The Wild Beyond the Witchlight Review - Should You Run It?

[@solaries3]

Pet peeve of mine: summaries of adventures that don't summarize the adventure. We should be told, precisely, what the adventure is about, who are the big players, where the party goes, what the themes are, etc, on the FIRST page.

[@EventyrGames]

Couldn't agree more!

[@asraiSOA]

@@EventyrGames Does you DM guide bundle offer this type of summary/roadmap/flowchart? These published adventures all look fantastic, but TBH it's very intimidating to flip through these books and feel incredibly overwhelmed with the amount of info/details presented.

[@alanvillarreal7781]

Thank you! I'm very excited about running this soon and appreciate all of your advance work. 😀

[@KelThuzad1989]

An interesting video! I did find some very useful changes to the villains in the book, going so far as making tactics for how it seems likely for them to act in a combat situation. Not that the villains are not interesting, I think they are some of the most interesting parts, and so it is a nice idea to make more of them than the book describes. I gave them some new abilities linked to their themes. I also removed some things from the start, because they did not make sense and it felt like the players were given too much information too quickly. I tried to keep the mystery going further.

[@warrenjoyner3717]

Thanks for being honest and candid with your review. We need more influencers like you.

[@EventyrGames]

I appreciate that!

[@HowtoRPG]

Thanks.

[@Drazilek]

I have run a one-shot and plan on doing a few more over the next month or so before I was going to run this. While I've been reading the book I soon realised that it seemed like it could be over with very quickly, and although the people I play with are very RP focused and talk... a lot, they also love the combat side of it. So with that in mind, I was thinking I'd need to work out beforehand how the encounters would go if combat happened, which it seemed likely to. I was also thinking about extending the regions, and although they have 3 locations within each, I was going to see about making side quests that would last a few sessions each to bulk it out, and level characters with milestones, but not necessarily how the book does it. I also think for instance the Korred/Brina story could be extended and made larger, maybe the characters have to do more than say a few words to get them on the side, they might have to go find something within the caves before being given access to the tunnel or something. Just seems to me that I'd want to add a lot more things within Hither, Thither and Yon to make it more fun, and almost encourage back and forth travel between the regions.

[@EventyrGames]

That's my thoughts exactly - expanding and connecting Hither, Thither, and Yon. We're going to put a lot of work into that once we've covered each region separately in the DM's resources. Probably a video about it as well :)

[@TwoLyfes]

Precisely, the adventure seems to be lacking substance. But I think it works well, quality over quantity mindset. What we are given is pretty fun, makes sense, connects to the continuity of the story, and puts a spin on the idea of classic DnD. Milestones are not appropriately spaced, giving only 7 levels for each region in Prismeer and the hags - which can happen multiple times in the same session. A better assortment of milestones could be as follows: entering Prismeer, handling each hag, obtaining the unicorn horn, everyone getting their lost item/Madryck Roslof giving them their reward, Freeing Zybilna (7/8 levels total). But Wizards actually wanted to include more; when the image of Yarnspinner and recommendation to buy an $8 book, Domains of Delight, is introduced. But the random encounters help serve the purpose of further developing each region in Prismeer. A combination of both could help create a better Korred/Brigganock story. Shoot, with eight dollars and a little more creative liberty on the random encounters, I can't imagine you'll have a difficult time making an experience in Prismeer unforgettable.

[@TwoLyfes]

Lovely review and great video! I like that you keep what you like about the adventure brief. I want to know what I will not like about the adventure. Reviews that don’t do this often make me think, “I’m clearly already interested in purchasing this product; why are you trying to sell it to me further?” The backgrounds are a little hard to incorporate with this adventure, but I can buy it with some rewriting. The pacing doesn’t bother me too much, especially since I plan on making this more of a one-shot adventure that I’ll run over Easter weekend. I have also learned that as a DM, I have a more significant role in the pace of the player’s progress than I initially thought when entering the hobby. However, this adventure is seemingly too quick to end, something no one wants in their modules. Otherwise, did you get your money’s worth? There is an issue with the use of milestones within the adventure. A better assortment of milestones could be as follows: entering Prismeer, handling each hag, obtaining the unicorn horn, everyone getting their lost item/Madryck Roslof giving them their reward, Freeing Zybilna (7/8 levels total). I prefer it as a railroad or linear adventure, given that I don’t think it ever feels forced. “Prismeer the Playground” should really be its name, given how once you find all three guides, it’s easy to explore the plane of delight to your heart’s content. Perhaps the players could learn a way to travel themselves between regions the same way their guides do, possibly forcing players to travel from Hither to Thither only by air. Hither, Thither, and Yon each have a way back to the Material Plane, and so does each hag. Meaning that before reaching the final region of Prismeer, there are six ways to leave it. Suppose you are a player or DM who doesn’t like to take the initiative and manifest your adventure from various options (whatever those are). In that case, this adventure is a good pick for a linear experience! There is an issue with social interaction, combat, maps, and repetition. Why does WotC repeat so much content when they don’t have infinite pages to write their books on? Why is there such an epidemic of good maps? Often I find advice to incorporate social interaction in combat, but the same can be said for the reverse. We are in the Feywild; this is the perfect opportunity to show that the tongue is sharper than any edge. Have Bavlorna perform three widdershins, and she’ll light up like the sun before exploding into a dazzling array of glowing sunflower seeds that, when planted in Hither, turn the region into a flourishing land of rolling green hills with fields of sunflowers. Have Sabatha be the first creature Skabatha sees in the morning and watch her overcome an identity crisis. Through social interaction, she’s convinced to lift her “curse” of being an evil hag and turns a new leaf as the sweet toymaker/caretaker granny of the woods she’s meant to be. Have Endelyn’s scream from being destroyed by a solar eclipse alter Yon drastically. The scream destroys her castle, clears the storm, and reveals a night sky with gem-like stars that release astronomical fey spirits, filling the land with luster, awe, and peace - as no creature in Yon is capable of feeling negative emotions… I dunno just a thought; kind of a missed opportunity if you ask me. There needs to be an accurate summary of the story that doesn’t leave a DM guessing on anything that will happen. I agree with you on this. I’m indifferent to a flowchart, but I can’t deny its value. I just found out the significance of the unicorn horn, so I couldn’t agree with you more.

