The Halls of Arden Vul Ep 01 - Old School Essentials Megadungeon | Very Dangerous.. You Go First

[@TheK5K]

Great to see you guys presenting a professional level actual play - that genuinely shows what playing OSR D&D is like. No script, imminent danger around every corner, side-chats, laughs - good times. Keep it up!

[@3D6DTL]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@robertwarren4734]

Hahahahahaha .... I just lost it at 1:16:30 "Let me spell it for you" in that ghostly voice. 'Spell it.' Classic.

[@3D6DTL]

It’s what polite ghosts do.

[@asafoetidajones8181]

Ah, yes, the "first encounter is a powerful undead being, who we're going to promptly annoy with too many questions and requests". It went so well in the Abbey, so we're trying it again

[@warduke42]

No teeth involved this time.

[@mattavaricios4679]

If it ain't broke...

[@zantharian57]

Great first session in the "new" (yeah okay not new now) setting guys. You guys remain the best live play that I've found so far, because the quality of players and DM and pacing is extremely well done, while still remaining an actual D&D game. Critical role is super professionally done as well, but it's not D&D it's fakery and rail roading, so that gives you guys the top spot as far as I'm concerned. Keep it up, you're who I refer people too when they want to see games played right!

[@jennifererixon2578]

It's been a few months since my arden vul campaign ended, it's nice to see a familiar map

[@3D6DTL]

Welcome to the party!

[@Soren015]

As an avid climber, I was screaming internally the entire way through the planning phase of ascending the ramp up the falls.

[@michaelmorrison8679]

oh yeah our ignorance is on full display there.

[@Soren015]

@@michaelmorrison8679 It is both the best and dumbest thing when D&D-sessions devolve into people planning (often in detail) the practical side of operations they have no practical knowledge of. That whole phenomenon would actually be worthy of a deeper dive of some sort. Anyway - I enjoyed the episode a lot!

[@ceruleanscole8271]

All I wanted for Labor Day was 3d6 down the line. Tis a true day of labor miracle!

[@ianisles2537]

There is no podcast that I anticipate more then 3d6. And that includes Kill Tony. And you know I bartend at a comedy club.

[@Nate-lq8jc]

Arden Vul! This is an Actual Play dream come true!

[@mattavaricios4679]

Thanks for listening! Some wild stuff in in store!

[@johnbarry6914]

Been playing Arden Vul for quite a while now, and spent the first several sessions or so fighting baboons before we finally figured out how to get into the pyramid. With 3-4 players, the lethality of the setting had us all seeking henchmen once we had the opportunity, but have had 3 dead so far (eaten by firebeetles, ripped apart by a demon, and swallowed up by a black pudding respectively) and a PC gone insane (he thinks he is the Mushroom King). Back story and detail has been at times overwhelming, especially since we started playing this during COVID and remote play makes paying attention to all the flavor text and retention hard. Still, we've made mortal enemies of the Set cultists, met the Varumani, looted innumerable tombs, and inadvertantly murder-hoboed our way around several levels and generally had a blast. IMHO, this is the best megadungeon product out there.

[@michaelmorrison8679]

we are really enjoying it and our death toll is steadily creeping up. 🐒

[@oldSchoolGM]

Loved the vid!

[@aaronholt9285]

I'm like an addict waiting for a fix! Thanks for the hit of Arden Vul!!

[@JohnDretired]

Man I love watching this stuff.

[@robertwarren4734]

I was thinking of Buddy Holly's "Down the Line" but paraphrased: Well, my a-waitin' for me, I gotta be on time I gotta go, go, go, go, go, go, go

[@paavohirn3728]

That first encounter is rpg gold! Good to see this campaign rolling into speed 😄

[@haleg68]

Hi Gents, I watch your KZbin channel and listen on Spotify while walking the dog. I really love the intro on Spotify better. You really nailed that!

[@pedrobernardo5887]

Nice highlighting on that PDF ;) . Glad it is being used!

[@3D6DTL]

I can’t thank you enough! Super helpful!

