The Wild Beyond the Witchlight Top 10 Takeaways | D&D Sneak Peek

[@TheDungeonCoach]

What do yall want to see from this book!? Let me know! 🧙‍♀ Pre-Order Wild Beyond the Witchlight here: amzn.to/3A0EWiT 💜 Become a Patron: www.patreon.com/thedungeoncoach

[@fushicon6121]

Been running a carnival for my sister called the Circus of Mys_ery, and she’s a feywanderer Ranger - it’s like this book was written for me!

[@dariandavis6332]

That’s such a clever name I love it

[@FryMinis]

Yay! Welcome to the Book Brigade! Congratulations!

[@Hey-Its-Dingo]

The Carnival was my favorite Domain from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, and this also feels like that section will be right up my alley. I love carnival stuff

[@AAron-gr3jk]

Aren't they linked? Like one is the light and one is the dark version? That's what i got from the recent d&d beyond talks. One I'd run by mr Witch and the other by Mr Light? Looking forward to reading up on this book

[@couver73]

I have been waiting a LONG time for a Feywild book to come out to better build on the backstory of a character I have had for a while. He's a Wood Elf and the first 65 years of his life was spent within the Feywild so this really opens up a lot of possibilities for flashbacks that can happen with my character. Just hearing what can be done in this book already gives me plenty of extra things to think about. I am definitely gonna get my hands on this book somehow cause I need whatever details I can get. :D

[@TheDungeonCoach]

What a cool character! I love it and this should be great for you!

[@benjie128]

I want the displacer beast kitten!

[@GrantAllenVideo]

Now I want tortle and the harengon campaigns.

[@DDCRExposed]

One of my two groups is currently in the Feywild. Good timing for this book and hopefully I can get my hands on it while they're still in that realm.

[@CrownRock1]

Dungeon Masters don't make mistakes. We just occasionally make unintended story deviations.

[@meikahidenori]

Curious why many DMs have issues with flying. Many creatures have ranged attacks, nets ect to deal with flying creatures. There are ways to give flying pcs problems without having to negate their abilities.

[@ddfordummies5099]

You know what is really easy to use. A dungeon. It is in the actual name for the game itself. What do dungeons have? Ceilings. Solved. You can put a cap on how high a player can fly so they can get out of melee distance but they are likely to be in range of your ranged attacks - give your kobolds slings or your guards bows or crossbows. Or better yet add a level 1 warlock to the enemy team with eldritch blast. It's not hard. DMs don't like it because they are lazy... Sorry - they're "busy." We need to stop thinking of D&D as if it is tic-tac-toe and start approaching it like a Rubik's Cube. Three dimensions people!

[@meikahidenori]

@@ddfordummies5099 i noticed the same for DMs who disallowed gunpowder weapons as well. That's fixable by giving enemies thicker armour (it only makes a difference at early levels anyway, after that it drops off) or by giving them the same weapons, making it riskier for the pcs as well. I never quite understood why these fixes for these two issues were such a huge deal. Thank you for you answer.

[@ddfordummies5099]

@@meikahidenori Gunpowder is a nice middle ground between common weapons and futuristic weapons. I have only seen futuristic used in any official capacity with illithids in Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden. Similar to other items, I don't see why these aren't available based on a rarity system... Renaissance weapons are uncommon items, Modern weapons are rare or very rare (seen in official capacity in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist), and Futuristic weapons might be very rare or legendary. If you look at the prices on page 268 of the DMG, this is where those rarities could be determined. I would be more conservative on price and would say that most modern weapons would be rare (between 501 gp - 5,000 gp) and futurist weapons would be very rare (between 5,001 gp and 50,000 gp). I don't know what you mean by thicker armor though... An attack hits or it doesn't hit. Are you using a homebrew option for armor class to reduce damage? I definitely agree with the statement that damage drops off at higher levels.

[@meikahidenori]

@@ddfordummies5099 thicker armour in regards to npcs is easy to tweek. You can bump their AC up or bump HP depending on how good your PCs are at hitting them. It's rare I use the stat block for a foe as is because the size of the group I have fluctuates so have to be flexible. I don't usually touch the PCs in that regard though the players i have tend to play classes with moderate to high AC (which isn't a good thing, it can become a problem once powerful spellcasters are involved who egnore physical attacks) as we play Eberron though going very heavy in Artificer technology and various pirate themed Campaigns so weapons that are either gunpowder or something crazier that reminds you of Skaven from Warhammer are common in our games and something I have to account for. 😅

[@boldnotbald3705]

Awesome review! I’m totally going to take some of these concepts and games and bring them into the domains of dread in my Curse of Strahd campaign.