[@philippest-onge4208]

Really good review. I think that on top "what kind of DM", you need to think at what kind of players will enjoy it. The high level of sillyness and the non combat side of things might turn some off.

[@TwoLyfes]

Good point. (skip the testimony and go to the last paragraph) I had a session with players new to my style, and it was geared around finding the kidnappers of these farm's children - three trolls were the culprits. They stumbled upon the first troll, whose attire consisted of a tiny green dress, a tiara, heavy makeup, braided hair with ribbons, and painted nails. He was crouched with his knees to his chest, sipping from a teacup that would look like a shot glass with a handle for his size while having a tea party with three little girls dressed in pink, blue, and golden yellow dresses (Nintendo reference). My party of 3 level 3 players attacked him. Sorcerer took one hit and claimed he would rather die defending those little princesses from his carnivorous appetite than give up their heroic quest. The confused troll talked it out with them, introduced himself as Princess, and proposed seeking his older brother for information on these events. His brother lives with Princess until he can get back on his feet. Princess leads them to his cave and introduces them to his older, obese older brother, Earl. Earl is greedy, lazy, smelly, and spends his time sitting in a strawed wagon playing games or selling items online. Online is his definition of the tin phone network he had the new goblin rentees set up. Earl is pretentious because of all the time making fun of people online and researching rebuttals to embark on debates to boost his ego; this transmits to real-life behavior. Earl informs everyone that he isn't eating any farmer children, just the tasty elven kids in the woods, but he's willing to stop because he knows its an unhealthy addiction. Earl recommends going to their long-lost brother, Clyde, for answers. Clyde left home after his younger and older brother seemed to take their parents' death lightly; Earl got lazy, and Princess got childish. But Earl has discovered through research on the internet that Clyde is caught up with the wrong crowd and hanging out with some bad apples. Clyde can be found in the bandit mansion. The players convince Earl and Princess to tag along. The living room depicts sofas facing away from the attached bar and make-shift stage to face a small coffee table with figures huddled around it. The individuals cut white powder into lines, snort it to "build up immunity" to the toxins, and experience a "true highwayman high." The stage has two bards with an electric lute and drums composing some indie rock music. A troll with black leather clothing, piercings, black-painted nails, dark eyeliner, Skrillex hair, and tattoos covering his body sits up as he snorts a line. The troll brothers begin to converse. Clyde gets angry being called Cylde and declares his name is Ace now to help reflect his inner emotions of self-worth in a society that rejects him based on his appearances. He claims the bandits are the only ones who don't judge him, and he returns the favor, even if they are taking the farmer's children. When pressed, the bandits ask if the players really want the children back when instead, the players could just walk away without biting off more than they could chew. The players were sure they wanted the kids; the bandit left, only to return with a large cooking pot still boiling with heat. The lid was lifted, and I'm sure your imagination can fill in the rest... with a nod, the players took up arms. There was hardly any combat in this session, but a healthy dose of jokes brought the atmosphere to a joyful and light-hearted state. They all loved it when I asked for feedback, but Phil had more to say. He told me he would appreciate it if the story took itself more seriously and didn't feel so relaxed - he preferred something grittier. Even though this session ended with a good twist and a moral lesson about not assuming who the bad guys are, it wasn't wholly satisfying for everyone. For lack of a better description of what happened, "the high level of silliness and non-combat" didn't meet a player's session expectations. I'm reading TWBtW, currently on Motherhorn, and if you think this session I ran is too extra for you or your players, then it's a guarantee you'll hate TWBtW. Know your players, know your style.