[@harbowoputra2828]

Yessss finally a new episode!

[@adamthedm]

Hell yeah, seeing this come out made my day!

[@kevintoy7710]

You need a t-shirt that says 5 Con.

[@michaelmorrison8679]

lol.... Con 5, Still Alive.

[@warduke42]

I would buy that shirt and wear it with pride.

[@Grimorium636]

I'd like to share my appreciation for the work you gents are doing! This production is such a good example of what a table with people who love the old-school game is like. Kudos to everyone, keep it up!

[@mattavaricios4679]

Thank you! It certainly is a blast to play, and I'm glad we're able to share it.

[@junainoakuma]

I am feeling it. This is going to be epic.

[@brownesque2188]

Excerpts from your sessions would be a great teaching tool for new players and GMs. The whole bit around the tower and the trapdoor is a great example of old school play style in action: engaging with the environment and problem-solving. And nice job telegraphing the danger.

[@michaelmorrison8679]

only problem is then ppl can skip my shite jokes and david's three chest hairs. doesn't seem fair.

[@3D6DTL]

Thanks! Yeah, the first thing I told the players when we stopped recording was how well-played that encounter was. I was very impressed.

[@rebarton2]

gotta love Jason's iso-maps, too. Props!

[@warduke42]

Yeah, I'm really jealous - they're so good!

[@staves_and_spells]

Exciting start to the new campaign, as fun as ever, looking forward to see how the slippery climb plays out!

[@acolyteoforcus7353]

The harrowing climb up the cliff face just reeks of the dangers to come.

[@mattavaricios4679]

I'm sure it's all downhill after this.

[@warduke42]

@@mattavaricios4679 Ba dum tish...

[@seanmudge7546]

nice love your choice of dungeon

[@joshuawilliams8230]

I've been waiting for this!

[@CatMandiano]

Good looking stream. Really like all of graphics presented and the crew of players are quite likable. Very professional. I really like how quickly you guys got into gameplay.

[@layedout778]

I'm in 100%!!! Let's GO :)

[@diii8840]

Ooh this just made my day a lot better, thanks gents!

[@drplote01]

Those isometric maps are pretty sweet!

[@3D6DTL]

I know! Link to them is in the description!

[@DocFleg]

Really fun session, by all. Yrtol was great. Learned a lot of DM skills from Jon.

[@RedSoulVnT]

"She had a pendant of lapis lazuli that I carved for her." "And what was this pendant of?" "... lapis lazuli. Did I stutter?" 🤣🤣 That part got me laughing more than I should.

[@cjbowser]

Listening to this while creating a character for my second go-round in Arden Vul. Great work!

[@quinn1044]

So glad I discovered your channel! It’s amazing to see a high production value example of OSR play with experienced players who have an established vibe/dynamic with one another. It’s a rare thing indeed, and this is thus far the only actual play I’ve seen that I feel sure I’m going to follow all the way through! Keep doing the good work y’all 💕

[@3D6DTL]

Thank you for those kind words!

[@stephengreen6683]

Lovin it. My first OSE insight after starting out all those years ago with the basic edition and AD&D (2nd edition). Playing 5e now but this old school simplicity is just so fab (and better with real jeopardy present ) Keep up the great work guys. Love from the UK

[@3D6DTL]

Thanks so much!

[@mattavaricios4679]

The jeopardy feels very present.

[@AndrewGarofalo]

Great story and very entertaining. I look forward to seeing more.

[@D_the_B]

So glad you guys are back! This is going to be awesome 🤙🏼

[@pepeclifton4462]

Amazing actual play! Glad I subbed, and checked y'all out!

[@michaelmorrison8679]

welcome aboard!

[@jessemorgan7480]

Here we go!!! Are you guys planning on adding t-shirts to the avail merch?

[@michaelmorrison8679]

You're a person of fine taste. The shirts are avai: www.redbubble.com/people/3d6dtl/shop?artistUserName=3d6dtl&iaCode=u-clothing

[@3D6DTL]

T-shirts are available, plus lots more! You just need to click the “Shop All Products” link at the bottom of each design.