[@zachariaravenheart]

Speaking of carnivals, Heckna is a cool old Kickstarter. I haven't been able to get it yet, but I got the test module for it. It's like carnival horror which is awesome!

[@yamilagosto1535]

I have always wanted to play heckna! It just looks great

[@sage_justice1383]

I’m really looking forward to getting hold of this. Gotta budget out my purchases and want to get Fizban first, but this will be next.

[@seangorby7468]

Been looking forward to some Feywild content... and of course Coach content!

[@crankysmurf]

The bloodied mechanic was in 4E.

[@brycenpeacock9262]

Super glad I preordered this! It looks even better than I hoped!

[@nicka3697]

Snail racing is cool but if you would like to do some homebrew for jousting atop giant snails I'd be super happy.

[@mattalford3862]

Sounds fun Coach. I plan to start a new Feywild campaign in January so I was really excited to hear this. I'll have to look for the alt cover, even though it's more expensive 😥 I was also excited to hear you produced something for Limbo. I'm always looking for guides on the planes, so that sounds awesome!

[@TheDungeonCoach]

I will eventually do them ALL!!! But things are a bit crazy right now lol, so SOON hopefully :)

[@Serutans]

I have to say that having run most WotC modules I really wish they stopped with trying to add replayability to them through "hey the mcguffin is in X place, roll dice to find out where" or similar things. It's a module, we are not playing a sandbox campaign - make it an elegant and properly connected story.

[@chrisd5169]

I like the replayalbility thing. Remember you don’t have to roll for it. You can just pick

[@nairocamilo]

@@chrisd5169 OP's point still stands

[@chrisd5169]

@@nairocamilo okay

[@FelipeBudinich]

I think it also functions as a workaround for metagaming; it doesn't annoy me because of that.

[@samchafin4623]

5e needs more covers like that!

[@briandeboer1409]

I tried a carnival once. As a DM I felt it was slow and not too interesting. But the PCs seemed to have fun.

[@fandangosan]

Yknow maybe I haven't run enough games but I don't think flying is as "broken" as some people think. I just take that in to account when I design encounters. Although one of my players of 2 years has been playing an aaracokra so that might contribute to that.

[@t111ran3]

Hello Mr. Dungeon Coach! I wanted to say, that you helped me very much with my campaign. I love homebrewing my game, so do my friends. We decided to revamp the health system completely. I started tinkering and created a new system. I am very proud of my work. Me and my group did some play-testing and found nothing broken so far. Are you interested in seeing it? Like through email or smth idk. I want to know if it has potential or not.

[@TedSroka]

Congrats on early access coach! Well deserved!

[@anymeaddict]

I would love you to do fey wild and shadow fell deep dives.

[@LeMayJoseph]

TBH, the Fey type is one the best parts of choosing Fairy. You ignore all spells and magic that target only humanoids!

[@Ambers128]

Dungeon Coach likes the jumping ability.... dont you coach the high jump?

[@TheDungeonCoach]

OMG YES!!! Hahahaha I should have thrown that out there (and Pole Vaulting)

[@Ambers128]

@@TheDungeonCoach there's always the in-depth review. I'm looking forward to the carnival playbook!

[@JasonVickeryEsq]

Now you gotta get the Beadle and Grimm's edition!!

[@cjkremer6372]

Think the faeries don't get their full flight until higher levels...

[@zephyr_gg]

Great vid. But not exactly a Full Review as the thumbnail suggests... makes it feel like clickbait a bit.

[@ccwash]

Does the haregons Jump/hop ability scale with the ‘Jump’ spell? As in can it jump 30 feet using the spell with proficiency +2? Or at late game 90ft with proficiency +6? I don’t see why not, but I can see many shenanigans but I’m glad it’s usable by bonus action, and limited times per day.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

I'd Allow it!

[@DrAndrewJBlack]

I cannot wait to play this

[@O4C209]

I will say that for the first since these new books were announced, I'm interested in getting one. Great review.

[@bsabruzzo]

I know that what I am about to ask isn't your thing, as you are generally all about homebrew, but do you know if there is a channel that looks at some of the 3rd party 5e compatible settings and rules/character creation books? Things like Sandy Peterson's Cthulhu Mythos for 5e, Esper Genesis, Dark Matter, or and of the "off genre but supposedly compatible with D&D stuff? The reason I ask is because I wanted to start a game that is set up like the Marvel Comic Secret Wars event, where one world had multiple styles smashed together and one party could go from one to another. But it's difficult to tell if the books that have worlds already created are simple enough to just change things (like add laser guns or a sanity mechanic) or if the "5e compatible" part is only surface deep and the books might be only good for flavor.

