they started killing his servants and took one hostage demanding to be let into the research lab below the mansion. Once inside the wizard trap them through use of the mansions magical defenses but once they reach the center they can deactivate them and be free and steal all of his research. So naturally my friend accepted the quest and was given two NPCs to assist with the delve into the labs. Once inside it's clear the research going on was not normal as it focused on strange creatures known as intellect devours, and how to harness their abilities. I used an altered version of a 3.5 intellect devour as the main one and 5e versions as the minor ones. It was very much a horror style dungeon run with a lot of morally obscure decisions. At the end there was a final choice, side with the human invaders or side with the monsters who sued for peace and only wanted to be set free, or side with the human invaders. Without thinking much throughout the whole process he slaughtered the invaders and sided with the monsters only to realize at the end they really were holy knights but the magic of the dungeon concealed their holy symbols to anyone else observing them. But had he talked with them he would have learned the truth. He did talk to the final knight captain but the night captain rolled low on diplomacy and so came off as he was trying to trick him when really he just wasn't explaining himself well. In the end he was killed the dm loved it so much the the knight came back as a revenant swearing vengeance for his fallin brotherhood. His rage went so deep that even after the year he became a death knight and became a frequent opponent of the party and a surprise true final boss fight after the BBEG was killed.

[@HiddenNerdySide]

Thanks for watching! And thanks for JNJ Tabletop for the recommendation! If you enjoyed this video, check out the rest of the Let's Build an Encounter Series here: kzbin.info/aero/PLN3EWMJpTElMPfoxgFTAMuY3qdC7sGz_7

[@corporalsoletrain2132]

Alternate method of killing the Revenant: One on one drinking contest: Can your party rogue drink the dead six feet under the table? Alternatively, "Adopt and protect the Revenant's son" seems like an interesting idea as well.

[@HiddenNerdySide]

With the power bestowed upon me, I sanction these ideas!

[@LightOfKaos]

Two of my players got into an altercation in a tavern due to magic interference and one of them used an aoe spell, killing several tavern goers and one barmaid. They then fled the city being chased by the guards. I have several revenants I could potentially use lol.

[@HiddenNerdySide]

Love it!

[@TheKrstff]

"The party will of course refuse..." Making some assumptions here about party loyalty aren't we?

[@andrewbradley4606]

A PC died, killed by the rest of their party. They had turned into a wereboar and didn’t realize. It happened, it was sad. But instead of giving them a proper burial, they fed the PC to a carrion crawler to avoid the fight… that PC is definitely coming back as a revenant

[@chubbyraccoon5154]

I think another thing you could do is that the revenant can’t be killed permanently. It’s keeps coming back no matter what and the only way to deal with it is if the guilty party member apologizes and reconciles with them. This would make great character development as they get to see how there actions have effected people.

[@HiddenNerdySide]

That is certainly one way you could go and do it really nicely. However, even though I would definitely recommend making the check difficult, I wouldn't want to necessarily force players into a single solution. That's when we start to head into railroad territory. I believe in the philosophy of DMs create problems, players create solutions. Sure as a DM you can plan out multiple solutions to the problem and guide the party to them, but it's on the players to decide on and finalize the solution. Notice my phrasing in the video is "convince the revenant the assassin has truly changed" and not "the assassin has to become a good guy." Because theoretically, your party could deceive the revenant and not have the assassin change. Obviously, that doesn't fall perfectly in line with the redemption story arc we've set up, but players don't always act the way you want them to. Sometimes it can be a bummer, but it's also what makes D&D and other TTRPGs amazing :)

[@chubbyraccoon5154]

@@HiddenNerdySide thanks for the advice I’ve been acting as a dm for only a month or so and I’m still learning the ropes

[@HiddenNerdySide]

@@chubbyraccoon5154 Anytime. It's what I'm here for! It takes time to become a well rounded DM. I know this because when I started DMing i was absolute trash! Hahaha

[@Ajehy]

Ok, you’ve earned my sub.

[@HiddenNerdySide]

Welcome to the party!

[@airb6177]

Could you do cultists and variants of cultists, such as underlings that have magic abilities, beefed up cultists that can take a hit or even monstrosities that serve the cultists? And could you go into depth about how a ritual process would work, if the main cultist wants to summon something. Your videos have helped me as new DM, keep it up!

[@HiddenNerdySide]

Hey there, thanks for the kind words! I can absolutely do a cultist specific video. But for now, if you look at my Yuan-ti video, it's actually based around a yuan-ti cult that uses a ritual to turn others into yuan-ti. It's video in the older format so I don't go into as much detail as I do with my newer videos, but it ticks some of the boxes you mentioned and might hold you over until I get around to cultists :) Cheers!

[@mikeandjules8280]

I'm 100% going to use this against one of my players. It'll be fun to use a revenant, I'm a big fan for RP moments.

[@acejones9074]

I one time had a group of murder hobos who killed a group of good aligned npcs (paladins, clerics, and a noble prince. Noble as in honorable) the party had also angered a god of righteous vengeance who raised the honorable fallen as revenants ordering them to work together to end the party. These murder hobos thought if something wasn't a magic item it was useless. Came to bite them in the ass when there warlock who spammed detect magic fell into a spiked pit trap almost dying from the fall. He was finished off by poison 3 rounds in but then the combat began with murder hobo party vs the crew of revenants all using the corpses of soldiers who died in a recent battle.