[@hanssaunders3490]

"Three drops of pee" hahahaha. This is fantastic. Very engaging and immersive. Well done, gents.

[@mattavaricios4679]

Thanks! Glad to have you at our "table."

[@rebarton2]

so cool you guys are doing this. I'm loving it

[@3D6DTL]

So happy to hear you’re enjoying it! Thanks for creating such a wonderful playground!

[@michaelmorrison8679]

sooooo uhhhhh..... any tips?

[@rebarton2]

@@michaelmorrison8679 hehe! hmmm.... I wouldn't want to undermine John's excellent DMing.

[@el_tejon383]

Looking at your page 77 for Yrtol’s story in the tower and your page has lots of highlighting that is not present in my .PDF, was that something you added? Great start to this campaign, looking forward to watching on my treadmill to get ideas for when I run it!

[@3D6DTL]

It’s a partially annotated pdf sent to me by a fellow AV ref who verified my purchase before sharing his version. He did formatting work up through most of eLevel 3.

[@RagabashBinBash]

Arden Cool !!!

[@mitchell7692]

You should finish the stonehell campaign it is an amazing dungeon

[@BenA718]

Hey Jon, it's Ben A! A friend recommended I watch this and I thought, shit -- this voice sounds familiar! Looking forward to watching this! Drop me a line, let's catch up!

[@3D6DTL]

Hi Ben, good to hear from you! Welcome to the party!

[@whatinflecktarnation]

Let’s GOOOOO!

[@el_tejon383]

Is there a place one can get the Jason Lutes maps of the valley, Arden Vul, and Gosterwick? Are there others? I can’t seem to find a place to buy or download

[@shadoven]

I'd also be curious about this

[@magdalene2229]

You've made my day!!

[@deViatel]

Very curious to see which entrance they go through. Excited for the next ep!

[@michaelmorrison8679]

which entrance do YOU think we should go through???

[@deViatel]

@@michaelmorrison8679 Would be fun if you could get in through that marble entrance you saw on the opposite side of the fall, otherwise, we'll have to see what you find at the top!

[@mattavaricios4679]

They are probably all going to be labeled with signs like "Certain Doom" "Horrible Death" or "Gruesome Dismembering." Point me at the "Lovely Picnic" one, please.

[@deViatel]

@@mattavaricios4679 The 'Lovely Picnic' one will easily be the worst of the lot. Likely the food will have gone rotten from the stagnant dungeon air and you'll just end up sick!

[@michaelmorrison8679]

@@deViatel yah thats obv a trap, sheesh Matt.

[@DawnOfElaris]

I'm just about to start running this for a group after having watched through to about halfway through Delve 2 and coming back to see how y'all started the campaign. I was wondering if there was any place to get the parchment styled maps similar to the one at 7:45. I don't think it came with everything I got when I downloaded the complete collection.

[@3D6DTL]

Those are the work of Jason Lutes, and not associated with the original work. They are no longer available on his site, but we have copies in our Discord server. Join up!

[@DawnOfElaris]

Thank you! I've just been getting into old school coming from originally 4e into 5e, and it's been cool to see how y'all run things.

[@smamwise8023]

What tools do you use to play? owlbear for vtt. Discord for audio and cameras? How do track character sheets?

[@3D6DTL]

Owlbear for visuals and dice-rolling, Discord for the players’ A/V, my own mic and camera for the broadcast, OBS for presentation/recording, Adobe Acrobat for PDFs, Google Docs and Sheets for notes and record-keeping, character sheets are straight-up OSE hard copies and/or form-fillables.

[@mattavaricios4679]

I have a handful of pencils and a notebook of grid paper.

[@smamwise8023]

@@3D6DTL Thanks! :)

[@ceruleanscole8271]

Thought David was in a robe at first. Then I thought I was watching a Miami Vice episode.

[@3D6DTL]

You and me both

[@michaelmorrison8679]

Right??? He looks like the bartender who started smuggling cocaine RIGHT before Crockett puts two in his chest…

[@007nikster2]

ARDEN VUUUUL!