[@KnicKnac]

I prefer Van Richten book, but that is just enjoying horror or darker themes. Glad they are touching on whimsical and wicked settings. Your videos are very entertaining.

[@kryptonianguest1903]

Nice that WotC is finally detailing the Feywild in 5e.

[@nickm9102]

I am a bit concerned about the "required reciprocity" rule. If it works both ways I'm carrying little sets of coin that covers the cost of a drink at a tavern/inn. I then hand them the money and my request for an equal value gift is that they meet me for a drink at that tavern/inn at a time of my choosing. Now any sentient creature encountered will be given a "go meet me here" card and as long as I have to get 'someone else to join us' I have found a way to avoid a potential encounter. And as long as my intent is to return in my lifetime it can be a legally binding Fey contract.

[@LordOz3]

How useful is it for people who don't want to run the adventure? I get why WotC does it - they hope we'll plunk down $50 on adventure we won't even run because FOMO - we don't want to miss out on the latest character options and such.

[@Currentmisgivings]

Ans that's only for the book. God forbid you want a digital version and shell our another 30 dollars for dnd beyond along with a subscription fee.

[@ddfordummies5099]

I get it because I want color maps

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Ii would not reccomend getting it if you are NOT going to run the adventure!

[@antonyjosuemendozamolina7057]

Muy interesante

[@chrisd5169]

I think you can mark a video as having spoilers and dive deeper

[@ddfordummies5099]

Dungeon Coach, most of your top 10 takeaways are common with any WotC adventure: They have been doing milestone leveling for a while, backgrounds related to the adventure, etc. Giving an actual preview or review of the new character races would have been helpful rather than an overview. Your description of the mini games was great - it let me know whether or not my party would enjoy it. They wouldn’t but now I know. The mood tracker and time tracker are new. I would’ve WANTED a spoilers section as part of a review. The point of being able to see stuff in advance is to know whether or not it works for you and your group. That part of the review fell hopelessly and desperately short. “The art in this thing is amazing…” and then you don’t even show it to the camera. Your top 10 takeaways could be basically summed up as “I don’t do spoilers but WotC hasn’t changed how they do adventures.”

[@TheDungeonCoach]

As I said in there too, I havent ran ANY adventure modules, so keeping that in mind a LOT of that stuff was cool and new to me, and was fun to see. Also I cant give a "spoiler" section because then I would have to truly truly read through the module to be comfortable providing THAT much feedback.. and with as much that is on my plate right now, that just doesnt seem possible, AND these videos usually perform bad for the channel, so I had to be careful there too! For the art, I wasnt doing a flip through or going to go through and do screen grabs for the book either, so it was just a simple compliment I wanted to say off the cuff. I had to film this while my son was sleeping and edit before taking him out, so real life was a bit crazy if you care to know the "behind the scenes" lol As always, I appreciate the feedback!

[@nairocamilo]

If anything this just proves how much enterprises have locked down this hype culture thing: Ask for a preview in X days, YTber says "sure", book arrives in X/2 days, YTber has X/4 days to prepare everything alongside all their other projects, YTber has to follow NDA, YTber has to give a good word for the book, YTber has to... As you can see, companies do jack squat marketwise nowadays, they just need the influencers to take the shot with every unboxing/preview/review/noview video

[@ddfordummies5099]