[@nickbowling9383]

Dude. I am absolutely stealing this. This is awesome!

[@HiddenNerdySide]

Steal away, my friend!

[@joseroque9589]

Exactly the advice I was looking for, great work!

[@keelsron634]

AHaha one of my players died and so to bring in his new character he wanted a battle to happen with his people and then suddenly a gnomish grenade go's off (it was his) killing his people and the enemies but at what cost? He is then exiled in front of the party, so I really like your idea however I'm going have it be someone from that day. Your idea's fit so well into any story as always appreciate the hard work and creative thinking.

[@HiddenNerdySide]

Thank you! And that sounds awesome haha

[@NumbSkull2602]

Nice one, I’m using a revenant in my current game, but none of the players know they’re a revenant, they’re just fishy

[@HiddenNerdySide]

That's the best spot to be in! I love when players start noticing clues but are still foggy on the specifics. It makes the reveal that much more impactful when it happens.

[@NumbSkull2602]

@@HiddenNerdySide I hope so

[@akiuchiha7479]

You should make an encounter for each of the types of dragons.

[@HiddenNerdySide]

On the list!

[@Arisen-kw1hx]

You best help hand to punish murderhobo

[@TalkativeHands]

Simply Amazing wish I found your channel a lot sooner

[@HiddenNerdySide]

Thanks and welcome to the party!

[@michelveilleux2075]

"Local man literally too angry to die." Shitpost

[@omnishangout747]

Do you remember Marcus O'Riley?

[@mols556]

Thank you! Great video!

[@mikelsmith6803]

"the party will, of course, refuse" Ha. Thouse peaces of shit would sell eachother in a heart beat (with the exception of the monk, everybody loves the monk)

[@grungscreamvr8864]

Fun Fact: In fourth edition Revenants where a playable race.

[@omnishangout747]

Do you have alternative advice if my players do not have an assassin?

[@HiddenNerdySide]

The great thing about revenants is the person just has to have died and have been "wronged" by someone. How they have been wronged should usually lead to their demise. So like in the one example in the video, a Thief stole enough from a merchant that he become poverty stricken, which led to disease, which led to death. So any player backstory where your players have done something that could have led to a domino effect where someone met their demise can work. And the person who died needs to know your player was the person responsible. Also, anyone that would bear extreme hatred to a player character could work as well. I mean, how one interprets "wronged" is up to them. People can feel wronged when others would never, right? Hope this helps!

[@omnishangout747]

@@HiddenNerdySide You are amazing, G-d bless man

[@alexinfinite7142]

Oh man this is great. Can this be applied to a villain that party has developed a particularly bad animosity with? Like have it come back for revenge or something?

[@HiddenNerdySide]

I don't see why not! How strict you choose to run your revenant rules is up to you. But I don't think it's a stretch if the players have given the villain a reason to hate them so much!

[@alexinfinite7142]

@@HiddenNerdySide oh trust me, they hate each other lol 😆

[@terbin4487]

what are you opinions on doing a revenant as a player charecter?

[@HiddenNerdySide]

It can definitely work. There are undead-style of lineages available I believe already do you could easily reflavour one of them to fit a revenant. It could also be a cool way to send off a character as your PC finished their grander quest and then passes peacefully into the afterlife. I'm all for it!

[@ratedrbgo4204]

I love these videos thanks

[@HiddenNerdySide]

Thanks for the support!

[@cmdbitesaw]

Good Encounter, I want to use it, But I don't have an Assasin in my Party.................

[@bsabruzzo]

Maybe the revenant is successful ion killing the assassin mid campaign, but the assassin still have work to do on Earth to fight the BBEG. Pull out your Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft and let the assassin's player get the reborn lineage. Maybe the magic that created the revenant was unable to disperse and when the revenant finally dies after killing the assassin, the magic shoots into the assassin's body, trapping the assassin's soul. Now the assassin must finish the quest with the party to be finally put to rest.

[@HiddenNerdySide]

Oooo now that’s a spicy way to make death awesome!

[@bsabruzzo]

​@@HiddenNerdySide The new Ravenloft "races" and maybe a werewolf variant do make dying a bit less final, as long as the players have some say in it and it's discussed in the session zero.

[@thanekrios8]

One of my PC's just accidentally killed 5 innocent civilians due to some wild magic.. one of these folks is definitely going to have a husband looking for revenge. Going to follow them for a long time..

[@metalpsalm]

Could a high level Druid that became a revenant turn into a giant rotting eagle? 😮

[@HiddenNerdySide]

As a Dungeon Master, I would 1000% allow that

[@IcsulX]

Beep. KZbin Algorithm goes Boop

[@jayteepodcast]

Just tell Friday the 13th story plot

[@samgafford2371]

Ah yes, revenants aka edgy zombies

[@TheKrstff]

"The party will of course refuse..." Making some assumptions here about party loyalty aren't we?

[@andrewbradley4606]

A PC died, killed by the rest of their party. They had turned into a wereboar and didn’t realize. It happened, it was sad. But instead of giving them a proper burial, they fed the PC to a carrion crawler to avoid the fight… that PC is definitely coming back as a revenant