[@stefanodimaiolo4146]

Jon where did you get the pictures of Burdocks Valley, the cliff face and the city of AV? Or are they from the source material. Thank you.

[@3D6DTL]

Those were made by Jason Lutes. You can find the files if you click on my House Rules link in the vid description.

[@AndyAction]

“Did I stutter?” Hahahahaha!

[@choggy4214]

Woohoo!

[@jrr3787]

What software are using to run that?

[@3D6DTL]

For the pictures and maps? Owlbear Rodeo VTT.

[@eviltables7235]

Any source for the Burdock's Valley handrawn map? It looks really nice

[@3D6DTL]

They were drawn by Jason Lutes, of Perilous Wilds fame. I was a given a link to them on a private Facebook group, so I don’t think I’m free to share them, unfortunately.

[@ME-cn5og]

@@3D6DTL Any idea if the map could be purchased? It would really be useful. Thanks

[@3D6DTL]

@@ME-cn5og I’m not sure. I searched online for them, but nothing turned up!

[@3D6DTL]

Good news! I double-checked the original source, and it is free to share! I will also update the video description with this link. Here you go! www.dropbox.com/s/p5ithhtm2doumil/All%20Maps.pdf?dl=0

[@ME-cn5og]

@@3D6DTL Thank you!

[@night9caster]

fun!

[@JohnDretired]

Fantasy Grounds has a great OSE ruleset and official content.

[@devonsharkey414]

Someone clearly has some experience with trad / lead climbing.

[@blackstone777]

I'm strongly considering getting this megadungeon. Are you using Advanced OSE?

[@3D6DTL]

Yep! Heavily house-ruled.

[@blackstone777]

@@3D6DTL cool. Good to know. I'll keep watching! Thanks!

[@H0NDO]

Very nice show. Good GM (with a fabulous GM Voice). Good story...nice RP....Good production. I know i am a year late but...perhaps 2 points of improvement: 1) stop interrupting each other (even the GM while describing) or talking over each other...listening with a headset is uncomfortable with this. 2) Perhaps it is better, just to show the map OR the pdf file...both are pretty small to read anything.

[@solomani5959]

Vargr? The other guys should have gone solomani, zhodani and vilani 😊

[@markkettlewell7441]

Looks like a nice normal fault. Sorry, I am being a geeky geologist 😅

[@AndyAction]

It’s amazing to observe the players actively working to undermine the DM’s attempts to build mood and tension. In the ghost encounter, for example, the DM is setting the mood with vivid descriptions and an amazingly spooky NPC voice while the Players bend over backwards to interrupt him, crack pop-culture reference jokes and essentially do whatever they can to prevent actual tension or mood to be developed. What a fascinating anthropological study of human nature.

[@bigeye6606]

That's RPG for you :D

[@kelseysvenson8544]

No girls?

[@3D6DTL]

A cruel twist of fate, indeed!

[@perdurabo56]

6:40

[@thonktank1239]

Great game play! Love the Referee's voice and naration! Really hate to see all the Online Gaming pitfalls on display though. Annoying mic sounds, people constantly talking over one another due to latency or not being able to pick up on social cues you'd have in person, people missing half the stuff the GM is saying... loved the video anyways thought!

[@3D6DTL]

Thanks! Production value increases as time goes by.

[@butchnighthawk1673]

grandpas

[@HighlightArchives]

Just started watching but question: Your players aren't getting burnt out on constant dungeon grinding? I'm running an adventure now for my group that has a couple levels beneath this large town. If at the end they still having fun, I might do this adventure here and turn it into my settings Undermountain. But first I've got to find a cheap price for the PDF.

[@3D6DTL]

The short answer is, “Keep watching. 😏” The longer answer is there’s no grinding in Arden Vul. The entire ecology makes sense, and the factions that can be encountered there all have super fun levers to pull. Imo, it puts Undermountain to shame.

[@michaelmorrison8679]

i know I'm not burned out... more of a "one more room" feeling.