@@nairocamilo I appreciate that The Dungeon Coach has another full-time job as a teacher and a family and he is busy and he feels obligated to get a video out to justify getting a free copy of the book early. Here is the thing... Speaking as an individual that is only part of an overall community which do NOT all think the same, I would rather have an honest critique than a faux one that is produced only "to give a good word for [a] book." I wouldn't pass that judgment on this review - I would simply say it was rushed. I agree that Hasbro does little to no marketing for WotC products because they have a reliably loyal consumer base. Plus, they have partners that are chomping at the bit to get the newest content so they can be the most relevant in exchange for views. That is the marketplace we live in so I don't look at it as a valid excuse. The Dungeon Coach gave a review and there were some parts that were really good and other parts that were sub-par in the review itself. I would have given him the benefit of the doubt if the review "came out late" due to life stuff rather than recommend a book he has yet to read thoroughly and only scanned. If these types of videos don't do well for his channel, then don't do them. All I am saying is that it is okay not to take an opportunity if it isn't a good opportunity for you and your brand BUT if you are going to try something new, take the time or make the time to do it right. My criticism was NOT MADE TO DISSUADE HIM FROM MAKING THESE VIDEOS. I WANT him to try to do MORE OF THESE VIDEOS. Out-of-the-box thinking would benefit the overall narrative in the D&D community and I think the Dungeon Coach and his community do a good job providing that. Plus, it will create a larger audience for him in the future and make him more mainstream (if that is even a good thing) if he spends more time in creating reviews for the future. Using your X day analogy Nairo... If The Dungeon Coach was late on his review and he posted it X+1 days to have actually taken the time to read through the book so he would have been able to provide a better review, it would have been in fact exactly that... a better review. The alternative is to MAKE time and maybe spend a night reading and writing notes about the book so you can think about it more before you create the list and produce/edit the video. When I purchase an adventure (for example ID:RotF), I can skim or read through the full adventure in an evening. Is that the same thing as doing my DM prep for an upcoming session with my group? No. RotF has serious issues with pacing/leveling and it is explicitly shown in the Adventure Flowchart. It is basically an Adventurer's League compendium of Icewind Dale adventures that they compiled into a single book with 3 different arcs that are barely tied together. I knew from skimming the book within 15 minutes that it was going to require serious homebrewing to make it viable. I don't have the privilege of seeing/reading the book in advance. I don't know how complicated this new adventure will be. From what he shared, it felt like to avoid spoilers he shared a few pictures and some key takeaways from the Table of Contents. I do NOT doubt that he read the book. I feel like he did. Here is the BIGGEST TAKEAWAY that content creator can have from a viewer that watched their video: At the end of the video, The Dungeon Coach says that he felt like he had a real pulse check on the book as a whole after scanning through it and he'd give it a 10/10. He asks what we want to see...? We want to see why you give it a 10/10. After watching your video, I've no idea what "pulse check on the book" I have for myself. That is my problem. -------- OVERALL FEEDBACK FOR THE DUNGEON COACH -------- Pros: Dungeon Coach highlighted (a) new playable races, (b) story tracker/time tracker/mood tracker, (c) names the two new backgrounds (please share what the difference is between a Feylost and a Witchlight Hand), (d) carnival games and rolltables for the carnival, (e) lost items/curses/environmental changes could have been their own takeaways by themselves, (e) good job selling your own stuff alongside the book but group it together at the end not at random beats in the middle because I couldn't remember what they even were and again... I WANT YOU TO BE SUCCESSFUL Only Okay: Dungeon Coach highlighted (a) mentions factions, (b) mentions new NPCs/monsters - at least give us a range of CRs or a few of your favorites, (c) you show some of the artwork in your review (i.e. races, unicorn horn, corner of the Carnival map in the back of the book) but then you don't share any artwork when you say you love it - show us a quick look at a combat encounter map for instance... Are they color like in ID:RotF? Are they black and white like in the Waterdeep books? Cons: Dungeon Coach highlighted (a) that he has "no experience running official modules" - don't do that... simply say this is a spoiler free review, (b) you create a semi-reasonable excuse to not allow fairy PCs to fly but that is simply a way of not allowing a PC to fly at low levels... I will callout any DM that does this as a weak DM - if your NPCs can potentially fly then your PCs should as well so balance your encounters better or simply add a ceiling when the party encounters something or have the enemies include a level 1 warlock NPC... eldritch blast or really any ranged attack can deal with a low-level PC, (c) you didn't include the intended max level of the party by the end of the adventure when you talked about milestone and XP leveling - please include that next time (for other viewers, it is intended for APL 1-8), and (d) emphasizing there's a roll table placing the MacGuffin artifact or NPC in the world further compounds or illustrates that you haven't looked at official WotC modules in the past... Have someone on your team or someone you trust in your Discord look at this with you or help you know what is common or uncommon in an official book so you don't hurt your credibility talking too much about things that are expected.

[@ezramclain6320]

Isn't really his strong suit to review items in detail. I feel it's like a movie review. If you like his takes on the game and the type of dm he is then you might like the things he likes. As a heavy home brew person he probably doesn't see as many faults with a product because he would just homebrew what feels wrong with the module. That is something you ( and many others) might not want to deal with. I don't think the DC is one to follow for reviews for the things you want in reviews.