[@Antdevamp]

A. Avernus is the best so far. B. The Witchlight Circus adventure is playable with combat or just dealing with intrigue and investigation.

[@baileymorton4116]

Honestly I just got running it and I think Avernus has a ton of problems and requires a lot of DM work, if I could do it over again I’d have my players be in Elturel when the city got sucked in and I’d skip the Baldur’s gate portion entirely

[@AaronArnoldaquapod]

This is the MOST Honest review. The combat issue, the maps, every issue you mentioned has been glossed over by everyone else. What adventures, regardless of system, are your favorites?

[@astrobert1254]

Your videos are great and I also got your extremely usefull guide! One big issue that I have with beeing in the feywild and also offering Fairies as player race is... SPOILERS: ...that there are no Fairies in the adventure. In the carnival everyone has to wear fairy wings, Zybilna is called fairy godmother, there is Fairy-art in the palace, a book with Fairy names and even beasts that prey on Fairies. ...but where are the Fairies? Did I miss this somehow? One of my players wants to play the Fairy race + feylost and I wanted to weave them into the world, like finding their family there or whatever but then I noticed the lack thereof (tbh I have not read the book end to end but ctrl+f didn't show much Fairy-related content)... At some point palyers might also figure the lack of fairies and start asking questions, so I would really appreciate your thoughts on this. :-) My thought e.g.: maybe they all fled throught the fairy rings when Zybilna was frozen in time, therefore my character beeing a fairy would cause reactions wherever they are seen.

[@EventyrGames]

Fairies aren't, AFAIK, a creature in 5E D&D. We do get faerie-adjacent creatures like the pixies and sprites (which are described as similar, but smaller). There are, as written, pixies in Hither. I'd say you could either say they'd disappeared - perhaps as a consequence of Prismeer's decline, which may give the PCs more motivation to help Zybilna - or you could simple change the pixies mentioned in Hither to faeries and make sure to include that encounter :)

[@TwoLyfes]

Good catch, one I didn't really put much thought into until now. Think of it as "fairy-folk" (Crawford, How to Play Fey Creatures in D&D) or "fairykind" (TWBtW) when reading about these similar creatures. I'll refer to them as fairy-folk. TWBtW clearly has sprites and pixies, with Thither's forest artwork showing a sprite listening to one of Yarnspinners stories and pixies appearing as a random encounter within Hither. But these are fairy-folk in the same way that most playable races in DND are "human"oid. An elf is humanoid but not human; pixies are fairy-folk but not fairies. Sprites in the MM are given a distinct description that differs significantly from the MM description of pixies. TWBtW describes fairies as "wee-folk" but not as small as either of the previous races - think of them as child-sized or fey halflings! So the height difference might throw off your interpretation of what a fairy should be in DnD (it doesn't have to be anything, of course) and make you feel like there is inconsistency. But what is the difference between a fairy and a pixie? What's different about a sprite and brownie, or a nixie and a boggart? Is Tinkerbell a fairy or pixie, and if she's a fairy, why does she use pixie dust(she's a fairy, check out Isaac Carlsons video)? The line blurs with so many fantastic creatures of great real-world folk-lore on which the Feywild is based. As the conductors of these stories, we reimagine and redefine our understanding of these creatures and their origins. With that in mind, we are finally given stats for fairies and fairy-folk mentions in Prismeer. I hope that with the information provided here and the content delivered through TWBtW, you'll craft a village for fairies as magical and believable as the whimsical pixie hollow in Disney.

[@vollmardakota1630]

How long is a session to you? Because mine can last from 3 to 8 hours.

[@EventyrGames]

We tend to run short but efficient. Around 3 hours is the norm for us :)

[@Demolishor27]

Great review :) I was wondering is it a good entry for new players if they have an experienced gm?

[@EventyrGames]

I think so, yeah. It showcases a lot of what D&D has to offer. I will say, however, that if the players are new to fantasy as a whole, it might be a bit too over the top as it is very whimsical. Lost Mine of Phandelver or Waterdeep: Dragon Heist provide more down-to-earth experiences in my opinion.

[@kerdude5583]

Really stupid that they included a way to avoid literally every combat. All I need is some party of "oops, all bards!" to cheese my entire campaign. Hard pass

[@Gojoseon]

To be fair, the combat is supposedly quite tough when it does occur, encouraging some creative solutions.

[@EventyrGames]

Yeah, I think moving toward more creative solutions for more encounters is good, but trying to make everything non-combat is taking it too far. That's 80% of the rulebooks.

[@TwoLyfes]

On the contrary, I love that they tried to pull this off. Emphasis on "tried" because there are plenty of times I reached a moment in the adventure thinking, "it would be so much more satisfying if combat was initiated here." There can still be "non-combat" combat options as well, just look around and see how many DMs gripe about their BBEG being snuffed out in the first round of combat (sometimes initiative isn't rolled, whatever that is). Sounds like this adventure just isn't your style and I commend you on choosing not to engage your players with it if you aren't engaged with it.