[@ddfordummies5099]

@@ezramclain6320 I hear what you’re saying and I agree that he would not be the traditional review many would go to however, having someone willing to vocalize “this is where I would make changes and why” would be helpful in recognizing what things you would keep (valuable pieces) and what you’d change. Having a voice out there that doesn’t simply rubber stamp things but comes up with creative alternatives is needed. If DC had said this is where I would homebrew or this is how much of this adventure I would homebrew… my opinion on the review would be glowing.

[@sarabjorkgren6915]

💜💜💜

[@brandonotto3031]

I just did my own caravel.....

[@Jauphrey]

DC, can we get some homebrew rules for professions (e.g. herbalism, alchemy, etc.). I feel like you could put together something rad. :)

[@Jauphrey]

As an aside, I appreciate this video and look forward to your reviews of future books as well!

[@glitter-fiasco]

Try the "Making Tools Useful in 5e" series by Dump Stat Adventures - it's so fun!!

[@tristencovarrubias4950]

Did they engrave your name on the cover? I heard that they were doing that now.

[@scatterbug]

Now I want to play an Arcane Trickster bunny person with Greater Invisibility permanently cast on him named Harvey.

[@SchmittySchmitz]

Came for the fairy option, staying for the snail races.

[@estevanrodriguez4002]

The Jump spell is the best first level spell. Change mind

[@BigBunky]

I had a friend that was all about positivity, she would give every movie a glowing review. She told me The Happening Was “Fantastic” that was when I stopped listening to her reviews.

[@Hey-Its-Dingo]

I say that DMs need to stop being COWARDS and just PLAN for one or more of your players being able to fly.

[@ddfordummies5099]

Preach. It is a low-level character. They can be killed by practically anything. Sure, an enemy NPC might not be able to afford a heavy crossbow at 50 gp a pop but even a kobold can use a 1 sp sling, take a ranged weapon off a dead adventurer or create a trap with basic trash. For heaven's sake, a level 1 warlock has eldritch blast!

[@Patches2212]

Flying characters are essentially just like ranged characters, but using vertical space instead of just horizontal. I actually find it more difficult to target/attack ranged characters that keeping hiding behind cover or standing on the far fringes of the battle than flying characters that come into the battle and add an extra dynamic. I mean, I literally have one of my players a flying speed (she wanted a flying Dragonborn, and gave up her breath weapon for it). Having her flying around above the combat makes every battle (where she can fly) dynamic, since it uses the vertical space of the combat. She can't just fly up 200 feet and be untouchable, since then she can't attack the enemies either. It's literally just a three dimensional, rather than two dimensional fight

[@ddfordummies5099]

@@alexanderthompson7164 not everyone will take it if they have a chance. Yes, that means it makes things more complicated for you as a DM. But you can plan for that or run through it. The party comes across a chasm where the bridge has eroded and fallen in. What do they do? It’s not a problem for the character with a flying speed. But if you add a timer for whatever reason - random patrol saw them and blows a horn signifying their position. Suddenly there might not be enough time for the one PC to ferry everyone across. Split party. Or maybe with the two movement speeds, when you are carrying half your own weight while you fly you move at half speed? Or you gain points of exhaustion after using it for an extended point of time depending on how you roll with CON saving throws. The only races I can think of are aarakocra and variant tiefling that have flight without any restrictions. Even aasimar only has it with one subrace and that is on a timer and unlocks at certain levels. Plus many DMs (excluding myself) skip levels 1 and 2 and jump straight into level 3. If that’s the case, you gotta deal.

[@ddfordummies5099]

@@alexanderthompson7164 then have environmental hazards! Maybe there is an updraft or the chasm itself has violent winds so the bridge shakes violently. Flying becomes very difficult and treacherous. I agree that there doesn’t always need to be NPC obstacles so use the environment or the setting itself. Force them to make Athletics checks to “swim” through the difficult air currents or to hold onto or “climb” across the bridge or wall hangings. Just canceling it for no reason denies players a part of their build. Make the dice decide and challenge them - don’t deny them - as a DM part of their build.

[@ddfordummies5099]

@@alexanderthompson7164 or you just not need an obstacle for everything and simply let the player get a win based on what they wanted to play. The example is there to show that there are many answers to flight so to complain they have it is weak and to deny it is even more so.

[@apepmedia3059]

Remember when WotC actually fleshed out races with sourcebooks? Now they just throw out races willy nilly, so we have huge range with no depth. Hey the Fairy and the Hare race do not even include a height/weight table in their descriptions.

[@masterklein5580]

Good for children not adults. Kinda of a poor module all around really.

[@erikmaderbacher894]

Spoilers :(

[@MD-zi9if]

"I'm not going to give spoilers"... Proceeds to give tons of low grade spoilers.